Rearrangement of charge-charge interactions in variant ubiquitins as detected by double-mutant cycles and NMR

Previous studies of ubiquitin disclosed numerous charge-charge interactions on the protein's surface. To investigate how neighboring residues influence the strength of these interactions, double-mutant cycles are combined with pK(a) determinations by 2D NMR. More specifically, the environment around the Asp21-Lys29 ion pair has been altered through mutations at position 25, which is an asparagine in mammalian ubiquitin and a positively-charged residue in many other ubiquitin-like proteins. The pK(a) value of Asp21 decreases by 0.4 to 0.7 pH unit when Asn25 is substituted with a positively charged residue, suggesting a new and favorable ion pair interaction between positions 21 and 25. However, analysis of double mutants reveals that the favorable interaction between Asp21 and Lys29 is weakened when position 25 is a positively charged residue. Interestingly, while the pK(a) value of His25 in the N25H variant agrees with model compound values, additional mutants reveal that this agreement is fortuitous, resulting from a balance of favorable and unfavorable interactions; similar results were observed previously for Glu34 in ubiquitin and His8 in staphylococcal nuclease. Ionizable groups may thus have pK(a) values similar to model compound values and yet still be involved in significant interactions with other protein groups. One surprising result of introducing positively charged residues at position 25 is a new interaction between Lys29 and Glu18, an interaction not present in wild-type ubiquitin. This unanticipated result illustrates a key advantage of using NMR to determine pK(a) values for many residues simultaneously in the variant proteins. Overall, the strength of an interaction between two residues at the surface of ubiquitin is sensitive to the identity of neighboring residues. The results also demonstrate that relatively conservative and common point mutations such as substitutions of polar with charged residues and vice versa can have effects on interactions beyond the site of mutation per se.