RESUMO
It is unclear how disease mutations impact intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs), which lack a stable folded structure. These mutations, while prevalent in disease, are frequently neglected or annotated as variants of unknown significance. Biomolecular phase separation, a physical process often mediated by IDRs, has increasingly appreciated roles in cellular organization and regulation. We find that autism spectrum disorder (ASD)- and cancer-associated proteins are enriched for predicted phase separation propensities, suggesting that IDR mutations disrupt phase separation in key cellular processes. More generally, we hypothesize that combinations of small-effect IDR mutations perturb phase separation, potentially contributing to "missing heritability" in complex disease susceptibility.
Assuntos
Doença/genética , Mutação/genética , Cromatina/metabolismo , Humanos , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/genética , Modelos Biológicos , Proteoma/metabolismoRESUMO
In his commentary in this issue of Molecular Cell,1 Struhl reasons that the term "intrinsically disordered regions" represents a vague and confusing concept for protein function. However, the term "intrinsically disordered" highlights the important physicochemical characteristic of conformational heterogeneity. Thus, "intrinsically disordered" is the counterpart to the term "folded, " with neither term having specific functional implications.
Assuntos
Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/metabolismo , Conformação ProteicaRESUMO
Nucleosomes, the basic structural units of chromatin, hinder recruitment and activity of various DNA repair proteins, necessitating modifications that enhance DNA accessibility. Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation (PARylation) of proteins near damage sites is an essential initiation step in several DNA-repair pathways; however, its effects on nucleosome structural dynamics and organization are unclear. Using NMR, cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM), and biochemical assays, we show that PARylation enhances motions of the histone H3 tail and DNA, leaving the configuration of the core intact while also stimulating nuclease digestion and ligation of nicked nucleosomal DNA by LIG3. PARylation disrupted interactions between nucleosomes, preventing self-association. Addition of LIG3 and XRCC1 to PARylated nucleosomes generated condensates that selectively partition DNA repair-associated proteins in a PAR- and phosphorylation-dependent manner in vitro. Our results establish that PARylation influences nucleosomes across different length scales, extending from the atom-level motions of histone tails to the mesoscale formation of condensates with selective compositions.
Assuntos
Nucleossomos , Poli ADP Ribosilação , Nucleossomos/genética , Poli ADP Ribosilação/genética , Poli(ADP-Ribose) Polimerases/metabolismo , Microscopia Crioeletrônica , Condensados Biomoleculares , Reparo do DNA , Histonas/genética , Histonas/metabolismo , DNA/genética , DNA/metabolismo , Dano ao DNA , Poli(ADP-Ribose) Polimerase-1/metabolismoRESUMO
As phase separation is found in an increasing variety of biological contexts, additional challenges have arisen in understanding the underlying principles of condensate formation and function. We spoke with researchers across disciplines about their views on the ever-changing landscape of biomolecular condensates.
Assuntos
Condensados Biomoleculares , Pesquisadores , Humanos , BiologiaRESUMO
Glutamate is traditionally viewed as the first messenger to activate NMDAR (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor)-dependent cell death pathways in stroke1,2, but unsuccessful clinical trials with NMDAR antagonists implicate the engagement of other mechanisms3-7. Here we show that glutamate and its structural analogues, including NMDAR antagonist L-AP5 (also known as APV), robustly potentiate currents mediated by acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) associated with acidosis-induced neurotoxicity in stroke4. Glutamate increases the affinity of ASICs for protons and their open probability, aggravating ischaemic neurotoxicity in both in vitro and in vivo models. Site-directed mutagenesis, structure-based modelling and functional assays reveal a bona fide glutamate-binding cavity in the extracellular domain of ASIC1a. Computational drug screening identified a small molecule, LK-2, that binds to this cavity and abolishes glutamate-dependent potentiation of ASIC currents but spares NMDARs. LK-2 reduces the infarct volume and improves sensorimotor recovery in a mouse model of ischaemic stroke, reminiscent of that seen in mice with Asic1a knockout or knockout of other cation channels4-7. We conclude that glutamate functions as a positive allosteric modulator for ASICs to exacerbate neurotoxicity, and preferential targeting of the glutamate-binding site on ASICs over that on NMDARs may be strategized for developing stroke therapeutics lacking the psychotic side effects of NMDAR antagonists.
