H + Ions and ATP Reshape the Conformational Landscape of an RNA Recognition Motif and Regulate Its Fibrillation
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Abstract
Abstract Proteins exist as dynamic ensembles, with their native states comprising interconverting conformational substates critical to their physiological functions and participation in disease states. Fused in Sarcoma (FUS), an RNA-binding protein implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), contains an RNA recognition motif (RRM) known to form fibrillar aggregates. Here, we investigate the conformational plasticity of FUS-RRM in its native state using advanced NMR techniques, particularly 15 N chemical exchange saturation transfer and heteronuclear adiabatic relaxation dispersion experiments, to capture slow and fast microsecond (μs) timescale dynamics. We further examine the influence of environmental factors such as pH and ATP on the conformational plasticity and the aggregation behaviour of FUS-RRM. Our findings show that both ATP and pH perturb the fast and slow μs-timescale dynamics of FUS-RRM, and the aggregation behaviour. Specifically, a contrasting effect of ATP on slow and fast µs-ms dynamics at pH 6.4 and 4.6, along with the corresponding changes in aggregation behavior, suggest a complex relationship between ATP, pH, and protein aggregation kinetics. The study suggests that these environmental perturbations behave as kinetic regulators of FUS-RRM’s propensity for aggregation.
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- Authors
- Aazmi, O., Aswale, A. R., & Chugh, J.
- Affiliations
- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Chugh, Jeetender
- ORCID
- Chugh, Jeetender
- Venue
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2026-01-08
- Volume
- 148
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 2295-2306
- ISSN
- 0002-7863 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5126
- OpenAlex
- W7119492128
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 50
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of the American Chemical Society (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Indian Council of Medical Research
- Science and Engineering Research Board (CRG/2023/002931-C, EMR/2015/001966)
- Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India (BT/PR24185/BRB/10/1605/2017)
- Department of Health Research, India (R.11015/14/2023-GIA/HR)
- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Structure and Dynamics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Advanced NMR Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- FUS, RNA recognition motif, protein aggregation, conformational dynamics, ATP, pH, protonation, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, neurodegenerative diseases, RNA-binding proteins, microsecond dynamics
- MeSH terms
- RNA Recognition Motif, Adenosine Triphosphate, Humans, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Ions, Protein Conformation, RNA, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular, RNA-Binding Protein FUS
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