G219S mutagenesis as a means of stabilizing conformational flexibility in the bacterial sodium channel NaChBac

The NaChBac sodium channel from Bacillus halodurans is a homologue of eukaryotic voltage-gated sodium channels. It can be solubilized in a range of detergents and consists of four identical subunits assembled as a tetramer. Sodium channels are relatively flexible molecules, adopting different conformations in their closed, open and inactivated states. This study aimed to design and construct a mutant version of the NaChBac protein that would insert into membranes and retain its folded conformation, but which would have enhanced stability when subjected to thermal stress. Modelling studies suggested a G219S mutant would have decreased conformational flexibility due to the removal of the glycine hinge around the proposed gating region, thereby imparting increased resistance to unfolding. The mutant expressed in Escherichia coli and purified in the detergent dodecyl maltoside was compared to wildtype NaChBac prepared in a similar manner. The mutant was incorporated into the membrane fraction and had a nearly identical secondary structure to the wildtype protein. When the thermal unfolding of the G219S mutant was examined by circular dichroism spectroscopy, it was shown to not only have a Tm ～10°C higher than the wildtype, but also in its unfolded state it retained more ordered helical structure than did the wildtype protein. Hence the G219S mutant was shown to be, as designed, more thermally stable.     

Tyr61的芳香族侧链对稳定瘦素的结构至关重要

为了研究第61位Tyr（Tyr61）在瘦素（leptin）结构与功能中的作用,构建了2个瘦素突变体Y61F与Y61Q并对其进行了功能分析．Y61F突变体瘦素显示出与野生型瘦素相同的天然凝胶电泳迁移率及相似的折叠效率,而Y61Q突变体瘦素则显示出明显慢的电泳迁移率且较野生型瘦素更难于折叠．受体结合及免疫活性测定显示, Y61F突变体保留了野生型瘦素的大部分生物学活性,而Y61Q突变体仅保留了野生型瘦素16％的受体结合活性及30％的免疫活性．圆二色性分析及二级结构估算表明,Y61F突变体具有与野生型瘦素几乎一样的二级结构组成,而Y61Q突变体的结构则较野生型瘦素更为松散.本研究表明,Tyr61的芳香族侧链被包埋于分子内部的疏水区域中对稳定瘦素结构及其发挥生理功能至关重要,而Tyr61上的羟基在这一过程中并不起重要作用．     

Changes in secondary structure follow the dissociation of human insulin hexamers: a circular dichroism study

Vacuum UV circular dichroism spectra measured down to 178 nm for hexameric 2-zinc human insulin, zinc-free human insulin, and the two engineered and biologically active monomeric mutants, [B/S9D] and [B/S9D,T27E] human insulin, show significant differences. The secondary structure analysis of the 2-zinc human insulin (T6) in neutral solution was determined: 57% helix, 1% beta-strand, 18% turn, and 24% random coil. This is very close to the corresponding crystal structure showing that the solution and solid structures are similar. The secondary structure of the monomer shows a 10-15% increase in antiparallel beta-structure and a corresponding reduction in random coil structure. These structural changes are consistent with an independent analysis of the corresponding difference spectra. The advantage of secondary structure analyses of difference spectra is that the contribution of odd spectral features stemming mainly from side chain chromophores is minimized and the sensitivity of the analyses improved. Analysis of the CD spectra of T6 2-zinc, zinc-free human insulin and monomeric mutant insulin by singular value decomposition indicates that the secondary structure changes following the dissociation of hexamers into dimers and monomers are two-state processes.     

Prediction of the tertiary structure of the alpha-subunit of tryptophan synthase

The tertiary structure of the alpha-subunit of tryptophan synthase was proposed using a combination of experimental data and computational methods. The vacuum-ultraviolet circular dichroism spectrum was used to assign the protein to the alpha/beta-class of supersecondary structures. The two-domain structure of the alpha-subunit (Miles et al.: Biochemistry 21:2586, 1982; Beasty and Matthews: Biochemistry 24:3547, 1985) eliminated consideration of a barrel structure and focused attention on a beta-sheet structure. An algorithm (Cohen et al.: Biochemistry 22:4894, 1983) was used to generate a secondary structure prediction that was consistent with the sequence data of the alpha-subunit from five species. Three potential secondary structures were then packed into tertiary structures using other algorithms. The assumption of nearest neighbors from second-site revertant data eliminated 97% of the possible tertiary structures; consideration of conserved hydrophobic packing regions on the beta-sheet eliminated all but one structure. The native structure is predicted to have a parallel beta-sheet flanked on both sides by alpha-helices, and is consistent with the available data on chemical cross-linking, chemical modification, and limited proteolysis. In addition, an active site region containing appropriate residues could be identified as well as an interface for beta 2-subunit association. The ability of experimental data to facilitate the prediction of protein structure is discussed.     

