An automatic pipeline for the design of irreversible derivatives identifies a potent SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitor.

Designing covalent inhibitors is increasingly important, although it remains challenging. Here, we present covalentizer, a computational pipeline for identifying irreversible inhibitors based on structures of targets with non-covalent binders. Through covalent docking of tailored focused libraries, we identify candidates that can bind covalently to a nearby cysteine while preserving the interactions of the original molecule. We found âˆ¼11,000 cysteines proximal to a ligand across 8,386 complexes in the PDB. Of these, the protocol identified 1,553 structures with covalent predictions. In a prospective evaluation, five out of nine predicted covalent kinase inhibitors showed half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values between 155 nM and 4.5 µM. Application against an existing SARS-CoV Mpro reversible inhibitor led to an acrylamide inhibitor series with low micromolar IC50 values against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. The docking was validated by 12 co-crystal structures. Together these examples hint at the vast number of covalent inhibitors accessible through our protocol.

A practical guide to teaching with Proteopedia.

Proteopedia (proteopedia.org) is an open resource to explore the structure-function relationship of proteins and other biomolecules. This guide provides practical advice on how to incorporate Proteopedia into teaching the structure and function of proteins and other biomolecules. For 11 activities, we discuss desired outcomes, setting expectations, preparing students for the tasks, using resources within Proteopedia, and evaluating student work. We point out features of Proteopedia that make it especially suitable for teaching and give examples of how to avoid common pitfalls.

IceBear: an intuitive and versatile web application for research-data tracking from crystallization experiment to PDB deposition.

The web-based IceBear software is a versatile tool to monitor the results of crystallization experiments and is designed to facilitate supervisor and student communications. It also records and tracks all relevant information from crystallization setup to PDB deposition in protein crystallography projects. Fully automated data collection is now possible at several synchrotrons, which means that the number of samples tested at the synchrotron is currently increasing rapidly. Therefore, the protein crystallography research communities at the University of Oulu, Weizmann Institute of Science and Diamond Light Source have joined forces to automate the uploading of sample metadata to the synchrotron. In IceBear, each crystal selected for data collection is given a unique sample name and a crystal page is generated. Subsequently, the metadata required for data collection are uploaded directly to the ISPyB synchrotron database by a shipment module, and for each sample a link to the relevant ISPyB page is stored. IceBear allows notes to be made for each sample during cryocooling treatment and during data collection, as well as in later steps of the structure determination. Protocols are also available to aid the recycling of pins, pucks and dewars when the dewar returns from the synchrotron. The IceBear database is organized around projects, and project members can easily access the crystallization and diffraction metadata for each sample, as well as any additional information that has been provided via the notes. The crystal page for each sample connects the crystallization, diffraction and structural information by providing links to the IceBear drop-viewer page and to the ISPyB data-collection page, as well as to the structure deposited in the Protein Data Bank.

QSalignWeb: A Server to Predict and Analyze Protein Quaternary Structure.

The identification of physiologically relevant quaternary structures (QSs) in crystal lattices is challenging. To predict the physiological relevance of a particular QS, QSalign searches for homologous structures in which subunits interact in the same geometry. This approach proved accurate but was limited to structures already present in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Here, we introduce a webserver (www.QSalign.org) allowing users to submit homo-oligomeric structures of their choice to the QSalign pipeline. Given a user-uploaded structure, the sequence is extracted and used to search homologs based on sequence similarity and PFAM domain architecture. If structural conservation is detected between a homolog and the user-uploaded QS, physiological relevance is inferred. The web server also generates alternative QSs with PISA and processes them the same way as the query submitted to widen the predictions. The result page also shows representative QSs in the protein family of the query, which is informative if no QS conservation was detected or if the protein appears monomeric. These representative QSs can also serve as a starting point for homology modeling.

PRosettaC: Rosetta Based Modeling of PROTAC Mediated Ternary Complexes.

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), which induce degradation by recruitment of an E3 ligase to a target protein, are gaining much interest as a new pharmacological modality. However, designing PROTACs is challenging. Formation of a ternary complex between the protein target, the PROTAC, and the recruited E3 ligase is considered paramount for successful degradation. A structural model of this ternary complex could in principle inform rational PROTAC design. Unfortunately, only a handful of structures are available for such complexes, necessitating tools for their modeling. We developed a combined protocol for the modeling of a ternary complex induced by a given PROTAC. Our protocol alternates between sampling of the protein-protein interaction space and the PROTAC molecule conformational space. Application of this protocol-PRosettaC-to a benchmark of known PROTAC ternary complexes results in near-native predictions, with often atomic accuracy prediction of the protein chains, as well as the PROTAC binding moieties. It allowed the modeling of a CRBN/BTK complex that recapitulated experimental results for a series of PROTACs. PRosettaC generated models may be used to design PROTACs for new targets, as well as improve PROTACs for existing targets, potentially cutting down time and synthesis efforts. To enable wide access to this protocol, we have made it available through a web server (https://prosettac.weizmann.ac.il/).

