Crystal structure analysis of a mutant Escherichia coli thioredoxin in which lysine 36 is replaced by glutamic acid

Pre- and post-docking sampling of conformational changes using ClustENM and HADDOCK for protein-protein and protein-DNA systems

Incorporating the dynamic nature of biomolecules in the modeling of their complexes is a challenge, especially when the extent and direction of the conformational changes taking place upon binding is unknown. Estimating whether the binding of a biomolecule to its partner(s) occurs in a conformational state accessible to its unbound form (“conformational selection”) and/or the binding process induces conformational changes (“induced‐fit”) is another challenge. We propose here a method combining conformational sampling using ClustENM—an elastic network‐based modeling procedure—with docking using HADDOCK, in a framework that incorporates conformational selection and induced‐fit effects upon binding. The extent of the applied deformation is estimated from its energetical costs, inspired from mechanical tensile testing on materials. We applied our pre‐ and post‐docking sampling of conformational changes to the flexible multidomain protein‐protein docking benchmark and a subset of the protein‐DNA docking benchmark. Our ClustENM‐HADDOCK approach produced acceptable to medium quality models in 7/11 and 5/6 cases for the protein‐protein and protein‐DNA complexes, respectively. The conformational selection (sampling prior to docking) has the highest impact on the quality of the docked models for the protein‐protein complexes. The induced‐fit stage of the pipeline (post‐sampling), however, improved the quality of the final models for the protein‐DNA complexes. Compared to previously described strategies to handle conformational changes, ClustENM‐HADDOCK performs better than two‐body docking in protein‐protein cases but worse than a flexible multidomain docking approach. However, it does show a better or similar performance compared to previous protein‐DNA docking approaches, which makes it a suitable alternative.

A multidomain flexible docking approach to deal with large conformational changes in the modeling of biomolecular complexes

Binding-induced backbone and large-scale conformational changes represent one of the major challenges in the modeling of biomolecular complexes by docking. To address this challenge, we have developed a flexible multidomain docking protocol that follows a "divide-and-conquer" approach to model both large-scale domain motions and small- to medium-scale interfacial rearrangements: the flexible binding partner is treated as an assembly of subparts/domains that are docked simultaneously making use of HADDOCK's multidomain docking ability. For this, the flexible molecules are cut at hinge regions predicted using an elastic network model. The performance of this approach is demonstrated on a benchmark covering an unprecedented range of conformational changes of 1.5 to 19.5 Å. We show from a statistical survey of known complexes that the cumulative sum of eigenvalues obtained from the elastic network has some predictive power to indicate the extent of the conformational change to be expected.

Interaction domain on thioredoxin for Pseudomonas aeruginosa 5'-adenylylsulfate reductase

NMR spectroscopy has been used to map the interaction domain on Escherichia coli thioredoxin for the thioredoxin- dependent 5'-adenylylsulfate reductase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaAPR). Seventeen thioredoxin amino acids, all clustered around Cys-32 (the more surface-exposed of the two active-site cysteines), have been located at the PaAPR binding site. The center of the binding domain is dominated by nonpolar amino acids, with a smaller number of charged and polar amino acids located on the periphery of the site. Twelve of the amino acids detected by NMR have non-polar, hydrophobic side chains, including one aromatic amino acid (Trp-31). Four of the thioredoxin amino acids at the PaAPR binding site have polar side chains (Lys-36, Asp-61, Gln-62 and Arg-73), with three of the four having charged side chains. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments have shown that replacement of Lys-36, Asp-61, and Arg-73 and of the absolutely conserved Trp-31 significantly decreases the V(max) for the PaAPR-catalyzed reduction of 5'-adenylylsulfate, with E. coli thioredoxin serving as the electron donor. The most dramatic effect was observed with the W31A variant, which showed no activity as a donor to PaAPR. Although the thiol of the active-site Cys-256 of PaAPR is the point of the initial nucleophilic attack by reduced thioredoxin, mutagenic replacement of Cys-256 by serine has no effect on thioredoxin binding to PaAPR.

The crystal structure of TrxA(CACA): Insights into the formation of a [2Fe-2S] iron-sulfur cluster in an Escherichia coli thioredoxin mutant

Escherichia coli thioredoxin is a small monomeric protein that reduces disulfide bonds in cytoplasmic proteins. Two cysteine residues present in a conserved CGPC motif are essential for this activity. Recently, we identified mutations of this motif that changed thioredoxin into a homodimer bridged by a [2Fe-2S] iron-sulfur cluster. When exported to the periplasm, these thioredoxin mutants could restore disulfide bond formation in strains lacking the entire periplasmic oxidative pathway. Essential for the assembly of the iron-sulfur was an additional cysteine that replaced the proline at position three of the CGPC motif. We solved the crystalline structure at 2.3 Angstroms for one of these variants, TrxA(CACA). The mutant protein crystallized as a dimer in which the iron-sulfur cluster is replaced by two intermolecular disulfide bonds. The catalytic site, which forms the dimer interface, crystallized in two different conformations. In one of them, the replacement of the CGPC motif by CACA has a dramatic effect on the structure and causes the unraveling of an extended alpha-helix. In both conformations, the second cysteine residue of the CACA motif is surface-exposed, which contrasts with wildtype thioredoxin where the second cysteine of the CXXC motif is buried. This exposure of a pair of vicinal cysteine residues apparently allows thioredoxin to acquire an iron-sulfur cofactor at its active site, and thus a new activity and mechanism of action.

