Resonance Raman Studies on Heme Ligand Stretching Modes in Methionine80-Depleted Cytochrome c: Fe-His, Fe-O2, and O-O Stretching Modes.

The peroxidase activity of cytochrome (cyt) c increases when Met80 dissociates from the heme iron, which is related to the initial cyt c membrane permeation step of apoptosis. Met80-dissociated cyt c can form an oxygenated species. Herein, resonance Raman spectra of Met80-depleted horse cyt c (M80A cyt c) were analyzed to elucidate the heme ligand properties of Met80-dissociated cyt c. The Fe-His stretching (νFe-His) mode of ferrous M80A cyt c was observed at 236 cm-1, and this frequency decreased by 1.5 cm-1 for the 15N-labeled protein. The higher νFe-His frequency of M80A cyt c than of other His-ligated heme proteins indicates strong heme coordination and the imidazolate character of His18. Peaks attributed to the Fe-O2 stretching (νFe-O2) and O-O stretching (νO-O) modes of the oxygenated species of M80A cyt c were observed at 576 and 1148 cm-1, respectively, under an 16O2 atmosphere, whereas the frequencies decreased to 544 and 1077 cm-1, respectively, under an 18O2 atmosphere. The νFe-O2 mode of Hydrogenobacter thermophilus (HT) M59A cyt c552 was observed at 580 cm-1 under an 16O2 atmosphere, whereas the frequency decreased to 553 cm-1 under an 18O2 atmosphere, indicating that relatively high νFe-O2 frequencies are characteristic of c-type cyt proteins. By comparison of the simultaneously observed νFe-O2 and νO-O frequencies of oxygenated cyt c and other oxygenated His-ligated heme proteins, the frequencies tend to have a positive linear relationship; the νFe-O2 frequency increases when the νO-O frequency increases. The imidazolate character of the heme-coordinated His and strong Fe-O and O-O bonds are characteristic of cyt c and apparently related to the peroxidase activity when Met80 dissociates from the heme iron.

Structural region essential for amyloid fibril formation in cytochrome c elucidated by optical trapping.

Amyloid fibril formation of cytochrome c is spatially and temporally controlled with a combined method of disulfide bond cross-linking of cysteine-introduced variants and optical trapping, identifying that the structural change in the region containing Ala83 is essential for the amyloid fibril formation.

Construction of ferritin hydrogels utilizing subunit-subunit interactions.

Various proteins form nanostructures exhibiting unique functions, making them attractive as next-generation materials. Ferritin is a hollow spherical protein that incorporates iron ions. Here, we found that hydrogels are simply formed from concentrated apoferritin solutions by acid denaturation and subsequent neutralization. The water content of the hydrogel was approximately 80%. The apoferritin hydrogel did not decompose in the presence of 1 M HCl, 2-mercaptoethanol, or methanol but was dissolved in the presence of 1 M NaOH, by heating at 80°C, or by treatment with trypsin or 6 M guanidine hydrochloride. The Young's modulus of the hydrogel was 20.4 ± 12.1 kPa according to local indentation experimentes using atomic force microscopy, indicating that the hydrogel was relatively stiff. Transition electron microscopy measurements revealed that a fibrous network was constructed in the hydrogel. The color of the hydrogel became yellow-brown upon incubation in the presence of Fe3+ ions, indicating that the hydrogel adsorbed the Fe3+ ions. The yellow-brown color of the Fe3+-adsorbed hydrogel did not change upon incubation in pure water, whereas it became pale by incubating it in the presence of 100 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The apoferritin hydrogel also adsorbed Co2+ and Cu2+ ions and released them in the presence of EDTA, while it adsorbed less Ni2+ ions; more Fe3+ ions adsorbed to the apoferritin hydrogel than other metal ions, indicating that the hydrogel keeps the iron storage characteristic of ferritin. These results demonstrate a new property of ferritin: the ability to form a hydrogel that can adsorb/desorb metal ions, which may be useful in designing future biomaterials.

