title: Single molecule studies of force-induced S2 site exposure in the mammalian Notch negative regulatory domain.
abstract: Notch signaling in metazoans is responsible for key cellular processes related to embryonic development and tissue homeostasis. Proteolitic cleavage of the S2 site within an extracellular NRR domain of Notch is a key early event in Notch signaling. We use single molecule force-extension (FX) atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study force-induced exposure of the S2 site in the NRR domain from mouse Notch 1. Our FX AFM measurements yield a histogram of N-to-C termini lengths, which we relate to conformational transitions within the NRR domain. We detect four classes of such conformational transitions. From our steered molecular dynamics (SMD) results, we associate first three classes of such events with the S2 site exposure. AFM experiments yield their mean unfolding forces as 69 ± 42, 79 ± 45, and 90 ± 50 pN, respectively, at 400 nm/s AFM pulling speeds. These forces are matched by the SMD results recalibrated to the AFM force loading rates. Next, we provide a conditional probability analysis of the AFM data to support the hypothesis that a whole sequence of conformational transitions within those three clases is the most probable pathway for the force-induced S2 site exposure. Our results support the hypothesis that force-induced Notch activation requires ligand binding to exert mechanical force not in random but in several strokes and over a substantial period of time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Kansas State University , Manhattan, Kansas 66506-2601, United States.
authors.forename: Nicoleta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ploscariu
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuczera
authors.forename: Katarzyna E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Malek
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wawrzyniuk
authors.forename: Ashim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Szoszkiewicz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008024:Ligands; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D051379:Mice; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D058767:Protein Unfolding; D051881:Receptor, Notch1 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; C497762:Notch1 protein, mouse; D051881:Receptor, Notch1