ABSTRACT
Tetranectin is a homotrimeric protein containing a C-type lectin-like domain. This domain (TN3) can bind calcium, but in the absence of calcium, the domain binds a number of kringle-type protein ligands. Two of the calcium-coordinating residues are also critical for binding plasminogen kringle 4 (K4). The structure of the calcium free-form of TN3 (apoTN3) has been determined by NMR. Compared to the structure of the calcium-bound form of TN3 (holoTN3), the core region of secondary structural elements is conserved, while large displacements occur in the loops involved in calcium or K4 binding. A conserved proline, which was found to be in the cis conformation in holoTN3, is in apoTN3 predominantly in the trans conformation. Backbone dynamics indicate that, in apoTN3 especially, two of the three calcium-binding loops and two of the three K4-binding residues exhibit increased flexibility, whereas no such flexibility is observed in holoTN3. In the 20 best nuclear magnetic resonance structures of apoTN3, the residues critical for K4 binding span a large conformational space. Together with the relaxation data, this indicates that the K4-ligand-binding site in apoTN3 is not preformed.
Subject(s)
Calcium/metabolism , Kringles/physiology , Lectins, C-Type/chemistry , Lectins, C-Type/metabolism , Plasminogen/metabolism , Apoproteins/metabolism , Models, Molecular , Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular , Proline/chemistry , Proline/metabolism , Protein Binding , Protein Structure, TertiaryABSTRACT
The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) promotes axonal outgrowth, presumably through an interaction with the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR). NCAM also has a little-understood ATPase activity. We here demonstrate for the first time a direct interaction between NCAM (fibronectin type III [F3] modules 1 and 2) and FGFR1 (Ig modules 2 and 3) by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis. The structure of the NCAM F3 module 2 was determined by NMR and the module was shown by NMR to interact with the FGFR1 Ig module 3 and ATP. The NCAM sites binding to FGFR and ATP were found to overlap and ATP was shown by SPR to inhibit the NCAM-FGFR binding, indicating that ATP probably regulates the NCAM-FGFR interaction. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the NCAM module was able to induce activation (phosphorylation) of FGFR and to stimulate neurite outgrowth. In contrast, ATP inhibited neurite outgrowth induced by the module.