Assuntos
Canais Iônicos Sensíveis a Ácido , Isquemia Encefálica , Ácido Glutâmico , Animais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , 2-Amino-5-fosfonovalerato/efeitos adversos , 2-Amino-5-fosfonovalerato/metabolismo , 2-Amino-5-fosfonovalerato/farmacologia , Canais Iônicos Sensíveis a Ácido/química , Canais Iônicos Sensíveis a Ácido/deficiência , Canais Iônicos Sensíveis a Ácido/efeitos dos fármacos , Canais Iônicos Sensíveis a Ácido/genética , Canais Iônicos Sensíveis a Ácido/metabolismo , Regulação Alostérica/efeitos dos fármacos , Sítios de Ligação/genética , Isquemia Encefálica/induzido quimicamente , Isquemia Encefálica/tratamento farmacológico , Isquemia Encefálica/metabolismo , Isquemia Encefálica/patologia , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Avaliação Pré-Clínica de Medicamentos , Ácido Glutâmico/análogos & derivados , Ácido Glutâmico/metabolismo , Ácido Glutâmico/farmacologia , Ácido Glutâmico/toxicidade , Camundongos Knockout , Mutagênese Sítio-Dirigida , Prótons , Receptores de N-Metil-D-Aspartato/antagonistas & inibidores , Receptores de N-Metil-D-Aspartato/química , Receptores de N-Metil-D-Aspartato/metabolismoRESUMO
Microexons represent the most highly conserved class of alternative splicing, yet their functions are poorly understood. Here, we focus on closely related neuronal microexons overlapping prion-like domains in the translation initiation factors, eIF4G1 and eIF4G3, the splicing of which is activity dependent and frequently disrupted in autism. CRISPR-Cas9 deletion of these microexons selectively upregulates synaptic proteins that control neuronal activity and plasticity and further triggers a gene expression program mirroring that of activated neurons. Mice lacking the Eif4g1 microexon display social behavior, learning, and memory deficits, accompanied by altered hippocampal synaptic plasticity. We provide evidence that the eIF4G microexons function as a translational brake by causing ribosome stalling, through their propensity to promote the coalescence of cytoplasmic granule components associated with translation repression, including the fragile X mental retardation protein FMRP. The results thus reveal an autism-disrupted mechanism by which alternative splicing specializes neuronal translation to control higher order cognitive functioning.
Assuntos
Transtorno Autístico/fisiopatologia , Disfunção Cognitiva/patologia , Fator de Iniciação Eucariótico 4G/fisiologia , Éxons/genética , Proteína do X Frágil da Deficiência Intelectual/metabolismo , Neuroblastoma/patologia , Neurônios/patologia , Animais , Comportamento Animal , Disfunção Cognitiva/genética , Disfunção Cognitiva/metabolismo , Proteína do X Frágil da Deficiência Intelectual/genética , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Neuroblastoma/genética , Neuroblastoma/metabolismo , Neurogênese , Neurônios/metabolismo , Biossíntese de Proteínas , Splicing de RNA , Células Tumorais CultivadasRESUMO
In this issue of Molecular Cell, Simon et al. (2019) demonstrate that phase separation of an engineered intrinsically disordered protein can be used to control in vitro translation via the formation of artificial ribonucleoprotein granules.
Assuntos
Células Artificiais , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Ciência dos Materiais , Organelas , RibonucleoproteínasRESUMO
Stress granules and P-bodies are cytosolic biomolecular condensates that dynamically form by the phase separation of RNAs and proteins. They participate in translational control and buffer the proteome. Upon stress, global translation halts and mRNAs bound to the translational machinery and other proteins coalesce to form stress granules (SGs). Similarly, translationally stalled mRNAs devoid of translation initiation factors shuttle to P-bodies (PBs). Here, we review the cumulative progress made in defining the protein components that associate with mammalian SGs and PBs. We discuss the composition of SG and PB proteomes, supported by a new user-friendly database (http://rnagranuledb.lunenfeld.ca/) that curates current literature evidence for genes or proteins associated with SGs or PBs. As previously observed, the SG and PB proteomes are biased toward intrinsically disordered regions and have a high propensity to contain primary sequence features favoring phase separation. We also provide an outlook on how the various components of SGs and PBs may cooperate to organize and form membraneless organelles.
