Side chain-backbone hydrogen bonds in peptides containing glutamic acid residues

pH-dependent random coil (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N chemical shifts of the ionizable amino acids: a guide for protein pK a measurements

The pK a values and charge states of ionizable residues in polypeptides and proteins are frequently determined via NMR-monitored pH titrations. To aid the interpretation of the resulting titration data, we have measured the pH-dependent chemical shifts of nearly all the (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N nuclei in the seven common ionizable amino acids (X = Asp, Glu, His, Cys, Tyr, Lys, and Arg) within the context of a blocked tripeptide, acetyl-Gly-X-Gly-amide. Alanine amide and N-acetyl alanine were used as models of the N- and C-termini, respectively. Together, this study provides an essentially complete set of pH-dependent intra-residue and nearest-neighbor reference chemical shifts to help guide protein pK a measurements. These data should also facilitate pH-dependent corrections in algorithms used to predict the chemical shifts of random coil polypeptides. In parallel, deuterium isotope shifts for the side chain (15)N nuclei of His, Lys, and Arg in their positively-charged and neutral states were also measured. Along with previously published results for Asp, Glu, Cys, and Tyr, these deuterium isotope shifts can provide complementary experimental evidence for defining the ionization states of protein residues.

Empirical relationships between protein structure and carboxyl pKa values in proteins

Relationships between protein structure and ionization of carboxyl groups were investigated in 24 proteins of known structure and for which 115 aspartate and 97 glutamate pK(a) values are known. Mean pK(a) values for aspartates and glutamates are < or = 3.4 (+/-1.0) and 4.1 (+/-0.8), respectively. For aspartates, mean pK(a) values are 3.9 (+/-1.0) and 3.1 (+/-0.9) in acidic (pI < 5) and basic (pI > 8) proteins, respectively, while mean pK(a) values for glutamates are approximately 4.2 for acidic and basic proteins. Burial of carboxyl groups leads to dispersion in pK(a) values: pK(a) values for solvent-exposed groups show narrow distributions while values for buried groups range from < 2 to 6.7. Calculated electrostatic potentials at the carboxyl groups show modest correlations with experimental pK(a) values and these correlations are not improved by including simple surface-area-based terms to account for the effects of desolvation. Mean aspartate pK(a) values decrease with increasing numbers of hydrogen bonds but this is not observed at glutamates. Only 10 pK(a) values are > 5.5 and most are found in active sites or ligand-binding sites. These carboxyl groups are buried and usually accept no more than one hydrogen bond. Aspartates and glutamates at the N-termini of helices have mean pK(a) values of 2.8 (+/-0.5) and 3.4 (+/-0.6), respectively, about 0.6 units less than the overall mean values.

The acid-induced folded state of Sac7d is the native state

Sac7d unfolds at low pH in the absence of salt, with the greatest extent of unfolding obtained at pH 2. We have previously shown that the acid unfolded protein is induced to refold by decreasing the pH to 0 or by addition of salt (McCrary BS, Bedell J. Edmondson SP, Shriver JW, 1998, J Mol Biol 276:203-224). Both near-ultraviolet circular dichroism spectra and ANS fluorescence enhancements indicate that the acid- and salt-induced folded states have a native fold and are not molten globular. 1H,15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence NMR spectra confirm that the native, acid-, and salt-induced folded states are essentially identical. The most significant differences in amide 1H and 15N chemical shifts are attributed to hydrogen bonding to titrating carboxyl side chains and through-bond inductive effects. The 1H NMR chemical shifts of protons affected by ring currents in the hydrophobic core of the acid- and salt-induced folded states are identical to those observed in the native. The radius of gyration of the acid-induced folded state at pH 0 is shown to be identical to that of the native state at pH 7 by small angle X-ray scattering. We conclude that acid-induced collapse of Sac7d does not lead to a molten globule but proceeds directly to the native state. The folding of Sac7d as a function of pH and anion concentration is summarized with a phase diagram that is similar to those observed for other proteins that undergo acid-induced folding except that the A-state is encompassed by the native state. These results demonstrate that formation of a molten globule is not a general property of proteins that are refolded by acid.

Theoretical design of a bistetrapeptide derivative of mitoxantrone targeted towards the double-stranded hexanucleotide sequence d(GGCGCC)2

The hexanucleotide d(GGCGCC)2 is encountered in recurrent fashion within transcriptional activating sequences in retroviruses and protooncogenes. Our first theoretical design of novel oligopeptide derivatives of mitoxantrone, MTX (1), had enabled us to predict derivatives depsiGly-Lys(L) and depsiGly-Gly-Orn(D) to preferentially target the tetrameric core d(CCGG)2. Owing to the crucial importance of hexamer d(GGCGCC)2, we have attempted to extend the realm of our approach by now targeting this specific hexanucleotide. For that purpose, we undertook the design of further oligopeptide derivatives of MTX, in which each arm was identically amidated (rather than esterified as in (1)) by tri- or tetrapeptides of varying sequences and individual residue configurations. The binding affinities of these derivatives to the palindromic sequences d(GGCGCC)2, d(CGCGCG)2, d(GCCGGC)2 and d(CCCGGG)2, were compared by energy-minimization. We report here the results obtained with the most promising derivative, having the sequence Arg(L)-Gly-Val(L)-Glu(L), and displaying a considerable energy preference for d(GGCGCC)2 over the other candidate hexameric sites (referred to as I). In the corresponding complexes, the two arms are in two mutually antiparallel directions in the major groove, and adopt a beta-sheet like arrangement stabilized by two H-bonds involving the carbonyl and amide groups of the Gly residues. Each Arg side chain on a given arm chelates O6 and N7 atoms of G1, G2/G1', G2' with its imino and cis amino hydrogen, and is simultaneously bound through two amino hydrogens in a bidentate interaction with the Glu residue.

Amide proton titration shifts in bull seminal inhibitor IIA by two-dimensional correlated 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (COSY). Manifestation of conformational equilibria involving carboxylate groups

Amide proton titration shifts in H2O solution of bull seminal inhibitor IIA were measured over the pH range from 3 to 6 using two-dimensional correlated spectroscopy. These data enabled characterization of the pKa values for the majority of the carboxylate groups in the protein. Two glutamate side-chains were found to form hydrogen bonds with their own backbone amide proton. Different temperature variations of the populations of these local, cyclic structure elements are indicated for the individual sites.