Thermal stability tuning without affecting gas-binding function of Thermochromatium tepidum cytochrome c'.

Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus, Thermochromatium tepidum, and Allochromatium vinosum, which grow optimally at 52, 49, and 25 °C, respectively, have homologous cytochromes c' (PHCP, TTCP, and AVCP, respectively) exhibiting at least 50% amino acid sequence identity. Here, the thermal stability of the recombinant TTCP protein was first confirmed to be between those of PHCP and AVCP. Structure comparison of the 3 proteins and a mutagenesis study on TTCP revealed that hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions between the heme and amino acid residues were responsible for their stability differences. In addition, PHCP, TTCP, and AVCP and their variants with altered stability similarly bound nitric oxide and carbon oxide, but not oxygen. Therefore, the thermal stability of TTCP together with PHCP and AVCP can be tuned through specific interactions around the heme without affecting their gas-binding function. These cytochromes c' will be useful as specific gas sensor proteins exhibiting a wide thermal stability range.

Thermal destabilization mechanism of cytochrome c' from psychrophilic Shewanella violacea.

Cytochrome c' is a nitric oxide (NO)-binding heme protein found in Gram negative bacteria. The thermal stability of psychrophilic Shewanella violacea cytochrome c' (SVCP) is lower than those of its homologues from other 2 psychrophilic Shewanella species, indicating that thermal destabilization mechanism for low-temperature adaptation accumulates in SVCP. In order to understand this mechanism at the amino acid level, here the stability and function of SVCP variants, modeled using the 2 homologues, were examined. The variants exhibited increased stability, and they bound NO similar to the wild type. The vulnerability as to the SVCP stability could be attributed to less hydrogen bond at the subunit interface, more flexible loop structure, and less salt bridge on the protein surface, which appear to be its destabilization mechanism. This study provides an example for controlling stability without spoiling function in psychrophilic proteins.

Experimental and theoretical study on converting myoglobin into a stable domain-swapped dimer by utilizing a tight hydrogen bond network at the hinge region.

Various factors, such as helical propensity and hydrogen bonds, control protein structures. A frequently used model protein, myoglobin (Mb), can perform 3D domain swapping, in which the loop at the hinge region is converted to a helical structure in the dimer. We have previously succeeded in obtaining monomer-dimer equilibrium in the native state by introducing a high α-helical propensity residue, Ala, to the hinge region. In this study, we focused on another factor that governs the protein structure, hydrogen bonding. X-ray crystal structures and thermodynamic studies showed that the myoglobin dimer was stabilized over the monomer when keeping His82 to interact with Lys79 and Asp141 through water moleclues and mutating Leu137, which was located close to the H-bond network at the dimer hinge region, to a hydrophilic amino acid (Glu or Asp). Molecular dynamics simulation studies confirmed that the number of H-bonds increased and the α-helices at the hinge region became more rigid for mutants with a tighter H-bond network, supporting the hypothesis that the myoglobin dimer is stabilized when the H-bond network at the hinge region is enhanced. This demonstrates the importance and utility of hydrogen bonds for designing a protein dimer from its monomer with 3D domain swapping.

3D domain swapping of azurin from Alcaligenes xylosoxidans.