Tryparedoxins from Crithidia fasciculata and Trypanosoma brucei: photoreduction of the redox disulfide using synchrotron radiation and evidence for a conformational switch implicated in function

Tryparedoxin (TryX) is a member of the thioredoxin (TrX) fold family involved in the regulation of oxidative stress in parasitic trypanosomatids. Like TrX, TryX carries a characteristic Trp-Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys motif, which positions a redox-active disulfide underneath a tryptophan lid. We report the structure of a Crithidia fasciculata tryparedoxin isoform (CfTryX2) in two crystal forms and compare them with structures determined previously. Efforts to chemically generate crystals of reduced TryX1 were unsuccessful, and we carried out a novel experiment to break the redox-active disulfide, formed between Cys-40 and Cys-43, utilizing the intense x-radiation from a third generation synchrotron undulator beamline. A time course study of the S-S bond cleavage is reported with the structure of a TryX1 C43A mutant as the control. When freed from the constraints of a disulfide link to Cys-43, Cys-40 pivots to become slightly more solvent-accessible. In addition, we have determined the structure of Trypanosoma brucei TryX, which, influenced by the molecular packing in the crystal lattice, displays a significantly different orientation of the active site tryptophan lid. This structural change may be of functional significance when TryX interacts with tryparedoxin peroxidase, the final protein in the trypanothione-dependent peroxidase pathway. Comparisons with chloroplast TrX and its substrate fructose 1,6-bisphosphate phosphatase suggest that this movement may represent a general feature of redox regulation in the trypanothione and thioredoxin peroxidase pathways.

Real-time kinetics of the interaction between the two subunits, Escherichia coli thioredoxin and gene 5 protein of phage T7 DNA polymerase

T7 phage DNA polymerase is a tight 1:1 complex of the gene 5 protein (g5p) (80 kDa) of phage T7 and thioredoxin (12 kDa) from the Escherichia coli host. The holoenzyme is essential for the replication of the phage. We estimated the real-time kinetics and thermodynamics of the interaction of g5p with thioredoxin (wild type and mutants) using surface plasmon resonance. Thioredoxin was immobilized on a CM5 sensor chip through a six-carbon spacer (6-amino-n-hexanoic acid) using standard amine coupling. Reduced thioredoxin bound g5p but oxidized thioredoxin did not. The association and dissociation phases of the complex fit a two-exponential model with an apparent equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of 2.2 nm for thioredoxin with 4.7 x 104.M-1.s-1 and 10.5 x 10-5.s-1 as the corresponding association (ka) and dissociation (kd) rate constants. The strong binding of g5p to thioredoxin is therefore due to fast association and very slow dissociation, a situation similar to antigen-antibody interactions. Thioredoxin mutants P34S, D26A, K57M, D26A/K57M, W31F, W31Y, K36A, K36E, and Y49F had KD values in the range of 1 to 8 nm, whereas mutant W28A had a KD of 12.5 nm. No detectable interaction was observed for mutants P40G, W31H, W31A, and C35A. The effect of temperature on KD and the changes in enthalpy (-DeltaH = 20.2 kcal.m-1) and entropy (TDeltaS =-8.4 kcal.m-1) upon formation of the complex suggested that the interaction is driven by an increase in enthalpy and opposed by a decrease in entropy.

Crystal structures of two functionally different thioredoxins in spinach chloroplasts

Thioredoxins are small ubiquitous proteins which act as general protein disulfide reductases in living cells. Chloroplasts contain two distinct thioredoxins ( f and m) with different phylogenetic origin. Both act as enzyme regulatory proteins but have different specificities towards target enzymes. Thioredoxin f (Trx f), which shares only low sequence identity with thioredoxin m (Trx m) and with all other known thioredoxins, activates enzymes of the Calvin cycle and other photosynthetic processes. Trx m shows high sequence similarity with bacterial thioredoxins and activates other chloroplast enzymes. The here described structural studies of the two chloroplast thioredoxins were carried out in order to gain insight into the structure/function relationships of these proteins. Crystal structures were determined for oxidized, recombinant thioredoxin f (Trx f-L) and at the N terminus truncated form of it (Trx f-S), as well as for oxidized and reduced thioredoxin m (at 2.1 and 2.3 A resolution, respectively). Whereas thioredoxin f crystallized as a monomer, both truncated thioredoxin f and thioredoxin m crystallized as non-covalent dimers. The structures of thioredoxins f and m exhibit the typical thioredoxin fold consisting of a central twisted five-stranded beta-sheet surrounded by four alpha-helices. Thioredoxin f contains an additional alpha-helix at the N terminus and an exposed third cysteine close to the active site. The overall three-dimensional structures of the two chloroplast thioredoxins are quite similar. However, the two proteins have a significantly different surface topology and charge distribution around the active site. An interesting feature which might significantly contribute to the specificity of thioredoxin f is an inherent flexibility of its active site, which has expressed itself crystallographically in two different crystal forms.

