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Isolation, characterization and metal-ion-binding properties of the alpha-subunit from S-100a protein.

ABSTRACT: The brain-specific S-100 protein is a mixture of two predominant components, S-100a and S-100b, with subunit compositions of alpha beta and beta beta respectively. In the present study, the alpha-subunit, isolated from S-100a by using anion-exchange chromatography in the presence of 8 M-urea, was homogeneous by the criteria of SDS/polyacrylamide-gel, urea/SDS/polyacrylamide-gel and non-SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The alpha-subunit underwent a conformational change upon binding Ca2+ and Zn2+ at pH 7.5, as revealed by u.v. difference spectroscopy, c.d. and fluorescence measurements. Far-u.v. c.d. studies indicated the apparent alpha-helical content to fall when the protein bound either Ca2+ or Zn2+. Addition of Ca2+ to the alpha-subunit resulted in exposing to the solvent the single tryptophan residue and one or more tyrosine and phenylalanine residues. Zn2+ induced only a small conformational change, and among the aromatic chromophores only tyrosine residues were affected to a small extent. Ca2+ was able to bind to the alpha-subunit in the presence of Zn2+, and the two metal-ion-binding sites appeared to be different. When the apoprotein was excited at 280 nm, the fluorescence emission maximum was located at 337 nm. In the presence of Ca2+, the emission maximum occurred at 340 nm and was accompanied by a nearly 25% increase in fluorescence intensity. Fluorescence titration with Ca2+ at pH 7.5 revealed only one class of binding site, with a Kd value of 1.26 X 10(-4) M. The effect of K+ on the protein was slightly antagonistic to that of Ca2+, as indicated by u.v. difference spectroscopy and fluorescence titration.

SUBMITTER: Leung IK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1147054 | biostudies-other | 1986 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:The secondary structure of the synthetic 17-residue peptide, conantokin-G (con-G), a gamma-carboxyglutamate-containing marine cone snail neuroactive protein, is altered from a random conformation to one containing a very high level (>70%) of alpha-helix on binding of multivalent cations. The proportion of alpha-helix formed correlated well with the size of the cation and ranged from a low of approx. 7% with large cations, such as Ba2+, to more than 70% with smaller cations, such as Mn2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+. The valency of the multivalent cation was not as important, since tervalent lanthanides (Eu3+, Gd3+ and Tb3+) of ionic radius 106-109 pm induced similar levels (50-60%) of helix to those induced by Ca2+ and Cd2+ (ionic radii 109 and 114 pm respectively). Although the correlation was not as tight, smaller cations of the same valency allowed the helical transition to occur at lower concentrations than the larger cations. The spectroscopic and spectrometric properties of some of these cations permitted a more detailed analysis of the molecular nature of the cation-con-G binding. EPR-based titrations with Mn2+ provided a binding isotherm that was deconvoluted to a single class of 2-3 Mn2+ sites of average Kd 3.9 microM. This number of sites was similar to that for Ca2+ [Prorok, Warder, Blandl and Castellino (1996) Biochemistry 35, 16528-16534], but a much lower Kd was displayed with Mn2+. Determinations by 1H NMR of the longitudinal relaxation rates of the water protons in Mn2+/con-G solutions at different magnetic field strengths corresponding to the proton Langmuir frequencies of 24, 300 and 500 MHz permitted calculation of the hydration number of Mn2+ in the complex, which was found to be 1.0. This indicates that five of the six co-ordination sites of Mn2+ are occupied by peptide atoms, probably oxygens. Titrations of the changes in Tb3+ fluorescence as a result of its binding to con-G gave an EC50 of 58 microM, a value nearly identical with that obtained by titration of the change in helicity of the peptide as a function of Tb3+ concentration. This shows that the macroscopic binding of Tb3+ to con-G is directly responsible for the alteration in secondary structure of the peptide. Finally, Cd2+ was found to be an extremely suitable cation for an NMR-based investigation of the amino acid residues of apo-con-G that are perturbed by cation binding. In a limited example of the results of this study, it was discovered that originally equivalent CH2(delta) protons of Arg13 became distinctly magnetically non-equivalent in the Cd2+-bound helical form of con-G. This indicates that Arg13 is situated in the helix in such a way that the mobility of its side chain is highly restricted. In conclusion, the data show that a variety of multivalent cations with measurable spectroscopic and spectrometric properties interact similarly with con-G and generate extensive alpha-helical conformation in this peptide.

Project description:BackgroundNucleobindin-2 (Nucb2) is a multidomain protein that, due to its structure, participates in many physiological processes. It was originally identified in several regions of the hypothalamus. However, more recent studies have redefined and extended the function of Nucb2 far beyond its initially observed role as a negative modulator of food intake.ResultsPreviously, we described Nucb2 as structurally divided into two parts: the Zn2+-sensitive N-terminal half and the Ca2+-sensitive C-terminal half. Here, we investigated the structural and biochemical properties of its C-terminal half, which, after posttranslational processing, yields the formation of a fully uncharacterized peptide product known as nesfatin-3. Nesfatin-3 likely contains all the key respective structural regions of Nucb2. Hence, we expected that its molecular properties and affinity toward divalent metal ions might resemble those of Nucb2. Surprisingly, the obtained results showed that the molecular properties of nesftain-3 were completely different from those of its precursor protein. Moreover, we designed our work as a comparative analysis of two nesfatin-3 homologs. We noticed that in their apo forms, both proteins had similar shapes and existed in solution as extended molecules. They both interacted with divalent metal ions, and this interaction manifested itself in a compaction of the protein molecules. Despite their similarities, the differences between the homologous nesfatin-3s were even more informative. Each of them favored interaction with a different metal cation and displayed unique binding affinities compared either to each other or to Nucb2.ConclusionsThe observed alterations suggested different from Nucb2 physiological roles of nesfatin-3 and different impacts on the functioning of the tissues and on metabolism and its control. Our results clearly demonstrated that nesfatin-3 possessed divalent metal ion binding properties, which remained hidden in the nucleobindin-2 precursor protein.

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Isolation, characterization and metal-ion-binding properties of the alpha-subunit from S-100a protein.

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