ABSTRACT
Stopped-flow spectrofluorimetry and a theoretical method for predicting protonation equilibria in polyelectrolytes were combined in an analysis of the pH dependence of the kinetics of binding of analogues of the 5'-mRNA cap to the cap binding protein eIF4E. The computer simulations and available experimental data indicate that there are two titratable groups in the binding site of the protein and two titratable groups on the ligands directly involved in the binding, in addition to stacking interactions described by other groups. The observed pH dependencies of the rate constants obtained from the stopped-flow experiments are consistent with this finding. In particular, it is concluded that binding of both forms of the cap analogs regarding protonation at the N1 position of the guanine ring is efficient, and the shift to a predominantly protonated form of the ring takes place after formation of the complex.
Subject(s)
Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4E/chemistry , Models, Molecular , RNA Cap Analogs/chemistry , RNA, Messenger/chemistry , Spectrometry, Fluorescence/methods , Animals , Computer Simulation , Crystallography/methods , Electrochemistry/methods , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , Kinetics , Macromolecular Substances , Mice , Models, Chemical , Protein Binding , Static ElectricityABSTRACT
The kinetics of binding 7-methyl-GpppG, an analogue of the 5'-mRNA cap, to the cap-binding protein eIF4E, at 20 degrees C, in 50 mM Hepes-KOH buffer, pH 7.2, and 50, 150 and 350 mM KCl, was measured using a stopped-flow spectrofluorometer, and was simulated by means of a Brownian dynamics method. For most of the stopped-flow measurements a single bimolecular step is an inadequate description of the binding mechanism and an additional step is required to accommodate the kinetic data. The rate constants derived from assumed one-step and two-step binding models were determined. The forward rate constants towards the complex formation decrease, and the reverse rate constants increase, with increasing ionic strength. The association rate constants derived from the stopped-flow measurements and the computed diffusional encounter rate constants agree, indicating that the first observed step can be viewed as a diffusionally controlled encounter of the protein and the ligand. Moreover, comparison of experimental and computed bimolecular association rate constants indicate that the experimentally observed decrease of the rate constants with the increasing ionic strength is caused by two factors. The first is less effective steering of the ligand towards the binding site at higher ionic strengths, and the second is that for higher ionic strengths the ligand must be closer to the binding site to induce the fluorescence quenching.
Subject(s)
Dinucleoside Phosphates/chemistry , Dinucleoside Phosphates/metabolism , Peptide Initiation Factors/chemistry , Peptide Initiation Factors/metabolism , Animals , Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4E , Kinetics , Ligands , Mice , Models, Molecular , Nucleic Acid Conformation , Osmolar Concentration , Protein Binding , Protein Conformation , RNA Caps , Recombinant Proteins/chemistry , Recombinant Proteins/metabolism , Spectrometry, Fluorescence , Static ElectricityABSTRACT
Protonation equilibria of residues important in the catalytic mechanism of a protein kinase were analyzed on the basis of the Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatic model along with a cluster-based treatment of the multiple titration state problem. Calculations were based upon crystallographic structures of the mammalian cAMP-dependent protein kinase, one representing the so called closed form of the enzyme and the other representing an open conformation. It was predicted that at pH 7 the preferred form of the phosphate group at the catalytically essential threonine 197 (P-Thr197) in the closed form is dianionic, whereas in the open form a monoanionic ionization state is preferred. This dianionic state of P-Thr197, in the closed form, is stabilized by interactions with ionizable residues His87, Arg165, and Lys189. Our calculations predict that the hydroxyl of the Ser residue in the peptide substrate is very difficult to ionize, both in the closed and open structures of the complex. Also, the supposed catalytic base, Asp166, does not seem to have a pK(a) appropriate to remove the hydroxyl group proton of the peptide substrate. However, when Ser of the peptide substrate is forced to remain ionized, the predicted pK(a) of Asp166 increases strongly, which suggests that the Asp residue is a likely candidate to attract the proton if the Ser residue becomes deprotonated, possibly during some structural change preceding formation of the transition state. Finally, in accord with suggestions made on the basis of the pH-dependence of kinase kinetics, our calculations predict that Glu230 and His87 are the residues responsible for the molecular pK(a) values of 6.2 and 8.5, observed in the experiment.
