An analysis of subdomain orientation, conformational change and disorder in relation to crystal packing of aspartic proteinases.

The analysis reported here describes detailed structural studies of endothiapepsin (the aspartic proteinase from Endothia parasitica), with and without bound inhibitors, and human pepsin 3b. Comparison of multiple crystal structures of members of the aspartic proteinase family has revealed small but significant differences in domain orientation in different crystal forms. In this paper, it is shown that these differences in domain orientation do not necessarily correlate with the presence or absence of bound inhibitors, but appear to stem at least partly from crystal contacts mediated by sulfate ions. However, since the same inherent flexibility of the structure is observed for other enzymes in this family such as human pepsin, the native structure of which is also reported here, the observed domain movements may well have implications for the mechanism of catalysis.

Protein preparation, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of Trypanosoma cruzi nucleoside diphosphate kinase 1.

The flagellated protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the aetiological agent of Chagas disease. Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDPKs) are enzymes that are involved in energy management and nucleoside balance in the cell. T. cruzi TcNDPK1, a canonical isoform, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as an N-terminally poly-His-tagged fusion protein and crystallized. Crystals grew after 72 h in 0.2 M MgCl(2), 20% PEG 3350. Data were collected to 3.5 A resolution using synchrotron X-ray radiation at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (Campinas, Brazil). The crystals belonged to the trigonal space group P3, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 127.84, c = 275.49 A. Structure determination is under way and will provide relevant information that may lead to the first step in rational drug design for the treatment of Chagas disease.

Overexpression and refolding of the hydrophobic ribosomal P0 protein from Trypanosoma cruzi: a component of the P1/P2/P0 complex.

The P0 protein is part of the ribosomal eukaryotic stalk, which is an elongated lateral protuberance of the large ribosomal subunit involved in the translocation step of protein synthesis. P0 is the minimal portion of the stalk that is able to support accurate protein synthesis. The P0 C-terminal peptide is highly antigenic and a major target of the antibody response in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and patients suffering chronic heart disease produced by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. The T. cruzi P0 (TcP0) protein was cloned into the pRSET A vector and expressed in Escherichia coli fused to a His-tag. The identity of the protein was confirmed by immunoblotting. Due to the formation of inclusion bodies the protein was purified using the following steps: (i) differential centrifugation to separate the inclusion bodies from soluble proteins and (ii) affinity chromatography under denaturing conditions. TcP0 showed high tendency to aggregation during refolding assays. However, TcP0 could be efficiently folded in the presence of a low concentration of SDS. The folding of the protein was confirmed using urea gradient electrophoresis, limited proteolysis, circular dichroism, and tryptophan fluorescence. Native electrophoresis showed that the folded TcP0 (and not a folding intermediate) was the cause of aggregation in the absence of SDS. The protocol described here permitted us to obtain large amounts (up to 30 mg per culture liter) of pure and folded TcP0, a very hydrophobic protein with a high tendency to aggregation.

Crystal structure of the beta-glycosidase from the hyperthermophilic archeon Sulfolobus solfataricus: resilience as a key factor in thermostability.

Enzymes from hyperthermophilic organisms must operate at temperatures which rapidly denature proteins from mesophiles. The structural basis of this thermostability is still poorly understood. Towards a further understanding of hyperthermostability, we have determined the crystal structure of the beta-glycosidase (clan GH-1A, family 1) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus at 2.6 A resolution. The enzyme is a tetramer with subunit molecular mass at 60 kDa, and crystallises with half of the tetramer in the asymmetric unit. The structure is a (betaalpha)8 barrel, but with substantial elaborations between the beta-strands and alpha-helices in each repeat. The active site occurs at the centre of the top face of the barrel and is connected to the surface by a radial channel which becomes a blind-ended tunnel in the tetramer, and probably acts as the binding site for extended oligosaccharide substrates. Analysis of the structure reveals two features which differ significantly from mesophile proteins; (1) an unusually large proportion of surface ion-pairs involved in networks that cross-link sequentially separate structures on the protein surface, and (2) an unusually large number of solvent molecules buried in hydrophilic cavities between sequentially separate structures in the protein core. These factors suggest a model for hyperthermostability via resilience rather than rigidity.

The three-dimensional structure at 2.4 A resolution of glycosylated proteinase A from the lysosome-like vacuole of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The crystal structures of glycosylated native proteinase A, an aspartic proteinase found in the vacuole of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and its complex with a difluorostatone-containing tripeptide have been determined by molecular replacement to 3.5 A and 2.4 A resolutions, respectively. Superposition of the bound and native forms gave an r.m.s. difference of 0.6 A largely reflecting the poor resolution of the native crystal structure. The secondary and tertiary structures are highly similar to those found in porcine pepsin and lysosomal cathepsin D; superposition of the structure of proteinase A bound to the difluorostatone inhibitor on those of pepsin and cathepsin D gave pairwise r.m.s. differences for C(alpha) atoms of 1.36 A and 0.88 A. Most differences occur in loop regions. Comparison of the structure of the proteinase A-difluorostatone complex with that of endothiapepsin bound with the same inhibitor shows that the conformation and hydrogen bond interactions of the inhibitor in the active site are very similar, even though the enzymes have only 27% sequence identity. Electron density for the crystal structure of the proteinase A complex reveals five residues of the oligosaccharide structure attached to Asn67: Man-(1 --> 2)-alpha-Man-(1 --> 3)-beta-Man-(1 --> 4)-beta-GlcNAc-(1 --> 4)-beta-GlcNAc-Asn-67. The first three residues of the oligosaccharide cover the same region of the protein surface as those of the oligosaccharide attached to the equivalent position in cathepsin D. The second carbohydrate attachment site is disordered beyond the first carbohydrate residue in both enzymes.

