@article{KangGohlkeEngstroemetal.2016,
  author    = {Kang, Yu and Gohlke, Ulrich and Engstr{\"o}m, Olof and Hamark, Christoffer and Scheidt, Tom and Kunstmann, Ruth Sonja and Heinemann, Udo and Widmalm, G{\"o}ran and Santer, Mark and Barbirz, Stefanie},
  title     = {Bacteriophage Tailspikes and Bacterial O-Antigens as a Model System to Study Weak-Affinity Protein-Polysaccharide Interactions},
  series = {Journal of the American Chemical Society},
  volume    = {138},
  journal   = {Journal of the American Chemical Society},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0002-7863},
  doi       = {10.1021/jacs.6b00240},
  pages     = {9109 -- 9118},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {Understanding interactions of bacterial surface polysaccharides with receptor protein scaffolds is important for the development of antibiotic therapies. The corresponding protein recognition domains frequently form low-affinity complexes with polysaccharides that are difficult to address with experimental techniques due to the conformational flexibility of the polysaccharide. In this work, we studied the tailspike protein (TSP) of the bacteriophage Sf6. Sf6TSP binds and hydrolyzes the high-rhamnose, serotype Y O-antigen polysaccharide of the Gram-negative bacterium Shigella flexneri (S. flexneri) as a first step of bacteriophage infection. Spectroscopic analyses and enzymatic cleavage assays confirmed that Sf6TSP binds long stretches of this polysaccharide. Crystal structure analysis and saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR spectroscopy using an enhanced method to interpret the data permitted the detailed description of affinity contributions and flexibility in an Sf6TSP-octasaccharide complex. Dodecasaccharide fragments corresponding to three repeating units of the O-antigen in complex with Sf6TSP were studied computationally by molecular dynamics simulations. They showed that distortion away from the low-energy solution conformation found in the octasaccharide complex is necessary for ligand binding. This is in agreement with a weak-affinity functional polysaccharide protein contact that facilitates correct placement and thus hydrolysis of the polysaccharide close to the catalytic residues. Our simulations stress that the flexibility of glycan epitopes together with a small number of specific protein contacts provide the driving force for Sf6TSP-polysaccharide complex formation in an overall weak-affinity interaction system.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MuzdaloSaalfrankVreedeetal.2018,
  author    = {Muzdalo, Anja and Saalfrank, Peter and Vreede, Jocelyne and Santer, Mark},
  title     = {Cis-to-Trans Isomerization of Azobenzene Derivatives Studied with Transition Path Sampling and Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical Molecular Dynamics},
  series = {Journal of chemical theory and computation},
  volume    = {14},
  journal   = {Journal of chemical theory and computation},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {1549-9618},
  doi       = {10.1021/acs.jctc.7b01120},
  pages     = {2042 -- 2051},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Azobenzene-based molecular photoswitches are becoming increasingly important for the development of photoresponsive, functional soft-matter material systems. Upon illumination with light, fast interconversion between a more stable trans and a metastable cis configuration can be established resulting in pronounced changes in conformation, dipole moment or hydrophobicity. A rational design of functional photosensitive molecules with embedded azo moieties requires a thorough understanding of isomerization mechanisms and rates, especially the thermally activated relaxation. For small azo derivatives considered in the gas phase or simple solvents, Eyring's classical transition state theory (TST) approach yields useful predictions for trends in activation energies or corresponding half-life times of the cis isomer. However, TST or improved theories cannot easily be applied when the azo moiety is part of a larger molecular complex or embedded into a heterogeneous environment, where a multitude of possible reaction pathways may exist. In these cases, only the sampling of an ensemble of dynamic reactive trajectories (transition path sampling, TPS) with explicit models of the environment may reveal the nature of the processes involved. In the present work we show how a TPS approach can conveniently be implemented for the phenomenon of relaxation-isomerization of azobenzenes starting with the simple examples of pure azobenzene and a push-pull derivative immersed in a polar (DMSO) and apolar (toluene) solvent. The latter are represented explicitly at a molecular mechanical (MM) and the azo moiety at a quantum mechanical (QM) level. We demonstrate for the push-pull azobenzene that path sampling in combination with the chosen QM/MM scheme produces the expected change in isomerization pathway from inversion to rotation in going from a low to a high permittivity (explicit) solvent model. We discuss the potential of the simulation procedure presented for comparative calculation of reaction rates and an improved understanding of activated states.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BanerjeeLipowskySanter2020,
  author    = {Banerjee, Pallavi and Lipowsky, Reinhard and Santer, Mark},
  title     = {Coarse-grained molecular model for the Glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor with and without protein},
  series = {Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation},
  volume    = {16},
  journal   = {Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {ACS Publications},
  address   = {Washington DC},
  issn      = {1549-9626},
  doi       = {10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00056},