Comparative Study of Structure and Activity of Cytotoxins from Venom of the Cobras Naja oxiana, Naja kaouthia, and Naja haje

Cytotoxins are positively charged polypeptides that constitute about 60% of all proteins in cobra venom; they have a wide spectrum of biological activities. By CD spectroscopy, cytotoxins CT1 and CT2 Naja oxiana, CT3 Naja kaouthia, and CT1 and CT2 Naja haje were shown to have similar secondary structure in an aqueous environment, with dominating beta-sheet structure, and to vary in the twisting angle of the beta-sheet and the conformation of disulfide groups. Using dodecylphosphocholine micelles and liposomes, CT1 and CT2 Naja oxiana were shown to incorporate into lipid structures without changes in the secondary structure of the peptides. The binding of CT1 and CT2 Naja oxiana with liposomes was associated with an increase in the beta-sheet twisting and a sign change of the dihedral angle of one disulfide group. The cytotoxins were considerably different in cytotoxicity and cooperativity of the effect on human promyelocytic leukemia cells HL60, mouse myelomonocytic cells WEHI-3, and human erythroleukemic cells K562. The most toxic CT2 Naja oxiana and CT3 Naja kaouthia possessed low cooperativity of interaction (Hill coefficient h = 0.6-0.8), unlike 10-20-fold less toxic CT1 and CT2 Naja haje (h = 1.2-1.7). CT1 Naja oxiana has an intermediate position on the cytotoxicity scale and is characterized by h = 0.5-0.8. The cytotoxins under study induced necrosis of HL60 cells and failed to activate apoptosis. The differences in cytotoxicity are supposed to be related not with features of the secondary structure of the peptides, but with interactions of side chains of variable amino acid residues with lipids and/or membrane proteins.     

大肠杆菌表达的重组猪β2微球蛋白二级结构的圆二色谱分析

摘要：【目的】研究巴马小型猪β2微球蛋白（β2m）的结构和功能。【方法】亚克隆巴马小型猪β2m的成熟肽部分,并构建与pMAL-p2X的重组质粒,转化大肠杆菌TB1并诱导后,融合表达蛋白分别经过 Western-blot、纯化及Factor Xa切割,分离纯化单体蛋白。圆二色谱(circular dichroism spectrum, CD)测定蛋白的二级结构。【结果】重组表达的融合蛋白MBP-β2m大小为52.1 kDa。切割后去除MBP的单体蛋白大小为10.6 kDa。圆二色谱分析单体蛋白β2m二级结构     

Circular dichroism and laser Raman spectroscopic analysis of the secondary structure ofCerebratulus lacteus toxin B-IV

The secondary structure ofCerebratulus lacteus toxin B-IV, a neurotoxic polypeptide containing 55 amino acid residues and four disulfide bonds, was experimentally estimated by computer analyses of toxin circular dichroism (CD) and laser Raman spectra. The CD spectrum of the toxin displayed typical -helical peaks at 191, 208, and 222 nm. At neutralpH, the -helix estimates from CD varied between 49 and 55%, when nonrepresentative spectrum analytical methods were used. Analysis of the laser Raman spectrum obtained at a much higher toxin concentration yielded a 78% -helix estimate. Both CD and Raman spectroscopic methods failed to detect any -sheet structure. The spectroscopic analyses revealed significantly more -helix and less -sheet for toxin B-IV than was predicted from its sequence. To account for the difference between the 49–55% helix estimate from CD spectra and the 78% helix estimate from the Raman spectrum, we postulate that some terminal residues are unfolded at the low toxin concentrations used for CD measurements but form helix at the high toxin concentration used for Raman measurements. Our CD observations showing thatCerebatulus toxin B-IV helix content increases about 15% in trifluoroethanol or at highpH are consistent with this interpretation.