Computational Study of the Binding Mechanism of Actin-Depolymerizing Factor 1 with Actin in Arabidopsis thaliana

PLoS One. 2016 Jul 14;11(7):e0159053. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159053. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Actin is a highly conserved protein. It plays important roles in cellular function and exists either in the monomeric (G-actin) or polymeric form (F-actin). Members of the actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin protein family bind to both G-actin and F-actin and play vital roles in actin dynamics by manipulating the rates of filament polymerization and depolymerization. It has been reported that the S6D and R98A/K100A mutants of actin-depolymerizing factor 1 (ADF1) in Arabidopsis thaliana decreased the binding affinity of ADF for the actin monomer. To investigate the binding mechanism and dynamic behavior of the ADF1-actin complex, we constructed a homology model of the AtADF1-actin complex based on the crystal structure of AtADF1 and the twinfilin C-terminal ADF-H domain in a complex with a mouse actin monomer. The model was then refined for subsequent molecular dynamics simulations. Increased binding energy of the mutated system was observed using the Molecular Mechanics Generalized Born Surface Area and Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-GB/PBSA) methods. To determine the residues that make decisive contributions to the ADF1 actin-binding affinity, per-residue decomposition and computational alanine scanning analyses were performed, which provided more detailed information on the binding mechanism. Root-mean-square fluctuation and principal component analyses confirmed that the S6D and R98A/K100A mutants induced an increased conformational flexibility. The comprehensive molecular insight gained from this study is of great importance for understanding the binding mechanism of ADF1 and G-actin.

MeSH terms

  • Actin Cytoskeleton / metabolism
  • Actin Depolymerizing Factors / metabolism*
  • Actins / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Protein Binding

Substances

  • Actin Depolymerizing Factors
  • Actins
  • Arabidopsis Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 31300599, 31571389 and 21572242), and the Talents of High Level Scientific Research Foundation (grant numbers 6631113318 and 6631113326) of Qingdao Agricultural University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.