Proteins with β-sandwich and β-grasp topologies are resistant to mechanical unfolding as shown by single-molecule force spectroscopy studies. Their high mechanical stability has generally been associated with the mechanical clamp geometry present at the termini. However, there is also evidence for the importance of interactions other than the mechanical clamp in providing mechanical stability, which needs to be tested thoroughly. Here, we report the mechanical unfolding properties of ubiquitin-like proteins (SUMO1 and SUMO2) and their comparison with those of ubiquitin. Although ubiquitin and SUMOs have similar size and structural topology, they differ in their sequences and structural contacts, making them ideal candidates to understand the variations in the mechanical stability of a given protein topology. We observe a two-state unfolding pathway for SUMO1 and SUMO2, similar to that of ubiquitin. Nevertheless, the unfolding forces of SUMO1 (∼130 pN) and SUMO2 (∼120 pN) are lower than that of ubiquitin (∼190 pN) at a pulling speed of 400 nm/s, indicating their lower mechanical stability. The mechanical stabilities of SUMO proteins and ubiquitin are well correlated with the number of interresidue contacts present in their structures. From pulling speed-dependent mechanical unfolding experiments and Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the unfolding potential widths of SUMO1 (∼0.51 nm) and SUMO2 (∼0.33 nm) are much larger than that of ubiquitin (∼0.19 nm), indicating that SUMO1 is six times and SUMO2 is three times mechanically more flexible than ubiquitin. These findings might also be important in understanding the functional differences between ubiquitin and SUMOs.

Single amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine and glycine) have been evaluated for fibrillar structure under neutral, aqueous conditions using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, circular dichroism, FTIR, and Congo red and thioflavin T histological dye assays. All these techniques prove that aromatic amino acids, such as phenylalanine and tyrosine, do in fact form distinct fibrillar structures albeit without any secondary structural characteristics such as an a-helix or a b-sheet. The nature of the interactions between neighbouring amino acids in the fibrillar structures are purported to simply be non-covalent p-p interactions.

AAA+ proteases and remodeling machines couple hydrolysis of ATP to mechanical unfolding and translocation of proteins following recognition of sequence tags called degrons. Here, we use singlemolecule optical trapping to determine the mechanochemistry of two AAA+ proteases, Escherichia coli ClpXP and ClpAP, as they unfold and translocate substrates containing multiple copies of the titin I27 domain during degradation initiated from the N terminus. Previous studies characterized degradation of related substrates with C-terminal degrons. We find that ClpXP and ClpAP unfold the wild-type titin I27 domain and a destabilized variant far more rapidly when pulling from the N terminus, whereas translocation speed is reduced only modestly in the N-to-C direction. These measurements establish the role of directionality in mechanical protein degradation, show that degron placement can change whether unfolding or translocation is rate limiting, and establish that one or a few power strokes are sufficient to unfold some protein domains.protein degradation | AAA+ proteases | directional unfolding | AAA+ motors

Experimental studies on the folding and unfolding of large multi-domain proteins are challenging, given the proteins' complex energy landscapes with multiple intermediates. Here, we report a mechanical unfolding study of a 346-residue, two-domain leucine binding protein (LBP) from the bacterial periplasm. Forced unfolding of LBP is a prerequisite for its translocation across the cytoplasmic membrane into the bacterial periplasm. During the mechanical stretching of LBP, we observe that 38% of the unfolding flux followed a two-state pathway, giving rise to a single unfolding force peak at ~70 pN with an unfolding contour length of 120 nm in constant-velocity single-molecule pulling experiments. The remaining 62% of the unfolding flux followed multiple three-state pathways, with intermediates having unfolding contour lengths in the range ~20-85 nm. These results suggest that the energy landscape of LBP is complex, with multiple intermediate states, and a large fraction of molecules go through intermediate states during the unfolding process. Furthermore, the presence of the ligand leucine increased the unfolding flux through the two-state pathway from 38% to 65%, indicating the influence of ligand binding on the energy landscape. This study suggests that unfolding through parallel pathways might be a general mechanism for the large two-domain proteins that are translocated to the bacterial periplasmic space.

A- and B-type lamins are intermediate filament proteins constituting the nuclear lamina underneath the nuclear envelope thereby conferring proper shape and mechanical rigidity to the nucleus. Lamin proteins are also shown to be related diversely to basic nuclear processes. More than 400 mutations in human lamin A protein alone have been reported to produce at least 11 different disease conditions jointly termed as laminopathies. These mutations in lamin A are scattered throughout its helical rod domain, as well as the C-terminal domain containing the conserved Ig-fold region. The commonality of phenotypes in all these diseases is characterized by misshapen nuclei of the affected tissues which might stem from altered rigidity of the supporting lamina hence lamins. Here we have focused on autosomal dominant Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy, one such laminopathy where R453W is the causative mutation located in the Ig domain of lamin A. We have investigated by single-molecule force spectroscopy how a stretching mechanical perturbation senses the destabilizing effect of the mutation in the lamin A Ig domain and compared the mechanoelastic properties of the mutant R453W with that of the wild-type in conjunction with steered molecular dynamics. Furthermore, we have shown the interaction of Ig domain with emerin, another key player and interacting partner in the pathogenesis of EDMD, is disrupted in the R453W mutant. This altered mechanoresistance of Ig domain itself and consequent uncoupling of lamin A-emerin interaction might underlie the altered mechanotransduction properties of EDMD affected nuclei.

Graphical Abstract Highlights d Single-molecule studies with ClpAP protease reveal roles for its two ATPase rings d D1-ring-inactive ClpAP has mechanical unfolding and translocation defects d A dramatic effect is that D1-defective ClpAP pauses frequently during translocation d Thus, D1 functions as an anti-pausing motor to assist the more powerful D2 ring

Posttranslational modification by small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs), known as SUMOylation, is a key regulatory event in many eukaryotic cellular processes in which SUMOs interact with a large number of target proteins. SUMO binding motifs (SBMs) are small peptides derived from these target proteins that interact noncovalently with SUMOs and induce conformational changes. To determine the effect of SBMs on the mechanical properties of SUMO1 (the first member of the human SUMO family), we performed single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments on SUMO1/SBM complexes. The unfolding force of SUMO1 (at a pulling speed of 400 nm/s) increased from ∼ 130 pN to ∼ 170 pN upon binding to SBMs, indicating mechanical stabilization upon complexation. Pulling-speed-dependent experiments and Monte Carlo simulations measured a large decrease in distance to the unfolding transition state for SUMO1 upon SBM binding, which is by far the largest change measured for any ligand binding protein. The stiffness of SUMO1 (measured as a spring constant for the deformation response along the line joining the N- and C-termini) increased upon SBM binding from ∼ 1 N/m to ∼ 3.5 N/m. The relatively higher flexibility of ligand-free SUMO1 might play a role in accessing various conformations before binding to a target.

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