Molecular dynamics simulations of ribosome-binding sites in theophylline-responsive riboswitch associated with improving the gene expression regulation in chloroplasts

Abstract

The existence of an efficient inducible transgene expression system is a valuable tool in recombinant protein production. The synthetic theophylline-responsive riboswitch (theo.RS) can be replaced in the 5[Formula: see text] untranslated region of an mRNA and control the translation of downstream gene in chloroplasts in response to the binding with a ligand molecule, theophylline. One of the drawbacks associated with the efficiency of the theo.RS is the leak in the RS structure allowing undesired background translation when the switch is expected to be off. The purpose of this study was to detect the factors causing the leak of the theo.RS in the off mode, using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations the appropriate balancing of the simulation system, using the necessary commands, a 40[Formula: see text]ns simulation was conducted. Analysis of the solvent-accessible surface area for both ribosome-binding site (RBS) regions indicated that nucleotide 79 of the theo.RS, a guanine, had the highest surface exposure to ribosome access. These results were verified with the study of hydrogen bonding of RBS regions with the RNA structure. Therefore, redesigning the RBS regions and avoiding the unmasked nucleotide(s) in the structure may improve the tightness of theo.RS in off mode resulting in the efficient inhibition of translation.

Keywords: RNA sensor; chloroplast; inducible expression; plastome; theophylline.