  pages     = {15},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors are a unique class of complex glycolipids that anchor a great variety of proteins to the extracellular leaflet of plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells. These anchors can exist either with or without an attached protein called GPI-anchored protein (GPI-AP) both in vitro and in vivo. Although GPIs are known to participate in a broad range of cellular functions, it is to a large extent unknown how these are related to GPI structure and composition. Their conformational flexibility and microheterogeneity make it difficult to study them experimentally. Simplified atomistic models are amenable to all-atom computer simulations in small lipid bilayer patches but not suitable for studying their partitioning and trafficking in complex and heterogeneous membranes. Here, we present a coarse-grained model of the GPI anchor constructed with a modified version of the MARTINI force field that is suited for modeling carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids in an aqueous environment using MARTINI's polarizable water. The nonbonded interactions for sugars were reparametrized by calculating their partitioning free energies between polar and apolar phases. In addition, sugar-sugar interactions were optimized by adjusting the second virial coefficients of osmotic pressures for solutions of glucose, sucrose, and trehalose to match with experimental data. With respect to the conformational dynamics of GPI-anchored green fluorescent protein, the accessible time scales are now at least an order of magnitude larger than for the all-atom system. This is particularly important for fine-tuning the mutual interactions of lipids, carbohydrates, and amino acids when comparing to experimental results. We discuss the prospective use of the coarse-grained GPI model for studying protein-sorting and trafficking in membrane models.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{BanerjeeLipowskySanter2020,
  author    = {Banerjee, Pallavi and Lipowsky, Reinhard and Santer, Mark},
  title     = {Coarse-grained molecular model for the Glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor with and without protein},
  series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  journal   = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  number    = {6},
  issn      = {1866-8372},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-52374},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-523742},
  pages     = {17},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors are a unique class of complex glycolipids that anchor a great variety of proteins to the extracellular leaflet of plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells. These anchors can exist either with or without an attached protein called GPI-anchored protein (GPI-AP) both in vitro and in vivo. Although GPIs are known to participate in a broad range of cellular functions, it is to a large extent unknown how these are related to GPI structure and composition. Their conformational flexibility and microheterogeneity make it difficult to study them experimentally. Simplified atomistic models are amenable to all-atom computer simulations in small lipid bilayer patches but not suitable for studying their partitioning and trafficking in complex and heterogeneous membranes. Here, we present a coarse-grained model of the GPI anchor constructed with a modified version of the MARTINI force field that is suited for modeling carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids in an aqueous environment using MARTINI's polarizable water. The nonbonded interactions for sugars were reparametrized by calculating their partitioning free energies between polar and apolar phases. In addition, sugar-sugar interactions were optimized by adjusting the second virial coefficients of osmotic pressures for solutions of glucose, sucrose, and trehalose to match with experimental data. With respect to the conformational dynamics of GPI-anchored green fluorescent protein, the accessible time scales are now at least an order of magnitude larger than for the all-atom system. This is particularly important for fine-tuning the mutual interactions of lipids, carbohydrates, and amino acids when comparing to experimental results. We discuss the prospective use of the coarse-grained GPI model for studying protein-sorting and trafficking in membrane models.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KangBarbirzLipowskyetal.2014,
  author    = {Kang, Yu and Barbirz, Stefanie and Lipowsky, Reinhard and Santer, Mark},
  title     = {Conformational Diversity of O-Antigen Polysaccharides of the Gram-Negative Bacterium Shigella flexneri Serotype Y},
  series = {The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces \& biophysical chemistry},
  volume    = {118},
  journal   = {The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces \& biophysical chemistry},
  number    = {9},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {1520-6106},
  doi       = {10.1021/jp4111713},
  pages     = {2523 -- 2534},
  year      = {2014},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{KangBarbirzLipowskyetal.2013,
  author    = {Kang, Y. and Barbirz, Stefanie and Lipowsky, Reinhard and Santer, Mark},
  title     = {Conformational Insights into Recognition Mechanism of O-Antigen Polysaccharides by Tailspike Protein},
  series = {European biophysics journal : with biophysics letters ; an international journal of biophysics},
  volume    = {42},
  booktitle = {European biophysics journal : with biophysics letters ; an international journal of biophysics},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {0175-7571},
  pages     = {S112 -- S112},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{KunstmannEngstroemWehleetal.2020,
  author    = {Kunstmann, Ruth Sonja and Engstr{\"o}m, Olof and Wehle, Marko and Widmalm, G{\"o}ran and Santer, Mark and Barbirz, Stefanie},
  title     = {Increasing the affinity of an O-Antigen polysaccharide binding site in Shigella flexneri bacteriophage Sf6 tailspike protein},
  series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  journal   = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  number    = {32},
  issn      = {1866-8372},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-51941},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-519418},
