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The heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) family of chaperones are well-known, highly important components of the cellular systems which regulate protein homeostasis. Essential in eukaryotes, Hsp90s is also found in prokaryotes, including archaea. Hsp90 is a dimeric protein, with each monomer consisting of three separate structural domains, and undergoes large conformational changes as part of its functional cycle. This cycle is driven by interactions with nucleotides, cochaperone proteins, client proteins and allosteric effects enacted by these and by posttranslational modifications. All of these influence the rate and degree of the opening and closing of the dimer as well as the relative domain orientations and its overall rigidity. Optical tweezers, which can access many of these functionally important conformational changes, therefore provide a unique tool for the study of this large and complex molecular chaperone. Here, we provide protocols for the design and implementation of different Hsp90 constructs and optical tweezers experiments for addressing the many open questions about the function of this important molecular chaperone.

Although nanopores can be used for single-molecule sequencing of nucleic acids using low-cost portable devices, the characterization of proteins and their modifications has yet to be established. Here, we show that hydrophilic or glycosylated peptides translocate too quickly across FraC nanopores to be recognized. However, high ionic strengths (i.e., 3 M LiCl) and low pH (i.e., pH 3) together with using a nanopore with a phenylalanine at its constriction allows the recognition of hydrophilic peptides, and to distinguish between mono- and diglycosylated peptides. Using these conditions, we devise a nanopore method to detect, characterize, and quantify post-translational modifications in generic proteins, which is one of the pressing challenges in proteomic analysis. ispartof: NANO LETTERS vol:22 issue:13 pages:5357-5364 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Nanopores are label-free single-molecule analytical tools that show great potential for stochastic sensing of proteins. Here, we described a ClyA nanopore functionalized with different nanobodies through a 5-6 nm DNA linker at its periphery. Ty1, 2Rs15d, 2Rb17c, and nb22 nanobodies were employed to specifically recognize the large protein SARS-CoV-2 Spike, a medium-sized HER2 receptor, and the small protein murine urokinase-type plasminogen activator (muPA), respectively. The pores modified with Ty1, 2Rs15d, and 2Rb17c were capable of stochastic sensing of Spike protein and HER2 receptor, respectively, following a model where unbound nanobodies, facilitated by a DNA linker, move inside the nanopore and provoke reversible blockade events, whereas engagement with the large- and medium-sized proteins outside of the pore leads to a reduced dynamic movement of the nanobodies and an increased current through the open pore. Exploiting the multivalent interaction between trimeric Spike protein and multimerized Ty1 nanobodies enabled the detection of picomolar concentrations of Spike protein. In comparison, detection of the smaller muPA proteins follows a different model where muPA, complexing with the nb22, moves into the pore, generating larger blockage signals. Importantly, the components in blood did not affect the sensing performance of the nanobody-functionalized nanopore, which endows the pore with great potential for clinical detection of protein biomarkers.

Biological nanopores are emerging as sensitive single-molecule sensors for proteins and peptides. The heterogeneous charge of a polypeptide chain, however, can complicate or prevent the capture and translocation of peptides and unfolded proteins across nanopores. Here, we show that two β-barrel nanopores, aerolysin and cytotoxin K, cannot efficiently detect proteinogenic peptides from a trypsinated protein under a wide range of conditions. However, the introduction of an acidic-aromatic sensing region in the β-barrel dramatically increased the dwell time and the discrimination of peptides in the nanopore at acidic pH. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the two β-barrel nanopores have a similar diameter and an acidic-aromatic construction, their capture mechanisms differ. The electro-osmotic flow played a dominant role for aerolysin, while the electrophoretic force dominated for cytotoxin K. Nonetheless, both β-barrel nanopores allowed the detection of mixtures of trypsinated peptides, with aerolysin nanopores showing a better resolution for larger peptides and cytotoxin K showing a better resolution for shorter peptides. Therefore, this work provides a generic strategy for modifying nanopores for peptide detection that will be most likely be applicable to other nanopore-forming toxins.

In this thesis, we explore the adaptability of biological nanopores towards the detection of proteins and their modifications. First, beta-barrel nanopores are modified to increase the retention and discrimantion of proteogenic peptides. An acidic-aromatic sensing region allowed the capture and detection of a mixture of peptides in the nanopore at low pH. These acidic-aromatic nanopores are then used to detect protein glycosylation, peptide chirality and isobaric peptide modifications.

The invention relates to the field of genetically engineered nanopores and the use thereof in analyzing biopolymers and other (biological) compounds. Provided is a proteinaceous nanopore comprising a mutant pore-forming toxin, or a pore-forming fragment thereof, wherein the lumen-facing recognition region of the pore-forming protein or fragment thereof comprises one or more substitution(s) of lumen-facing amino acid(s) in the recognition region corresponding to amino acids 10-20 of Fragaceatoxin C (FraC), to a natural or non-natural aromatic amino acid residue.

The ability to measure the concentration of metabolites in biological samples is important, both in the clinic and for home diagnostics. Here we present a nanopore‐based biosensor and automated data analysis for quantification of thiamine in urine in less than a minute, without the need for recalibration. For this we use the Cytolysin A nanopore and equip it with an engineered periplasmic thiamine binding protein (TbpA). To allow fast measurements we tuned the affinity of TbpA for thiamine by redesigning the π‐π stacking interactions between the thiazole group of thiamine and TbpA. This substitution resulted furthermore in a marked difference between unbound and bound state, allowing the reliable discrimination of thiamine from its two phosphorylated forms by residual current only. Using an array of nanopores, this will allow the quantification within seconds, paving the way for next‐generation single‐molecule metabolite detection systems., Quantification of small molecules in biological samples is challenging. Using the concentration‐dependent current fluctuations elicited by a thiamine binding protein inside a ClyA nanopore, we show the automated quantification of thiamine in urine in less than a minute. By swapping the internal biosensor, this principle can be applied for the development of multiple next‐generation home‐diagnostic small‐molecule sensors.