Community standards for open cell migration data.

Cell migration research has become a high-content field. However, the quantitative information encapsulated in these complex and high-dimensional datasets is not fully exploited owing to the diversity of experimental protocols and non-standardized output formats. In addition, typically the datasets are not open for reuse. Making the data open and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) will enable meta-analysis, data integration, and data mining. Standardized data formats and controlled vocabularies are essential for building a suitable infrastructure for that purpose but are not available in the cell migration domain. We here present standardization efforts by the Cell Migration Standardisation Organisation (CMSO), an open community-driven organization to facilitate the development of standards for cell migration data. This work will foster the development of improved algorithms and tools and enable secondary analysis of public datasets, ultimately unlocking new knowledge of the complex biological process of cell migration.

AbPredict 2: a server for accurate and unstrained structure prediction of antibody variable domains.

SUMMARY: Methods for antibody structure prediction rely on sequence homology to experimentally determined structures. Resulting models may be accurate but are often stereochemically strained, limiting their usefulness in modeling and design workflows. We present the AbPredict 2 web-server, which instead of using sequence homology, conducts a Monte Carlo-based search for low-energy combinations of backbone conformations to yield accurate and unstrained antibody structures. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: We introduce several important improvements over the previous AbPredict implementation: (i) backbones and sidechains are now modeled using ideal bond lengths and angles, substantially reducing stereochemical strain, (ii) sampling of the rigid-body orientation at the light-heavy chain interface is improved, increasing model accuracy and (iii) runtime is reduced 20-fold without compromising accuracy, enabling the implementation of AbPredict 2 as a fully automated web-server (http://abpredict.weizmann.ac.il). Accurate and unstrained antibody model structures may in some cases obviate the need for experimental structures in antibody optimization workflows.

Automated Design of Efficient and Functionally Diverse Enzyme Repertoires.

Substantial improvements in enzyme activity demand multiple mutations at spatially proximal positions in the active site. Such mutations, however, often exhibit unpredictable epistatic (non-additive) effects on activity. Here we describe FuncLib, an automated method for designing multipoint mutations at enzyme active sites using phylogenetic analysis and Rosetta design calculations. We applied FuncLib to two unrelated enzymes, a phosphotriesterase and an acetyl-CoA synthetase. All designs were active, and most showed activity profiles that significantly differed from the wild-type and from one another. Several dozen designs with only 3-6 active-site mutations exhibited 10- to 4,000-fold higher efficiencies with a range of alternative substrates, including hydrolysis of the toxic organophosphate nerve agents soman and cyclosarin and synthesis of butyryl-CoA. FuncLib is implemented as a web server (http://FuncLib.weizmann.ac.il); it circumvents iterative, high-throughput experimental screens and opens the way to designing highly efficient and diverse catalytic repertoires.

McPAS-TCR: a manually curated catalogue of pathology-associated T cell receptor sequences.

MOTIVATION: While growing numbers of T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires are being mapped by high-throughput sequencing, existing methods do not allow for computationally connecting a given TCR sequence to its target antigen, or relating it to a specific pathology. As an alternative, a manually-curated database can relate TCR sequences with their cognate antigens and associated pathologies based on published experimental data. RESULTS: We present McPAS-TCR, a manually curated database of TCR sequences associated with various pathologies and antigens based on published literature. Our database currently contains more than 5000 sequences of TCRs associated with various pathologic conditions (including pathogen infections, cancer and autoimmunity) and their respective antigens in humans and in mice. A web-based tool allows for searching the database based on different criteria, and for finding annotated sequences from the database in users' data. The McPAS-TCR website assembles information from a large number of studies that is very hard to dissect otherwise. Initial analyses of the data provide interesting insights on pathology-associated TCR sequences. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Free access at http://friedmanlab.weizmann.ac.il/McPAS-TCR/ . CONTACT: nir.friedman@weizmann.ac.il.

Interplay between hydrophobicity and the positive-inside rule in determining membrane-protein topology.

