高等学校化学学报 ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (11): 20260236.doi: 10.7503/cjcu20260236

• 物理化学 • 上一篇    下一篇

酪氨酸突变对黄粉虫抗冻蛋白抑制甲烷水合物生长的影响: 分子动力学模拟

崔韶丽1(), 张天俐2, 杜炳辉2, 马若瑾1, 靳永灿1, 叶卓3, 徐永涛2()   

  1. 1.河南医药大学法医学院
    2.医学工程学院,新乡 453003
    3.河南师范大学化学化工学院,新乡 453003
  • 收稿日期:2026-06-12 出版日期:2026-11-10 发布日期:2026-09-03
  • 通讯作者: 崔韶丽 E-mail:shaolicui@163.com;yxu@xxmu.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:崔韶丽, 女, 博士, 讲师, 主要从事分子模拟方面的研究. E⁃mail: shaolicui@163.com
    徐永涛, 男, 博士, 教授, 主要从事计算机辅助药物设计方面的研究. E-mail: yxu@xxmu.edu.cn
    第一联系人:共同第一作者.
  • 基金资助:
    河南省自然科学基金(252300420805;262300422437;252300421457);河南省科技研发计划联合基金(学科类)(252103810367);河南省高等学校重点科研项目(25B150017)

Influence of Tyrosine Mutations on the Inhibition of Methane Hydrate Growth by Tenebrio Molitor Antifreeze Protein: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

CUI Shaoli1(), ZHANG Tianli2, DU Binghui2, MA Ruojin1, JIN Yongcan1, YE Zhuo3, XU Yongtao2()   

  1. 1.School of Forensic Medicine
    2.School of Medical Engineering,Henan Medical University,Xinxiang 453003,China
    3.School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,Henan Normal University,Xinxiang 453003,China
  • Received:2026-06-12 Online:2026-11-10 Published:2026-09-03
  • Contact: CUI Shaoli E-mail:shaolicui@163.com;yxu@xxmu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province, China(252300420805;262300422437;252300421457);the Joint Foundation for Science and Technology Research Projects of Henan Province, China(252103810367);the Key Scientific Research Project of Higher Education Institutions in Henan Province, China(25B150017)

摘要:

黄粉虫抗冻蛋白(TmAFP)因其优异的冰晶抑制能力, 被视为潜在的绿色甲烷水合物动力学抑制剂. 然而, 其抑制水合物生长的构效关系尚不明确. 本文采用分子动力学模拟, 研究了TmAFP关键苏氨酸(Thr)突变为酪氨酸(Tyr)对水合物生长抑制的影响, 构建了野生型及T27Y, T39Y, T44Y突变体与水合物的复合体系. 结果表明, 选择体积更大、 疏水性相似的TYR并未增强TmAFP的抑制能力. 值得注意的是, T44Y突变体虽保留80%的热滞活性, 却几乎完全丧失了对甲烷水合物生长的抑制能力, 表明热滞活性与水合物抑制活性之间不存在正相关. 进一步分析表明, T44Y突变保留了IBS与甲烷水合物表面的局部几何互补性, 但削弱了蛋白质构象刚性和界面氢键稳定性, 表明静态结构匹配并不足以保证稳定吸附; 而T27Y和T39Y突变则主要通过破坏IBS关键残基间距与水合物笼状结构之间的匹配, 削弱蛋白质的吸附与抑制作用. 本研究揭示了TmAFP抑制甲烷水合物生长不仅依赖冰结合面与表面的结构互补, 还需要蛋白质整体刚性与残基锚定能力的协同. 这一发现为理性设计基于抗冻蛋白的高效、 绿色水合物抑制剂提供了理论依据.

关键词: 黄粉虫抗冻蛋白, 酪氨酸定点突变, 甲烷水合物, 分子动力学模拟, 抑制机制

Abstract:

Tenebrio molitor antifreeze protein(TmAFP) is considered a potential environmentally benign kinetic inhibitor for methane hydrate due to its excellent ice recrystallization inhibition activity. However, the structure- activity relationship of TmAFP in inhibiting methane hydrate growth remains unclear. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the effects of mutating key threonine(Thr) residues to tyrosine(Tyr) in TmAFP on methane hydrate growth inhibition. In the Thr array, residues at positions 27, 39, and 44 exhibit a greater influence on the thermal hysteresis activity of the antifreeze protein than other sites. Furthermore, the substitution with amino acids possessing larger side chains than Thr, such as tyrosine, may interfere with the ice-binding process through steric hindrance. We constructed the complex systems of wild-type and T27Y, T39Y, and T44Y mutants with methane hydrate. The results show that wild-type TmAFP exhibits the strongest inhibitory effect on methane hydrate growth, while Tyr point mutations significantly weaken this activity. Notably, although the T44Y mutant retains approximately 80% of the thermal hysteresis activity of wild-type TmAFP, it almost completely loses its ability to inhibit methane hydrate growth, indicating no positive correlation between the thermal hysteresis activity of antifreeze protein and its methane hydrate inhibition activity. Further analysis indicates that the T44Y mutation preserves the local geometric complementarity between the ice-binding surface(IBS) and the methane hydrate surface, it concurrently reduces both the conformational rigidity of the protein and the stability of interfacial hydrogen bonds. This indicates that static structural matching alone is not sufficient to guarantee stable adsorption. In contrast, the T27Y and T39Y mutations primarily impair inhibition by disrupting the matching between key residue spacings on the IBS and the cage structures of methane hydrate. This study demonstrates that the inhibition of methane hydrate growth by TmAFP requires not only structural complementarity between the IBS and the hydrate surface, but also synergy between the overall rigidity of the protein and the anchoring ability of residues on the hydrate surface. These findings provide molecular-level theoretical guidance for the rational design of efficient and green antifreeze protein-based hydrate inhibitors.

Key words: Tenebrio molitor antifreeze protein, Tyrosine site-directed mutation, Methane hydrate, Molecular dynamics simulation, Inhibitory mechanism

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