The real-time identification of protein biomarkers is crucial for the development of point-of-care and portable devices. Here, we use a PlyAB biological nanopore to detect haemoglobin (Hb) variants. Adult haemoglobin (HbA) and sickle cell anaemia haemoglobin (HbS), which differ by just one amino acid, were distinguished in a mixture with more than 97 % accuracy based on individual blockades. Foetal Hb, which shows a larger sequence variation, was distinguished with near 100 % accuracy. Continuum and Brownian dynamics simulations revealed that Hb occupies two energy minima, one near the inner constriction and one at the trans entry of the nanopore. Thermal fluctuations, the charge of the protein, and the external bias influence the dynamics of Hb within the nanopore, which in turn generates the unique ionic current signal in the Hb variants. Finally, Hb was counted from blood samples, demonstrating that direct discrimination and quantification of Hb from blood using nanopores, is feasible. ispartof: ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION vol:61 issue:34 ispartof: location:Germany status: published

Single-molecule nanopore electrophysiology is an emerging technique for the detection of analytes in aqueous solutions with high sensitivity. These detectors have proven applicable for the enzyme-assisted sequencing of oligonucleotides. There has recently been an increased interest in the use of nanopores for the fingerprinting of peptides and proteins, referred to as single-molecule nanopore spectrometry. However, the analysis of the resulting electrophysiology traces remains complicated due to the fast unassisted translocation of such analytes, usually in the order of micro- to milliseconds, and the small ion current signal produced (in the picoampere range). Here, we present the application of a generalized normal distribution function (gNDF) for the characterization of short-lived ion current signals (blockades). We show that the gNDF can be used to determine if the observed blockades have adequate time to reach their maximum current plateau while also providing a description of each blockade based on the open pore current (I O), the difference caused by the pore blockade (ΔI B), the position in time (μ), the standard deviation (σ), and a shape parameter (β), leaving only the noise component. In addition, this method allows the estimation of an ideal range of low-pass filter frequencies that contains maximum information with minimal noise. In summary, we show a parameter-free and generalized method for the analysis of short-lived ion current blockades, which facilitates single-molecule nanopore spectrometry with minimal user bias. ispartof: ACS OMEGA vol:7 issue:30 pages:26040-26046 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Proteins aggregation into amyloid fibrils has been observed in several pathological conditions and exploited in nanotechnology. It is also key in several biochemical processes. In this work we show that ionic liquids (ILs) – a vast class of organic electrolytes – can finely tune amyloid properties, opening a new playground in basic science and applications. The representative case of ethyl-ammonium nitrate (EAN) and tetramethyl-guanidinium acetate (TMGA) ILs on lysozyme is considered. Firstly, atomic force microscopy has shown that the addition of EAN and TMGA leads to thicker and thinner amyloid fibrils of greater and lower electric potential, respectively, with diameters finely tuneable by IL-concentration. Optical tweezers and neutron scattering have shed a light on their mechanism of action. TMGA interacts with the protein hydration layer only, making the relaxation dynamics of these water molecules faster. EAN interacts directly with the protein instead, making it mechanically unstable and slowing down its relaxation dynamics.

The ionic currents passing through nanopores can be used to sequence DNA and identify molecules at the single-molecule level. Recently, researchers have started using nanopores for the detection and analysis of proteins, providing a new platform for single-molecule enzymology studies and more efficient biomolecular sensing applications. For this approach, the homo-oligomeric Cytolysin A (ClyA) nanopore has been demonstrated as a powerful tool. Here, we describe a simple protocol allowing the production of ClyA nanopores. Monomers of ClyA are expressed in Escherichia coli and oligomerized in the presence of detergent. Subsequently, different oligomer variants are electrophoretically resolved and stored in a gel matrix for long-term use.

We present a synthetic nanoscale piston that uses chemical energy to perform molecular transport against an applied bias. Such a device comprises a 13 by 5 nm protein cylinder, embedded in a biological membrane enclosing a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) rod. Hybridization with DNA cargo rigidifies the rod, allowing for transport of a selected DNA molecule across the nanopore. A strand displacement reaction from ssDNA fuel on the other side of the membrane then liberates the DNA cargo back into solution and regenerates the initial configuration. The entropic penalty of ssDNA confinement inside the nanopore drives DNA transport regardless of the applied bias. Multiple automated and reciprocating cycles are observed, in which the DNA piston moves through the 10 nm length of the nanopore. In every cycle, a single DNA molecule is transported across the nanopore against an external bias force, which is the hallmark of biological transporters. ispartof: NANO LETTERS vol:21 issue:1 pages:762-768 ispartof: location:United States status: published

This thesis describes experimental and computational analysis for the creation of biological nanopore based single-molecule sensors. In essence, nanopore sensors consist of a non-conductive sheet with a nanometre sized aperture connecting two electrolyte filled compartments. The conductance across this aperture is reduced due to ion exclusion whenever a molecule translocates through it, which can be observed as a reduction in current when a potential is applied. Here, we engineered membrane spanning proteins for the creation of these nanometre sized apertures in order to observe and characterize peptides. By engineering the constriction inside the nanopore to interact with translocating peptides, we were able to increase the residence time of the analyte inside the nanopore.By characterizing the current fluctuations over time, we were able to fingerprint trypsin digested proteins based on their translocating peptides. In addition, we were able to trap substrate binding proteins inside a nanopore, which undergo a change in their ion exclusion when bound to an analyte. We sought to rapidly detect vitamin B1 in human urine, using a single nanopore in combination with a binding protein. We combined a physical understanding of the system with an empirical Bayesian approach, allowing the detection of thiamine in approximately 20 seconds.

