Biocatalysis in ionic liquids (ILs) gained substantial interest due to solvent properties of the ILs, such as near-zero vapor pressure, high thermal stability, and wide tunability. Enzymes are often not catalytically active in ILs; therefore, understanding and improving enzyme resistance in ILs are essential to enable efficient biocatalysis in ionic liquids. Surface charge engineering has repeatedly been reported to enhance enzyme resistance toward ILs. However, the molecular knowledge about how substitutions to charged amino acids improve enzyme activity in an IL is far from being understood. Here, we report a comprehensive study to provide some principles of how surface charged amino acid substitutions (negatively and positively) strengthen the IL resistance of the Bacillus subtilis lipase A (BSLA) in [BMIM]Cl. Twenty typical BSLA substitutions (ten beneficial and ten nonbeneficial, obtained from the BSLA-SSM library) were studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the [BMIM]Cl system. The BSLA-IL interaction patterns were printed by analyzing several structural-and solvation-based observables. Lessons learned by analyzing the SSM library of BSLA comprise the following: (i) A general trend was found where both negatively and positively charged substitutions increased the essential water molecules locally at the substitution site, thereby contributing to the overall protein hydration shell. (ii) Electrostatic repulsion of both IL ions and the refined hydration shell are ultimately the two main drivers to enhanced IL resistance. The analysis of 20 BSLA substitutions and the identified common interactions reveals that surface charge engineering is very likely to be a general protein engineering strategy to enhance lipase/enzyme activity in ILs. Moreover, this study also suggests that MD is a valuable technique to screen for beneficial substitutions that repel/recruit surface solvation.
Application of ionic liquids (ILs) as media in biocatalysis has enormous potential for synthesizing valuable compounds and bulk products in pharmaceuticals and bioenergy due to their unique solvent properties such as volatility, flammability, and solubility. However, ILs as reaction media are often limited by poor enzymatic activity and stability in ILs. We printed a comprehensive IL−enzyme interaction map by studying 45 molecular observables of 30 lipase A from Bacillus subtilis (BSLA) variants in four ILs and a substitutional landscape with 1504 BSLA variants. The results demonstrated that the enzyme hydration shell is the deciding and independent factor determining the enzyme's IL resistance. A universal positive correlation (up to R 2 = 0.96 in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([BMIM][TfO]) and R 2 = 0.85 in 1-butyl-3methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl)) was verified, and an experimentally derived ranking of amino acid substitutions is summarized in a list to provide benefits for better protein engineering practice. Hydration-guided engineering yielded a supremely tolerant BSLA variant I12R/D34K/A132K with 8.1-fold, 8.6-fold, 6.6-fold, and 4.6-fold improved tolerance toward [BMIM]Cl, [BMIM]Br, [BMIM]I, and [BMIM][TfO], respectively, when compared to the wild-type BSLA. The obtained knowledge provides a lesson learned on forecasting enzyme stability in ILs and simplifies a rational design of the IL-tolerant enzymes.
Background: Cell-cell communication is mediated by membrane receptors and their cognate ligands, such as the Eph/ephrin system, and dictates physiological processes, including cell proliferation and migration. However, whether and how Eph/ephrin signaling culminates in transcriptional regulation is largely unknown. Epigenetic mechanisms are key for integrating external “signals”, e.g., from neighboring cells, into the transcriptome. We have previously reported that ephrinA5 stimulation of immortalized cerebellar granule (CB) cells elicits transcriptional changes of lncRNAs and protein-coding genes. LncRNAs represent important adaptors for epigenetic writers through which they regulate gene expression. Hence, we here aimed to investigate, whether ephrinA5 can act on gene transcription through modulating lncRNA-mediated targeting of the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) to gene promoters, thereby regulating cell motility. Results: We analyzed the interaction of lncRNA with protein-coding genes by the combined power of in silico modeling of RNA/DNA interactions and respective wet lab approaches. We found that Snhg15, a cancer-related lncRNA, forms a triplex structure with the Ncam1 promoter and interacts with DNMT1. EphrinA5 stimulation leads to reduced Snhg15 expression, diminished Snhg15/DNMT1 interaction and decreased DNMT1 association with the Ncam1 promoter. These findings can explain the attenuated Ncam1 promoter methylation and elevated Ncam1 expression induced by ephrinA5 stimulation that in turn elicits decreased cell motility of CB cells. Conclusion: Based on our findings, we propose that ephrinA5 influences gene transcription via lncRNA-targeted DNA methylation underlying the regulation of cellular motility. Such mechanism could be relevant in the context of cancerogenic processes, known to involve Eph/ephrin signaling and epigenetic remodelling.
Cell-cell communication is mediated by membrane receptors and their cognate ligands, such as the Eph/ephrin system, and dictates physiological processes, including cell proliferation and migration. However, whether and how Eph/ephrin signaling culminates in transcriptional regulation is largely unknown. Epigenetic mechanisms are key for integrating external signals, e.g., from neighboring cells, into the transcriptome. We have previously reported that ephrinA5 stimulation of immortalized cerebellar granule (CB) cells elicits transcriptional changes of lncRNAs and protein-coding genes. LncRNAs represent important adaptors for epigenetic writers through which they regulate gene expression. Here, we investigate the interaction of lncRNA with protein-coding genes by the combined power of in silico modeling of RNA/DNA interactions and respective wet lab approaches, in the context of ephrinA5-dependent regulation of cellular motility. We found that Snhg15, a cancer-related lncRNA, forms a triplex structure with the Ncam1 promoter and interacts with DNMT1. EphrinA5 stimulation leads to reduced Snhg15 expression, diminished Snhg15/DNMT1 interaction and decreased DNMT1 association with the Ncam1 promoter. These findings can explain the attenuated Ncam1 promoter methylation and elevated Ncam1 expression that in turn elicits decreased cell motility of CB cells. Hence, we propose that ephrinA5 influences gene transcription via lncRNA-targeted DNA methylation underlying the regulation of cellular motility.
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