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The crystal structure of the calcium-bound con-G[Q6A] peptide reveals a novel metal-dependent helical trimer.

ABSTRACT: The ability to form and control both secondary structure and oligomerization in short peptides has proven to be challenging owing to the structural instability of such peptides. The conantokin peptides are a family of ?-carboxyglutamic acid containing peptides produced in the venoms of predatory sea snails of the Conus family. They are examples of short peptides that form stable helical structures, especially in the presence of divalent cations. Both monomeric and dimeric conantokin peptides have been identified and represent a new mechanism of helix association, "the metallozipper motif" that is devoid of a hydrophobic interface between monomers. In the present study, a parallel/antiparallel three-helix bundle was identified and its crystal structure determined at high resolution. The three helices are almost perfectly parallel and represent a novel helix-helix association. The trimer interface is dominated by metal chelation between the three helices, and contains no interfacial hydrophobic interactions. It is now possible to produce stable monomeric, dimeric, or trimeric metallozippers depending on the peptide sequence and metal ion. Such structures have important applications in protein design.

SUBMITTER: Cnudde SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3672856 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The crystal structure of the calcium-bound con-G[Q6A] peptide reveals a novel metal-dependent helical trimer.

Cnudde Sara E SE Prorok Mary M Jia Xaofei X Castellino Francis J FJ Geiger James H JH

Journal of biological inorganic chemistry : JBIC : a publication of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry 20101110 2

The ability to form and control both secondary structure and oligomerization in short peptides has proven to be challenging owing to the structural instability of such peptides. The conantokin peptides are a family of γ-carboxyglutamic acid containing peptides produced in the venoms of predatory sea snails of the Conus family. They are examples of short peptides that form stable helical structures, especially in the presence of divalent cations. Both monomeric and dimeric conantokin peptides hav ...[more]

PMID: 21063741

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Project description:We have used chemical synthesis, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and circular dichroism to detect and analyze the structural dynamics of a ryanodine receptor (RyR) peptide bound to calmodulin (CaM). The skeletal muscle calcium release channel RyR1 is activated by Ca2+-free CaM and inhibited by Ca2+-bound CaM. To probe the structural mechanism for this regulation, wild-type RyRp and four spin-labeled derivatives were synthesized, each containing the nitroxide probe 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-1-oxyl-4-amino-4-carboxylic acid substituted for a single amino acid. In 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-1-oxyl-4-amino-4-carboxylic acid, the probe is rigidly and stereospecifically coupled to the ?-carbon, enabling direct detection by EPR of peptide backbone structural dynamics. In the absence of CaM, circular dichroism indicates a complete lack of secondary structure, while 40% trifluoroethanol (TFE) induces >90% helicity and is unperturbed by the spin label. The EPR spectrum of each spin-labeled peptide indicates nanosecond dynamic disorder that is substantially reduced by TFE, but a significant gradient in dynamics is observed, decreasing from N- to C-terminus, both in the presence and absence of TFE. When bound to CaM, the probe nearest RyRp's N-terminus shows rapid rotational motion consistent with peptide backbone dynamics of a locally unfolded peptide, while the other three sites show substantial restriction of dynamics, consistent with helical folding. The two N-terminal sites, which bind to the C-lobe of CaM, do not show a significant Ca2+-dependence in mobility, while both C-terminal sites, which bind to the N-lobe of CaM, are significantly less mobile in the presence of bound Ca2+. These results support a model in which the interaction of RyR with CaM is nonuniform along the peptide, and the primary effect of Ca2+ is to increase the interaction of the C-terminal portion of the peptide with the N-terminal lobe of CaM. These results provide, to our knowledge, new insight into the Ca2+-dependent regulation of RyR by CaM.

Dataset Information

The crystal structure of the calcium-bound con-G[Q6A] peptide reveals a novel metal-dependent helical trimer.

Publications

The crystal structure of the calcium-bound con-G[Q6A] peptide reveals a novel metal-dependent helical trimer.

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