Journal of medicinal chemistry 65(6), 4798-4817 (2022). doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01962, Published by ACS, Washington, DC

Reactive Intermediate Deaminase (Rid) protein superfamily includes eight families among which the RidA is conserved in all domains of life. RidA proteins accelerate the deamination of the reactive 2-aminoacrylate (2AA), an enamine produced by some pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes. 2AA accumulation inhibits target enzymes with a detrimental impact on fitness. As a consequence of whole genome duplication, teleost fish have two ridA paralogs, while other extant vertebrates contain a single-copy gene. We investigated the biochemical properties of the products of two paralogs, identified in Salmo salar. SsRidA-1 and SsRidA-2 complemented the growth defect of a Salmonella enterica ridA mutant, an in vivo model of 2AA stress. In vitro, both proteins hydrolyzed 2-imino acids (IA) to keto-acids and ammonia. SsRidA-1 was active on IA derived from nonpolar amino acids and poorly active or inactive on IA derived from other amino acids tested. In contrast, SsRidA-2 had a generally low catalytic efficiency, but showed a relatively higher activity with IA derived from L-Glu and aromatic amino acids. The crystal structures of SsRidA-1 and SsRidA-2 provided hints of the remarkably different conformational stability and substrate specificity. Overall, SsRidA-1 is similar to the mammalian orthologs whereas SsRidA-2 displays unique properties likely generated by functional specialization of a duplicated ancestral gene.

Conformational heterogeneity is emerging as a defining characteristic of enzyme function. However, understanding the role of protein conformations requires their thermodynamic and kinetic characterization at the single-molecule level, which remains extremely challenging. Here we report the ligand-induced conformational changes of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) by measuring the modulation of the nanopore currents. The long observation time of the electrical recordings enabled the detection of rare conformational transitions hidden in ensemble measurements. We show that DHFR exists in at least four ground-state configurations or conformers with different affinities for its ligands. Unliganded DHFR adopted low-affinity conformers, whereas the binding of substrates promoted the switch to the high-affinity conformer. Conversion between the conformers was accelerated by molecules that stabilized the transition state of DHFR, which suggests that the reaction lowers the energy barrier for conformer exchange and thus facilitates product release. This mechanism might be a general feature in enzymatic reactions affected by product inhibition or when the release of products is the rate-limiting step. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Biological nanopores are emerging as powerful tools for single-molecule analysis and sequencing. Here, we engineered the two-component pleurotolysin (PlyAB) toxin to assemble into 7.2 × 10.5 nm cylindrical nanopores with a low level of electrical noise in lipid bilayers, and we addressed the nanofluidic properties of the nanopore by continuum simulations. Surprisingly, proteins such as human albumin (66.5 kDa) and human transferrin (76-81 kDa) did not enter the nanopore. We found that the precise engineering of the inner surface charge of the PlyAB induced electro-osmotic vortices that allowed the electrophoretic capture of the proteins. Once inside the nanopore, two human plasma proteins could be distinguished by the characteristics of their current blockades. This fundamental understanding of the nanofluidic properties of nanopores provides a practical method to promote the capture and analysis of folded proteins by nanopores. ispartof: NANO LETTERS vol:20 issue:5 pages:3819-3827 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The ability to sample multiple reactions on the same single enzyme is important to link rare intermediates with catalysis and to unravel the role of conformational changes. Despite decades of efforts, however, the single-molecule characterization of nonfluorogenic enzymes during multiple catalytic turnovers has been elusive. Here, we show that nanopore currents allow sampling the dynamic exchange between five structural intermediates during E. coli dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) catalysis. We found that an endosteric effect promotes the binding of the substrate to the enzyme with a specific hierarchy. The chemical step then switched the enzyme from the closed to the occluded conformation, which in turn promotes the release of the reduced cofactor NADP+. Unexpectedly, only a few reactive complexes lead to catalysis. Furthermore, second-long catalytic pauses were observed, possibly reflecting an off-path conformation generated during the reaction. Finally, the free energy from multiple cofactor binding events were required to release the product and switch DHFR back to the reactive conformer. This catalytic fueled concerted mechanism is likely to have evolved to improve the catalytic efficiency of DHFR under the high concentrations of NADP+ in E. coli and might be a general feature for complex enzymatic reactions where the binding and release of the products must be tightly controlled.

The invention relates generally to the field of nanopores and the use thereof in analyzing biopolymers. In particular, it relates to engineered biological nanopores and their application in single molecule analysis, such as single molecule protein identification.

The detection of analytes and the sequencing of DNA using biological nanopores have seen major advances over recent years. The analysis of proteins and peptides with nanopores, however, is complicated by the complex physicochemical structure of polypeptides and the lack of understanding of the mechanism of capture and recognition of polypeptides by nanopores. In this work, we show that introducing aromatic amino acids at precise positions within the lumen of α-helical fragaceatoxin C (FraC) nanopores increased the capture frequency of peptides and largely improved the discrimination among peptides of similar size. Molecular dynamics simulations determined the sensing region of the nanopore, elucidated the microscopic mechanism enabling accurate characterization of the peptides via ionic current blockades in FraC, and characterized the effect of the pore modification on peptide discrimination. This work provides insights to improve the recognition and to augment the capture of peptides by nanopores, which is important for developing a real-time and single-molecule size analyzer for peptide recognition and identification.