Protein oligomers have gained interest, owing to their increased knowledge in cells and promising utilization for future materials. Various proteins have been shown to 3D domain swap, but there has been no domain swapping report on a blue copper protein. Here, we found that azurin from Alcaligenes xylosoxidans oligomerizes by the procedure of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol addition to Cu(i)-azurin at pH 5.0, lyophilization, and dissolution at pH 7.0, whereas it slightly oligomerizes when using Cu(ii)-azurin. The amount of high order oligomers increased with the addition of Cu(ii) ions to the dissolution process of a similar procedure for apoazurin, indicating that Cu(ii) ions enhance azurin oligomerization. The ratio of the absorbance at 460 nm to that at ∼620 nm of the azurin dimer (Abs460/Abs618 = 0.113) was higher than that of the monomer (Abs460/Abs622 = 0.067) and the EPR A‖ value of the dimer (5.85 mT) was slightly smaller than that of the monomer (5.95 mT), indicating a slightly more rhombic copper coordination for the dimer. The redox potential of the azurin dimer was 342 ± 5 mV vs. NHE, which was 50 mV higher than that of the monomer. According to X-ray crystal analysis, the azurin dimer exhibited a domain-swapped structure, where the N-terminal region containing three ß-strands was exchanged between protomers. The copper coordination structure was tetrahedrally distorted in the azurin dimer, similar to that in the monomer; however, the Cu-O(Gly45) bond length was longer for the dimer (monomer, 2.46-2.59 Å; dimer, 2.98-3.25 Å). These results open the door for designing oligomers of blue copper proteins by domain swapping.

Protein surface charge effect on 3D domain swapping in cells for c-type cytochromes.

Many c-type cytochromes (cyts) can form domain-swapped oligomers. The positively charged Hydrogenobacter thermophilus (HT) cytochrome (cyt) c552 forms domain-swapped oligomers during expression in the Escherichia coli (E. coli) expression system, but the factors influencing the oligomerization remain unrevealed. Here, we found that the dimer of the negatively charged Shewanella violacea (SV) cyt c5 exhibits a domain-swapped structure, in which the N-terminal helix is exchanged between protomers, similar to the structures of the HT cyt c552 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) cyt c551 domain-swapped dimers. Positively charged horse cyt c and HT cyt c552 domain swapped during expression in E. coli, whereas negatively charged PA cyt c551 and SV cyt c5 did not. Oligomers were formed during expression in E. coli for HT cyt c552 attached to either a co- or post-translational signal peptide for transportation through the cytoplasm membrane, but not for PA cyt c551 attached to either signal peptide. HT cyt c552 formed oligomers in E. coli in the presence and absence of rare codons. More oligomers were obtained from the in vitro folding of horse cyt c and HT cyt c552 by the addition of negatively charged liposomes during folding, whereas the amount of oligomers for the in vitro folding of PA cyt c551 and SV cyt c5 did not change significantly by the addition. These results indicate that the protein surface charge affects the oligomerization of c-type cyts in cells; positively charged c-type cyts assemble on a negatively charged membrane, inducing formation of domain-swapped oligomers during folding.

Domain-Swapping Design by Polyproline Rod Insertion.

During domain swapping, proteins mutually interconvert structural elements to form a di-/oligomer. Engineering this process by design is important for creating a higher order protein assembly with minimal modification. Herein, a simple design strategy is shown for domain-swapping formation by loop deletion and insertion of a polyproline rod. Crystal structures revealed the formation of the domain-swapped dimers and polyproline portion formed a polyproline II (PPII) structure. Small-angle X-ray scattering demonstrated that an extended orientation of domain-swapped dimer was retained in solution. It is found that a multiple of three of inserting proline residue is favored for domain swapping because of the helical nature of PPII. The rigid nature of the polyproline rod enables precise control of the interdomain distance and orientation.

Oxidative modification of methionine80 in cytochrome c by reaction with peroxides.

The Met80-heme iron bond of cytochrome c (cyt c) is cleaved by the interaction of cyt c with cardiolipin (CL) in membranes. The Met80 dissociation enhances the peroxidase activity of cyt c and triggers cyt c release from mitochondrion to the cytosol at the early stage of apoptosis. This paper demonstrates the selective oxidation of Met80 for the reaction of ferric cyt c with a peroxide, meta-chloroperbenzoic acid (mCPBA), in the presence of CL-containing liposomes by formation of a ferryl species (Compound I). After the reaction of cyt c with mCPBA in the presence of 1,2-dioloeyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) liposomes containing CL, the electrospray ionization mass spectrum of the peptide fragments, obtained by digestion of cyt c with lysyl endopeptidase, exhibited a peak at m/z = 795.45; whereas, this peak was not observed for the peptide fragments obtained after the reaction in the presence of DOPC liposomes not containing CL. According to the tandem mass spectrum of the m/z = 795.45 peptide fragment, Met80 was modified with a 16 Da mass increase. The purified Met80-modified cyt c exhibited a peroxidase activity more than 5-fold higher than that of the unmodified protein. Transient absorption bands around 650 nm were generated by the reactions with mCPBA for ferric wild-type cyt c in the presence of CL-containing DOPC liposomes and ferric Y67F cyt c in the absence of liposomes. The formation and decomposition rates of the 650-nm absorption species increased and decreased, respectively, by increasing the mCPBA concentration in the reaction, indicating transient formation of Compound I.

