scholarly journals Crystallographic and X-ray absorption spectroscopic characterization of Helicobacter pylori UreE bound to Ni2+ and Zn2+ reveals a role for the disordered C-terminal arm in metal trafficking

2012 ◽  
Vol 441 (3) ◽  
pp. 1017-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Banaszak ◽  
Vlad Martin-Diaconescu ◽  
Matteo Bellucci ◽  
Barbara Zambelli ◽  
Wojciech Rypniewski ◽  
...  

The survival and growth of the pathogen Helicobacter pylori in the gastric acidic environment is ensured by the activity of urease, an enzyme containing two essential Ni2+ ions in the active site. The metallo-chaperone UreE facilitates in vivo Ni2+ insertion into the apoenzyme. Crystals of apo-HpUreE (H. pylori UreE) and its Ni2+- and Zn2+-bound forms were obtained from protein solutions in the absence and presence of the metal ions. The crystal structures of the homodimeric protein, determined at 2.00 Å (apo), 1.59 Å (Ni2+) and 2.52 Å (Zn2+) resolution, show the conserved proximal and solvent-exposed His102 residues from two adjacent monomers invariably involved in metal binding. The C-terminal regions of the apoprotein are disordered in the crystal, but acquire significant ordering in the presence of the metal ions due to the binding of His152. The analysis of X-ray absorption spectral data obtained using solutions of Ni2+- and Zn2+-bound HpUreE provided accurate information of the metal-ion environment in the absence of solid-state effects. These results reveal the role of the histidine residues at the protein C-terminus in metal-ion binding, and the mutual influence of protein framework and metal-ion stereo-electronic properties in establishing co-ordination number and geometry leading to metal selectivity.

2020 ◽  
Vol 202 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasha A. Weiditch ◽  
Sarah C. Bickers ◽  
Diane Bona ◽  
Karen L. Maxwell ◽  
Voula Kanelis

ABSTRACT The last gene in the genome of the bacteriophage HK97 encodes gp74, an HNH endonuclease. HNH motifs contain two conserved His residues and an invariant Asn residue, and they adopt a ββα structure. gp74 is essential for phage head morphogenesis, likely because gp74 enhances the specific endonuclease activity of the HK97 terminase complex. Notably, the ability of gp74 to enhance the terminase-mediated cleavage of the phage cos site requires an intact HNH motif in gp74. Mutation of H82, the conserved metal-binding His residue in the HNH motif, to Ala abrogates gp74-mediated stimulation of terminase activity. Here, we present nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies demonstrating that gp74 contains an α-helical insertion in the Ω-loop, which connects the two β-strands of the ββα fold, and a disordered C-terminal tail. NMR data indicate that the Ω-loop insert makes contacts to the ββα fold and influences the ability of gp74 to bind divalent metal ions. Further, the Ω-loop insert and C-terminal tail contribute to gp74-mediated DNA digestion and to gp74 activity in phage morphogenesis. The data presented here enrich our molecular-level understanding of how HNH endonucleases enhance terminase-mediated digestion of the cos site and contribute to the phage replication cycle. IMPORTANCE This study demonstrates that residues outside the canonical ββα fold, namely, the Ω-loop α-helical insert and a disordered C-terminal tail, regulate the activity of the HNH endonuclease gp74. The increased divalent metal ion binding when the Ω-loop insert is removed compared to reduced cos site digestion and phage formation indicates that the Ω-loop insert plays multiple regulatory roles. The data presented here provide insights into the molecular basis of the involvement of HNH proteins in phage DNA packing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunseli Bayram Akcapinar ◽  
Osman Ugur Sezerman