Assuntos
Grânulos Citoplasmáticos/metabolismo , Proteoma/metabolismo , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Animais , HumanosRESUMO
The AlphaFold Protein Structure Database contains predicted structures for millions of proteins. For the majority of human proteins that contain intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), which do not adopt a stable structure, it is generally assumed that these regions have low AlphaFold2 confidence scores that reflect low-confidence structural predictions. Here, we show that AlphaFold2 assigns confident structures to nearly 15% of human IDRs. By comparison to experimental NMR data for a subset of IDRs that are known to conditionally fold (i.e., upon binding or under other specific conditions), we find that AlphaFold2 often predicts the structure of the conditionally folded state. Based on databases of IDRs that are known to conditionally fold, we estimate that AlphaFold2 can identify conditionally folding IDRs at a precision as high as 88% at a 10% false positive rate, which is remarkable considering that conditionally folded IDR structures were minimally represented in its training data. We find that human disease mutations are nearly fivefold enriched in conditionally folded IDRs over IDRs in general and that up to 80% of IDRs in prokaryotes are predicted to conditionally fold, compared to less than 20% of eukaryotic IDRs. These results indicate that a large majority of IDRs in the proteomes of human and other eukaryotes function in the absence of conditional folding, but the regions that do acquire folds are more sensitive to mutations. We emphasize that the AlphaFold2 predictions do not reveal functionally relevant structural plasticity within IDRs and cannot offer realistic ensemble representations of conditionally folded IDRs.
Assuntos
Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Humanos , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/química , Eucariotos/metabolismo , Conformação ProteicaRESUMO
MOTIVATION: Sidechain rotamer libraries of the common amino acids of a protein are useful for folded protein structure determination and for generating ensembles of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). However, much of protein function is modulated beyond the translated sequence through the introduction of post-translational modifications (PTMs). RESULTS: In this work, we have provided a curated set of side chain rotamers for the most common PTMs derived from the RCSB PDB database, including phosphorylated, methylated, and acetylated sidechains. Our rotamer libraries improve upon existing methods such as SIDEpro, Rosetta, and AlphaFold3 in predicting the experimental structures for PTMs in folded proteins. In addition, we showcase our PTM libraries in full use by generating ensembles with the Monte Carlo Side Chain Entropy (MCSCE) for folded proteins, and combining MCSCE with the Local Disordered Region Sampling algorithms within IDPConformerGenerator for proteins with intrinsically disordered regions. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The codes for dihedral angle computations and library creation are available at https://github.com/THGLab/ptm_sc.git.
Assuntos
Bases de Dados de Proteínas , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Processamento de Proteína Pós-Traducional , Proteínas , Proteínas/química , Proteínas/metabolismo , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/química , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/metabolismo , Algoritmos , Dobramento de Proteína , Método de Monte Carlo , Conformação Proteica , Aminoácidos/química , Aminoácidos/metabolismo , SoftwareRESUMO
Electrostatic interactions and charge balance are important for the formation of biomolecular condensates involving proteins and nucleic acids. However, a detailed, atomistic picture of the charge distribution around proteins during the phase-separation process is lacking. Here, we use solution NMR spectroscopy to measure residue-specific near-surface electrostatic potentials (ÏENS) of the positively charged carboxyl-terminal intrinsically disordered 103 residues of CAPRIN1, an RNA-binding protein localized to membraneless organelles playing an important role in messenger RNA (mRNA) storage and translation. Measured ÏENS values have been mapped along the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-induced phase-separation trajectory. In the absence of ATP, ÏENS values for the mixed state of CAPRIN1 are positive and large and progressively decrease as ATP is added. This is coupled to increasing interchain interactions, particularly between aromatic-rich and arginine-rich regions of the protein. Upon phase separation, CAPRIN1 molecules in the condensed phase are neutral (ÏENS [Formula: see text] 0 mV), with â¼five molecules of ATP associated with each CAPRIN1 chain. Increasing the ATP concentration further inverts the CAPRIN1 electrostatic potential, so that molecules become negatively charged, especially in aromatic-rich regions, leading to re-entrance into a mixed phase. Our results collectively show that a subtle balance between electrostatic repulsion and interchain attractive interactions regulates CAPRIN1 phase separation and provides insight into how nucleotides, such as ATP, can induce formation of and subsequently dissolve protein condensates.