The invention relates to the field of nanopores and the use thereof in analyzing biopolymers, including polypeptides and polynucleotides. Provided is an artificial nanopore comprising a multimeric assembly of subunits, each subunit comprising (i) the transmembrane (TM) sequence of a β-barrel or α-helical pore forming protein fused to the amino acid sequence of (ii) a subunit of a ring-forming protein capable of controlling the transport of a polypeptide or polynucleotide across the TM region of the assembly.

Self-assembly is a fundamental feature of biological systems, and control of such processes offers fascinating opportunities to regulate function. Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) is a toxin that upon binding to the surface of sphingomyelin-rich cells undergoes a structural metamorphosis, leading to the assembly of nanopores at the cell membrane and causing cell death. In this study we attached photoswitchable azobenzene pendants to various locations near the sphingomyelin binding pocket of FraC with the aim of remote controlling the nanopore assembly using light. We found several constructs in which the affinity of the toxin for biological membranes could be activated or deactivated by irradiation, thus enabling reversible photocontrol of pore formation. Notably, one construct was completely inactive in the thermally adapted state; it however induced full lysis of cultured cancer cells upon light irradiation. Selective irradiation also allowed isolation of individual nanopores in artificial lipid membranes. Photocontrolled FraC might find applications in photopharmacology for cancer therapeutics and has potential to be used for the fabrication of nanopore arrays in nanopore sensing devices, where the reconstitution, with high spatiotemporal precision, of single nanopores must be controlled.

Summary To address the question of why more than one myosin-II isoform is expressed in a single cell to drive cytokinesis, we analyzed the roles of the myosin-II isoforms, Myo2 and Myp2, of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, in cytokinesis under normal and stressed conditions. We found that Myp2 controls the disassembly, stability, and constriction initiation of the Myo2 ring in response to high-salt stress. A C-terminal coiled-coil domain of Myp2 is required for its immobility and contractility during cytokinesis, and when fused to the tail of the dynamic Myo2, renders the chimera the low-turnover property. We also found, by following distinct processes in real time at the single-cell level, that Myo2 and Myp2 are differentially required but collectively essential for guiding extracellular matrix remodeling during cytokinesis. These results suggest that the dynamic and immobile myosin-II isoforms are evolved to carry out cytokinesis with robustness under different growth conditions., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • The myosin-II isoforms Myo2 and Myp2 display distinct responses to cellular stress • Myp2 controls the constriction initiation of Myo2 during stress response • A C-terminal region of Myp2 is required for its immobility during cytokinesis • Myo2 and Myp2 are differentially required for guiding ECM remodeling during cytokinesis, Molecular Mechanism of Behavior; Cell Biology; Functional Aspects of Cell Biology

Chemical probes that covalently modify proteins of interest are powerful tools for the research of biological processes. Important in the design of a probe is the choice of reactive group that forms the covalent bond, as it decides the success of a probe. However, choosing the right reactive group is not a simple feat and methodologies for expedient screening of different groups are needed. We herein report a modular approach that allows easy coupling of a reactive group to a ligand. α‐Nucleophile ligands are combined with 2‐formylphenylboronic acid derived reactive groups to form iminoboronate probes that selectively label their target proteins. A transimination reaction on the labeled proteins with an α‐amino hydrazide provides further modification, for example to introduce a fluorophore., Iminoboronate chemistry enables the synthesis of chemical probes that selectively label proteins of interest from 2‐formylphenylboronic acid reactive groups and hydrazide‐functionalized ligands. The reversibility of the iminoboronate linkage is exploited to detect the labeled proteins by ligand‐fluorophore exchange. Remarkably, the fast iminoboronate chemistry even allows probe formation within protein mixtures.

The invention relates to the fields of photopharmacology and photo-controlled analyte sensing. More in particular, it relates to a pore forming toxin Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) from Actina fragacea that can be reversibly controlled by using light as external trigger. Provided is a modified FraC monomer capable of forming a photo-controlled FraC nanopore, the FraC monomer comprising a photoswitchable moiety, e.g. an azobenzene-based photoswitch, covalently attached to one or more of the positions K77, W112, E134, Y138, and S166.

Summary The identification of proteins at the single-molecule level would open exciting new venues in biological research and disease diagnostics. Previously, we proposed a nanopore-based method for protein identification called chop-n-drop fingerprinting, in which the fragmentation pattern induced and measured by a proteasome-nanopore construct is used to identify single proteins. In the simulation study presented here, we show that 97.1% of human proteome constituents are uniquely identified under close to ideal measuring circumstances, using a simple alignment-based classification method. We show that our method is robust against experimental error, as 69.4% can still be identified if the resolution is twice as low as currently attainable, and 10% of proteasome restriction sites and protein fragments are randomly ignored. Based on these results and our experimental proof of concept, we argue that chop-n-drop fingerprinting has the potential to make cost-effective single-molecule protein identification feasible in the near future., Graphical abstract, Highlights • A proteasome-nanopore construct can cleave a protein and interrogate the fragments • In simulations, this process provides sufficient information to identify proteins • An alignment-based classifier attains 97% accuracy on the entire human proteome, Biocomputational method; Sequence analysis; Proteomics

Nanopores are single-molecule sensors used in nucleic acid analysis, whereas their applicability towards full protein identification has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we show that an engineered Fragaceatoxin C nanopore is capable of identifying individual proteins by measuring peptide spectra that are produced from hydrolyzed proteins. Using model proteins, we show that the spectra resulting from nanopore experiments and mass spectrometry share similar profiles, hence allowing protein fingerprinting. The intensity of individual peaks provides information on the concentration of individual peptides, indicating that this approach is quantitative. Our work shows the potential of a low-cost, portable nanopore-based analyzer for protein identification., Peptide mass fingerprinting is a traditional approach for protein identification by mass spectrometry. Here, the authors provide evidence that peptide mass fingerprinting is also feasible using FraC nanopores, demonstrating protein identification based on nanopore measurements of digested peptides.

