Ligand binding and conformational motions in myoglobin

Myoglobin, a small globular haem protein that binds gaseous ligands such as O2, CO and NO reversibly at the haem iron, serves as a model for studying structural and dynamic aspects of protein reactions. Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements after photodissociation of the ligand revealed a complex ligand-binding reaction with multiple kinetic intermediates, resulting from protein relaxation and movements of the ligand within the protein. To observe the structural changes induced by ligand dissociation, we have carried out X-ray crystallographic investigations of carbon monoxy-myoglobin (MbCO mutant L29W) crystals illuminated below and above 180 K, complemented by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy of CO rebinding. Here we show that below 180 K photodissociated ligands migrate to specific sites within an internal cavity--the distal haem pocket--of an essentially immobilized, frozen protein, from where they subsequently rebind by thermally activated barrier crossing. Upon photodissociation above 180 K, ligands escape from the distal pocket, aided by protein fluctuations that transiently open exit channels. We recover most of the ligands in a cavity on the opposite side of the haem group.     

Analysis of the ligand-binding domain of macrophage colony-stimulating receptor

RNAs have been extracted from human placenta. Extracellular regions of M-CSFR, D1-3, D2-3 and D3 motifs have been amplified with RT-PCR. The proteins have been expressed inE.Coli. Enzyme-linked immusorbent assay (EIA) shows that recombinant D1-3 possesses binding ability 3 times that of D2-3.Kd, the dissociation constant of the former is 11 nmol/L, and that of latter is 39 nmol/L. D3 lacks binding ability. These data suggest that D2-3 is the main site for M-CSF binding, D1 is an assistant site and also contributes to the conformation of site for ligand binding.     

预测新的生物胺受体配基结合位点

生物胺受体被认为是一类重要的药物靶标,用生物信息学手段寻找它的配基结合位点并分析其功能,对于药物设计具有重要的指导意义.从整体上结合可变性、疏水性和保守性构建了受体的2D螺旋横切面模型,预测出其可能的配基结合区Ⅰ、Ⅱ,其中TM3、TM4以及TM7在配基结合中起关键作用,E-Ⅱ环也参与了配基结合这一过程,这是对以往普遍认为只有TM参与配基结合的延伸.从局部上寻找了生物胺受体及其子受体的基序,提出了家族可变亚家族保守基序(motif)概念,即家族可变区中找到的亚家族保守的基序.最后结合整体与局部分析结果分析了各基序的功能,预测了行使配基结合功能的基序及其相应位点,结果证明与突变实验结果有很好的吻合度.     

Diversity peaks at intermediate productivity in a laboratory microcosm

The species diversity of natural communities is often strongly related to their productivity. The pattern of this relationship seems to vary: diversity is known to increase monotonically with productivity, to decrease monotonically with productivity, and to be unimodally related to productivity, with maximum diversity occurring at intermediate levels of productivity. The mechanism underlying these patterns remains obscure, although many possibilities have been suggested. Here we outline a simple mechanism--involving selection in a heterogeneous environment--to explain these patterns, and test it using laboratory cultures of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens. We grew diverse cultures over a wide range of nutrient concentrations, and found a strongly unimodal relationship between diversity and productivity in heterogeneous, but not in homogeneous, environments. Our result provides experimental evidence that the unimodal relationship often observed in natural communities can be caused by selection for specialized types in a heterogeneous environment.     

A peptide model of a protein folding intermediate

It is difficult to determine the structures of protein folding intermediates because folding is a highly cooperative process. A disulphide-bonded peptide pair, designed to mimic the first crucial intermediate in the folding of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, contains secondary and tertiary structure similar to that found in the native protein. Peptide models like this circumvent the problem of cooperativity and permit characterization of structures of folding intermediates.     

Detection and characterization of a folding intermediate in barnase by NMR

Protein engineering is being developed for mapping the energetics and pathway of protein folding. From kinetic studies on wild-type and mutant proteins, the sequence and energetics of formation of tertiary interactions of side chains can be mapped and the formation of secondary structure inferred. Here we cross-check and complement results from this approach by using a recently developed procedure that traps and characterizes secondary structure in intermediate states using 1H NMR. The refolding of barnase is shown to be a multiphasic process in which the secondary structure in alpha-helices and beta-sheets and some turns is formed more rapidly than is the overall folding.     

The role of the distal histidine in myoglobin and haemoglobin

The distal E7 histidine in vertebrate myoglobins and haemoglobins has been strongly conserved during evolution and is thought to be important in fine-tuning the ligand affinities of these proteins. A hydrogen bond between the N epsilon proton of the distal histidine and the second oxygen atom may stabilize O2 bound to the haem iron. The proximity of the imidazole side chain to the sixth coordination position, which is required for efficient hydrogen bonding, has been postulated to inhibit sterically the binding of CO and alkyl isocyanides. To test these ideas, engineered mutants of sperm whale myoglobin and the alpha- and beta-subunits of human haemoglobin were prepared in which E7 histidine was replaced by glycine. Removal of the distal imidazole in myoglobin and the alpha-subunits of intact, R-state haemoglobin caused significant changes in the affinity for oxygen, carbon monoxide and methyl isocyanide; in contrast, the His-E7 to Gly substitution produced little or no effect on the rates and extents of O2, CO and methyl isocyanide binding to beta-chains within R-state haemoglobin. In the beta-subunit the distal histidine seems to be less significant in regulating the binding of ligands to the haem iron in the high affinity quaternary conformation. Structural differences in the oxygen binding pockets shown by X-ray crystallographic studies account for the functional differences of these proteins.