Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:3.1.31.1 (micrococcal nuclease)
2,818 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The mechanism of immunodominance was studied by mutating a single amino acid residue within an immunodominant determinant of Staphylococcus aureus nuclease (Nase). Residues 81 to 100, which can be further reduced to 86 to 100, were determined to be the immunodominant determinant of Nase in H-2k mice. By introducing selected single amino acid substitutions into the peptide encompassing residues 86 to 100 (p86-100), residue 90 was shown to be one of the critical amino acids for T cell recognition, inasmuch as most of the T cells recognizing p86-100 do not respond to a p86-100 analog with a substitution of leucine for alanine at the residue 90. A mutant of Nase with a replacement of alanine by leucine at residue 90 (A90L) was constructed, and for A90L region 112 to 130, which is a subdominant determinant in Nase, becomes immunodominant. Although unable to respond to Nase, T cells primed in vivo with the peptides covering various cryptic determinants proliferate when challenged with A90L in vitro. Our results suggest that at the protein level there is competition among potential T cell determinants of protein Ag for binding to MHC molecules, and that this competition plays a role in determining which determinant may become immunodominant.
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PMID:Immunodominance: a single amino acid substitution within an antigenic site alters intramolecular selection of T cell determinants. 768 87

The stability changes caused by single amino acid substitutions are studied by a simple, empirical method which takes account of the free energy change in the compact denatured state as well as in the native state. The conformational free energy is estimated from effective inter-residue contact energies, as evaluated in our previous study. When this method is applied, with a simple assumption about the compactness of the denatured state, for single amino acid replacements at Glu49 of the tryptophan synthase alpha subunit and at Ile3 of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme, the estimates of the unfolding Gibbs free energy changes correlate well with observed values, especially for hydrophobic amino acids, and it also yields the same magnitudes of energy as the observed values for both proteins. When it is also applied for amino acid replacements at various positions to estimate the average number of contacts at each position in the denatured state from the observed value of unfolding free energy change, those values for replacements with Gly and Ala at the same residue position in staphylococcal nuclease correlate well with each other. The estimated numbers of contacts indicate that the protein is not fully expanded in the denatured state and also that the compact denatured state may have a substantially native-like topology, like the molten globule state, in that there is a weak correlation between the estimated average number of contacts at each residue position in the denatured state and the number of contacts in the native structure. These results provide some further evidence that the inter-residue contact energies as applied here (i) properly reflect actual inter-residue interactions and (ii) can be considered to be a pairwise hydrophobicity scale. Also, the results indicate that characterization of the denatured state is critical to understanding the folding process.
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PMID:Protein stability for single substitution mutants and the extent of local compactness in the denatured state. 785 36

Recently, using a well defined nucleosomal assembly system, we demonstrated that high mobility group proteins (HMGs) 14 and 17 can organize nucleosomes into a regular array with a nucleosomal repeat length of 160-165 base pairs in vitro. Interestingly, such a short repeat length has been described for lower eukaryotes and for active chromatin. To begin to investigate how these proteins may prevent the close packing of nucleosomes, assembly reactions were carried out in which the relative amounts of HMGs 14 and 17, histones H2A and H2B, and the N1/N2.(H3, H4) complex were varied in assembly reactions. Under conditions in which histones H2A and H2B were limiting and in the absence of HMGs 14 and 17, micrococcal nuclease digestion of the assembled product produced a ladder of DNA fragments that was much less well defined and which included DNA that was associated with subnucleosomal structures. The apparent repeat length for this chromatin template was around 125 base pairs. Most interestingly, when HMGs 14 and 17 were added to this assembly reaction, "nucleosome-like" structures were reassembled as shown by the restoration of a regular, well defined ladder of DNA fragments upon micrococcal nuclease digestion. The apparent repeat length increased from 125 to approximately 145 base pairs. Analysis of the protein composition of chromatin formed in the presence or absence of HMGs 14 and 17 reveals that HMGs 14 and 17 might be able to substitute for a histone H2A-H2B dimer in a H2A/H2B-deficient nucleosome. The ability to form a regularly spaced nucleosomal template is also lost when excess HMGs 14 and 17 are used in assembly reactions. Spacing can be restored by the addition of poly(glutamate, alanine), a chemical polymer of negative charge, which may indicate that carrier proteins (specific or nonspecific) may be required for the proper incorporation of all chromatin assembly components into chromatin in vivo. Finally, although the mechanism of action is not known, HMGs 14 and 17 can partially overcome inhibition of initiation of transcription caused by the formation of nucleosomal particles deficient in histones H2A and H2B.
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PMID:High mobility group proteins 14 and 17 can space nucleosomal particles deficient in histones H2A and H2B creating a template that is transcriptionally active. 796 85