Biological nanopores are an emerging class of biosensors with high-end precision owing to their reproducible fabrication at the nanometer scale. Most notably, nanopore-based DNA sequencing applications are currently being commercialized, while nanopore-based proteomics may become a reality in the near future.Although membrane proteins often prove to be difficult to purify, we describe a straightforward protocol for the preparation of Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) nanopores, which may have applications for DNA analysis and nanopore-based proteomics. Recombinantly expressed FraC nanopores are purified via two rounds of Ni-NTA affinity chromatography before and after oligomerization on sphingomyelin-containing liposomes. Starting from a plasmid vector containing the FraC gene, our method allows the production of purified nanopores within a week. Afterward, the FraC nanopores can be stored at +4 °C for several months, or frozen.

Formation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) oligomer pores in the membrane of neurons has been proposed to explain neurotoxicity in Alzheimerʼs disease (AD). Here, we present the three-dimensional structure of an Aβ oligomer formed in a membrane mimicking environment, namely an Aβ(1-42) tetramer, which comprises a six stranded β-sheet core. The two faces of the β-sheet core are hydrophobic and surrounded by the membrane-mimicking environment while the edges are hydrophilic and solvent-exposed. By increasing the concentration of Aβ(1-42) in the sample, Aβ(1-42) octamers are also formed, made by two Aβ(1-42) tetramers facing each other forming a β-sandwich structure. Notably, Aβ(1-42) tetramers and octamers inserted into lipid bilayers as well-defined pores. To establish oligomer structure-membrane activity relationships, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out. These studies revealed a mechanism of membrane disruption in which water permeation occurred through lipid-stabilized pores mediated by the hydrophilic residues located on the core β-sheets edges of the oligomers., Formation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) oligomer pores in the membrane of neurons has been proposed to explain neurotoxicity in Alzheimer´s disease. Here authors present the 3D- structure of an Aβ oligomer formed in a membrane mimicking environment and observe that Aβ tetramers and octamers inserted into lipid bilayers as well-defined pores.

Despite the broad success of biological nanopores as powerful instruments for the analysis of proteins and nucleic acids at the single-molecule level, a fast simulation methodology to accurately model their nanofluidic properties is currently unavailable. This limits the rational engineering of nanopore traits and makes the unambiguous interpretation of experimental results challenging. Here, we present a continuum approach that can faithfully reproduce the experimentally measured ionic conductance of the biological nanopore Cytolysin A (ClyA) over a wide range of ionic strengths and bias potentials. Our model consists of the extended Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Navier-Stokes (ePNP-NS) equations and a computationally efficient 2D-axisymmetric representation for the geometry and charge distribution of the nanopore. Importantly, the ePNP-NS equations achieve this accuracy by self-consistently considering the finite size of the ions and the influence of both the ionic strength and the nanoscopic scale of the pore on the local properties of the electrolyte. These comprise the mobility and diffusivity of the ions, and the density, viscosity and relative permittivity of the solvent. Crucially, by applying our methodology to ClyA, a biological nanopore used for single-molecule enzymology studies, we could directly quantify several nanofluidic characteristics difficult to determine experimentally. These include the ion selectivity, the ion concentration distributions, the electrostatic potential landscape, the magnitude of the electro-osmotic flow field, and the internal pressure distribution. Hence, this work provides a means to obtain fundamental new insights into the nanofluidic properties of biological nanopores and paves the way towards their rational engineering. ispartof: NANOSCALE vol:12 issue:32 pages:16775-16795 ispartof: location:England status: published

The invention relates to the field of nanopores, in particular to engineered Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) nanopores and their application in analyzing biopolymers and other (biological) compounds, such as single-molecule (protein) sequencing. Provided is a system comprising oligomeric FraC nanopores comprised in a lipid bilayer, wherein the sum of the nanopore fraction in the heptameric (Type II) state and the nanopore fraction in the hexameric (Type III) state represents at least 60% of the total number of FraC nanopores.

Biological nanopores are emerging as powerful and low-cost sensors for real-time analysis of biological samples. Proteins can be incorporated inside the nanopore, and ligand binding to the protein adaptor yields changes in nanopore conductance. In order to understand the origin of these conductance changes and develop sensors for detecting metabolites, we tested the signal originating from 13 different protein adaptors. We found that the quality of the protein signal depended on both the size and charge of the protein. The engineering of a dipole within the surface of the adaptor reduced the current noise by slowing the protein dynamics within the nanopore. Further, the charge of the ligand and the induced conformational changes of the adaptor defined the conductance changes upon metabolite binding, suggesting that the protein resides in an electrokinetic minimum within the nanopore, the position of which is altered by the ligand. These results represent an important step toward understanding the dynamics of the electrophoretic trapping of proteins inside nanopores and will allow developing next-generation sensors for metabolome analysis. ispartof: ACS NANO vol:14 issue:2 pages:2296-2307 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Currently, common cancer therapies, such as chemotherapies suffer from severe side effects due to a lack of selectivity. An alternative are targeted cancer therapies, which are drugs with tailored activity against targets involved in cancer tumorigenesis, proliferation and metastasis. By genetic engineering and targeted chemical modification, we prepared targeted cancer drugs on the basis of pore-forming toxins. Pore-forming toxins bind to the surface of target cells and undergo a structural metamorphosis leading to the assembly of nanoscale pores resulting in cell death. First, the toxin was equipped with targeting molecules to refine specificity toward target cells. Then, we synthesized pore-forming toxins whose activity is triggered by external stimuli. Therefore, the activity of the toxin was triggered via proteolytic cleavage with furin, a protease overexpressed in many cancer cells. Next, a photoswitchable azobenzene pendant was covalently attached to the toxin, and the toxicity of the construct switched on and off by irradiation with light. Finally, we prepared a genetically encoded pore-forming toxin activated by both proteases and light of a variety of wavelengths, through fusion to the blue light responsive LOV domain. Notably, our chimeric protein could be used as screening platform to evolve AsLOV2 domains activated by green and red light. In summary, we present a modular approach to equip pore forming toxins with different targeting and trigger mechanisms. Additionally we used directed evolution to fine¬ tune the properties of our targeted cancer drug.