Construction of a Triangle-Shaped Trimer and a Tetrahedron Using an α-Helix-Inserted Circular Permutant of Cytochrome c555.

Highly-ordered protein structures have gained interest for future uses for biomaterials. Herein, we constructed a building block protein (BBP) by the circular permutation of the hyperthermostable Aquifex aeolicus cytochrome (cyt) c555 , and assembled BBP into a triangle-shaped trimer and a tetrahedron. The angle of the intermolecular interactions of BBP was controlled by cleaving the domain-swapping hinge loop of cyt c555 and connecting the original N- and C-terminal α-helices with an α-helical linker. We obtained BBP oligomers up to ≈40 mers, with a relatively large amount of trimers. According to the X-ray crystallographic analysis of the BBP trimer, the N-terminal region of one BBP molecule interacted intermolecularly with the C-terminal region of another BBP molecule, resulting in a triangle-shaped structure with an edge length of 68 Å. Additionally, four trimers assembled into a unique tetrahedron in the crystal. These results demonstrate that the circular permutation connecting the original N- and C-terminal α-helices with an α-helical linker may be useful for constructing organized protein structures.

Stabilization of mesophilic Allochromatium vinosum cytochrome c' through specific mutations modeled by a thermophilic homologue.

AVCP cytochrome c' from mesophilic Allochromatium vinosum exhibits lower stability than a thermophilic counterpart, Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus cytochrome c' (PHCP), in which the six specific amino acid residues that are not conserved in AVCP are responsible for its stability. Here we measured the stability of AVCP variants carrying these specific residues instead of the original AVCP ones. Among the six single AVCP variants, all of which formed a dimeric structure similar to that of the wild-type, three were successfully stabilized compared with the wild-type, while one showed lower stability than the wild-type. In addition, the most stabilized and destabilized AVCP variants could bind CO, similar to the wild-type. These results indicated that mesophilic AVCP could be stabilized through specific three mutations modeled by the thermophilic counterpart, PHCP, without changing the CO binding ability.

Rational Design of Domain-Swapping-Based c-Type Cytochrome Heterodimers by Using Chimeric Proteins.

The design of protein oligomers with multiple active sites has been gaining interest, owing to their potential use for biomaterials, which has encouraged researchers to develop a new design method. Three-dimensional domain swapping is the unique phenomenon in which protein molecules exchange the same structural region between each other. Herein, to construct oligomeric heme proteins with different active sites by utilizing domain swapping, two c-type cytochrome-based chimeric proteins have been constructed and the domains swapped. According to X-ray crystallographic analysis, the two chimeric proteins formed a domain-swapped dimer with two His/Met coordinated hemes. By mutating the heme coordination structure of one of the two chimeric proteins, a domainswapped heterodimer with His/Met and His/H2 O coordinated hemes was formed. Binding of an oxygen molecule to the His/H2 O site of the heterodimer was confirmed by resonance Raman spectroscopy, in which the Fe-O2 stretching band was observed at 580 cm-1 for the reduced/oxygenated heterodimer (at 554 cm-1 under an 18 O2 atmosphere). These results show that domain swapping is a useful method to design multiheme proteins.

Difference in NaCl tolerance of membrane-bound 5'-nucleotidases purified from deep-sea and brackish water Shewanella species.

