Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

The synthesis of proteins, also known as translation, is a fundamental process in every living organism. The steps in the translation of genetic information to functional proteins have been meticulously studied, mostly using in vitro techniques, yielding a detailed model of their mechanisms. However, the use of minimal cell-free systems allows for the possibility to miss interactions from absent components or that reactions are affected by the buffer composition. The work presented in this thesis opens a way to study the kinetics of complex molecular processes, like protein synthesis, directly inside live bacterial cells in real time. We developed and optimized a method to deliver dye-labeled macromolecules inside live cells and generate a kinetic model of the particle’s interactions based on its diffusion inside the cell.

This method facilitated the study of translation elongation and initiation directly in live cells. Our measurements of reaction times of tRNA in the ribosome, agree with previous reports from in vitro techniques. We further applied the method to examine the effects of three aminoglycoside antibiotics and erythromycin directly in live cells. The aminoglycoside antibiotics slowed-down protein synthesis 2- to 4-fold, while the number of elongation cycles per initiation event decreased significantly. In the case of erythromycin, cells showed a 4-fold slower protein synthesis. Additionally, we measured the kinetics of sequence-specific effects of erythromycin: translational arrest, and peptidyl-tRNA drop-off; these in vivo measurements revealed a complex mechanism of action of the drug, in agreement with models suggested by previous experiments. Additionally, we applied the method to measure the effects, on the kinetics of protein synthesis, caused by modifications in the C-terminal tail of the S13 ribosomal protein. Our measurements showed that specific mutations led to different changes in the occupancy and dwell-time of labeled-tRNA in the ribosome.

To summarize, the present work will guide the reader through the development of a method to study the kinetics of protein synthesis directly in live bacterial cells, as well as its application to characterize the effects of different antibiotics within the complex environment of a living organism.

The spread of antibiotic resistance is turning many of the currently used antibiotics less effective against common infections. To address this public health challenge, it is critical to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of action of these compounds. Aminoglycoside drugs bind the bacterial ribosome, and decades of results from in vitro biochemical and structural approaches suggest that these drugs disrupt protein synthesis by inhibiting the ribosome's translocation on the messenger RNA, as well as by inducing miscoding errors. So far, however, we have sparse information about the dynamic effects of these compounds on protein synthesis inside the cell. In the present study, we measured the effect of the aminoglycosides apramycin, gentamicin, and paromomycin on ongoing protein synthesis directly in live Escherichia coli cells by tracking the binding of dye-labeled transfer RNAs to ribosomes. Our results suggest that the drugs slow down translation elongation two- to fourfold in general, and the number of elongation cycles per initiation event seems to decrease to the same extent. Hence, our results imply that none of the drugs used in this study cause severe inhibition of translocation.

Single-molecule techniques are ideally poised to characterize complex dynamics but are typically limited to investigating a small number of different samples. However, a large sequence or chemical space often needs to be explored to derive a comprehensive understanding of complex biological processes. Here we describe multiplexed single-molecule characterization at the library scale (MUSCLE), a method that combines single-molecule fluorescence microscopy with next-generation sequencing to enable highly multiplexed observations of complex dynamics. We comprehensively profiled the sequence dependence of DNA hairpin properties and Cas9-induced target DNA unwinding-rewinding dynamics. The ability to explore a large sequence space for Cas9 allowed us to identify a number of target sequences with unexpected behaviors. We envision that MUSCLE will enable the mechanistic exploration of many fundamental biological processes.

Reaching sub-millisecond 3D tracking of individual molecules in living cells would enable direct measurements of diffusion-limited macromolecular interactions under physiological conditions. Here, we present a 3D tracking principle that approaches the relevant regime. The method is based on the true excitation point spread function and cross-entropy minimization for position localization of moving fluorescent reporters. Tests on beads moving on a stage reaches 67 nm lateral and 109 nm axial precision with a time resolution of 0.84 ms at a photon count rate of 60 kHz; the measurements agree with the theoretical and simulated predictions. Our implementation also features a method for microsecond 3D PSF positioning and an estimator for diffusion analysis of tracking data. Finally, we successfully apply these methods to track the Trigger Factor protein in living bacterial cells. Overall, our results show that while it is possible to reach sub-millisecond live-cell single-molecule tracking, it is still hard to resolve state transitions based on diffusivity at this time scale.

Packaging DNA into chromatin represses essential DNA-based processes, such as transcription, DNA replication, and repair. To change the accessibility of DNA, cells have evolved a set of enzymes referred to as chromatin remodelers that act on the basic repeat unit of chromatin,  the nucleosome. Chromatin remodelers are critical for normal cell physiology and development. Dysfunction or aberrant regulation of chromatin remodelers can lead to multisystem developmental disorders and cancers. DNA damage represents a major threat to eukaryotic cells. When DNA damage persists, the cell can enter programmed cell death. To avoid such a dramatic outcome, cells must rapidly recognize the DNA damage and trigger DNA repair pathways. An early event following DNA damage is the relaxation of chromatin. Chromatin relaxation depends on ATP consumption and ADP-ribosylation, where the site of DNA damage is marked with ADP-ribose units. ADP-ribose, in turn, can be recognized by the macro domain of the remodeler ALC1 (Amplified in Liver Cancer 1). ALC1 has therefore been implicated in the DNA damage response. In the absence of DNA damage, the macro domain of ALC1 is placed against its ATPase motor to inhibit its activity. However, it is unclear how ALC1, in its active state, engages the nucleosome. Moreover, the mechanism by which ALC1 is fully activated upon recruitment is poorly understood, and the impact of ALC1-catalyzed nucleosome sliding in the vicinity of a DNA damage site is unknown. This thesis investigates how ALC1 engages its substrate, the nucleosome, and how histone modifications can regulate ALC1 activity. Structural and biophysical approaches revealed an ALC1 regulatory segment that binds to the acidic patch, a prominent feature on the nucleosome surface. Further analysis showed that the interaction between ALC1 and the acidic patch is required to fully activate ALC1. Moreover, in vitro ADP-ribosylation of nucleosomes enabled us to form a stable complex of nucleosome-bound ALC1 amenable to structural determination by cryogenic electron microscopy. Our structural models visualize nucleosomal epitopes that play an important role in stimulating productive remodeling by ALC1, as confirmed by various biochemical approaches. Taken together, our data suggested a possible mechanism by which ALC1 could render DNA breaks more accessible to downstream repair factors. Since recent studies defined ALC1 as an attractive anti-cancer target, this thesis provides insights into the molecular mechanisms that regulate ALC1 activity as a potential starting point for structure-based drug development.