The goal of this thesis was to use nanopore measurements to study enzymes at the single-molecule level. We started by developing a nanopore sensor based on a protein lodged inside the ClyA nanopore, so that the concentration of glucose and asparagine could be determined. The concentrations of these metabolites in pico-liters of untreated samples of blood, sweat and urine could be accurately determined simultaneously within seconds.By making mutations to the glucose binding protein, we tried to understand the mechanism of binding of this protein. We propose that a hydrogen bond network of water molecules in the active site plays a key and dominant role in promoting the conformational change that induces the closing of the protein around glucose. Next, the ligand-induced conformational changes of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) was studied with the ClyA nanopore. The measurements revealed different DHFR blockades, all with distinctive affinities for its ligands. This showed that DHFR exists in at least four different ground-state conformers. Interconversions between the conformers were accelerated during the transition-state conformation of DHFR. Additionally, the full reaction cycle of DHFR could be followed by sampling the exchange between five slightly different conformations. The single-molecule data revealed the precise hierarchy of binding and the affinity of the enzyme for the different reaction intermediates. The sampling of up to hundreds of consecutive reactions of a single enzyme revealed rare and transient intermediates along the reaction pathway as well as disorder in the enzyme.

While DNA sequencing is now amply available, fast, and inexpensive, protein sequencing remains a tremendous challenge. Nanopores may allow for developing a protein sequencer with single-molecule capabilities. As identification of 20 different amino acids currently presents an unsurmountable challenge, fingerprinting schemes are pursued, in which only a subset of amino acids is labeled and detected. This requires modification of amino acids with chemical structures that generate a distinct nanopore ionic current signal. Here, we use a model peptide and the fragaceatoxin C nanopore to characterize six potential tags for a fingerprinting approach using nanopores. We find that labeled and unlabeled proteins can be clearly distinguished and that sensitive detection is obtained for labels with a spectrum of different physicochemical properties such as mass (427-1275 Da), geometry, charge, and hydrophobicity. Additionally, information about the position of the label along the peptide chain can be obtained from individual current-blockade event features. The results represent an important advance toward the development of a single-molecule protein-fingerprinting device with nanopores.

Copper amine oxidases (CuAOs) are metalloenzymes that reduce molecular oxygen to hydrogen peroxide during catalytic turnover of primary amines. In addition to Cu2+ in the active site, two peripheral calcium sites, similar to 32 angstrom from the active site, have roles in Escherichia coli amine oxidase (ECAO). The buried Cu2+ (Asp533, Leu534, Asp535, Asp678, and Ala679) is essential for full-length protein production, while the surface Cu2+ (Glu573, Tyr667, Asp670, and Glu672) modulates biogenesis of the 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine quinone (TPQ) cofactor. The E573Qmutation at the surface site prevents calcium binding and TPQ biogenesis. However, TPQ biogenesis can be restored by a suppressor mutation (I342F) in the proposed oxygen delivery channel to the active site. While supporting TPQ biogenesis (similar to 60%WTECAO TPQ), I342F/E573Qhas almost no amine oxidase activity (similar to 4.6% WTECAO activity). To understand how these long-range mutations have major effects on TPQ biogenesis and catalysis, we employed ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, steady-state kinetics, inhibition assays, and X-ray crystallography. We show that the surface metal site controls the equilibrium (disproportionation) of the Cu2+ -substrate reduced TPQ(TPQ(AmQ)) CutTPQsemiquinone (TPQ(SQ)) couple. Removal of the calcium ion from this site by chelation or mutagenesis shifts the equilibrium to Cu2+-TPQ(SQ) or destabilizes Cu+-TPQ(SQ): Crystal structure analysis shows that TPQ biogenesis is stalled at deprotonation in the Cu2+-tyrosinate state: Our findings support WTECAO using the inner sphere electron transfer mechanism for oxygen reduction during catalysis, and while a Cu+-tyrosyl radical intermediate is not essential for TPQ biogenesis, it is required for efficient biogenesis.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins play key roles in cellular processes. Hence, PTM identification is crucial for elucidating the mechanism of complex cellular processes and disease. Here we present a method for PTM detection at the single-molecule level using FraC biological nanopores. We focus on two major PTMs, phosphorylation and glycosylation, that mutually compete for protein modification sites, an important regulatory process that has been implicated in the pathogenic pathways of many diseases. We show that phosphorylated and glycosylated peptides can be clearly differentiated from nonmodified peptides by differences in the relative current blockade and dwell time in nanopore translocations. Furthermore, we show that these PTM modifications can be mutually differentiated, demonstrating the identification of phosphorylation and glycosylation in a label-free manner. The results represent an important step for the single-molecule, label-free identification of proteoforms, which have tremendous potential for disease diagnosis and cell biology.