Shewanella species are widely distributed in sea, brackish, and fresh water areas, growing psychrophilically or mesophilically, and piezophilically or piezo-sensitively. Here, membrane-bound 5'-nucleotidases (NTases) from deep-sea Shewanella violacea and brackish water Shewanella amazonensis were examined from the aspect of NaCl tolerance to gain an insight into protein stability against salt. Both NTases were single polypeptides with molecular masses of ~59 kDa, as determined on mass spectroscopy. They similarly required 10 mM MgCl2 for their activities, and they exhibited the same pH dependency and substrate specificity for 5'-nucleotides. However, S. violacea 5'-nucleotidase (SVNTase) was active enough in the presence of 2.5 M NaCl, whereas S. amazonensis 5'-nucleotidase (SANTase) exhibited significantly reduced activity with the same concentration of the salt. Although SVNTase and SANTase exhibited high sequence identity (69.7%), differences in the ratio of acidic to basic amino acid residues and the number of potential salt bridges maybe being responsible for the difference in the protein stability against salt. 5'-Nucleotidases from these Shewanella species will provide useful information regarding NaCl tolerance, which may be fundamental for understanding bacterial adaptation to growth environments.

Structural and functional insights into thermally stable cytochrome c' from a thermophile.

Thermophilic Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus cytochrome c' (PHCP) exhibits higher thermal stability than a mesophilic counterpart, Allochromatium vinosum cytochrome c' (AVCP), which has a homo-dimeric structure and ligand-binding ability. To understand the thermal stability mechanism and ligand-binding ability of the thermally stable PHCP protein, the crystal structure of PHCP was first determined. It formed a homo-dimeric structure, the main chain root mean square deviation (rmsd) value between PHCP and AVCP being 0.65 Å. In the PHCP structure, six specific residues appeared to strengthen the heme-related and subunit-subunit interactions, which were not conserved in the AVCP structure. PHCP variants having altered subunit-subunit interactions were more severely destabilized than ones having altered heme-related interactions. The PHCP structure further revealed a ligand-binding channel and a penta-coordinated heme, as observed in the AVCP protein. A spectroscopic study clearly showed that some ligands were bound to the PHCP protein. It is concluded that the dimeric PHCP from the thermophile is effectively stabilized through heme-related and subunit-subunit interactions with conservation of the ligand-binding ability. BRIEF SUMMARY: We report the X-ray crystal structure of cytochrome c' (PHCP) from thermophilic Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus. The high thermal stability of PHCP was attributed to heme-related and subunit-subunit interactions, which were confirmed by a mutagenesis study. The ligand-binding ability of PHCP was examined by spectrophotometry. PHCP acquired the thermal stability with conservation of the ligand-binding ability. This study furthers the understanding of the stability and function of cytochromes c.

Formation and carbon monoxide-dependent dissociation of Allochromatium vinosum cytochrome c' oligomers using domain-swapped dimers.

The number of artificial protein supramolecules has been increasing; however, control of protein oligomer formation remains challenging. Cytochrome c' from Allochromatium vinosum (AVCP) is a homodimeric protein in its native form, where its protomer exhibits a four-helix bundle structure containing a covalently bound five-coordinate heme as a gas binding site. AVCP exhibits a unique reversible dimer-monomer transition according to the absence and presence of CO. Herein, domain-swapped dimeric AVCP was constructed and utilized to form a tetramer and high-order oligomers. The X-ray crystal structure of oxidized tetrameric AVCP consisted of two monomer subunits and one domain-swapped dimer subunit, which exchanged the region containing helices αA and αB between protomers. The active site structures of the domain-swapped dimer subunit and monomer subunits in the tetramer were similar to those of the monomer subunits in the native dimer. The subunit-subunit interactions at the interfaces of the domain-swapped dimer and monomer subunits in the tetramer were also similar to the subunit-subunit interaction in the native dimer. Reduced tetrameric AVCP dissociated to a domain-swapped dimer and two monomers upon CO binding. Without monomers, the domain-swapped dimers formed tetramers, hexamers, and higher-order oligomers in the absence of CO, whereas the oligomers dissociated to domain-swapped dimers in the presence of CO, demonstrating that the domain-swapped dimer maintains the CO-induced subunit dissociation behavior of native ACVP. These results suggest that protein oligomer formation may be controlled by utilizing domain swapping for a dimer-monomer transition protein.

Domain swapping oligomerization of thermostable c-type cytochrome in E. coli cells.

Knowledge on domain swapping in vitro is increasing, but domain swapping may not occur regularly in vivo, and its information in cells is limited. Herein, we show that domain-swapped oligomers of a thermostable c-type cytochrome, Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cyt c552, are formed in E. coli which expresses cyt c552. The region containing the N-terminal α-helix and heme was domain-swapped between protomers in the dimer formed in E. coli. The amount of cyt c552 oligomers increased in E. coli as the cyt c552 concentration was increased, whereas that of high-order oligomers decreased in the order of decrease in protein stability, indicating that domain swapping decreases in cells when the protein stability decreases. Apo cyt c552 was detected in the cyt c552 oligomer formed in E. coli, but not in that of the A5F/M11V/Y32F/Y41E/I76V mutant. The cyt c552 oligomer containing its apo protein may form at the periplasm, since the apo protein detected by mass measurements did not contain the signal peptide. These results show that domain-swapped cyt c552 oligomers were formed in E. coli, owing to the stability of the transient oligomer containing the apo protein before heme attachment. This is an indication that exceedingly stable proteins may have disadvantages forming domain-swapped oligomers in cells.

Oligomerization enhancement and two domain swapping mode detection for thermostable cytochrome c552 via the elongation of the major hinge loop.

High-order oligomers of Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cytochrome c552 increased with the insertion of more Gly residues between Ala18 and Lys19 at the major hinge loop of the wild-type protein. N-Terminal domain swapping and C-terminal domain swapping were elucidated by using X-ray crystallography for the mutant with the insertion of three Gly residues at the hinge loop.

Change in structure and ligand binding properties of hyperstable cytochrome c555 from Aquifex aeolicus by domain swapping.

Cytochrome c555 from hyperthermophilic bacteria Aquifex aeolicus (AA cyt c555 ) is a hyperstable protein belonging to the cyt c protein family, which possesses a unique long 310 -α-310 helix containing the heme-ligating Met61. Herein, we show that AA cyt c555 forms dimers by swapping the region containing the extra 310 -α-310 helix and C-terminal α-helix. The asymmetric unit of the crystal of dimeric AA cyt c555 contained two dimer structures, where the structure of the hinge region (Val53-Lys57) was different among all four protomers. Dimeric AA cyt c555 dissociated to monomers at 92 ± 1°C according to DSC measurements, showing that the dimer was thermostable. According to CD measurements, the secondary structures of dimeric AA cyt c555 were maintained at pH 2.2-11.0. CN(-) and CO bound to dimeric AA cyt c555 in the ferric and ferrous states, respectively, owing to the flexibility of the hinge region close to Met61 in the dimer, whereas these ligands did not bind to the monomer under the same conditions. In addition, CN(-) and CO bound to the oxidized and reduced dimer at neutral pH and a wide range of pH (pH 2.2-11.0), respectively, in a wide range of temperature (25-85°C), owing to the thermostability and pH tolerance of the dimer. These results show that the ligand binding character of hyperstable AA cyt c555 changes upon dimerization by domain swapping.

DNA cleavage by oxymyoglobin and cysteine-introduced metmyoglobin.

Double stranded DNA was cleaved oxidatively by incubation with oxygenated myoglobin, and Lys96Cys sperm whale myoglobin in its stable ferric form functioned as an artificial nuclease under air by formation of an oxygenated species, owing to electron transfer from the SH group of the introduced cysteine to the heme.