Metal ions play pivotal roles in protein structure, function and stability. The functional and structural diversity of proteins in nature expanded with the incorporation of metal ions or clusters in proteins. Approximately one-third of these proteins in the databases contain metal ions. Many biological and chemical processes in nature involve metal ion-binding proteins, aka metalloproteins. Many cellular reactions that underpin life require metalloproteins. Most of the remarkable, complex chemical transformations are catalysed by metalloenzymes. Realization of the importance of metal-binding sites in a variety of cellular events led to the advancement of various computational methods for their prediction and characterization. Furthermore, as structural and functional knowledgebase about metalloproteins is expanding with advances in computational and experimental fields, the focus of the research is now shifting towards de novo design and redesign of metalloproteins to extend nature’s own diversity beyond its limits. In this review, we will focus on the computational toolbox for prediction of metal ion-binding sites, de novo metalloprotein design and redesign. We will also give examples of tailor-made artificial metalloproteins designed with the computational toolbox.


2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Tiemann ◽  
J. L. Gardea-Torresdey ◽  
G. Gamez ◽  
K. Dokken ◽  
Irene Cano-Aguilera ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1189-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian K. T. S. Wärmländer ◽  
Nicklas Österlund ◽  
Cecilia Wallin ◽  
Jinming Wu ◽  
Jinghui Luo ◽  
...  

Abstract The amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are key molecules in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. They interact with cellular membranes, and can bind metal ions outside the membrane. Certain oligomeric Aβ aggregates are known to induce membrane perturbations and the structure of these oligomers—and their membrane-perturbing effects—can be modulated by metal ion binding. If the bound metal ions are redox active, as e.g., Cu and Fe ions are, they will generate harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) just outside the membrane surface. Thus, the membrane damage incurred by toxic Aβ oligomers is likely aggravated when redox-active metal ions are present. The combined interactions between Aβ oligomers, metal ions, and biomembranes may be responsible for at least some of the neuronal death in AD patients.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C1376-C1376
Author(s):  
Gurpreet Kaur ◽  
Richard Hartshorn

A novel 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine–picolylamine-based bridging ligand has been synthesized and fully characterized using a variety of analysis techniques including single crystal X-ray diffraction. As shown in figure (a), the ligand has both tridentate and bidentate metal binding sites available to coordinate with various metal ions. By varying the size of anions both dinuclear complexes and supramolecular assemblies have been produced. Addition of metal salts containing small anions like halides result in formation of Cu2L and Zn2L dinuclear complexes, figure (b), where one metal ion binds at each of the binding sites of the ligand. The metal ions in these complexes mimic active site of the hydrolytic enzymes and promote phosphatediester hydrolysis of model DNA/RNA compounds. Nearly ten times increase in the rate of hydrolysis of bis(p-nitrophenyl)phosphate (BNPP) is observed in comparison to the parent terpyridine and picolylamine complexes under physiological conditions. Larger anions like PF6-, ClO4-, SO42- , NO3- result in formation of Zn4L4 type squares via. head-to-head and tail-to-tail, HH-TT, (H=tridentate site, T=bidentate site) coordination of the ligand. The octahedrally bound Zn(II) ion between two tridentate sites can be replaced with Fe(II) to prepare Fe2Zn2L4 squares. A flat molecule of terephthalic acid was also deliberately encapsulated in the middle of the Fe2Zn2L4 square as shown in figure (c). The head-to-tail, HT, coordination of the ligand in case of Ni(II) results in formation of decanickel wheels, like [Ni10L10Cl4(H2O)6](Cl)15Br·~140H2O shown in figure (d). Due to the large structure of the molecule X-ray crystallographic studies rather have been quite challenging.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 764-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia J. Griese ◽  
Martin Högbom

Here, a method is described which exploits X-ray anomalous dispersion (XAD) to quantify mixtures of metal ions in the binding sites of proteins and can be applied to metalloprotein crystals of average quality. This method has successfully been used to study site-specific metal binding in a protein from the R2-like ligand-binding oxidase family which assembles a heterodinuclear Mn/Fe cofactor. While previously only the relative contents of Fe and Mn in each metal-binding site have been assessed, here it is shown that the method can be extended to quantify the relative occupancies of at least three different transition metals, enabling complex competition experiments. The number of different metal ions that can be quantified is only limited by the number of high-quality anomalous data sets that can be obtained from one crystal, as one data set has to be collected for each transition-metal ion that is present (or is suspected to be present) in the protein, ideally at the absorption edge of each metal. A detailed description of the method, Q-XAD, is provided.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1260
Author(s):  
Diego S. Ferrero ◽  
Michela Falqui ◽  
Nuria Verdaguer