The precise assembly and engineering of molecular machines capable of handling biomolecules play crucial roles in most single-molecule methods. In this work we use components from all three domains of life to fabricate an integrated multiprotein complex that controls the unfolding and threading of individual proteins across a nanopore. This 900 kDa multicomponent device was made in two steps. First, we designed a stable and low-noise β-barrel nanopore sensor by linking the transmembrane region of bacterial protective antigen to a mammalian proteasome activator. An archaeal 20S proteasome was then built into the artificial nanopore to control the unfolding and linearized transport of proteins across the nanopore. This multicomponent molecular machine opens the door to two approaches in single-molecule protein analysis, in which selected substrate proteins are unfolded, fed to into the proteasomal chamber and then addressed either as fragmented peptides or intact polypeptides. An integrated multiprotein nanopore has been fabricated using components from all three domains of life. This molecular machine opens the door to two approaches in single-molecule protein analysis, in which selected substrate proteins are unfolded, fed to into the proteasomal chamber and then processed either as fragmented peptides or intact polypeptides.

Biological nanopores are nanoscale sensors employed for high-throughput, low-cost, and long read-length DNA sequencing applications. The analysis and sequencing of proteins, however, is complicated by their folded structure and non-uniform charge. Here we show that an electro-osmotic flow through Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) nanopores can be engineered to allow the entry of polypeptides at a fixed potential regardless of the charge composition of the polypeptide. We further use the nanopore currents to discriminate peptide and protein biomarkers from 25 kDa down to 1.2 kDa including polypeptides differing by one amino acid. On the road to nanopore proteomics, our findings represent a rationale for amino-acid analysis of folded and unfolded polypeptides with nanopores., Biological nanopore–based protein sequencing and recognition is challenging due to the folded structure or non-uniform charge of peptides. Here the authors show that engineered FraC nanopores can overcome these problems and recognize biomarkers in the form of oligopeptides, polypeptides and folded proteins.

The covalent addition of ubiquitin to target proteins is a key post-translational modification that is linked to a myriad of biological processes. Here, we report a fast, single-molecule, and label-free method to probe the ubiquitination of proteins employing an engineered Cytolysin A (ClyA) nanopore. We show that ionic currents can be used to recognize mono- and polyubiquitinated forms of native proteins under physiological conditions. Using defined conjugates, we also show that isomeric monoubiquitinated proteins can be discriminated. The nanopore approach allows following the ubiquitination reaction in real time, which will accelerate the understanding of fundamental mechanisms linked to protein ubiquitination. ispartof: ACS Nano vol:11 issue:5 pages:4387-4394 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The ability to confine and to study single molecules has enabled important advances in natural and applied sciences. Recently, we have shown that unlabeled proteins can be confined inside the biological nanopore Cytolysin A (ClyA) and conformational changes monitored by ionic current recordings. However, trapping small proteins remains a challenge. Here, we describe a system where steric, electrostatic, electrophoretic, and electro-osmotic forces are exploited to immobilize a small protein, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), inside ClyA. Assisted by electrostatic simulations, we show that the dwell time of DHFR inside ClyA can be increased by orders of magnitude (from milliseconds to seconds) by manipulation of the DHFR charge distribution. Further, we describe a physical model that includes a double energy barrier and the main electrophoretic components for trapping DHFR inside the nanopore. Simultaneous fits to the voltage dependence of the dwell times allowed direct estimates of the cis and trans translocation probabilities, the mean dwell time, and the force exerted by the electro-osmotic flow on the protein (≅9 pN at -50 mV) to be retrieved. The observed binding of NADPH to the trapped DHFR molecules suggested that the engineered proteins remained folded and functional inside ClyA. Contact-free confinement of single proteins inside nanopores can be employed for the manipulation and localized delivery of individual proteins and will have further applications in single-molecule analyte sensing and enzymology studies. ispartof: ACS NANO vol:13 issue:9 pages:9980-9992 ispartof: location:United States status: published

This issue of current opinion in biotechnology on reprogramming biology: from biopolymers to complex systems. The reviews tackle pertinent aspects of the design methods available. The focus is on the control of function in membranes and specifically ion channels, repurposing and augmenting biopolymers, the minimal cell and the design of biobased systems for drug delivery and theranostics.

Ion channels form the basis of information processing in living cells by facilitating the exchange of electrical signals across and along cellular membranes. Applying the same principles to man-made systems requires the development of synthetic ion channels that can alter their conductance in response to a variety of external manipulations. By combining single-molecule electrical recordings with all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we here demonstrate a hybrid nanopore system that allows for both a stepwise change of its conductance and a nonlinear current-voltage dependence. The conductance modulation is realized by using a short flexible peptide gate that carries opposite electric charge at its ends. We show that a constant transmembrane bias can position (and, in a later stage, remove) the peptide gate right at the most-sensitive sensing region of a biological nanopore FraC, thus partially blocking its channel and producing a stepwise change in the conductance. Increasing or decreasing the bias while having the peptide gate trapped in the pore stretches or compresses the peptide within the nanopore, thus modulating its conductance in a nonlinear but reproducible manner. We envision a range of applications of this removable-gate nanopore system, e.g. from an element of biological computing circuits to a test bed for probing the elasticity of intrinsically disordered proteins.

