[Point amino acid substitutions in Ca2+-binding centers of recoverin. III. Mutant with the fourth reconstructed Ca2+-binding site]. / Tochechnye aminokislotnye zameny v Ca2+-sviazyvaiushchikh tsentrakh rekoverina. III. Mutant s chetvertym rekonstruirovannym Ca2+-sviazyvaiushchim tsentrom.

Unlike wild type recoverin with only two (the second and the third) functioning Ca(2+)-binding sites out of four potential ones, the +EF4 mutant contains a third active Ca(2+)-binding site. This site was reconstructed from the fourth potential Ca(2+)-binding domain by the introduction of several amino acid substitutions in it by site-directed mutagenesis. The effect of these mutations in the fourth potential Ca(2+)-binding site of myristoylated recoverin on the structural features and conformational stability of the protein was studied by fluorimetry and circular dichroism. The apoform of the resulting mutant (free of Ca2+ ions) was shown to have a higher calcium capacity, significantly lower thermal stability, and noticeably different secondary and tertiary structures as compared with the apoform of wild type recoverin.

[Single amino acid substitutions in the Ca2+-binding site of recoverin.II.The unusual behavior of the protein upon the binding of calcium ions]. / Tochechnye aminokislotnye zameny v Ca2+-sviazyvaiushchikh tsentra rekoverina. II.Neobychnoe povedenie belka pri vzaimodeistvii s ionami kal'tsiia.

The structural properties of myristoylated forms of recombinant recoverin of the wild type and of its mutants with damaged second and/or third Ca(2+)-binding sites were studied by fluorimetry and circular dichroism. The interaction of wild-type recoverin with calcium ions was shown to induce unusual structural rearrangements in its molecule. In particular, protein binding with Ca2+ ions results in an increase in the mobility of the environment of Trp residues, in higher hydrophobicity, and in elevated thermal stability (its thermal transition shifts by 15 degrees C to higher temperatures) but has almost no effect on its secondary structure. Similar structural changes induced by Ca2+ are also characteristic of the -EF2 mutant of recoverin whose second Ca(2+)-binding site is modified and cannot bind calcium ions. The structural properties of the -EF3 and -EF2,3 mutants (whose third or simultaneously second and third Ca(2+)-binding sites, respectively, are modified and damaged) are practically indifferent to calcium ions.

Effects of mutations in the calcium-binding sites of recoverin on its calcium affinity: evidence for successive filling of the calcium binding sites.

A molecule of the photoreceptor Ca(2+)-binding protein recoverin contains four potential EF-hand Ca(2+)-binding sites, of which only two, the second and the third, are capable of binding calcium ions. We have studied the effects of substitutions in the second, third and fourth EF-hand sites of recoverin on its Ca(2+)-binding properties and some other characteristics, using intrinsic fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopy and differential scanning microcalorimetry. The interaction of the two operating binding sites of wild-type recoverin with calcium increases the protein's thermal stability, but makes the environment around the tryptophan residues more flexible. The amino acid substitution in the EF-hand 3 (E121Q) totally abolishes the high calcium affinity of recoverin, while the mutation in the EF-hand 2 (E85Q) causes only a moderate decrease in calcium binding. Based on this evidence, we suggest that the binding of calcium ions to recoverin is a sequential process with the EF-hand 3 being filled first. Estimation of Ca(2+)-binding constants according to the sequential binding scheme gave the values 3.7 x 10(6) and 3.1 x 10(5) M(-1) for third and second EF-hands, respectively. The substitutions in the EF-hand 2 or 3 (or in both the sites simultaneously) do not disturb significantly either tertiary or secondary structure of the apo-protein. Amino acid substitutions, which have been designed to restore the calcium affinity of the EF-hand 4 (G160D, K161E, K162N, D165G and K166Q), increase the calcium capacity and affinity of recoverin but also perturb the protein structure and decrease the thermostability of its apo-form.