Crystal structure of thioredoxin-2 from Anabaena

BACKGROUND

Thioredoxins are ubiquitous proteins that serve as reducing agents and general protein disulfide reductases. The structures of thioredoxins from a number of species, including man and Escherichia coli, are known. Cyanobacteria, such as Anabaena, contain two thioredoxins that exhibit very different activities with target enzymes and share little sequence similarity. Thioredoxin-2 (Trx-2) from Anabaena resembles chloroplast type-f thioredoxin in its activities and the two proteins may be evolutionarily related. We have undertaken structural studies of Trx-2 in order to gain insights into the structure/function relationships of thioredoxins.

RESULTS

Anabaena Trx-2, like E. coli thioredoxin, consists of a five-stranded beta sheet core surrounded by four alpha helices. The active site includes a conserved disulfide ring (in the sequence 31WCGPC35). An aspartate (E. coli) to tyrosine (Trx-2) substitution alters the position of this disulfide ring relative to the central pleated sheet. However, loss of this conserved aspartate does not affect the disulfide geometry. In the Trx-2 crystals, the N-terminal residues make extensive contacts with a symmetry-related molecule with hydrogen bonds to residues 74-76 mimicking thioredoxin-protein interactions.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall three-dimensional structure of Trx-2 is similar to E. coli thioredoxin and other related disulfide oxido-reductases. Single amino acid substitutions around the protein interaction area probably account for the unusual enzymatic activities of Trx-2 and its ability to discriminate between substrate and non-substrate peptides.

Genetic map of Salmonella typhimurium, edition VIII

We present edition VIII of the genetic map of Salmonella typhimurium LT2. We list a total of 1,159 genes, 1,080 of which have been located on the circular chromosome and 29 of which are on pSLT, the 90-kb plasmid usually found in LT2 lines. The remaining 50 genes are not yet mapped. The coordinate system used in this edition is neither minutes of transfer time in conjugation crosses nor units representing "phage lengths" of DNA of the transducing phage P22, as used in earlier editions, but centisomes and kilobases based on physical analysis of the lengths of DNA segments between genes. Some of these lengths have been determined by digestion of DNA by rare-cutting endonucleases and separation of fragments by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Other lengths have been determined by analysis of DNA sequences in GenBank. We have constructed StySeq1, which incorporates all Salmonella DNA sequence data known to us. StySeq1 comprises over 548 kb of nonredundant chromosomal genomic sequences, representing 11.4% of the chromosome, which is estimated to be just over 4,800 kb in length. Most of these sequences were assigned locations on the chromosome, in some cases by analogy with mapped Escherichia coli sequences.

Site-directed mutagenesis of Lys36 in human thioredoxin: the highly conserved residue affects reduction rates and growth stimulation but is not essential for the redox protein's biochemical or biological properties

Previous studies have demonstrated that a recombinant form of the human redox protein thioredoxin can stimulate the growth rate of Swiss 3T3 murine fibroblasts and that this ability to promote cellular proliferation was dependent upon a redox-active form. A site-directed mutagenesis study of the highly conserved Lys36 adjacent to the two active site cysteines of thioredoxin was performed to determine whether the basic residue was essential for the biochemical and mitogenic properties of human thioredoxin. Two mutants were generated in which the lysine residue was replaced with either glutamic acid (K36E) or leucine (K36L). While K36E and K36L were both redox-active in a thioredoxin-specific assay, the mutants exhibited decreased affinities for thioredoxin reductase relative to wild-type thioredoxin since their respective KM values increased by a factor of 5 and 7. Examination of the secondary structure of the variants by circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that both mutants had minor variations in the overall structural content when compared to thioredoxin, with K36L being most similar to the wild-type protein. Thermal equilibrium denaturation studies of the variants showed that K36E had a TM of 69.5 degrees C. A TM value for thioredoxin and K36L could not be established because the absence of a plateau above 83 degrees C rendered it difficult to establish an upper base line and, hence, the TM. The two mutants were able to stimulate cellular proliferation, albeit with reduced efficiency when compared with wild-type thioredoxin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Structure requirements for disulfide bridge sulfitolysis of oxidized Escherichia coli thioredoxin studied by fluorescence spectroscopy

Sulfitolysis of wild-type and four mutated Escherichia coli thioredoxins ([D26A]thioredoxin, [P34H]thioredoxin, [K36E]thioredoxin and endo-Arg33a-thioredoxin) has been investigated at millimolar concentrations of sulfite in the absence of protein-denaturing agents by fluorescence spectroscopy. Sulfitolysis of the single disulfide bridge of these proteins is associated with an increase in fluorescence emissions at 345 nm. Evaluation of the fluorescence emission spectra revealed that sulfitolysis of thioredoxins is a homogenous process. The reactivities of the thioredoxins are determined by negatively charged (Asp26) or positively charged (Lys36) amino acid residues near the active site disulfide bridge.