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The role of cavities in protein dynamics: crystal structure of a photolytic intermediate of a mutant myoglobin.

ABSTRACT: We determined the structure of the photolytic intermediate of a sperm whale myoglobin (Mb) mutant called Mb-YQR [Leu-(B10)-->Tyr; His(E7)-->Gln; Thr(E10)-->Arg] to 1.4-A resolution by ultra-low temperature (20 K) x-ray diffraction. Starting with the CO complex, illumination leads to photolysis of the Fe-CO bond, and migration of the photolyzed carbon monoxide (CO*) to a niche in the protein 8.1 A from the heme iron; this cavity corresponds to that hosting an atom of Xe when the crystal is equilibrated with xenon gas at 7 atmospheres [Tilton, R. F., Jr., Kuntz, I. D. & Petsko, G. A. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 2849-2857]. The site occupied by CO* corresponds to that predicted by molecular dynamics simulations previously carried out to account for the NO geminate rebinding of Mb-YQR observed in laser photolysis experiments at room temperature. This secondary docking site differs from the primary docking site identified by previous crystallographic studies on the photolyzed intermediate of wild-type sperm whale Mb performed at cryogenic temperatures [Teng et al. (1994) Nat. Struct. Biol. 1, 701-705] and room temperature [Srajer et al. (1996) Science 274, 1726-1729]. Our experiment shows that the pathway of a small molecule in its trajectory through a protein may be modified by site-directed mutagenesis, and that migration within the protein matrix to the active site involves a limited number of pre-existing cavities identified in the interior space of the protein.

SUBMITTER: Brunori M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC15753 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The role of cavities in protein dynamics: crystal structure of a photolytic intermediate of a mutant myoglobin.

Brunori M M Vallone B B Cutruzzola F F Travaglini-Allocatelli C C Berendzen J J Chu K K Sweet R M RM Schlichting I I

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20000201 5

We determined the structure of the photolytic intermediate of a sperm whale myoglobin (Mb) mutant called Mb-YQR [Leu-(B10)-->Tyr; His(E7)-->Gln; Thr(E10)-->Arg] to 1.4-A resolution by ultra-low temperature (20 K) x-ray diffraction. Starting with the CO complex, illumination leads to photolysis of the Fe-CO bond, and migration of the photolyzed carbon monoxide (CO*) to a niche in the protein 8.1 A from the heme iron; this cavity corresponds to that hosting an atom of Xe when the crystal is equili ...[more]

PMID: 10681426

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Project description:The function of proteins is influenced not only by the atomic structure but also by the detailed structure of the solvent surrounding it. Computational studies of protein structure also critically depend on the water structure around the protein. Herein we compare the water structure obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of galectin-3 in complex with two ligands to crystallographic water molecules observed in the corresponding crystal structures. We computed MD trajectories both in a water box, which mimics a protein in solution, and in a crystallographic unit cell, which mimics a protein in a crystal. The calculations were compared to crystal structures obtained at both cryogenic and room temperature. Two types of analyses of the MD simulations were performed. First, the positions of the crystallographic water molecules were compared to peaks in the MD density after alignment of the protein in each snapshot. The results of this analysis indicate that all simulations reproduce the crystallographic water structure rather poorly. However, if we define the crystallographic water sites based on their distances to nearby protein atoms and follow these sites throughout the simulations, the MD simulations reproduce the crystallographic water sites much better. This shows that the failure of MD simulations to reproduce the water structure around proteins in crystal structures observed both in this and previous studies is caused by the problem of identifying water sites for a flexible and dynamic protein (traditionally done by overlaying the structures). Our local clustering approach solves the problem and shows that the MD simulations reasonably reproduce the water structure observed in crystals. Furthermore, analysis of the crystal MD simulations indicates a few water molecules that are close to unmodeled electron density peaks in the crystal structures, suggesting that crystal MD could be used as a complementary tool for identifying and modelling water in protein crystallography.

Dataset Information

The role of cavities in protein dynamics: crystal structure of a photolytic intermediate of a mutant myoglobin.

Publications

The role of cavities in protein dynamics: crystal structure of a photolytic intermediate of a mutant myoglobin.

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