Photoresponsive molecular tweezers modulate Taspase 1 activity

Abstract

Light serves as an exceptional stimulus for the precise spatiotemporal regulation of protein activity and protein–protein interactions. Here, we introduce a light-responsive supramolecular ligand system designed to modulate Taspase 1, a protease critical for embryogenesis and implicated in tumor progression. Our approach utilizes photoswitchable divalent molecular tweezers engineered to target lysine-rich regions within the Taspase 1 loop. By incorporating arylazopyrazole (AAP) photoswitches, we achieve dynamic and reversible control of ligand binding. These photoswitches exhibit high photostationary states, excellent reversibility, and prolonged thermal stability of the Z isomer, ensuring reliable switching without photodegradation. The tweezer distance varies between E and Z isomers, enabling tunable binding interactions. Through a combination of surface plasmon resonance, enzymatic cleavage assays, and molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that these ligands bind Taspase 1 with low micromolar affinity and effectively inhibit its proteolytic activity. While isomerization did not significantly affect the inhibition of protein–protein interaction, the E-isomers of larger tweezers exhibited powerful enzyme inhibition, likely due to their ability to bridge lysines flanking the active site. This photoswitchable tweezer system provides a versatile tool for light-controlled modulation of protein function, offering new opportunities for selectively targeting lysine-rich proteins in dynamic biological environments.