A high throughput single-molecule method for identifying peptides and sequencing proteins based on nanopores could reduce costs and increase speeds of sequencing, allow the fabrication of portable home-diagnostic devices, and permit the characterization of low abundance proteins and heterogeneity in post-translational modifications. Here we engineer the size of Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) biological nanopore to allow the analysis of a wide range of peptide lengths. Ionic blockades through engineered nanopores distinguish a variety of peptides, including two peptides differing only by the substitution of alanine with glutamate. We also find that at pH 3.8 the depth of the peptide current blockades scales with the mass of the peptides irrespectively of the chemical composition of the analyte. Hence, this work shows that FraC nanopores allow direct readout of the mass of single peptide in solution, which is a crucial step towards the developing of a real-time and single-molecule protein sequencing device., Using Fragaceatoxin C nanopores to study peptides below 1.6 kDa is challenging. Here the authors demonstrate that nanopores can be engineered to different sizes to detect a range of peptide lengths below the previous resolution limit, and show that the mass of a peptide can be identified by ionic current blockades.

Nanopores have been successfully implemented for DNA sequencing. However, nanopore is much less employed for the protein analysis or sequencing due to the high order structure, different charge conditions of protein, which is composed of 20 different amino acids. In this thesis, we proposed a new way to sequence protein with nanopore in a manner similar with traditional mass spectrometry sequencing. The protein could be digested into peptides with enzymes and the peptide mass identified with nanopores instead of mass spectrometry. We named this system a nanopore peptide mass identifier. Comparing with the traditional mass spectrometry detection, nanopore peptide identifier is a single molecule technique which could improve the detection sensitivity, making it possible to detect the ultra-low abundance proteins and post translation modifications (PTMs). To make the identifier feasible, we first worked on the method to capture all peptides with different charge conditions into the nanopores by using Fragaceatoxin C (FraC) nanopores. Wild type FraC nanopores could detect peptides down to 10 AA but the peptide shorter than that translocated too fast to be detected. Therefore, we also focused on engineering the size of FraC nanopores for small pores. More importantly, there should be a correlation between the nanopore ionic current signal and peptides mass if we ought to identify an unknown peptide to make the nanopore peptide mass identifier. Not limited to the protein sequencing endeavors, the two-component pleurotolysin nanopore (PlyAB) with a 5.5 nm constriction site, has been reconstituted and engineered for large folded protein detection.

Crucial steps in the miniaturisation of biosensors are the conversion of a biological signal into an electrical current as well as the direct sampling of bodily fluids. Here we show that protein sensors in combination with a nanopore, acting as an electrical transducer, can accurately quantify metabolites in real time directly from nanoliter amounts of blood and other bodily fluids. Incorporation of the nanopore into portable electronic devices will allow developing sensitive, continuous, and non-invasive sensors for metabolites for point-of-care and home diagnostics., Protein nanopores are emerging as sensors for a variety of biomolecules. Here the authors develop a nanopore based on the bacterial toxin ClyA, in conjunction with binding proteins for glucose and asparagine, to detect these biomolecules simultaneously from a variety of unprocessed, diluted body fluids.

Nanopores are used in single-molecule DNA analysis and sequencing. Herein, we show that Fragaceatoxin C (FraC), an α-helical pore-forming toxin from an actinoporin protein family, can be reconstituted in sphingomyelin-free standard planar lipid bilayers. We engineered FraC for DNA analysis and show that the funnel-shaped geometry allows tight wrapping around single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), resolving between homopolymeric C, T, and A polynucleotide stretches. Remarkably, despite the 1.2 nm internal constriction of FraC, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) can translocate through the nanopore at high applied potentials, presumably through the deformation of the α-helical transmembrane region of the pore. Therefore, FraC nanopores might be used in DNA sequencing and dsDNA analysis.

Many important processes in biology involve the translocation of a biopolymer through a nanometer-scale pore. Moreover, the electrophoretic transport of DNA across nanoscale pores is under intense investigation for single-molecule DNA sequencing and analysis. Here we show that the precise patterning of the entry and the middle section of the ClyA nanopore with positive charges are crucial to observe the electrophoretic translocation of DNA at physiological ionic strength. Surprisingly, the strongly electronegative 3.3 nm internal constriction of the nanopore did not require modifications. Further, DNA translocation could only be observed from the wide entry of the nanopore. Our results suggest that the engineered positive charges are important to align the DNA in order to overcome the entropic and electrostatic barriers for DNA translocation through the narrow constriction. The dependencies of nucleic acid translocations on the Debye length of the solution are consistent with a physical model where the capture of double stranded DNA is diffusion-limited while the capture of single stranded DNA is reaction-limited.

International audience; The REvolutionary Approaches and Devices for Nucleic Acid analysis (READNA) project received 12 million s funding under the European Union Framework Programme 7 from 1st June 2008 to 30th November 2012. The 19 project partners from both academia and industry from in total 7 countries had a project budget of 16 Ms with which they have discovered, created and developed a huge body of insights into nucleic acid analysis. Results have been presented widely in publications and in innumerous public presentations. Results have been moved to spin-offs such as the Olink enrichment kits (now sold by Agilent as Haloplex) and are findingtheir way to the market, such as the Oxford Nanopore MinIon sequencer that was first released to early-access user sites in 2014.

Hsp90 is an essential molecular chaperone, which has to be in a dimeric form for its correct function. While the affinity of the dimer has previously been measured, little is known about how it associates and dissociates and the factors that influence this. We perform an in-depth single molecule characterization of the C-terminal association and dissociation of Hsp90. We find more than one dissociation rate, indicating that the dimer has a stable and an unstable state. Furthermore, we find that the stability of the C-terminal association is dependent on the presence of ATP, despite the C-terminal dimerization interface being distal to the catalytic site.