RVCaB, a calcium-binding protein in radish vacuoles, is predominantly an unstructured protein with a polyproline type II helix.

A unique acidic calcium-binding protein RVCaB, rich in glutamic acid and proline and lacking aromatic amino-acid residues, exists in radish vacuoles, and is thought to be involved in the vacuole Ca(2+)-storage function. In the present study, we focused on the protein physicochemical properties of RVCaB to understand its uniqueness in terms of structure and Ca(2+)-binding function. On differential scanning calorimetry, the protein did not show any sharp transition of heat-denaturation of the folded protein except for a gradual excess of heat capacity when heated up to 99 degrees C from 20 degrees C. The Ca(2+)-binding ability of RVCaB was retained after heat treatment. No alpha-helix or beta-sheet was detected in the far-UV CD spectra of RVCaB as judged by several computer programs for protein structure analysis. However, further analyses with CD spectroscopy suggest that RVCaB has a left-handed polyproline type II (PPII) helix, which is known to be in a collagen chain conformation. The number of Ca(2+) bound to RVCaB was determined to be 21.6, and a 360 M(-1) Ka value for Ca(2+) binding was determined by isothermal titration calorimetry. The analysis also revealed that the binding of Ca(2+) to RVCaB is an entropy-driven phenomenon. We prepared tryptophan-inserted mutants of RVCaB (V136W and V202W) to probe the Ca(2+)-induced structural change by fluorescent spectroscopy. The analysis suggests a small structural rearrangement of RVCaB upon Ca(2+)-binding and that the induced Trp residues at 136 and 202 are exposed to solvent in each mutant. These results suggest that RVCaB does not have a definitive protein fold except for the extended PPII structure and that its structure changes slightly by the binding of Ca(2+) or heat treatment. These findings suggest that the unique structure of RVCaB with its PPII helices is closely related to its high-capacity and low-affinity Ca(2+)-binding properties.

Crystal structure of anti-configuration of indomethacin and leukotriene B4 12-hydroxydehydrogenase/15-oxo-prostaglandin 13-reductase complex reveals the structural basis of broad spectrum indomethacin efficacy.

The crystal structure of the ternary complex of leukotriene B4 12-hydroxydehydrogenase/15-oxo-prostaglandin (15-oxo-PG) 13-reductase (LTB4 12HD/PGR), an essential enzyme for eicosanoid inactivation pathways, with indomethacin and NADP+ has been solved. An indomethacin molecule bound in the anti-configuration at one of the two active site clefts of the homo-dimer interface in the LTB4 12HD/PGR and was confirmed by a binding calorimetry. The chlorobenzene ring is buried in the hydrophobic pore used as a binding site by the omega-chain of 15-oxo-PGE2. The carboxyl group interacts with the guanidino group of Arg56 and the phenolic hydroxyl group of Tyr262. Indomethacin shows a broad spectrum of efficacy against lipid-mediator related proteins including cyclooxygenase-2, phospholipase A2, PGF synthase and PGE synthase-2 but in the syn-configuration as well as LTB4 12HD/PGR in the anti-configuration. Indomethacin does not necessarily mimic the binding mode of the lipid-mediator substrates in the active sites of these complex structures. Thus, the broad spectrum of indomethacin efficacy can be attributed to its ability to adopt a range of different stable conformations. This allows the indomethacin to adapt to the distinct binding site features of each protein whilst maintaining favorable interactions between the carboxyl group and a counter charged functional group.

A novel induced-fit reaction mechanism of asymmetric hot dog thioesterase PAAI.

Hot dog fold proteins sharing the characteristic "hot dog" fold are known to involve certain coenzyme A binding enzymes with various oligomeric states. In order to elucidate the oligomerization-function relationship of the hot dog fold proteins, crystal structures of the phenylacetate degradation protein PaaI from Thermus thermophilus HB8 (TtPaaI), a tetrameric acyl-CoA thioesterase with the hot dog fold, have been determined and compared with those of other family members. In the liganded crystal forms with coenzyme A derivatives, only two of four intersubunit catalytic pockets of the TtPaaI tetramer are occupied by the ligands. A detailed structural comparison between several liganded and unliganded forms reveals that a subtle rigid-body rearrangement of subunits within 2 degrees upon binding of the first two ligand molecules can induce a strict negative cooperativity to prevent further binding at the remaining two pockets, indicating that the so-called "half-of-the-sites reactivity" of oligomeric enzymes is visualized for the first time. Considering kinetic and mutational analyses together, a possible reaction mechanism of TtPaaI is proposed; one tetramer binds only two acyl-CoA molecules with a novel asymmetric induced-fit mechanism and carries out the hydrolysis according to a base-catalyzed reaction through activation of a water molecule by Asp48. From a structural comparison with other family members, it is concluded that a subgroup of the hot dog fold protein family, referred to as "asymmetric hot dog thioesterases" including medium chain acyl-CoA thioesterase II from Escherichia coli and human thioesterase III, might share the same oligomerization mode and the asymmetric induced-fit mechanism as observed in TtPaaI.

Structure of Thermus thermophilus HB8 H-protein of the glycine-cleavage system, resolved by a six-dimensional molecular-replacement method.

The glycine-cleavage system is a multi-enzyme complex consisting of four different components (the P-, H-, T- and L-proteins). Recombinant H-protein corresponding to that from Thermus thermophilus HB8 has been overexpressed, purified and crystallized. Synchrotron radiation from BL44B2 at SPring-8 was used to collect a native data set to 2.5 A resolution. The crystals belonged to the hexagonal space group P6(5) and contained three molecules per asymmetric unit, with a solvent content of 39%. Because of the large number of molecules within a closely packed unit cell, this structure was solved by six-dimensional molecular replacement with the program EPMR using the pea H-protein structure as a search model and was refined to an R factor of 0.189 and a free R factor of 0.256. Comparison with the pea H-protein reveals two highly conserved regions surrounding the lipoyl-lysine arm. Both of these regions are negatively charged and each has additional properties that are conserved in H-proteins from many species, suggesting that these regions are involved in intermolecular interactions. One region has previously been proposed to constitute an interaction surface with T-protein, while the other may be involved in an interaction with P-protein. Meanwhile, the lipoyl-lysine arm of the T. thermophilus H-protein was found to be more flexible than that of the pea H-protein, supporting the hypothesis that H-protein does not form a stable complex with L-protein during the reaction.