The energetics of membrane-protein interactions determine protein topology and structure: hydrophobicity drives the insertion of helical segments into the membrane, and positive charges orient the protein with respect to the membrane plane according to the positive-inside rule. Until recently, however, quantifying these contributions met with difficulty, precluding systematic analysis of the energetic basis for membrane-protein topology. We recently developed the dsTßL method, which uses deep sequencing and in vitro selection of segments inserted into the bacterial plasma membrane to infer insertion-energy profiles for each amino acid residue across the membrane, and quantified the insertion contribution from hydrophobicity and the positive-inside rule. Here, we present a topology-prediction algorithm called TopGraph, which is based on a sequence search for minimum dsTßL insertion energy. Whereas the average insertion energy assigned by previous experimental scales was positive (unfavorable), the average assigned by TopGraph in a nonredundant set is -6.9 kcal/mol. By quantifying contributions from both hydrophobicity and the positive-inside rule we further find that in about half of large membrane proteins polar segments are inserted into the membrane to position more positive charges in the cytoplasm, suggesting an interplay between these two energy contributions. Because membrane-embedded polar residues are crucial for substrate binding and conformational change, the results implicate the positive-inside rule in determining the architectures of membrane-protein functional sites. This insight may aid structure prediction, engineering, and design of membrane proteins. TopGraph is available online (topgraph.weizmann.ac.il).

Automated Structure- and Sequence-Based Design of Proteins for High Bacterial Expression and Stability.

Upon heterologous overexpression, many proteins misfold or aggregate, thus resulting in low functional yields. Human acetylcholinesterase (hAChE), an enzyme mediating synaptic transmission, is a typical case of a human protein that necessitates mammalian systems to obtain functional expression. We developed a computational strategy and designed an AChE variant bearing 51 mutations that improved core packing, surface polarity, and backbone rigidity. This variant expressed at ∼2,000-fold higher levels in E. coli compared to wild-type hAChE and exhibited 20°C higher thermostability with no change in enzymatic properties or in the active-site configuration as determined by crystallography. To demonstrate broad utility, we similarly designed four other human and bacterial proteins. Testing at most three designs per protein, we obtained enhanced stability and/or higher yields of soluble and active protein in E. coli. Our algorithm requires only a 3D structure and several dozen sequences of naturally occurring homologs, and is available at http://pross.weizmann.ac.il.

The Development of a Novel qPCR Assay-Set for Identifying Fecal Contamination Originating from Domestic Fowls and Waterfowl in Israel.

The emerging microbial source tracking (MST) methodologies aim to identify fecal contamination originating from domestic and wild animals, and from humans. Avian MST is especially challenging, primarily because the Aves class includes both domesticated and wild species with highly diverse habitats and dietary characteristics. The quest for specific fecal bacterial MST markers can be difficult with respect to attaining sufficient assay sensitivity and specificity. The present study utilizes high throughput sequencing (HTS) to screen bacterial 16S rRNA genes from fecal samples collected from both domestic and wild avian species. Operational taxonomic unit (OTU) analysis was then performed, from which sequences were retained for downstream quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) marker development. Identification of unique avian host DNA sequences, absent in non-avian hosts, was then carried out using a dedicated database of bacterial 16S rRNA gene taken from the Ribosomal Database Project. Six qPCR assays were developed targeting the 16S rRNA gene of Lactobacillus, Gallibacterium, Firmicutes, Fusobacteriaceae, and other bacteria. Two assays (Av4143 and Av163) identified most of the avian fecal samples and demonstrated sensitivity values of 91 and 70%, respectively. The Av43 assay only identified droppings from battery hens and poultry, whereas each of the other three assays (Av24, Av13, and Av216) identified waterfowl species with lower sensitivities values. The development of an MST assay-panel, which includes both domestic and wild avian species, expands the currently known MST analysis capabilities for decoding fecal contamination.

Chimeras taking shape: potential functions of proteins encoded by chimeric RNA transcripts.

Chimeric RNAs comprise exons from two or more different genes and have the potential to encode novel proteins that alter cellular phenotypes. To date, numerous putative chimeric transcripts have been identified among the ESTs isolated from several organisms and using high throughput RNA sequencing. The few corresponding protein products that have been characterized mostly result from chromosomal translocations and are associated with cancer. Here, we systematically establish that some of the putative chimeric transcripts are genuinely expressed in human cells. Using high throughput RNA sequencing, mass spectrometry experimental data, and functional annotation, we studied 7424 putative human chimeric RNAs. We confirmed the expression of 175 chimeric RNAs in 16 human tissues, with an abundance varying from 0.06 to 17 RPKM (Reads Per Kilobase per Million mapped reads). We show that these chimeric RNAs are significantly more tissue-specific than non-chimeric transcripts. Moreover, we present evidence that chimeras tend to incorporate highly expressed genes. Despite the low expression level of most chimeric RNAs, we show that 12 novel chimeras are translated into proteins detectable in multiple shotgun mass spectrometry experiments. Furthermore, we confirm the expression of three novel chimeric proteins using targeted mass spectrometry. Finally, based on our functional annotation of exon organization and preserved domains, we discuss the potential features of chimeric proteins with illustrative examples and suggest that chimeras significantly exploit signal peptides and transmembrane domains, which can alter the cellular localization of cognate proteins. Taken together, these findings establish that some chimeric RNAs are translated into potentially functional proteins in humans.

