The Diels-Alderase ribozyme, an in vitro-evolved ribonucleic acid enzyme, accelerates the formation of carbon-carbon bonds between an anthracene diene and a maleimide dienophile in a [4 + 2] cycloaddition, a reaction with broad application in organic chemistry. Here, the Diels-Alderase ribozyme is examined via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in both crystalline and aqueous solution environments. The simulations indicate that the catalytic pocket is highly dynamic. At low Mg(2+) ion concentrations, inactive states with the catalytic pocket closed dominate. Stabilization of the enzymatically active, open state of the catalytic pocket requires a high concentration of Mg(2+) ions (e.g., 54 mM), with cations binding to specific phosphate sites on the backbone of the residues bridging the opposite strands of the pocket. The free energy profile for pocket opening at high Mg(2+) cation concentration exhibits a double minimum, with a barrier to opening of approximately 5.5 kJ/mol and the closed state approximately 3 kJ/mol lower than the open state. Selection of the open state on substrate binding leads to the catalytic activity of the ribozyme. The simulation results explain structurally the experimental observation that full catalytic activity depends on the Mg(2+) ion concentration.

Edited by Christian Griesingeris debated. Here, multiple independent molecular dynamics simulations suggest that Mg 2þ B is crucial for achieving a tightly bound protein-DNA complex and stabilizing a conformation that allows cleavage. In the absence of Mg 2þ B in all simulations the protein-DNA hydrogen bond network is significantly disrupted and the sharp kink at the central base pair step of the DNA, which is observed in the two-metal complex, is not present. Also, the active site residues rearrange in such a way that the formation of a nucleophile, required for DNA hydrolysis, is unlikely.

The Diels-Alderase ribozyme is an in vitro-evolved ribonucleic acid enzyme that catalyzes a [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between an anthracene diene and a maleimide dienophile. The ribozyme can in principle be used to selectively synthesize only one product enantiomer, depending on which of the two entrances to the catalytic pocket, "front" or "back", the substrate is permitted to use. Here, we investigate stereoselection and substrate recognition in the ribozyme by means of multiple molecular dynamics simulations, performed on each of the two substrates individually in the pocket, on the reactant state, and on the product state. The results are consistent with a binding mechanism in which the maleimide likely binds first followed by the anthracene, which enters preferentially through the front door. The free energy profiles for anthracene binding indicate that the pre-(R,R)-enantiomer conformation is slightly preferred, in agreement with the experimentally observed small enantiomeric excess of the (R,R)-enantiomer of the product. The reactant state is stabilized by the simultaneous presence of both substrates bound to their binding sites in the hydrophobic pocket as well as by stacking interactions between them.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a lethal neurodegenerative disease, with no effective pharmacological treatment. Its pathogenesis is unknown, although a subset of the cases is linked to genetic mutations. A significant fraction of the mutations occur in one protein, copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1). The toxic function of mutant SOD1 has not been elucidated, but damage to the metal site of the protein is believed to play a major role. In this work, we study the electrostatic loop of SOD1, which we had previously proposed to work as a "solvent seal" isolating the metal site from water molecules. Out of the five contact points identified between the electrostatic loop and its dock in the rest of the protein, three points were found to be affected by ALS-linked mutations, with a total of five mutations identified. The effect of the five mutations was studied using methods of computational chemistry. We found that four of the mutations destabilize the proposed solvent seal, while the fifth mutation directly affects the metal-site stability. In the two contact points unaffected by ALS-linked mutations, the side chains of the residues were not found to play a stabilizing role. Our results show that the docking of the electrostatic loop to the rest of SOD1 plays a role in ALS pathogenesis, in support of that structure acting as a solvent barrier for the metal site. The results provide a unified pathogenic mechanism for five different ALS-linked mutations of SOD1.

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