Characterisation of the conformational and quaternary structure-dependent heparin-binding region of bovine seminal plasma protein PDC-109

PDC-109, the major heparin-binding protein of bull seminal plasma, binds to sperm choline lipids at ejaculation and modulates capacitation mediated by heparin. Affinity chromatography on heparin-Sepharose showed that polydisperse, but not monomeric, PDC-109 displayed heparin-binding capability. We sought to characterise the surface topology of the quaternary structure-dependent heparin-binding region of PDC-109 by comparing the arginine- and lysine-selective chemical modification patterns of the free and the heparin-bound protein. A combination of reversed-phase peptide mapping of endoproteinase Lys-C-digested PDC-109 derivatives and mass spectrometry was employed to identify modified and heparin-protected residues. PDC-109 contains two tandemly arranged fibronectin type II domains (a, Cys24-Cys61; b, Cys69-Cys109). The results show that six basic residues (Lys34, Arg57, Lys59, Arg64, Lys68, and Arg104) were shielded from reaction with acetic anhydride and 1,2-cyclohexanedione in heparin-bound PDC-109 oligomers. In the 1H-NMR solution structures of single fibronectin type II domains, residues topologically equivalent to PDC-109 Arg57 (Arg104) and Lys59 lay around beta-strand D on the same face of the domain. In full-length PDC-109, Arg64 and Lys68 are both located in the intervening polypeptide between domains a and b. Our data suggest possible quaternary structure arrangements of PDC-109 molecules to form a heparin-binding oligomer.