Thermo-resistant intrinsically disordered proteins are efficient 20S proteasome substrates.

Based on software prediction, intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are widely represented in animal cells where they play important instructive roles. Despite the predictive power of the available software programs we nevertheless need simple experimental tools to validate the predictions. IDPs were reported to be preferentially thermo-resistant and also are susceptible to degradation by the 20S proteasome. Analysis of a set of proteins revealed that thermo-resistant proteins are preferred 20S proteasome substrates. Positive correlations are evident between the percent of protein disorder and the level of thermal stability and 20S proteasomal susceptibility. The data obtained from these two assays do not fully overlap but in combination provide a more reliable experimental IDP definition. The correlation was more significant when the IUPred was used as the IDPs predicting software. We demonstrate in this work a simple experimental strategy to improve IDPs identification.

Proteopedia: a status report on the collaborative, 3D web-encyclopedia of proteins and other biomolecules.

Proteopedia is a collaborative, 3D web-encyclopedia of protein, nucleic acid and other biomolecule structures. Created as a means for communicating biomolecule structures to a diverse scientific audience, Proteopedia (http://www.proteopedia.org) presents structural annotation in an intuitive, interactive format and allows members of the scientific community to easily contribute their own annotations. Here, we provide a status report on Proteopedia by describing advances in the web resource since its inception three and a half years ago, focusing on features of potential direct use to the scientific community. We discuss its progress as a collaborative 3D-encyclopedia of structures as well as its use as a complement to scientific publications and PowerPoint presentations. We also describe Proteopedia's use for 3D visualization in structure-related pedagogy.

Dynamic Proteomics: a database for dynamics and localizations of endogenous fluorescently-tagged proteins in living human cells.

Recent advances allow tracking the levels and locations of a thousand proteins in individual living human cells over time using a library of annotated reporter cell clones (LARC). This library was created by Cohen et al. to study the proteome dynamics of a human lung carcinoma cell-line treated with an anti-cancer drug. Here, we report the Dynamic Proteomics database for the proteins studied by Cohen et al. Each cell-line clone in LARC has a protein tagged with yellow fluorescent protein, expressed from its endogenous chromosomal location, under its natural regulation. The Dynamic Proteomics interface facilitates searches for genes of interest, downloads of protein fluorescent movies and alignments of dynamics following drug addition. Each protein in the database is displayed with its annotation, cDNA sequence, fluorescent images and movies obtained by the time-lapse microscopy. The protein dynamics in the database represents a quantitative trace of the protein fluorescence levels in nucleus and cytoplasm produced by image analysis of movies over time. Furthermore, a sequence analysis provides a search and comparison of up to 50 input DNA sequences with all cDNAs in the library. The raw movies may be useful as a benchmark for developing image analysis tools for individual-cell dynamic-proteomics. The database is available at http://www.dynamicproteomics.net/.

Assessment of CASP8 structure predictions for template free targets.

The biennial CASP experiment is a crucial way to evaluate, in an unbiased way, the progress in predicting novel 3D protein structures. In this article, we assess the quality of prediction of template free models, that is, ab initio prediction of 3D structures of proteins based solely on the amino acid sequences, that is, proteins that did not have significant sequence identity to any protein in the Protein Data Bank. There were 13 targets in this category and 102 groups submitted predictions. Analysis was based on the GDT_TS analysis, which has been used in previous CASP experiments, together with a newly developed method, the OK_Rank, as well as by visual inspection. There is no doubt that in recent years many obstacles have been removed on the long and elusive way to deciphering the protein-folding problem. Out of the 13 targets, six were predicted well by a number of groups. On the other hand, it must be stressed that for four targets, none of the models were judged to be satisfactory. Thus, for template free model prediction, as evaluated in this CASP, successes have been achieved for most targets; however, a great deal of research is still required, both in improving the existing methods and in development of new approaches.