scholarly journals Structural requirement of the calcium-channel subunit α2δ for gabapentin binding

1999 ◽  
Vol 342 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghan WANG ◽  
James OFFORD ◽  
Dale L. OXENDER ◽  
Ti-Zhi SU
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Anticonvulsant Drug ◽  
Amino Acid Replacement ◽  
Significant Loss ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Structural Requirement ◽  
High Binding Affinity

Gabapentin [Neurontin, 1-(aminomethyl)cyclohexaneacetic acid] is a novel anticonvulsant drug with a high binding affinity for the Ca2+-channel subunit α2δ. In this study, the gabapentin-binding properties of wild-type and mutated porcine brain α2δ proteins were investigated. Removal of the disulphide bonds between the α2 and the δ subunits did not result in a significant loss of gabapentin binding, suggesting that the disulphide linkage between the two subunits is not required for binding. Singly expressed α2 protein remained membrane associated. However, α2 alone was unable to bind gabapentin, unless the cells were concurrently transfected with the expression vector for δ, suggesting that both α2 and δ are required for gabapentin binding. Using internal deletion mutagenesis, we mapped two regions [amino acid residues 339-365 (δF) and 875-905 (δJ)] within the α2 subunit that are not required for gabapentin binding. Further, deletion of three other individual regions [amino acid residues 206-222 (δD), 516-537 (δH) and 583-603 (δI)] within the α2 subunit disrupted gabapentin binding, suggesting the structural importance of these regions. Using alanine to replace four to six amino acid residues in each of these regions abolished gabapentin binding. These results demonstrate that region D, between the N-terminal end and the first putative transmembrane domain of α2, and regions H and I, between the putative splicing acceptor sites (Gln511 and Ser601), may play important roles in maintaining the structural integrity for gabapentin binding. Further single amino acid replacement mutagenesis within these regions identified Arg217 as critical for gabapentin binding.

scholarly journals Self-Compatible B Mutants in Coprinus With Altered Pheromone-Receptor Specificities

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (3) ◽  
pp. 1025-1033
Author(s):  
Natalie S Olesnicky ◽  
Andrew J Brown ◽  
Yoichi Honda ◽  
Susan L Dyos ◽  
Simon J Dowell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Transmembrane Domain ◽  
Gene Mutations ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Amino Acid Replacement ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Yeast Assay ◽  
Domain Iii ◽  
G Protein Coupled

Abstract A successful mating in the mushroom Coprinus cinereus brings together a compatible complement of pheromones and G-protein-coupled receptors encoded by multiallelic genes at the B mating-type locus. Rare B gene mutations lead to constitutive activation of B-regulated development without the need for mating. Here we characterize a mutation that arose in the B6 locus and show that it generates a mutant receptor with a single amino acid substitution (R96H) at the intracellular end of transmembrane domain III. Using a heterologous yeast assay and synthetic pheromones we show that the mutation does not make the receptor constitutively active but permits it to respond inappropriately to a normally incompatible pheromone encoded within the same B6 locus. Parallel experiments carried out in Coprinus showed that a F67W substitution in this same pheromone enabled it to activate the normally incompatible wild-type receptor. Together, our experiments show that a single amino acid replacement in either pheromone or receptor can deregulate the specificity of ligand-receptor recognition and confer a self-compatible B phenotype. In addition, we use the yeast assay to demonstrate that different receptors and pheromones found at a single B locus belong to discrete subfamilies within which receptor activation cannot normally occur.

scholarly journals Identification of critical amino acid residues in the regulatory N-terminal domain of PMEL

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Mitchell ◽  
Morven Graham ◽  
Xinran Liu ◽  
Ralf M. Leonhardt
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Pigment Cell ◽  
Specific Protein ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Proteolytic Fragment ◽  
The Core ◽  
N Terminus ◽  
In Cis

AbstractThe pigment cell-specific protein PMEL forms a functional amyloid matrix in melanosomes onto which the pigment melanin is deposited. The amyloid core consists of a short proteolytic fragment, which we have termed the core-amyloid fragment (CAF) and perhaps additional parts of the protein, such as the PKD domain. A highly O-glycosylated repeat (RPT) domain also derived from PMEL proteolysis associates with the amyloid and is necessary to establish the sheet-like morphology of the assemblies. Excluded from the aggregate is the regulatory N-terminus, which nevertheless must be linked in cis to the CAF in order to drive amyloid formation. The domain is then likely cleaved away immediately before, during, or immediately after the incorporation of a new CAF subunit into the nascent amyloid. We had previously identified a 21 amino acid long region, which mediates the regulatory activity of the N-terminus towards the CAF. However, many mutations in the respective segment caused misfolding and/or blocked PMEL export from the endoplasmic reticulum, leaving their phenotype hard to interpret. Here, we employ a saturating mutagenesis approach targeting the motif at single amino acid resolution. Our results confirm the critical nature of the PMEL N-terminal region and identify several residues essential for PMEL amyloidogenesis.