[Point amino acid substitutions in the Ca2+-binding centers of recoverin. I. Mechanism of successive filling of Ca2+-binding centers]. / Tochechnye aminokislotnye zameny v Ca2+-sviazyvaiushchikh tsentrakh rekoverina. I. Mekhanizm posledovatel'nogo zapolneniia Ca2+-sviazyvaiushchikh tsentrov.

The molecule of photoreceptor Ca(2+)-binding protein recoverin contains four potential Ca(2+)-binding sites of the EF-hand type, but only two of them (the second and the third) can actually bind calcium ions. We studied the interaction of Ca2+ with recoverin and its mutant forms containing point amino acid substitutions at the working Ca(2+)-binding sites by measuring the intrinsic protein fluorescence and found that the substitution of Gln for Glu residues chelating Ca2+ in one (the second or the third) or simultaneously in both (the second and the third) Ca(2+)-binding sites changes the affinity of the protein to Ca2+ ions in different ways. The Gln for Glu121 substitution in the third site and the simultaneous Gln substitutions in the second (for Glu85) and in the third (for Glu121) sites result in the complete loss of the capability of recoverin for a strong binding of Ca(2+)-ions. On the other hand, the Gln for Glu85 substitution only in the second site moderately affects its affinity to the cation. Hence, we assumed that recoverin successively binds Ca(2+)-ions: the second site is filled with the cation only after the third site has been filled. The binding constants for the third and the second Ca(2+)-binding sites of recoverin determined by spectrofluorimetric titration are 3.7 x 10(6) and 3.1 x 10(5) M-1, respectively.

Obtaining and characterization of EF-hand mutants of recoverin.

Several EF-hand recoverin mutants were obtained and their abilities to bind to photoreceptor membranes and to inhibit rhodopsin kinase were determined. The mutants with the 'spoiled' 2nd, 3rd or (2nd+3rd) EF-hand structures did not act upon the kinase activity in the microM range of Ca2+ concentrations. Mutations of the 4th EF hand, which 'repaired' its Ca2+-binding activity, resulted in recoverin with three 'working' Ca2+-binding sites. The latter mutant inhibited rhodopsin kinase even more effectively than the wild-type recoverin, containing two working Ca2+-binding structures.

Rhodopsin phosphorylation in bovine rod outer segments is more sensitive to the inhibitory action of recoverin at the low rhodopsin bleaching than it is at the high bleaching.

Recoverin, a calcium-binding protein, is supposed to have rhodopsin kinase as a target in the retinal rod cell. In the present work, we show that efficiency of recoverin as an inhibitor of rhodopsin phosphorylation in bovine rod outer segments is inversely proportional to the level of rhodopsin bleaching. These results, together with the data obtained previously in a reconstituted system (Senin et al. (1997) Biochem. J. 321, 551-555), allow us to hypothesize that recoverin might be responsible for a Ca2(+)-dependent regulation of the kinase in vivo, preventing it from participating in the phosphorylation of unbleached rhodopsin.

Recoverin inhibits the phosphorylation of dark-adapted rhodopsin more than it does that of bleached rhodopsin: a possible mechanism through which rhodopsin kinase is prevented from participation in a side reaction.

In its resting state rhodopsin kinase is present in an inactive from and is activated after interaction with light-activated rhodopsin (Rho*). The activated rhodopsin kinase then phosphorylates Rho* but is also able to catalyse the phosphorylation of dark-adapted rhodopsin. A consequence of the latter behaviour of the activated kinase is that at low levels of bleach a large number of phosphoryl groups are incorporated per mol of Rho*. Recoverin- and Ca2+-dependent inhibition of rhodopsin kinase was found to be inversely related to the extent of bleaching; the lower the fraction of rhodopsin bleached, the greater the inhibition. The IC50 of recoverin is approx. 1 microM at a 0.2% level of bleach and about 5 microM in a fully bleached sample. The inhibitory effect of recoverin was studied separately on the phosphorylation of rhodopsin and Rho*. The formation of phosphorylated rhodopsin was inhibited 4.5-fold more strongly than that of phosphorylated Rho*. These results are interpreted to suggest that one of the roles of the recoverin-dependent regulation of the activity of rhodopsin kinase is to prevent the enzyme from participating in the unwanted phosphorylation of dark-adapted rhodopsin, directing it to fulfil its 'correct' function of quenching the transduction activity of Rho*.

