Biology subjects

Waheed, Q.

Publications and source records attributed to Waheed, Q..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Specificity of Loxosceles α clade phospholipase D enzymes for choline-containing lipids: role of a conserved aromatic cage

Spider venom GDPD-like phospholipases D (SicTox) have been identified to be one of the major toxins in recluse spider venom. They are divided into two major clades: the clade and the {beta} clade. Most clade toxins present high activity against lipids with choline head groups such as sphingomyelin, while activities in {beta} clade toxins vary and include preference for substrates containing ethanolamine headgroups (Sicarius terrosus, St_{beta}IB1). A structural comparison of available PLDs structures reveals a conserved aromatic cage in the clade. To test the potential influence of the aromatic cage on membrane-lipid specificity we performed molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of the binding of several PLDs onto lipid bilayers containing choline headgroups; two SicTox from the clade, Loxosceles intermedia IA1 (Li_IA) and Loxosceles laeta III1 (Ll_III1), and one from the {beta} clade, St_{beta}IB1. The simulation results reveal that the aromatic cage captures a choline-headgroup and suggest that the cage plays a major role in lipid specificity. We also simulated an engineered St_{beta}IB1, where we introduced the aromatic cage, and this led to binding with choline-containing lipids. Moreover, a multiple sequence alignment revealed the conservation of the aromatic cage among the clade PLDs. Here, we confirmed the membrane binding site of and {beta} clade PLDs on choline and ethanolamine-containing bilayers, respectively. Furthermore, our results suggest a major role in choline lipid recognition of the aromatic cage of the clade PLDs. The MD simulation results are supported by in vitro liposome binding assay experiments.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2020

An amplified derepression controller with multisite inhibition and positive feedback

How organisms are able to maintain robust homeostasis has in recent years received increased attention by the use of combined control engineering and kinetic concepts, which led to the discovery of robust controller motifs. While these motifs employ kinetic conditions showing integral feedback and homeostasis for step-wise perturbations, the motifs performance differ significantly when exposing them to time dependent perturbations. One type of controller motifs which are able to handle exponentially and even hyperbolically growing perturbations are based on derepression. In these controllers the compensatory reaction, which neutralizes the perturbation, is derepressed, i.e. its reaction rate is increased by the decrease of an inhibitor acting on the compensatory flux. While controllers in this category can deal well with different time-dependent perturbations they have the disadvantage that they break down once the concentration of the regulatory inhibitor becomes too low and the compensatory flux has gained its maximum value. We wondered whether it would be possible to bypass this restriction, while still keeping the advantages of derepression kinetics. In this paper we show how the inclusion of multisite inhibition and the presence of positive feedback loops lead to an amplified controller which is still based on derepression kinetics but without showing the breakdown due to low inhibitor concentrations. By searching for the amplified feedback motif in natural systems, we found it as a part of the plant circadian clock where it is highly interlocked with other feedback loops.

systems biology↗