Evolutionary divergence and salinity-mediated selection in halophilic archaea

1997 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-104
Author(s):  
P P Dennis ◽  
L C Shimmin
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Tertiary Structure ◽  
Halophilic Archaea ◽  
Amino Acid Replacement ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Ionic Balance ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Nucleotide Substitutions ◽  
Nonsynonymous Substitutions ◽  
Environmental Salinity

Halophilic (literally salt-loving) archaea are a highly evolved group of organisms that are uniquely able to survive in and exploit hypersaline environments. In this review, we examine the potential interplay between fluctuations in environmental salinity and the primary sequence and tertiary structure of halophilic proteins. The proteins of halophilic archaea are highly adapted and magnificently engineered to function in an intracellular milieu that is in ionic balance with an external environment containing between 2 and 5 M inorganic salt. To understand the nature of halophilic adaptation and to visualize this interplay, the sequences of genes encoding the L11, L1, L10, and L12 proteins of the large ribosome subunit and Mn/Fe superoxide dismutase proteins from three genera of halophilic archaea have been aligned and analyzed for the presence of synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions. Compared to homologous eubacterial genes, these halophilic genes exhibit an inordinately high proportion of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions that result in amino acid replacement in the encoded proteins. More than one-third of the replacements involve acidic amino acid residues. We suggest that fluctuations in environmental salinity provide the driving force for fixation of the excessive number of nonsynonymous substitutions. Tinkering with the number, location, and arrangement of acidic and other amino acid residues influences the fitness (i.e., hydrophobicity, surface hydration, and structural stability) of the halophilic protein. Tinkering is also evident at halophilic protein positions monomorphic or polymorphic for serine; more than one-third of these positions use both the TCN and the AGY serine codons, indicating that there have been multiple nonsynonymous substitutions at these positions. Our model suggests that fluctuating environmental salinity prevents optimization of fitness for many halophilic proteins and helps to explain the unusual evolutionary divergence of their encoding genes.

Gene Cloning, Nucleotide Sequencing, and Purification and Characterization of the Low-Specificityl-Threonine Aldolase from Pseudomonas sp. Strain NCIMB 10558

1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 549-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Quan Liu ◽  
Saeko Ito ◽  
Tohru Dairi ◽  
Nobuya Itoh ◽  
Michihiko Kataoka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Significant Loss ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Nucleotide Sequencing ◽  
Predicted Amino Acid Sequence ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Purification And Characterization ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Threonine Aldolase

ABSTRACT A low-specificity l-threonine aldolase (l-TA) gene from Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIMB 10558 was cloned and sequenced. The gene contains an open reading frame consisting of 1,041 nucleotides corresponding to 346 amino acid residues. The gene was overexpressed in Escherichia colicells, and the recombinant enzyme was purified and characterized. The enzyme, requiring pyridoxal 5′-phosphate as a coenzyme, is strictlyl specific at the α position, whereas it cannot distinguish between threo and erythro forms at the β position. In addition to threonine, the enzyme also acts on various other l-β-hydroxy-α-amino acids, includingl-β-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine,l-β-3,4-methylenedioxyphenylserine, andl-β-phenylserine. The predicted amino acid sequence displayed less than 20% identity with those of low-specificityl-TA from Saccharomyces cerevisiae,l-allo-threonine aldolase from Aeromonas jandaei, and four relevant hypothetical proteins from other microorganisms. However, lysine 207 of low-specificity l-TA from Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIMB 10558 was found to be completely conserved in these proteins. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments showed that substitution of Lys207 with Ala or Arg resulted in a significant loss of enzyme activity, with the corresponding disappearance of the absorption maximum at 420 nm. Thus, Lys207 of thel-TA probably functions as an essential catalytic residue, forming an internal Schiff base with the pyridoxal 5′-phosphate of the enzyme to catalyze the reversible aldol reaction.

A Mutation in the  Subunit of the Platelet Integrin IIbβ3 Identifies a Novel Region Important for Ligand Binding

Blood ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 918-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Collins Tozer ◽  
Elizabeth K. Baker ◽  
Mark H. Ginsberg ◽  
Joseph C. Loftus
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Ligand Binding ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Chimeric Receptor ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Genetic Approach ◽  
Specific Amino Acid ◽  
Transfected Cells ◽  
Binding Function ◽  
A Cell

Abstract An unbiased genetic approach was used to identify a specific amino acid residue in the IIb subunit important for the ligand binding function of the integrin IIbβ. Chemically mutagenized cells were selected by flow cytometry based on their inability to bind the ligand mimetic antibody PAC1 and a cell line containing a single amino acid substitution in IIb at position 224 (D→V) was identified. Although well expressed on the surface of transfected cells, IIbD224Vβ3 as well as IIbD224Aβ3 did not bind IIbβ3-specific ligands or a RGD peptide, a ligand shared in common with vβ3. Insertion of exon 5 of IIb, residues G193-W235, into the backbone of the v subunit did not enable the chimeric receptor to bind IIbβ3-specific ligands. However, the chimeric receptor was still capable of binding to a RGD affinity matrix. IIbD224 is not well conserved among other integrin  subunits and is located in a region of significant variability. In addition, amino acid D224 lies within a predicted loop of the recently proposed β-propeller model for integrin  subunits and is adjacent to a loop containing amino acid residues previously implicated in receptor function. These data support a role for this region in ligand binding function of the IIbβ3 receptor.

A Single Amino Acid Replacement Results in the Ca2+-Induced Self-Assembly of a Helical Conantokin-Based Peptide†

Biochemistry ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 43 (41) ◽  
pp. 13225-13232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuyun Dai ◽  
Francis J. Castellino ◽  
Mary Prorok
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Amino Acid Replacement ◽  
Single Amino Acid
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