Molecular noise restricts the ability of an individual cell to resolve input signals of different strengths and gather information about the external environment. Transmitting information through complex signaling networks with redundancies can overcome this limitation. We developed an integrative theoretical and experimental framework, based on the formalism of information theory, to quantitatively predict and measure the amount of information transduced by molecular and cellular networks. Analyzing tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling revealed that individual TNF signaling pathways transduce information sufficient for accurate binary decisions, and an upstream bottleneck limits the information gained via multiple pathways together. Negative feedback to this bottleneck could both alleviate and enhance its limiting effect, despite decreasing noise. Bottlenecks likewise constrain information attained by networks signaling through multiple genes or cells.

Rapid advances in DNA synthesis techniques have made it possible to engineer viruses, biochemical pathways and assemble bacterial genomes. Here, we report the synthesis of a functional 272,871 bp designer eukaryotic chromosome, synIII, which is based on the 316,617 bp native Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome III. Changes to synIII include TAG/TAA stop-codon replacements, deletion of subtelomeric regions, introns, tRNAs, transposons and silent mating loci as well as insertion of loxPsym sites to enable genome scrambling. SynIII is functional in S. cerevisiae. Scrambling of the chromosome in a heterozygous diploid reveals a large increase in “a mater” derivatives resulting from loss of the MATα allele on synIII. The total synthesis of synIII represents the first complete design and synthesis of a eukaryotic chromosome, establishing S. cerevisiae as the basis for designer eukaryotic genome biology.

The A2a adenosine receptor is a member of the G-protein coupled receptor family, and its activation stimulates cyclic AMP production. To determine the residues which are involved in ligand binding, several residues in transmembrane domains 5-7 were individually replaced with alanine and other amino acids. The binding properties of the resultant mutant receptors were determined in transfected COS-7 cells. To study the expression levels in COS-7 cells, mutant receptors were tagged at their amino terminus with a hemagglutinin epitope, which allowed their immunological detection in the plasma membrane by the monoclonal antibody 12CA5. The functional properties of mutant receptors were determined by measuring stimulation of adenylate cyclase. Specific binding of [3H]CGS 21680 (15 nM) and [3H]XAC (4 nM), an A2a agonist and antagonist, respectively, was absent in the following Ala mutants: F182A, H250A, N253A, I274A, H278A, and S281A, although they were well expressed in the plasma membrane. The hydroxy group of Ser-277 is required for high affinity binding of agonists, but not antagonists. An N181S mutant lost affinity for adenosine agonists substituted at N6 or C-2, but not at C-5'. The mutant receptors I274A, S277A, and H278A showed full stimulation of adenylate cyclase at high concentrations of CGS 21680. The functional agonist potencies at mutant receptors that lacked radioligand binding were > 30-fold less than those at the wild type receptor. His-250 appears to be a required component of a hydrophobic pocket, and H-bonding to this residue is not essential. On the other hand, replacement of His-278 with other aromatic residues was not tolerated in ligand binding. Thus, some of the residues targeted in this study may be involved in the direct interaction with ligands in the human A2a adenosine receptor. A molecular model based on the structure of rhodopsin, in which the 5'-NH in NECA is hydrogen bonded to Ser-277 and His-278, was developed in order to visualize the environment of the ligand binding site.

We conducted a mutational analysis of residues potentially involved in the adenine nucleotide binding pocket of the human P2Y1 receptor. Mutated receptors were expressed in COS-7 cells with an epitope tag that permitted confirmation of expression in the plasma membrane, and agonist-promoted inositol phosphate accumulation was assessed as a measure of receptor activity. Residues in transmembrane helical domains (TMs) 3, 5, 6, and 7 predicted by molecular modeling to be involved in ligand recognition were replaced with alanine and, in some cases, by other amino acids. The potent P2Y1 receptor agonist 2-methylthio-ATP (2-MeSATP) had no activity in cells expressing the R128A, R310A, and S314A mutant receptors, and a markedly reduced potency of 2-MeSATP was observed with the K280A and Q307A mutants. These results suggest that residues on the exofacial side of TM3 and TM7 are critical determinants of the ATP binding pocket. In contrast, there was no change in the potency or maximal effect of 2-MeSATP with the S317A mutant receptor. Alanine replacement of F131, H132, Y136, F226, or H277 resulted in mutant receptors that exhibited a 7-18-fold reduction in potency compared with that observed with the wild-type receptor. These residues thus seem to subserve a less important modulatory role in ligand binding to the P2Y1 receptor. Because changes in the potency of 2-methylthio-ADP and 2-(hexylthio)-AMP paralleled the changes in potency of 2-MeSATP at these mutant receptors, the beta- and gamma-phosphates of the adenine nucleotides seem to be less important than the alpha-phosphate in ligand/P2Y1 receptor interactions. However, T221A and T222A mutant receptors exhibited much larger reductions in triphosphate (89- and 33-fold versus wild-type receptors, respectively) than in diphosphate or monophosphate potency. This result may be indicative of a greater role of these TM5 residues in gamma-phosphate recognition. Taken together, the results suggest that the adenosine and alpha-phosphate moieties of ATP bind to critical residues in TM3 and TM7 on the exofacial side of the human P2Y1 receptor.