Thermostabilization of a chimeric enzyme by residue substitutions: four amino acid residues in loop regions are responsible for the thermostability of Thermus thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase.

A chimeric 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, named 2T2M6T, made of parts from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus, and a mesophile, Bacillus subtilis, was found to be considerably more labile than the T. thermophilus wild-type isopropylmalate dehydrogenase. In order to identify the molecular basis of the thermal stability of the T. thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, 11 amino acid residues in the mesophilic portion of the chimera were substituted by the corresponding residues of the T. thermophilus enzyme, and the effects of the side chain substitutions were analyzed by comparing the reaction rate of irreversible heat denaturation and catalytic parameters of the mutant chimeras with those of the original chimera, 2T2M6T. Four single-site mutants were successfully stabilized without any loss of the catalytic function. All these four sites are located in loop regions of the enzyme. Our results strongly suggest the importance of these loop structures to the extreme stability of the T. thermophilus isopropylmalate dehydrogenase.

The initial step of the thermal unfolding of 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase detected by the temperature-jump Laue method.

A temperature-jump (T-jump) time-resolved X-ray crystallographic technique using the Laue method was developed to detect small, localized structural changes of proteins in crystals exposed to a temperature increase induced by laser irradiation. In a chimeric protein between thermophilic and mesophilic 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenases (2T2M6T), the initial structural change upon T-jump to a denaturing temperature (approximately 90 degrees C) was found to be localized at a region which includes a beta-turn and a loop located between the two domains of the enzyme. A mutant, 2T2M6T-E110P/S111G/S113E, having amino acid replacements in this beta-turn region with the corresponding residues of the thermophilic enzyme, showed greater stability than the original chimera (increase of T:(m) by approximately 10 degrees C) and no T-jump-induced structural change in this region was detected by our method. These results indicate that thermal unfolding of the original chimeric enzyme, 2T2M6T, is triggered in this beta-turn region.

Spectroscopic investigation of selective cluster conversion of archaeal zinc-containing ferredoxin from Sulfolobus sp. strain 7.

Archaeal zinc-containing ferredoxin from Sulfolobus sp. strain 7 contains one [3Fe-4S] cluster (cluster I), one [4Fe-4S] cluster (cluster II), and one isolated zinc center. Oxidative degradation of this ferredoxin led to the formation of a stable intermediate with 1 zinc and approximately 6 iron atoms. The metal centers of this intermediate were analyzed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), low temperature resonance Raman, x-ray absorption, and (1)H NMR spectroscopies. The spectroscopic data suggest that (i) cluster II was selectively converted to a cubane [3Fe-4S](1+) cluster in the intermediate, without forming a stable radical species, and that (ii) the local metric environments of cluster I and the isolated zinc site did not change significantly in the intermediate. It is concluded that the initial step of oxidative degradation of the archaeal zinc-containing ferredoxin is selective conversion of cluster II, generating a novel intermediate containing two [3Fe-4S] clusters and an isolated zinc center. At this stage, significant structural rearrangement of the protein does not occur. We propose a new scheme for oxidative degradation of dicluster ferredoxins in which each cluster converts in a stepwise manner, prior to apoprotein formation, and discuss its structural and evolutionary implications.

Electrostatic interaction between two domains of isocitrate dehydrogenase from Thermus thermophilus is important for the catalytic function and protein stability.

The role of electrostatic interaction between Lys96 and Glu147 of isocitrate dehydrogenase from Thermus thermophilus was investigated by site-directed mutagenesis. These two residues are located near the active site and involved in the interdomain interaction. Analyses of the catalytic properties and thermostability of the Glu147Gln mutant revealed that this interaction plays important roles in catalytic function and protein stability.

A stable intermediate in the thermal unfolding process of a chimeric 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase between a thermophilic and a mesophilic enzymes.

The thermal unfolding process of a chimeric 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase made of parts from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus, and a mesophile, Bacillus subtilis, enzymes was studied by CD spectrophotometry and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The enzyme is a homodimer with a subunit containing two structural domains. The DSC melting profile of the chimeric enzyme in 20 mM NaHCO3, pH 10.4, showed two endothermic peaks, whereas that of the T. thermophilus wild-type enzyme had one peak. The CD melting profiles of the chimeric enzyme under the same conditions as the DSC measurement, also indicated biphasic unfolding transition. Concentration dependence of the unfolding profile revealed that the first phase was protein concentration-independent, whereas the second transition was protein concentration-dependent. When cooled after the first transition, the intermediate was isolated, which showed only the second transition upon heating. These results indicated the existence of a stable dimeric intermediate followed by the further unfolding and dissociation in the thermal unfolding of the chimeric enzyme at pH 10-11. Because the portion derived from the mesophilic isopropylmalate dehydrogenase in the chimeric enzyme is located in the hinge region between two domains of the enzyme, it is probably responsible for weakening of the interdomain interaction and causing the decooperativity of two domains. The dimeric form of the intermediate suggested that the first unfolding transition corresponds to the unfolding of domain 1 containing the N- and C-termini of the enzyme, and the second to that of domain 2 containing the subunit interface.