RNA viruses typically encode their own RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) to ensure genome replication and transcription. The closed “right hand” architecture of RdRPs encircles seven conserved structural motifs (A to G) that regulate the polymerization activity. The four palm motifs, arranged in the sequential order A to D, are common to all known template dependent polynucleotide polymerases, with motifs A and C containing the catalytic aspartic acid residues. Exceptions to this design have been reported in members of the Permutotetraviridae and Birnaviridae families of positive single stranded (+ss) and double-stranded (ds) RNA viruses, respectively. In these enzymes, motif C is located upstream of motif A, displaying a permuted C–A–B–D connectivity. Here we study the details of the replication elongation process in the non-canonical RdRP of the Thosea asigna virus (TaV), an insect virus from the Permutatetraviridae family. We report the X-ray structures of three replicative complexes of the TaV polymerase obtained with an RNA template-primer in the absence and in the presence of incoming rNTPs. The structures captured different replication events and allowed to define the critical interactions involved in: (i) the positioning of the acceptor base of the template strand, (ii) the positioning of the 3’-OH group of the primer nucleotide during RNA replication and (iii) the recognition and positioning of the incoming nucleotide. Structural comparisons unveiled a closure of the active site on the RNA template-primer binding, before rNTP entry. This conformational rearrangement that also includes the repositioning of the motif A aspartate for the catalytic reaction to take place is maintained on rNTP and metal ion binding and after nucleotide incorporation, before translocation.


Biochemistry ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (15) ◽  
pp. 4809-4818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria C. Ferreira ◽  
Ricardo Franco ◽  
Arianna Mangravita ◽  
Graham N. George

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4551
Author(s):  
Julie-Anne Fenger ◽  
Gregory T. Sigurdson ◽  
Rebecca J. Robbins ◽  
Thomas M. Collins ◽  
M. Mónica Giusti ◽  
...  

Red cabbage (RC) and purple sweet potato (PSP) are naturally rich in acylated cyanidin glycosides that can bind metal ions and develop intramolecular π-stacking interactions between the cyanidin chromophore and the phenolic acyl residues. In this work, a large set of RC and PSP anthocyanins was investigated for its coloring properties in the presence of iron and aluminum ions. Although relatively modest, the structural differences between RC and PSP anthocyanins, i.e., the acylation site at the external glucose of the sophorosyl moiety (C2-OH for RC vs. C6-OH for PSP) and the presence of coordinating acyl groups (caffeoyl) in PSP anthocyanins only, made a large difference in the color expressed by their metal complexes. For instance, the Al3+-induced bathochromic shifts for RC anthocyanins reached ca. 50 nm at pH 6 and pH 7, vs. at best ca. 20 nm for PSP anthocyanins. With Fe2+ (quickly oxidized to Fe3+ in the complexes), the bathochromic shifts for RC anthocyanins were higher, i.e., up to ca. 90 nm at pH 7 and 110 nm at pH 5.7. A kinetic analysis at different metal/ligand molar ratios combined with an investigation by high-resolution mass spectrometry suggested the formation of metal–anthocyanin complexes of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 stoichiometries. Contrary to predictions based on steric hindrance, acylation by noncoordinating acyl residues favored metal binding and resulted in complexes having much higher molar absorption coefficients. Moreover, the competition between metal binding and water addition to the free ligands (leading to colorless forms) was less severe, although very dependent on the acylation site(s). Overall, anthocyanins from purple sweet potato, and even more from red cabbage, have a strong potential for development as food colorants expressing red to blue hues depending on pH and metal ion.


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