Gianotti AR, Klinke S, Ermácora MR. The structure of unliganded sterol carrier protein 2 from Yarrowia lipolytica unveils a mechanism for binding site occlusion.
J Struct Biol 2020;
213:107675. [PMID:
33278583 DOI:
10.1016/j.jsb.2020.107675]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Revised: 11/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Isolated or as a part of multidomain proteins, Sterol Carrier Protein 2 (SCP2) exhibits high affinity and broad specificity for different lipidic and hydrophobic compounds. A wealth of structural information on SCP2 domains in all forms of life is currently available; however, many aspects of its ligand binding activity are poorly understood. ylSCP2 is a well-characterized single domain SCP2 from the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Herein, we report the X-ray structure of unliganded ylSCP2 refined to 2.0 Å resolution. Comparison with the previously solved liganded ylSCP2 structure unveiled a novel mechanism for binding site occlusion. The liganded ylSCP2 binding site is a large cavity with a volume of more than 800 Å3. In unliganded ylSCP2 the binding site is reduced to about 140 Å3. The obliteration is caused by a swing movement of the C-terminal α helix 5 and a subtle compaction of helices 2-4. Previous pairwise comparisons were between homologous SCP2 domains with a uncertain binding status. The reported unliganded ylSCP2 structure allows for the first time a fully controlled comparative analysis of the conformational effects of ligand occupation dispelling several doubts regarding the architecture of SCP2 binding site.
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