  pages     = {13},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Broad and unspecific use of antibiotics accelerates spread of resistances. Sensitive and robust pathogen detection is thus important for a more targeted application. Bacteriophages contain a large repertoire of pathogen-binding proteins. These tailspike proteins (TSP) often bind surface glycans and represent a promising design platform for specific pathogen sensors. We analysed bacteriophage Sf6 TSP that recognizes the O-polysaccharide of dysentery-causing Shigella flexneri to develop variants with increased sensitivity for sensor applications. Ligand polyrhamnose backbone conformations were obtained from 2D H-1,H-1-trNOESY NMR utilizing methine-methine and methine-methyl correlations. They agreed well with conformations obtained from molecular dynamics (MD), validating the method for further predictions. In a set of mutants, MD predicted ligand flexibilities that were in good correlation with binding strength as confirmed on immobilized S. flexneri O-polysaccharide (PS) with surface plasmon resonance. In silico approaches combined with rapid screening on PS surfaces hence provide valuable strategies for TSP-based pathogen sensor design.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KunstmannEngstroemWehleetal.2020,
  author    = {Kunstmann, Ruth Sonja and Engstr{\"o}m, Olof and Wehle, Marko and Widmalm, G{\"o}ran and Santer, Mark and Barbirz, Stefanie},
  title     = {Increasing the affinity of an O-Antigen polysaccharide binding site in Shigella flexneri bacteriophage Sf6 tailspike protein},
  series = {Chemistry - A European Journal},
  volume    = {26},
  journal   = {Chemistry - A European Journal},
  number    = {32},
  publisher = {Wiley-VCH},
  address   = {Weinheim},
  issn      = {0947-6539},
  doi       = {10.1002/chem.202000495},
  pages     = {7263 -- 7273},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Broad and unspecific use of antibiotics accelerates spread of resistances. Sensitive and robust pathogen detection is thus important for a more targeted application. Bacteriophages contain a large repertoire of pathogen-binding proteins. These tailspike proteins (TSP) often bind surface glycans and represent a promising design platform for specific pathogen sensors. We analysed bacteriophage Sf6 TSP that recognizes the O-polysaccharide of dysentery-causing Shigella flexneri to develop variants with increased sensitivity for sensor applications. Ligand polyrhamnose backbone conformations were obtained from 2D H-1,H-1-trNOESY NMR utilizing methine-methine and methine-methyl correlations. They agreed well with conformations obtained from molecular dynamics (MD), validating the method for further predictions. In a set of mutants, MD predicted ligand flexibilities that were in good correlation with binding strength as confirmed on immobilized S. flexneri O-polysaccharide (PS) with surface plasmon resonance. In silico approaches combined with rapid screening on PS surfaces hence provide valuable strategies for TSP-based pathogen sensor design.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{FeldmannMaduarSanteretal.2016,
  author    = {Feldmann, David and Maduar, Salim R. and Santer, Mark and Lomadze, Nino and Vinogradova, Olga I. and Santer, Svetlana},
  title     = {Manipulation of small particles at solid liquid interface},
  series = {Scientific reports},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {Scientific reports},
  publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {2045-2322},
  doi       = {10.1038/srep36443},
  pages     = {10},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The strong adhesion of sub-micron sized particles to surfaces is a nuisance, both for removing contaminating colloids from surfaces and for conscious manipulation of particles to create and test novel micro/nano-scale assemblies. The obvious idea of using detergents to ease these processes suffers from a lack of control: the action of any conventional surface-modifying agent is immediate and global. With photosensitive azobenzene containing surfactants we overcome these limitations. Such photo-soaps contain optical switches (azobenzene molecules), which upon illumination with light of appropriate wavelength undergo reversible trans-cis photo-isomerization resulting in a subsequent change of the physico-chemical molecular properties. In this work we show that when a spatial gradient in the composition of trans- and cis- isomers is created near a solid-liquid interface, a substantial hydrodynamic flow can be initiated, the spatial extent of which can be set, e.g., by the shape of a laser spot. We propose the concept of light induced diffusioosmosis driving the flow, which can remove, gather or pattern a particle assembly at a solid-liquid interface. In other words, in addition to providing a soap we implement selectivity: particles are mobilized and moved at the time of illumination, and only across the illuminated area.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{FeldmannMaduarSanteretal.2016,
  author    = {Feldmann, David and Maduar, Salim R. and Santer, Mark and Lomadze, Nino and Vinogradova, Olga I. and Santer, Svetlana},
  title     = {Manipulation of small particles at solid liquid interface},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-100338},
  pages     = {10},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The strong adhesion of sub-micron sized particles to surfaces is a nuisance, both for removing contaminating colloids from surfaces and for conscious manipulation of particles to create and test novel micro/nano-scale assemblies. The obvious idea of using detergents to ease these processes suffers from a lack of control: the action of any conventional surface-modifying agent is immediate and global. With photosensitive azobenzene containing surfactants we overcome these limitations. Such photo-soaps contain optical switches (azobenzene molecules), which upon illumination with light of appropriate wavelength undergo reversible trans-cis photo-isomerization resulting in a subsequent change of the physico-chemical molecular properties. In this work we show that when a spatial gradient in the composition of trans- and cis- isomers is created near a solid-liquid interface, a substantial hydrodynamic flow can be initiated, the spatial extent of which can be set, e.g., by the shape of a laser spot. We propose the concept of light induced diffusioosmosis driving the flow, which can remove, gather or pattern a particle assembly at a solid-liquid interface. In other words, in addition to providing a soap we implement selectivity: particles are mobilized and moved at the time of illumination, and only across the illuminated area.},
  language  = {en}
}