[Preparation of the myristoylated and nonmyristoylated form of recombinant recoverin in E. coli cells and comparison of their functional activity]. / Poluchenie miristoilirovannoi i nemiristoilirovannoi form rekombinantnogo rekoverina v kletkakh E. coli i srvanenenie ikh funktsional'noi aktivnosti.

A recombinant plasmid was constructed for expressing a gene for bovine recoverin under the control of the lac promoter. Coexpression of the recoverin and N-myristoyl transferase genes was performed to prepare recombinant myristoylated recoverin. The obtained systems provide high levels of biosynthesis of the recombinant recoverins in the E. coli cells. Using a reconstructed system, containing urea-washed rod outer segment membranes, purified rhodopsin kinase (RK), and a recoverin, it was shown that the three recoverin forms (natural, recombinant nonmyristoylated, and recombinant myristoylated ones) perform the calcium-dependent regulation of the activity of RK with half a maximum effect at a free calcium concentration of 2 microM. Interestingly, the N-terminal myristoylation of recoverin increased substantially its functional activity.

N-myristoylation of recoverin enhances its efficiency as an inhibitor of rhodopsin kinase.

Recoverin, a recently identified member of the EF-hand superfamily of Ca(2+)-binding proteins, is capable to inhibit rhodopsin phosphorylation by rhodopsin kinase at high but not at low free [Ca2+]. The N-terminal glycine residue of retinal recoverin is heterogeneously acylated with myristoyl or related N-acyl group. To clarify the role of the N-terminal acylation of recoverin in its inhibitory action upon rhodopsin phosphorylation, we compared the efficiency of myristoylated and non-myristoylated forms of recombinant recoverin as inhibitors of rhodopsin kinase activity. We have found that rhodopsin phosphorylation by purified rhodopsin kinase, which does not depend on free [Ca2+] in the absence of recoverin, is regulated by Ca2+ in the presence of both forms of the recombinant protein. EC50 values for Ca2+ are the same (2 microM) for the myristoylated and non-myristoylated forms; the Hill coefficients of 1.7 and 0.9, respectively, indicate that the effect is cooperative with respect to Ca2+ only for myristoylated recoverin. In the presence of Ca2+, both forms of recoverin taken at saturated concentrations cause an almost equal inhibition of rhodopsin phosphorylation. However, the inhibitory action of the myristoylated form occurs at much lower its concentrations than that of the non-myristoylated form (EC50 are 0.9 and 6.5 microM, respectively).

[p26--a calcium binding protein from photoreceptor cells in the bovine retina: primary structure and expression in E. coli]. / p26--kal'tsiisviazyvaiushchii belok fotoretseptornykh kletok setchatki byka: pervichnaia struktura i ékspressiia v E. coli.

The primary structure of the bovine retinal calcium binding protein P26 has been determined by the parallel analysis of the protein and the corresponding cDNA. This protein is identical to recovering and shares 59% homology with visinin, a cone specific calcium binding protein from chicken retina. P26 was expressed in E. coli as a fusion protein and, after purification by affinity chromatography on IgG-Sepharose 6, cleaved off with enteropeptidase.

P26-calcium binding protein from bovine retinal photoreceptor cells.

The primary structure of bovine retinal calcium binding protein P26 has been determined by parallel analysis of protein and corresponding cDNA. This protein is identical to recovering and shares 59% homology with visinin, a cone specific calcium binding protein from chicken retina. Preliminary data are presented on expression of P26 as a fusion protein in E. coli.

