The influenza M2 protein forms an acid-activated tetrameric proton channel important for the virus lifecycle. Residue His37 in the transmembrane domain is responsible for channel activation and proton selectivity. While the structure and dynamics of His37 have been well studied in TM peptide constructs, it has not been investigated in the presence of the full cytoplasmic domain, which increases the proton conductivity by 2-fold compared to the TM peptide. We report here 13C and 15N chemical shifts of His37 in the cytoplasmic-containing M2(21-97), and show that cationic histidines are already present at neutral pH, in contrast to the TM peptide, indicating that the cytoplasmic domain shifts the protonation equilibria. Quantification of the imidazole 15N intensities yielded two resolved proton dissociation constants (pKa’s) of 7.1 and 5.4, which differ from the TM result but resemble the M2(18–60) result, suggesting cooperative proton binding. The average His37 pKa is higher for M2(21–97) than for the shorter constructs. We attribute this higher pKa to direct and indirect effects of the cytoplasmic domain, which is rich in acidic residues. 2D 13C-13C correlation spectra reveal seven His37 Cα-Cβ cross peaks at different pH, some of which are unique to the cytoplasmic-containing M2 and correspond to more ideal α-helical conformations. Based on the pH at which these chemical shifts appear and their sidechain structures, we assign these conformations to His37 in differently charged tetramers. Thus, the cytoplasmic domain facilitates proton conduction through the transmembrane pore by modifying the His37-water proton-exchange equilibria and the His37 backbone conformational distribution.
We introduce a Python-based program that utilizes the large database of 13 C and 15 N chemical shifts in the Biological Magnetic Resonance Bank to rapidly predict the amino acid type and secondary structure from correlated chemical shifts. The program, called PACSYlite Unified Query (PLUQ), is designed to help assign peaks obtained from 2D 13 C-13 C, 15 N-13 C, or 3D 15 N-13 C-13 C magic-angle-spinning correlation spectra. We show secondary-structure specific 2D 13 C-13 C correlation maps of all twenty amino acids, constructed from a chemical shift database of 262,209 residues. The maps reveal interesting conformation-dependent chemical shift distributions and facilitate searching of correlation peaks during amino-acid type assignment. Based on these correlations, PLUQ outputs the most likely amino acid types and the associated secondary structures from inputs of experimental chemical shifts. We test the assignment accuracy using four high-quality protein structures. Based on only the Cα and Cβ chemical shifts, the highest-ranked PLUQ assignments were 40-60 % correct in both the amino-acid type and the secondary structure. For three input chemical shifts (CO-Cα-Cβ or N-Cα-Cβ), the first-ranked assignments were correct for 60 % of the residues, while within the top three predictions, the correct assignments were found for 80 % of the residues. PLUQ and the chemical shift maps are expected to be useful at the first stage of sequential assignment, for combination with automated sequential assignment programs, and for highly disordered proteins for which secondary structure analysis is the main goal of structure determination.
A novel algorithm for digital infinite-impulse response (IIR) filter design is proposed in this paper. The suggested algorithm is a kind of cooperative coevolutionary genetic algorithm. It considers the magnitude response and the phase response simultaneously and also tries to find the lowest filter order. The structure and the coefficients of the digital IIR filter are coded separately, and they evolve coordinately as two different species, i.e., the control species and the coefficient species. The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II is used for the control species to guide the algorithms toward three objectives simultaneously. The simulated annealing is used for the coefficient species to keep the diversity. These two strategies make the cooperative coevolutionary process work effectively. Comparisons with another genetic algorithm-based digital IIR filter design method by numerical experiments show that the suggested algorithm is effective and robust in digital IIR filter design.
Nonlamellar lipid membranes are frequently induced by proteins that fuse, bend, and cut membranes. Understanding the mechanism of action of these proteins requires the elucidation of the membrane morphologies that they induce. While hexagonal phases and lamellar phases are readily identified by their characteristic solid-state NMR lineshapes, bicontinuous lipid cubic phases are more difficult to discern, since the static NMR spectra of cubic-phase lipids consist of an isotropic 31P or 2H peak, indistinguishable from the spectra of isotropic membrane morphologies such as micelles and small vesicles. To date, small-angle X-ray scattering is the only method to identify bicontinuous lipid cubic phases. To explore unique NMR signatures of lipid cubic phases, we first describe the orientation distribution of lipid molecules in cubic phases and simulate the static 31P chemical shift lineshapes of oriented cubic-phase membranes in the limit of slow lateral diffusion. We then show that 31P T2 relaxation times differ significantly between isotropic micelles and cubic-phase membranes: the latter exhibit two-orders-of magnitude shorter T2 relaxation times. These differences are explained by the different timescales of lipid lateral diffusion on the cubic-phase surface versus the timescales of micelle tumbling. Using this relaxation NMR approach, we investigated a DOPE membrane containing the transmembrane domain (TMD) of a viral fusion protein. The static 31P spectrum of DOPE shows an isotropic peak, whose T2 relaxation times correspond to that of a cubic phase. Thus, the viral fusion protein TMD induces negative Gaussian curvature, which is an intrinsic characteristic of cubic phases, to the DOPE membrane. This curvature induction has important implications to the mechanism of virus-cell fusion. This study establishes a simple NMR diagnostic probe of lipid cubic phases, which is expected to be useful for studying many protein-induced membrane remodeling phenomena in biology.
A computational method based on a theory for turbomachinery blading design in three-dimensional inviscid flow is applied to a parametric design study of a radial inflow turbine wheel. As the method requires the specification of swirl distribution, a technique for its smooth generation within the blade region is proposed. Excellent agreements have been obtained between the computed results from this design method and those from direct Euler computations, demonstrating the correspondence and consistency between the two. The computed results indicate the sensitivity of the pressure distribution to a lean in the stacking axis and a minor alteration in the hub/shroud profiles. Analysis based on a Navier–Stokes solver shows no breakdown of flow within the designed blade passage and agreement with that from a design calculation; thus the flow in the designed turbine rotor closely approximates that of an inviscid one. These calculations illustrate the use of a design method coupled to an analysis tool for establishing guidelines and criteria for designing turbomachinery blading.
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