Assuntos
Fenômenos Bioquímicos , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Transição de Fase , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA , Eletricidade Estática , Trifosfato de Adenosina/metabolismo , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/química , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/metabolismo , Ressonância Magnética Nuclear Biomolecular , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/química , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/metabolismo , Propriedades de SuperfícieRESUMO
Biomolecular condensates concentrate proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecules and play an essential role in many biological processes. Their formation is tuned by a balance between energetically favorable and unfavorable contacts, with charge-charge interactions playing a central role in some systems. The positively charged intrinsically disordered carboxy-terminal region of the RNA-binding protein CAPRIN1 is one such example, phase separating upon addition of negatively charged ATP or high concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl). Using solution NMR spectroscopy, we measured residue-specific near-surface electrostatic potentials (ÏENS) of CAPRIN1 along its NaCl-induced phase separation trajectory to compare with those obtained using ATP. In both cases, electrostatic shielding decreases ÏENS values, yet surface potentials of CAPRIN1 in the two condensates can be different, depending on the amount of NaCl or ATP added. Our results establish that even small differences in ÏENS can significantly affect the level of protein enrichment and the mechanical properties of the condensed phase, leading, potentially, to the regulation of biological processes.
Assuntos
Hidrodinâmica , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA , Trifosfato de Adenosina , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/química , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/química , Cloreto de Sódio/metabolismo , Eletricidade EstáticaRESUMO
O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) is an essential glycosylating enzyme that catalyzes the addition of N-acetylglucosamine to serine or threonine residues of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. The enzyme glycosylates a broad range of peptide sequences and the prediction of glycosylation sites has proven challenging. The lack of an experimentally verified set of polypeptide sequences that are not glycosylated by OGT has made prediction of legitimate glycosylation sites more difficult. Here, we tested a number of intrinsically disordered protein regions as substrates of OGT to establish a set of sequences that are not glycosylated by OGT. The negative data set suggests an amino acid compositional bias for OGT targets. This compositional bias was validated by modifying the amino acid composition of the protein fused in sarcoma (FUS) to enhance glycosylation. NMR experiments demonstrate that the tetratricopeptide repeat region of OGT can bind FUS and that glycosylation-promoting mutations enhance binding. These results provide evidence that the tetratricopeptide repeat region recognizes disordered segments of substrates with particular compositions to promote glycosylation, providing insight into the broad specificity of OGT.
Assuntos
N-Acetilglucosaminiltransferases , Aminoácidos/metabolismo , Glicosilação , Mutação , N-Acetilglucosaminiltransferases/metabolismo , Humanos , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/química , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/genética , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/metabolismo , Biologia Computacional , Imageamento por Ressonância MagnéticaRESUMO
Biomolecular condensates can influence cellular function in a number of ways, including by changing the structural dynamics and conformational equilibria of the molecules partitioned within them. Here we use methyl transverse relaxation optimized spectroscopy (methyl-TROSY) NMR in conjunction with 2'-O-methyl labeling of RNA to characterize the thermodynamics and kinetics of RNA-RNA base pairing in condensates formed by the C-terminal intrinsically disordered region of CAPRIN1, an RNA-binding protein involved in RNA transport, translation, and stability. CAPRIN1 condensates destabilize RNA-RNA base pairing, resulting from a â¼270-fold decrease and a concomitant â¼15-fold increase in the on- and off-rates for duplex formation, respectively. The â¼30-fold slower diffusion of RNA single strands within the condensed phase partially accounts for the reduced on-rate, but the further â¼9-fold reduction likely reflects shedding of CAPRIN1 chains that are interacting with the RNA prior to hybridization. Our study emphasizes the important role of protein solvation in modulating nucleic acid recognition processes inside condensates.