[A peptide, containing the universal antigenic determinant of tryptophanyl-tRNA-synthetase]. / Peptid, soderzhashchii universal'nuiu antigennuiu determinantu triptoanil-tRNK-sintetaz.

Among clostripain hydrolysate peptides of beef pancreas tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase the peptide Ile-Ser-Phe-Pro-Ala-Ile-Asn-Gln-Phe-Ala-Ala-Pro-Ser-Gln-Phe-Ser-Ile-Arg was revealed which contains the continuous antigenic determinant for monoclonal antibody Am1. This antibody specifically cross-reacts with tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetases of procaryotes, eucaryotes and archebacteriae. The synthetic peptide with identical amino acid sequence plus N-terminal Arg residue (S-peptide), being immobilized on enzyme immunoassay (EIA) microtitration plate, also binds with Am1. Am1 affinity constant (M-1) measured by non-competitive EIA was (3.0 +/- 0.3).10(7) for S peptide and (1.4 +/- 0.3).10(9) for the native enzyme. The sequence of immunoreactive peptide adopts with high probability the secondary structure including beta-turn(s) and antiparallel beta-sheet composed of inverted repeats. At the same time, the analysis of circular dichroism spectrum (in the far UV) of the peptide dissolved in water comes closest to 16% beta-turn and only 8% beta-sheet. The binding of Am1 with peptide was not observed in aqueous solution.

[Study of the structure of the photosynthetic reaction center of the green thermophilic bacteria Chloroflexus aurantiacus]. / Izuchenie structury fotosinteticheskogo reaktsionnogo tsentra zelenoi termofil'noi bakterii Chloroflexus aurantlacus.

Analysis of the Chloroflexus aurantiacus reaction centre (RC) using both protein and recombinant DNA techniques resulted in determination of its polypeptide composition and the primary structures of its two subunits. A model of the polypeptide chains' folding in the membrane is suggested based on: i) homology between L- and M-subunits of Chloroflexus aurantiacus RC and their counterparts in purple bacteria; ii) comparison of their hydropathy plots, and iii) data on the tertiary structures of purple bacteria RCs. The role of a number of functionally important amino acid residues in the RC electron transport activity is discussed. Limited proteolysis of the RC under non-denaturing conditions was used to determine the contribution of the N-terminal regions to its thermal stability.

Two-dimensional crystallization of reaction centers from Chloroflexus aurantiacus.

Two-dimensional crystals of photosynthetic reaction centers from Chloroflexus aurantiacus were obtained from protein-lipid-detergent micelles by detergent dialysis. The size of crystals was up to 2 microns. Some of them were multilayered crystals. However, other crystal forms were also observed. Preliminary image processing analysis showed that crystals of one crystal form referred to two-sided plane group p2 and had the following unit cell parameters: a = 17.6 nm, b = 18.0 nm, gamma = 84 degrees. The contour map of the crystal stain-excluding region was calculated by the Fourier-filtering procedure at about 2 nm resolution.

Photosynthetic reaction centre of Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Primary structure of M-subunit.

The M-subunit primary structure of the reaction centre (RC) from Chloroflexus aurantiacus composed of 306 amino acid residues has been determined by parallel analysis of the protein and corresponding DNA. The blocked N-terminus as well as replacement of the essential histidine liganding Mg of an accessory bacteriochlorophyll in purple bacteria by leucine distinguishes the M-subunit of Chloroflexus RC from that of purple bacteria.

Photosynthetic reaction centre of Chloroflexus aurantiacus. I. Primary structure of L-subunit.

The L-subunit primary structure of the reaction centre from Chloroflexus aurantiacus composed of 310 amino acid residues has been determined by parallel analysis of the protein and corresponding DNA. Significant homology between this protein and L-subunits from reaction centres of purple bacteria is observed. This implies close similarity in the tertiary structure of these proteins.