Structure of the crystalline complex of deoxycytidylyl-3',5'-guanosine (3',5'-dCpdG) cocrystallized with ribonuclease at 1.9 A resolution.

The X-ray structure of bovine ribonuclease A cocrystallized with the dinucleotide deoxycytidylyl-3',5'-guanosine has been determined at 1.9 A resolution and refined by restrained least squares to R = 0.218 for 7807 reflections. The structure established that the recently observed retrobound mode of attachment of substrate analogues cytidylyl-2',5'-guanosine and deoxycytidylyl-3',5'-guanosine found in soaked RNase A crystals is also present in the cocrystallized complex. Retrobinding is thus unlikely to be the result of restrictions imposed by the crystalline environment as the ligands soak into the lattice but rather a phenomenon specific to small nucleotides containing guanine.

Comparisons of the three-dimensional structures, specificities and glycosylation of renins, yeast proteinase A and cathepsin D.

The crystal structures of complexes of the aspartic proteinases, human and mouse renins, yeast proteinase A and cathepsin D, with peptide analogue inhibitors are compared. Differences occur in the relative positions of the domain comprising residues 190-302 (pepsin numbering) compared to the remaining structure and in the nature and position of the irregular regions joining the beta-strands and alpha-helices. The first three of the five residues of the oligosaccharide structures attached to Asn 67 of yeast proteinase and cathepsin D cover the same region of the protein surface. All enzymes have an unusual, proline-rich region (292-297) which acts as a second flap (in addition to that involving residues 72-81). This covers the active site cleft, but can be very close to the substrate/inhibitor at P3' and P4' only in the renins.

Structure of the crystalline complex of cytidylic acid (2'-CMP) with ribonuclease at 1.6 A resolution. Conservation of solvent sites in RNase-A high-resolution structures.

The X-ray structure of the inhibitor complex of bovine ribonuclease A with cytidylic acid (2'-CMP) has been determined at 1.6 A resolution and refined by restrained least squares to R = 0.17 for 11 945 reflections. Binding of the inhibitor molecule to the protein is confirmed to be in the productive mode associated with enzyme activity. A study of conserved solvent sites amongst high-resolution structures in the same crystal form reveals a stabilizing water cluster between the N and C termini.

The use of protein homologues in the rotation function.

The success of molecular replacement depends, in part, on the degree of similarity of the target and search molecules. We have systematically investigated this effect in cross-rotation functions for members of the aspartic proteinase family of enzymes. The influence of various parameters on peak heights was investigated for six search models using magnitude of F(obs) data for two target enzymes. The beneficial effects of high-resolution data and a large radius of integration are most pronounced when target and search molecules have high-percentage identities. Correction for small differences in domain-domain orientation (typically 4-8 degrees) between search and target structures leads to only a marginal improvement in the rotation-function peak height. There is an almost linear relationship between the structural distance, D, a parameter used in cluster analysis to define differences between three-dimensional protein structures, and the height of the cross-rotation-function peaks.

Newly observed binding mode in pancreatic ribonuclease.

Dinucleotides containing guanine, when soaked into crystals of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease, have been found to bind in an unexpected manner, quite unlike interpretations of earlier X-ray diffraction studies. This finding has prompted a reexamination of three mononucleotide-RNase complexes from this laboratory resulting in a re-interpretation of the complex that involved a guanine mononucleotide.

Novel non-productively bound ribonuclease inhibitor complexes--high resolution X-ray refinement studies on the binding of RNase-A to cytidylyl-2',5'-guanosine (2',5'CpG) and deoxycytidylyl-3',5'-guanosine (3',5'dCpdG).

The X-ray structures of two complexes of bovine ribonuclease-A produced by soaking pre-grown crystals in solutions of the inhibitors cytidylyl-2',5'-guanosine (2',5' CpG) and deoxycytidylyl-3',5'-guanosine (3',5'dCpdG) have been determined at 1.5 A resolution and refined by restrained least squares to R = 21.0% for 17,855 reflections, and R = 19.1% for 16,347 reflections, respectively. Binding of the substrate analogs to the protein has taken place in a completely unexpected and previously unreported manner. In each case the guanine base occupies the well characterized B1 pyrimidine binding site adjacent to Thr-45 (described by Richards, F.M., Wyckoff, H.W., Carlson, W.D., Allewell, N.M., Lee, B. and Mitsui, Y. (1971) Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 36, 35-54, and others including Palmer, R.A., Moss, D.S., Haneef, I. and Borkakoti, N. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 785, 81-88) having entered through a secondary channel external to the active site itself. We designate this reversed non-productive mode as retro-binding. In this mode of binding the SO4(2-) anion bound in the active site of the native protein crystals (Borkakoti, N., Moss, D.S. and Palmer, R.A. (1982) Acta Crystallogr. B38 2210-2217) has not been displaced by the phosphate of the inhibitor molecule as originally anticipated and observed in other studies. Instead the CMP or dCMP moiety of the inhibitor molecule is held loosely in a channel running towards the surface of the protein molecule and is thus completely external to the active site. Consequently, although it has been possible to model them, no attempt has been made to refine either the disordered cytosine in the CpG complex or the deoxycytosine in the dCpdG complex. The traditional B2 purine binding site of RNase (Richards et al., 1971) is unoccupied by the soaked inhibitors. Important changes that have taken place in the protein structure include: stabilization of both Lys-41 and Gln-11 via H-bonding to SO4(2-); stabilization of His-119 in the A conformation (Borkakoti, N., Moss, D.S. and Palmer, R.A. (1982) Acta Crystallogr. B38 2210-2217); and stabilization of SO4(2-) by H-bonds formed with the retro-bound guanine base. Binding of the inhibitors and stabilization of the active site is accompanied by displacement and redistribution of solvent molecules.