Assuntos
Hibridização de Ácido Nucleico , RNA , Termodinâmica , RNA/química , Cinética , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico , Pareamento de Bases , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/química , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/metabolismo , Separação de FasesRESUMO
Exciting recent work has highlighted that numerous cellular compartments lack encapsulating lipid bilayers (often called "membraneless organelles"), and that their structure and function are central to the regulation of key biological processes, including transcription, RNA splicing, translation, and more. These structures have been described as "biomolecular condensates" to underscore that biomolecules can be significantly concentrated in them. Many condensates, including RNA granules and processing bodies, are enriched in proteins and nucleic acids. Biomolecular condensates exhibit a range of material states from liquid- to gel-like, with the physical process of liquid-liquid phase separation implicated in driving or contributing to their formation. To date, in vitro studies of phase separation have provided mechanistic insights into the formation and function of condensates. However, the link between the often micron-sized in vitro condensates with nanometer-sized cellular correlates has not been well established. Consequently, questions have arisen as to whether cellular structures below the optical resolution limit can be considered biomolecular condensates. Similarly, the distinction between condensates and discrete dynamic hub complexes is debated. Here we discuss the key features that define biomolecular condensates to help understand behaviors of structures containing and generating RNA.
Assuntos
Condensados Biomoleculares/química , Corpos de Processamento/química , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/química , RNA/química , Ribonucleoproteínas/química , Grânulos de Estresse/química , Condensados Biomoleculares/metabolismo , Células Eucarióticas/química , Células Eucarióticas/metabolismo , Substâncias Macromoleculares/química , Substâncias Macromoleculares/metabolismo , Corpos de Processamento/metabolismo , Biossíntese de Proteínas , RNA/metabolismo , Splicing de RNA , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/metabolismo , Ribonucleoproteínas/metabolismo , Grânulos de Estresse/metabolismo , Terminologia como Assunto , Transcrição GênicaRESUMO
SUMMARY: The Local Disordered Region Sampling (LDRS, pronounced loaders) tool is a new module developed for IDPConformerGenerator, a previously validated approach to model intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). The IDPConformerGenerator LDRS module provides a method for generating all-atom conformations of intrinsically disordered protein regions at N- and C-termini of and in loops or linkers between folded regions of an existing protein structure. These disordered elements often lead to missing coordinates in experimental structures or low confidence in predicted structures. Requiring only a pre-existing PDB or mmCIF formatted structural template of the protein with missing coordinates or with predicted confidence scores and its full-length primary sequence, LDRS will automatically generate physically meaningful conformational ensembles of the missing flexible regions to complete the full-length protein. The capabilities of the LDRS tool of IDPConformerGenerator include modeling phosphorylation sites using enhanced Monte Carlo-Side Chain Entropy, transmembrane proteins within an all-atom bilayer, and multi-chain complexes. The modeling capacity of LDRS capitalizes on the modularity, the ability to be used as a library and via command-line, and the computational speed of the IDPConformerGenerator platform. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The LDRS module is part of the IDPConformerGenerator modeling suite, which can be downloaded from GitHub at https://github.com/julie-forman-kay-lab/IDPConformerGenerator. IDPConformerGenerator is written in Python3 and works on Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS versions that support DSSP. Users can utilize LDRS's Python API for scripting the same way they can use any part of IDPConformerGenerator's API, by importing functions from the "idpconfgen.ldrs_helper" library. Otherwise, LDRS can be used as a command line interface application within IDPConformerGenerator. Full documentation is available within the command-line interface as well as on IDPConformerGenerator's official documentation pages (https://idpconformergenerator.readthedocs.io/en/latest/).
