Interaction patterns of methoprene-tolerant and germ cell-expressed Drosophila JH receptors suggest significant differences in their functioning

Methoprene-tolerant (Met) and germ cell-expressed (Gce) proteins were shown to be juvenile hormone (JH) receptors of Drosophila melanogaster with partially redundant functions. We raised the question of where the functional differentiation of paralogs comes from. Therefore, we tested Met and Gce interaction patterns with selected partners. In this study, we showed the ability of Gce and its C-terminus (GceC) to interact with 14-3-3 in the absence of JH. In contrast, Met or Met C-terminus (MetC) interactions with 14-3-3 were not observed. We also performed a detailed structural analysis of Met/Gce interactions with the nuclear receptor fushi tarazu factor-1 (Ftz-F1) ligand-binding domain. We showed that GceC comprising an Ftz-F1-binding site and full-length protein interacts with Ftz-F1. In contrast to Gce, only MetC (not full-length Met) can interact with Ftz-F1 in the absence of JH. We propose that the described differences result from the distinct tertiary structure and accessibility of binding sites in the full-length Met/Gce. Moreover, we hypothesize that each interacting partner can force disordered MetC and GceC to change the structure in a partner-specific manner. The observed interactions seem to determine the subcellular localization of Met/Gce by forcing their translocation between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, which may affect the activity of the proteins. The presented differences between Met and Gce can be crucial for their functional differentiation during D. melanogaster development and indicate Gce as a more universal and more active paralog. It is consistent with the theory indicating gce as an ancestor gene.

Revised stability constant, spectroscopic properties and binding mode of Zn(II) to FluoZin-3, the most common zinc probe in life sciences

2-[2-[2-[2-[bis(carboxylatomethyl)amino]-5-methoxyphenoxy]ethoxy]-4-(2,7-difluoro-3-oxido-6-oxo-4a,9a-dihydroxanthen-9-yl)anilino]acetate (FluoZin-3) is used very broadly in life sciences as intra- and extracellular Zn(II) sensor selective for Zn(II) over Co(II), Ca(II) and Mg(II) ions at their physiological concentrations. It has been used for determination of relative and absolute levels of exchangeable Zn(II) in cells and extracellular fluids. Despite its popularity, the knowledge of its acid/base and Zn(II) coordination abilities and of its spectroscopic properties remained very limited. Also the published conditional dissociation constant ((C)Kd) values at pH7.4 are slightly discrepant, (15nM or 8.9nM). In this work we determined the (C)Kd for Zn(II) complexation by FluoZin-3 at pH7.4 with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) as competitor using two independent methods: fluorimetry and UV-Vis spectroscopy. For the first time, we investigated FluoZin-3 alone and complexed with Zn(II) in the wide range of pH, determining the total of eight pKa values from fluorescence spectra and from various regions of UV-Vis spectra. The validated values of (C)Kd (9.1±0.4nM; -log (C)Kd=8.04) and of the absolute (pH-independent) stability constant log βZnL (8.16±0.05) were provided by fluorescence spectroscopy experiments performed at 1μM concentrations. Our experiments demonstrated that both of aminocarboxylate moieties of FluoZin-3 bind the Zn(II) ion synergistically.