Dataset Information

On the specificity of heparin/heparan sulfate binding to proteins. Anion-binding sites on antithrombin and thrombin are fundamentally different.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The antithrombin-heparin/heparan sulfate (H/HS) and thrombin-H/HS interactions are recognized as prototypic specific and non-specific glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-protein interactions, respectively. The fundamental structural basis for the origin of specificity, or lack thereof, in these interactions remains unclear. The availability of multiple co-crystal structures facilitates a structural analysis that challenges the long-held belief that the GAG binding sites in antithrombin and thrombin are essentially similar with high solvent exposure and shallow surface characteristics.

Methodology

Analyses of solvent accessibility and exposed surface areas, gyrational mobility, symmetry, cavity shape/size, conserved water molecules and crystallographic parameters were performed for 12 X-ray structures, which include 12 thrombin and 16 antithrombin chains. Novel calculations are described for gyrational mobility and prediction of water loci and conservation.

Results

The solvent accessibilities and gyrational mobilities of arginines and lysines in the binding sites of the two proteins reveal sharp contrasts. The distribution of positive charges shows considerable asymmetry in antithrombin, but substantial symmetry for thrombin. Cavity analyses suggest the presence of a reasonably sized bifurcated cavity in antithrombin that facilitates a firm 'hand-shake' with H/HS, but with thrombin, a weaker 'high-five'. Tightly bound water molecules were predicted to be localized in the pentasaccharide binding pocket of antithrombin, but absent in thrombin. Together, these differences in the binding sites explain the major H/HS recognition characteristics of the two prototypic proteins, thus affording an explanation of the specificity of binding. This provides a foundation for understanding specificity of interaction at an atomic level, which will greatly aid the design of natural or synthetic H/HS sequences that target proteins in a specific manner.

SUBMITTER: Mosier PD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3495972 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

On the specificity of heparin/heparan sulfate binding to proteins. Anion-binding sites on antithrombin and thrombin are fundamentally different.

Mosier Philip D PD Krishnasamy Chandravel C Kellogg Glen E GE Desai Umesh R UR

PloS one 20121112 11

<h4>Background</h4>The antithrombin-heparin/heparan sulfate (H/HS) and thrombin-H/HS interactions are recognized as prototypic specific and non-specific glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-protein interactions, respectively. The fundamental structural basis for the origin of specificity, or lack thereof, in these interactions remains unclear. The availability of multiple co-crystal structures facilitates a structural analysis that challenges the long-held belief that the GAG binding sites in antithrombin an ...[more]

PMID: 23152789

Similar Datasets

Project description:The structure of heparin and heparan sulfate (Hep/HS) oligosaccharides, as determined by the length and the pattern of sulfation, acetylation, and uronic acid epimerization, dictates their biological function through modulating interactions with protein targets. But fine structural determination is a very challenging task due to the lability of the sulfate modifications and difficulties in separating isomeric HS chains. Previously, we reported a strategy for chemical derivatization involving permethylation, desulfation, and trideuteroperacetylation, combined with standard reverse phase LC-MS/MS that enables the structural sequencing for heparin/HS oligosaccharides of sizes up to dodecasaccharide by positionally replacing all sulfates with more stable trideuteroacetyl groups, allowing for robust MS/MS sequencing. However, isomeric oligosaccharides that contain both N-sulfation and N-acetylation become isotopomers after labeling, differing only in the sites of deuteration. This prevents chromatographic separation of these different mixed domain sequences post-derivatization, and makes sequencing by MS/MS difficult due to co-fragmentation of the isotopomers leading to chimeric product ion spectra. In order to improve chromatographic separation of mixed domain oligosaccharides, we have introduced a propionylation step in place of trideuteroacetylation for labeling of sites of sulfation. HS standard disaccharides have been used to evaluate the efficiency of this improved chemical derivatization. The results show that we can quantitatively replace sulfation with propionyl groups with the same high efficiency as the previously reported trideuteroacetylation. After derivatization, we demonstrate the ability to chromatographically separate two mixed domain tetrasaccharide isomers differing solely by the order of N-sulfation and N-acetylation, allowing for full sequencing of each by MS/MS. These results represent a marked improvement in the ability of our previously reported derivatization strategy to analyze complex mixtures of Hep/HS oligosaccharides without a decrease in sensitivity.

Dataset Information

On the specificity of heparin/heparan sulfate binding to proteins. Anion-binding sites on antithrombin and thrombin are fundamentally different.

Background

Methodology

Results

Publications

On the specificity of heparin/heparan sulfate binding to proteins. Anion-binding sites on antithrombin and thrombin are fundamentally different.

Similar Datasets

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