Assuntos
Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Software , Biblioteca Gênica , Proteínas de Membrana , DocumentaçãoRESUMO
The role of biomolecular condensates in regulating biological function and the importance of dynamic interactions involving intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs) in their assembly are increasingly appreciated. While computational and theoretical approaches have provided significant insights into IDR phase behavior, establishing the critical interactions that govern condensation with atomic resolution through experiment is more difficult, given the lack of applicability of standard structural biological tools to study these highly dynamic large-scale associated states. NMR can be a valuable method, but the dynamic and viscous nature of condensed IDRs presents challenges. Using the C-terminal IDR (607 to 709) of CAPRIN1, an RNA-binding protein found in stress granules, P bodies, and messenger RNA transport granules, we have developed and applied a variety of NMR methods for studies of condensed IDR states to provide insights into interactions driving and modulating phase separation. We identify ATP interactions with CAPRIN1 that can enhance or reduce phase separation. We also quantify specific side-chain and backbone interactions within condensed CAPRIN1 that define critical sequences for phase separation and that are reduced by O-GlcNAcylation known to occur during cell cycle and stress. This expanded NMR toolkit that has been developed for characterizing IDR condensates has generated detailed interaction information relevant for understanding CAPRIN1 biology and informing general models of phase separation, with significant potential future applications to illuminate dynamic structure-function relationships in other biological condensates.
Assuntos
Trifosfato de Adenosina/química , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/química , Simulação de Dinâmica Molecular , Humanos , Ressonância Magnética Nuclear Biomolecular , Domínios ProteicosRESUMO
Accurate potential energy models of proteins must describe the many different types of noncovalent interactions that contribute to a protein's stability and structure. Pi-pi contacts are ubiquitous structural motifs in all proteins, occurring between aromatic and nonaromatic residues and play a nontrivial role in protein folding and in the formation of biomolecular condensates. Guided by a geometric criterion for isolating pi-pi contacts from classical molecular dynamics simulations of proteins, we use quantum mechanical energy decomposition analysis to determine the molecular interactions that stabilize different pi-pi contact motifs. We find that neutral pi-pi interactions in proteins are dominated by Pauli repulsion and London dispersion rather than repulsive quadrupole electrostatics, which is central to the textbook Hunter-Sanders model. This results in a notable lack of variability in the interaction profiles of neutral pi-pi contacts even with extreme changes in the dielectric medium, explaining the prevalence of pi-stacked arrangements in and between proteins. We also find interactions involving pi-containing anions and cations to be extremely malleable, interacting like neutral pi-pi contacts in polar media and like typical ion-pi interactions in nonpolar environments. Like-charged pairs such as arginine-arginine contacts are particularly sensitive to the polarity of their immediate surroundings and exhibit canonical pi-pi stacking behavior only if the interaction is mediated by environmental effects, such as aqueous solvation.
RESUMO
A major challenge to the characterization of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), which are widespread in the proteome, but relatively poorly understood, is the identification of molecular features that mediate functions of these regions, such as short motifs, amino acid repeats and physicochemical properties. Here, we introduce a proteome-scale feature discovery approach for IDRs. Our approach, which we call "reverse homology", exploits the principle that important functional features are conserved over evolution. We use this as a contrastive learning signal for deep learning: given a set of homologous IDRs, the neural network has to correctly choose a held-out homolog from another set of IDRs sampled randomly from the proteome. We pair reverse homology with a simple architecture and standard interpretation techniques, and show that the network learns conserved features of IDRs that can be interpreted as motifs, repeats, or bulk features like charge or amino acid propensities. We also show that our model can be used to produce visualizations of what residues and regions are most important to IDR function, generating hypotheses for uncharacterized IDRs. Our results suggest that feature discovery using unsupervised neural networks is a promising avenue to gain systematic insight into poorly understood protein sequences.
Assuntos
Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas , Proteoma , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Evolução Molecular , Proteínas Intrinsicamente Desordenadas/química , Conformação Proteica , Proteoma/metabolismoRESUMO
Cells chemically isolate molecules in compartments to both facilitate and regulate their interactions. In addition to membrane-encapsulated compartments, cells can form proteinaceous and membraneless organelles, including nucleoli, Cajal and PML bodies, and stress granules. The principles that determine when and why these structures form have remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the disordered tails of Ddx4, a primary constituent of nuage or germ granules, form phase-separated organelles both in live cells and in vitro. These bodies are stabilized by patterned electrostatic interactions that are highly sensitive to temperature, ionic strength, arginine methylation, and splicing. Sequence determinants are used to identify proteins found in both membraneless organelles and cell adhesion. Moreover, the bodies provide an alternative solvent environment that can concentrate single-stranded DNA but largely exclude double-stranded DNA. We propose that phase separation of disordered proteins containing weakly interacting blocks is a general mechanism for forming regulated, membraneless organelles.