Alanine scan of core positions in ubiquitin reveals links between dynamics, stability, and function.

Mutations at solvent-inaccessible core positions in proteins can impact function through many biophysical mechanisms including alterations to thermodynamic stability and protein dynamics. As these properties of proteins are difficult to investigate, the impacts of core mutations on protein function are poorly understood for most systems. Here, we determined the effects of alanine mutations at all 15 core positions in ubiquitin on function in yeast. The majority (13 of 15) of alanine substitutions supported yeast growth as the sole ubiquitin. Both the two null mutants (I30A and L43A) were less stable to temperature-induced unfolding in vitro than wild type (WT) but were well folded at physiological temperatures. Heteronuclear NMR studies indicated that the L43A mutation reduces temperature stability while retaining a ground-state structure similar to WT. This structure enables L43A to bind to common ubiquitin receptors in vitro. Many of the core alanine ubiquitin mutants, including one of the null variants (I30A), exhibited an increased accumulation of high-molecular-weight species, suggesting that these mutants caused a defect in the processing of ubiquitin-substrate conjugates. In contrast, L43A exhibited a unique accumulation pattern with reduced levels of high-molecular-weight species and undetectable levels of free ubiquitin. When conjugation to other proteins was blocked, L43A ubiquitin accumulated as free ubiquitin in yeast. Based on these findings, we speculate that ubiquitin's stability to unfolding may be required for efficient recycling during proteasome-mediated substrate degradation.

Posttranslational modification and conformational state of heat shock protein 90 differentially affect binding of chemically diverse small molecule inhibitors.

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is an essential molecular chaperone in eukaryotes that facilitates the conformational maturation and function of a diverse protein clientele, including aberrant and/or over-expressed proteins that are involved in cancer growth and survival. A role for Hsp90 in supporting the protein homeostasis of cancer cells has buoyed interest in the utility of Hsp90 inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs. Despite the fact that all clinically evaluated Hsp90 inhibitors target an identical nucleotide-binding pocket in the N domain of the chaperone, the precise determinants that affect drug binding in the cellular environment remain unclear, and it is possible that chemically distinct inhibitors may not share similar binding preferences. Here we demonstrate that two chemically unrelated Hsp90 inhibitors, the benzoquinone ansamycin geldanamycin and the purine analog PU-H71, select for overlapping but not identical subpopulations of total cellular Hsp90, even though both inhibitors bind to an amino terminal nucleotide pocket and prevent N domain dimerization. Our data also suggest that PU-H71 is able to access a broader range of N domain undimerized Hsp90 conformations than is geldanamycin and is less affected by Hsp90 phosphorylation, consistent with its broader and more potent anti-tumor activity. A more complete understanding of the impact of the cellular milieu on small molecule inhibitor binding to Hsp90 should facilitate their more effective use in the clinic.

Enforced N-domain proximity stimulates Hsp90 ATPase activity and is compatible with function in vivo.

Hsp90 populates distinct open and closed conformations mediated by transient N-terminal dimerization. To investigate the mechanistic role of these large conformational changes, we designed Hsp90 with an N-terminal coiled-coil to clamp the termini together and enforce N-domain proximity. Biophysical analyses demonstrate that the coiled-coil effectively maintains N-domain proximity in the absence of ATP, a condition that favors the open state of Hsp90. Enforcing N-domain proximity results in increased ATPase activity, indicating that N-terminal dimerization is a rate-limiting step that is sped-up with the coiled-coil due to increased effective N-domain concentration. The relative difference in ATPase activity between coil-Hsp90 and wt was reduced in the presence of both an ATPase activating (Aha1) and an inhibiting (Sba1) co-chaperone. As both of these co-chaperones bind preferentially to N-terminally dimerized Hsp90, the buffering effect of these co-chaperones demonstrates the biochemical relevance of Hsp90 conformational properties in addition to N-terminal dimerization. Enforcing N-domain proximity is compatible with viability in yeast, underlining the mechanistic relevance of Hsp90 conformational changes that are less dramatic than the transition between fully open and closed.

A fluorescence-based coupling reaction for monitoring the activity of recombinant human NAD synthetase.

NAD synthetase is responsible for the conversion of nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. This reaction provides a biosynthetic route of the coenzyme and, thus, a source of cellular reducing equivalents. Alterations in the oxidative reductive potential of the cell have been implicated as a contributing factor in many disease states. Thus, this enzyme represents a new class of potential drug targets, and, hence, our efforts were focused upon developing a robust assay for utilization in a high throughput screen. Toward that end, we describe a coupled enzyme assay format for the measurement of recombinant human NAD synthetase by employing lactate dehydrogenase in a cycling/amplification reaction linked ultimately to the fluorescence generation of resorufin from resazurin via diaphorase. We present kinetics of the reaction of NAD synthetase in the coupled assay format, optimization conditions, and inhibition of the reaction by gossypol [1,1',6,6',7,7'-hexahydroxy-3,3'-dimethyl-5,5'-bis(1-methylethyl)-[2,2'- binaphthalene]-8,8'-dicarboxaldehyde] and illustrate the robustness of the assay by demonstrating 384-well microtiter plate uniformity statistics. Collectively, our results show that the assay method is both robust and well suited for this class of enzymes involved in the NAD+ biosynthetic pathway.