Structural basis for the observed differential magnetic anisotropic tensorial values in calcium binding proteins

Pseudocontact Shifts in Biomolecular NMR Spectroscopy

Paramagnetic centers in biomolecules, such as specific metal ions that are bound to a protein, affect the nuclei in their surrounding in various ways. One of these effects is the pseudocontact shift (PCS), which leads to strong chemical shift perturbations of nuclear spins, with a remarkably long range of 50 Å and beyond. The PCS in solution NMR is an effect originating from the anisotropic part of the dipole-dipole interaction between the magnetic momentum of unpaired electrons and nuclear spins. The PCS contains spatial information that can be exploited in multiple ways to characterize structure, function, and dynamics of biomacromolecules. It can be used to refine structures, magnify effects of dynamics, help resonance assignments, allows for an intermolecular positioning system, and gives structural information in sensitivity-limited situations where all other methods fail. Here, we review applications of the PCS in biomolecular solution NMR spectroscopy, starting from early works on natural metalloproteins, following the development of non-natural tags to chelate and attach lanthanoid ions to any biomolecular target to advanced applications on large biomolecular complexes and inside living cells. We thus hope to not only highlight past applications but also shed light on the tremendous potential the PCS has in structural biology.

A general method for the derivation of the functional forms of the effective energy terms in coarse-grained energy functions of polymers. III. Determination of scale-consistent backbone-local and correlation potentials in the UNRES force field and force-field calibration and validation

The general theory of the construction of scale-consistent energy terms in the coarse-grained force fields presented in Paper I of this series has been applied to the revision of the UNRES force field for physics-based simulations of proteins. The potentials of mean force corresponding to backbone-local and backbone-correlation energy terms were calculated from the ab initio energy surfaces of terminally blocked glycine, alanine, and proline, and the respective analytical expressions, derived by using the scale-consistent formalism, were fitted to them. The parameters of all these potentials depend on single-residue types, thus reducing their number and preventing over-fitting. The UNRES force field with the revised backbone-local and backbone-correlation terms was calibrated with a set of four small proteins with basic folds: tryptophan cage variant (TRP1; α), Full Sequence Design (FSD; α + β), villin headpiece (villin; α), and a truncated FBP-28 WW-domain variant (2MWD; β) (the NEWCT-4P force field) and, subsequently, with an enhanced set of 9 proteins composed of TRP1, FSD, villin, 1BDC (α), 2I18 (α), 1QHK (α + β), 2N9L (α + β), 1E0L (β), and 2LX7 (β) (the NEWCT-9P force field). The NEWCT-9P force field performed better than NEWCT-4P in a blind-prediction-like test with a set of 26 proteins not used in calibration and outperformed, in a test with 76 proteins, the most advanced OPT-WTFSA-2 version of UNRES with former backbone-local and backbone-correlation terms that contained more energy terms and more optimizable parameters. The NEWCT-9P force field reproduced the bimodal distribution of backbone-virtual-bond angles in the simulated structures, as observed in experimental protein structures.

The design and NMR structure determination of yttrium-oligopeptide tags for recombinant proteins and antibodies

A strategy for the design of new yttrium(III) tags consisting of sequences of naturally occurring amino acids is described. These tags are 4–6 amino acids in length and consist of aspartic and glutamic acids. The use of natural amino acids would allow these oligopeptides to be incorporated into recombinant proteins at the DNA level, enabling the protein to be Y(III)-labelled after protein isolation. This allows a radionuclide or heavy atom to be associated with the protein without the necessity of further synthetic modification. Suitable peptides able to chelate Y(III) in stable complexes were designed based on quantum-chemical calculations. The stability of complexes formed by these peptides was tested by isothermal titration calorimetry, giving dissociation constants in the micromolar range. The likely structure of the most tightly bound complex was inferred from a combination of NMR experiments and quantum-chemical calculations. This structure will serve as the basis for future optimizations.

Root-mean-square-deviation-based rapid backbone resonance assignments in proteins

We have shown that the methodology based on the estimation of root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) between two sets of chemical shifts is very useful to rapidly assign the spectral signatures of (1)H(N), (13)C(α), (13)C(β), (13)C', (1)H(α) and (15)N spins of a given protein in one state from the knowledge of its resonance assignments in a different state, without resorting to routine established procedures (manual and automated). We demonstrate the utility of this methodology to rapidly assign the 3D spectra of a metal-binding protein in its holo-state from the knowledge of its assignments in apo-state, the spectra of a protein in its paramagnetic state from the knowledge of its assignments in diamagnetic state and, finally, the spectra of a mutant protein from the knowledge of the chemical shifts of the corresponding wild-type protein. The underlying assumption of this methodology is that, it is impossible for any two amino acid residues in a given protein to have all the six chemical shifts degenerate and that the protein under consideration does not undergo large conformational changes in going from one conformational state to another. The methodology has been tested using experimental data on three proteins, M-crystallin (8.5 kDa, predominantly β-sheet, for apo- to holo-state), Calbindin (7.5 kDa, predominantly α-helical, for diamagnetic to paramagnetic state and apo to holo) and EhCaBP1 (14.3 kDa, α-helical, the wild-type protein with one of its mutant). In all the cases, the extent of assignment is found to be greater than 85%.

Structural characterization of a novel Ca2+-binding protein from Entamoeba histolytica: structural basis for the observed functional differences with its isoform

A novel Ca(2+)-binding protein (EhCaBP2) was identified from the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. EhCaBP2 has 79% sequence identity with calcium-binding protein EhCaBP1. The 3D structure of EhCaBP2 was determined using multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques. The study reveals that the protein consists of two globular domains connected by a short flexible linker region of four residues. On comparison of the 3D structure and dynamics of EhCaBP2 with those of EhCaBP1, it is found that they vary significantly in their N-terminal domains and interdomain linker. Immunofluorescence localization experiments revealed that EhCaBP1 and EhCaBP2 may not carry out similar functions, as their cellular distribution patterns are not the same. The functional differences between the two isoforms are explained on the basis of results obtained from the structural studies. The structural variation in the interdomain linker region and the formation of functionally important hydrophobic clefts in different regions of EhCaBP1 and EhCaBP2 provide interesting insights into the differences in the functionality of these two isoforms.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of a lanthanide chelating protein probe: CLaNP-5 yields predictable paramagnetic effects independent of environment

Immobilized lanthanide ions offer the opportunity to refine structures of proteins and the complexes they form by using restraints obtained from paramagnetic NMR experiments. We report the design, synthesis, and spectroscopic evaluation of the lanthanide chelator, Caged Lanthanide NMR Probe 5 (CLaNP-5) readily attachable to a protein surface via two cysteine residues. The probe causes tunable pseudocontact shifts, alignment, paramagnetic relaxation enhancement, and luminescence, by chelating it to the appropriate lanthanide ion. The observation of single shifts and the finding that the magnetic susceptibility tensors obtained from shifts and alignment analyses are highly similar strongly indicate that the probe is rigid with respect to the protein backbone. By placing the probe at various positions on a model protein it is demonstrated that the size and orientation of the magnetic susceptibility tensor of the probe are independent of the local protein environment. Consequently, the effects of the probe are readily predictable using a protein structure only. These findings designate CLaNP-5 as a protein probe to deliver unambiguous high quality structural restraints in studies on protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions.