Cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of a 12R-LOX-chaperone complex.

Lipoxygenases are a family of nonheme iron-containing dioxygenases. An Escherichia coli expression system producing the bacterial chaperones GroES and GroEL was engineered and successfully used to produce large quantities of recombinant human 12R-LOX (LOXR; MW 80.34 kDa; 701 amino-acid residues). The co-overproduction of the two chaperones with 12R-LOX resulted in increased solubility of 12R-LOX and allowed the purification of milligram amounts of active enzyme for structural studies by X-ray diffraction. The lipoxygenase protein was purified on an affinity column and a gel-filtration column with chaperone protein (MW 57.16 kDa). The LOXR-chaperone complex was crystallized with ligand by the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method using 1.5 M ammonium hydrogen phosphate as precipitant. The crystals belonged to the monoclinic system, space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 138.97, b = 266.11, c = 152.26 Å, ß = 101.07°. Based on the calculated Matthews coefficient (3.1 Å(3) Da(-1)), it is estimated that one molecule of LOXR complexed with two molecules of chaperone is present in the asymmetric unit of the crystal lattice. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 4 Šresolution using synchrotron radiation.

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the phage T4 vertex protein gp24 and its mutant forms.

The study of bacteriophage T4 assembly has revealed regulatory mechanisms pertinent not only to viruses but also to macromolecular complexes. The capsid of bacteriophage T4 is composed of the major capsid protein gp23, and a minor capsid protein gp24, which is arranged as pentamers at the vertices of the capsid. In this study the T4 capsid protein gp24 and its mutant forms were overexpressed and purified to homogeneity. The overexpression from plasmid vectors of all the constructs in Escherichia coli yields biologically active protein in vivo as determined by assembly of active virus following infection with inactivated gene 24 mutant viruses. The gp24 mutant was subjected to surface entropy reduction by mutagenesis and reductive alkylation in order to improve its crystallization properties and diffraction quality. To determine if surface mutagenesis targeting would result in diffractable crystals, two glutamate to alanine mutations (E89A,E90A) were introduced. We report here the biochemical observations and consequent mutagenesis experiment that resulted in improvements in the stability, crystallizability and crystal quality of gp24 without affecting the overall folding. Rational modification of the protein surface to achieve crystallization appears promising for improving crystallization behavior and crystal diffracting qualities. The crystal of gp24(E89A,E90A) diffracted to 2.6A resolution compared to wild-type gp24 at 3.80A resolution under the same experimental conditions. Surface mutation proved to be a better method than reductive methylation for improving diffraction quality of the gp24 crystals.

Roles of calcium ions in the activation and activity of the transglutaminase 3 enzyme.

The transglutaminase 3 enzyme is widely expressed in many tissues including epithelia. We have shown previously that it can bind three Ca2+ ions, which in site one is constitutively bound, while those in sites two and three are acquired during activation and are required for activity. In particular, binding at site three opens a channel through the enzyme and exposes two tryptophan residues near the active site that are thought to be important for enzyme reaction. In this study, we have solved the structures of three more forms of this enzyme by x-ray crystallography in the presence of Ca2+ and/or Mg2+, which provide new insights on the precise contribution of each Ca2+ ion to activation and activity. First, we found that Ca2+ ion in site one can be exchanged with difficulty, and it has a binding affinity of Kd = 0.3 microm (DeltaH = -6.70 +/- 0.52 kcal/mol), which suggests it is important for the stabilization of the enzyme. Site two can be occupied by some lanthanides but only Ca2+ of the Group 2 family of alkali earth metals, and its occupancy are required for activity. Site three can be occupied by some lanthanides, Ca2+,or Mg2+; however, when Mg2+ is present, the enzyme is inactive, and the channel is closed. Thus Ca2+ binding in both sites two and three cooperate in opening the channel. We speculate that manipulation of the channel opening could be controlled by intracellular cation levels. Together, these data have important implications for reaction mechanism of the enzyme: the opening of a channel perhaps controls access to and manipulation of substrates at the active site.

Structural basis for the coordinated regulation of transglutaminase 3 by guanine nucleotides and calcium/magnesium.

Transglutaminase 3 (TGase 3) is a member of a family of Ca2+-dependent enzymes that catalyze covalent cross-linking reactions between proteins or peptides. TGase 3 isoform is widely expressed and is important for effective epithelial barrier formation in the assembly of the cell envelope. Among the nine TGase enzyme isoforms known in the human genome, only TGase 2 is known to bind and hydrolyze GTP to GDP; binding GTP inhibits its transamidation activity but allows it to function in signal transduction. Here we present biochemical and crystallographic evidence for the direct binding of GTP/GDP to the active TGase 3 enzyme, and we show that the TGase 3 enzyme undergoes a GTPase cycle. The crystal structures of active TGase 3 with guanosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate) (GTPgammaS) and GDP were determined to 2.1 and 1.9 A resolution, respectively. These studies reveal for the first time the reciprocal actions of Ca2+ and GTP with respect to TGase 3 activity. GTPgammaS binding is coordinated with the replacement of a bound Ca2+ with Mg2+ and conformational rearrangements that together close a central channel to the active site. Hydrolysis of GTP to GDP results in two stable conformations, resembling both the GTP state and the non-nucleotide bound state, the latter of which allows substrate access to the active site.

Co-assembly of envoplakin and periplakin into oligomers and Ca(2+)-dependent vesicle binding: implications for cornified cell envelope formation in stratified squamous epithelia.

Plakin family members envoplakin and periplakin have been shown to be part of the cornified cell envelope in terminally differentiating stratified squamous epithelia. In the present study, purified recombinant human envoplakin and periplakin were used to investigate their properties and interactions. We found that envoplakin was insoluble at physiological conditions in vitro, and co-assembly with periplakin was required for its solubility. Envoplakin and periplakin formed soluble complexes with equimolar stoichiometry. Chemical cross-linking revealed that the major soluble form of all periplakin constructs and of envoplakin/periplakin rod domains was a dimer, although co-assembly of the full-length proteins resulted in formation of higher order oligomers. Electron microscopy of rotary-shadowed periplakin demonstrated thin flexible molecules with an average contour length of 88 nm for the rod-plus-tail fragment, and immunolabeling EM confirmed the molecule as a parallel, in-register, dimer. Both periplakin and envoplakin/periplakin oligomers were able to bind synthetic lipid vesicles whose composition mimicked the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells. This binding was dependent on anionic phospholipids and Ca(2+). These findings raise the possibility that envoplakin and periplakin bind to the plasma membrane upon elevation of intracellular [Ca(2+)] in differentiating keratinocytes, where they serve as a scaffold for cornified cell envelope assembly.