Time-Resolved Exciton Wave Functions from Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory.

Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) is a computationally efficient first-principles approach for calculating optical spectra in insulators and semiconductors including excitonic effects. We show how exciton wave functions can be obtained from TDDFT via the Kohn-Sham transition density matrix, both in the frequency-dependent linear-response regime and in real-time propagation. The method is illustrated using one-dimensional model solids. In particular, we show that our approach provides insight into the formation and dissociation of excitons in real time. This opens the door to time-resolved studies of exciton dynamics in materials by means of real-time TDDFT.

Copper delivery to the CNS by CuATSM effectively treats motor neuron disease in SOD(G93A) mice co-expressing the Copper-Chaperone-for-SOD.

Over-expression of mutant copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD) in mice induces ALS and has become the most widely used model of neurodegeneration. However, no pharmaceutical agent in 20 years has extended lifespan by more than a few weeks. The Copper-Chaperone-for-SOD (CCS) protein completes the maturation of SOD by inserting copper, but paradoxically human CCS causes mice co-expressing mutant SOD to die within two weeks of birth. Hypothesizing that co-expression of CCS created copper deficiency in spinal cord, we treated these pups with the PET-imaging agent CuATSM, which is known to deliver copper into the CNS within minutes. CuATSM prevented the early mortality of CCSxSOD mice, while markedly increasing Cu, Zn SOD protein in their ventral spinal cord. Remarkably, continued treatment with CuATSM extended the survival of these mice by an average of 18 months. When CuATSM treatment was stopped, these mice developed ALS-related symptoms and died within 3 months. Restoring CuATSM treatment could rescue these mice after they became symptomatic, providing a means to start and stop disease progression. All ALS patients also express human CCS, raising the hope that familial SOD ALS patients could respond to CuATSM treatment similarly to the CCSxSOD mice.

Oral treatment with Cu(II)(atsm) increases mutant SOD1 in vivo but protects motor neurons and improves the phenotype of a transgenic mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Mutations in the metallo-protein Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in humans and an expression level-dependent phenotype in transgenic rodents. We show that oral treatment with the therapeutic agent diacetyl-bis(4-methylthiosemicarbazonato)copper(II) [Cu(II)(atsm)] increased the concentration of mutant SOD1 (SOD1G37R) in ALS model mice, but paradoxically improved locomotor function and survival of the mice. To determine why the mice with increased levels of mutant SOD1 had an improved phenotype, we analyzed tissues by mass spectrometry. These analyses revealed most SOD1 in the spinal cord tissue of the SOD1G37R mice was Cu deficient. Treating with Cu(II)(atsm) decreased the pool of Cu-deficient SOD1 and increased the pool of fully metallated (holo) SOD1. Tracking isotopically enriched (65)Cu(II)(atsm) confirmed the increase in holo-SOD1 involved transfer of Cu from Cu(II)(atsm) to SOD1, suggesting the improved locomotor function and survival of the Cu(II)(atsm)-treated SOD1G37R mice involved, at least in part, the ability of the compound to improve the Cu content of the mutant SOD1. This was supported by improved survival of SOD1G37R mice that expressed the human gene for the Cu uptake protein CTR1. Improving the metal content of mutant SOD1 in vivo with Cu(II)(atsm) did not decrease levels of misfolded SOD1. These outcomes indicate the metal content of SOD1 may be a greater determinant of the toxicity of the protein in mutant SOD1-associated forms of ALS than the mutations themselves. Improving the metal content of SOD1 therefore represents a valid therapeutic strategy for treating ALS caused by SOD1.

The sensitive balance between the fully folded and locally unfolded conformations of a model peroxiredoxin.

To reduce peroxides, peroxiredoxins (Prxs) require a key "peroxidatic" Cys that, in a substrate-ready fully folded (FF) conformation, is oxidized to sulfenic acid and then, after a local unfolding (LU) of the active site, forms a disulfide bond with a second "resolving" Cys. For Salmonella typhimurium alkyl hydroperoxide reductase C (StAhpC) and some other Prxs, the FF structure is only known for a peroxidatic Cys→Ser variant, which may not accurately represent the wild-type enzyme. Here, we obtain the structure of authentic reduced wild-type StAhpC by dithiothreitol treatment of disulfide form crystals that fortuitously accommodate both the LU and FF conformations. The unique environment of one molecule in the crystal reveals a thermodynamic linkage between the folding of the active site loop and C-terminal regions, and comparisons with the Ser variant show structural and mobility differences from which we infer that the Cys→Ser mutation stabilizes the FF active site. A structure for the C165A variant (a resolving Cys to Ala mutant) in the same crystal form reveals that this mutation destabilizes the folding of the C-terminal region. These structures prove that subtle modifications to Prx structures can substantially influence enzymatic properties. We also present a simple thermodynamic framework for understanding the various mixtures of FF and LU conformations seen in these structures. On the basis of this framework, we rationalize how physiologically relevant regulatory post-translational modifications may modulate activity, and we propose a nonconventional strategy for designing selective Prx inhibitors.

Using theoretical protein isotopic distributions to parse small-mass-difference post-translational modifications via mass spectrometry.

Small-mass-difference modifications to proteins are obscured in mass spectrometry by the natural abundance of stable isotopes such as (13)C that broaden the isotopic distribution of an intact protein. Using a ZipTip (Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA) to remove salt from proteins in preparation for high-resolution mass spectrometry, the theoretical isotopic distribution intensities calculated from the protein's empirical formula could be fit to experimentally acquired data and used to differentiate between multiple low-mass modifications to proteins. We could readily distinguish copper from zinc bound to a single-metal superoxide dismutase (SOD1) species; copper and zinc only differ by an average mass of 1.8 Da and have overlapping stable isotope patterns. In addition, proteins could be directly modified while bound to the ZipTip. For example, washing 11 mM S-methyl methanethiosulfonate over the ZipTip allowed the number of free cysteines on proteins to be detected as S-methyl adducts. Alternatively, washing with the sulfhydryl oxidant diamide could quickly reestablish disulfide bridges. Using these methods, we could resolve the relative contributions of copper and zinc binding, as well as disulfide reduction to intact SOD1 protein present from <100 µg of the lumbar spinal cord of a transgenic, SOD1 overexpressing mouse. Although techniques like ICP-MS can measure total metal in solution, this is the first method able to assess the metal-binding and sulfhydryl reduction of SOD1 at the individual subunit level and is applicable to many other proteins.