We examine the role of the conformational restriction imposed by constrained ends of a protein loop on the determination of a strained loop conformation. The Lys 116-Pro 117 peptide bond of staphylococcal nuclease A exists in equilibrium between the cis and trans isomers. The folded protein favors the strained cis isomer with an occupancy of 90%. This peptide bond is contained in a solvent-exposed, flexible loop of residues 112-117 whose ends are anchored by Val 111 and Asn 118. Asn 118 is constrained by 2 side-chain hydrogen bonds. We investigate the importance of this constraint by replacing Asn 118 with aspartate, alanine, and glycine. We found that removing 1 or more of the hydrogen bonds observed in Asn 118 stabilizes the trans configuration over the cis configuration. By protonating the Asp 118 side chain of N118D through decreased pH, the hydrogen bonding character of Asp 118 approached that of Asn 118 in nuclease A, and the cis configuration was stabilized relative to the trans configuration. These data suggest that the rigid anchoring of the loop end is important in establishing the strained cis conformation. The segment of residues 112-117 in nuclease A provides a promising model system for study of the basic principles that determine polypeptide conformations. Such studies could be useful in the rational design or redesign of protein molecules.
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PMID:The importance of anchorage in determining a strained protein loop conformation. 800 73

We performed molecular dynamics (MD)/free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations to reproduce the experimental free energy difference of denaturation for staphylococcal nuclease mutant Met32-->Ala (M32A) and to predict the stability of the mutant Met32-->Leu (M32L). The calculated free energy difference of denaturation for the M32A of -1.9 kcal/mol was in good agreement with the experimental value. In the M32A, a small hydrophobic core formed by three aromatic rings (Tyr-27, Phe-34, Phe-76) in a wild-type crumbled as a result of exposure to water. The van der Waals interactions in the native state of the M32A were weaker than those of the wild-type, which strongly suggests that the Met-32 is important for the stability of the enzyme. The M32L has not been available yet, but is expected to retain the small hydrophobic core. The free energy difference of denaturation for the M32L was calculated to be 1.6 kcal/mol. The MD/FEP simulation showed that the native state structure of the M32L was only slightly changed when compared with that of the wild-type. It was suggested that the M32L is more stable than the wild-type because the electrostatic interactions in the denatured state are more disadvantageous than those in the native state.
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PMID:Estimation of stabilities of staphylococcal nuclease mutants (Met32-->Ala and Met32-->Leu) using molecular dynamics/free energy perturbation. 826 7

In most proteins, a small but significant fraction of residues adopt phi,psi angles that generate unfavorable steric interactions between side-chain atoms and the peptide backbone. For the small protein staphylococcal nuclease, the X-ray structure reveals that 18 of 133 residues occupy unusual and, presumably, energetically unfavorable backbone conformations. To quantify the amount of strain energy generated by these local interactions, we have analyzed the changes in stability that accompany replacement of the wild-type side-chain with glycine, a residue that can access a much larger set of phi,psi angles without energy penalty. To correct for the many other sources of stability loss that might accompany this mutation, the glycine mutant was compared to an alanine mutant at the same position and the resulting free energy difference delta delta GG-->A was then compared to the average delta delta GG-->A at all other, unstrained positions in the nuclease occupied by similar amino acid types. In addition, potential steric clashes were introduced by substituting alanine at each of six positions occupied in the wild-type by glycine with phi,psi angles that are unfavorable for all other residue types. The data suggest that residues with phi,psi angles outside the preferred alpha-helical and beta-sheet regions represent sites of local strain energy that lower the stability of the native state by 1 to 2 kcal/mol and, in some cases, as much as 3 to 4 kcal/mol. Given that 10 to 20% of residues in globular proteins adopt phi,psi angles outside the preferred alpha-helical and beta-sheet regions, this implies that there is on the order of 20 kcal/mol of strain energy in a protein of 100 residues that may be relieved by appropriate mutations.
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PMID:Evidence for strained interactions between side-chains and the polypeptide backbone. 828 48

The role of proline in the stability and kinetics of folding of wild-type staphylococcal nuclease and its P117G, P117T, and P31A mutants was examined as a function of guanidinium thiocyanate (Gdn-SCN) concentration. Replacement of Pro-117 with Gly or Thr caused small increases in stability, whereas substitution of Pro-31 by Ala led to a small decrease in stability. The slopes of the plots of delta G against denaturant concentration (m) for the mutant proteins are significantly smaller than for the wild-type, suggesting a decrease in the solvent-accessible surface area of the denatured state relative to that of the wild-type. The rates of unfolding and refolding were monitored using tryptophan fluorescence. The kinetic traces for refolding in the presence of Gdn-SCN were triphasic for the wild-type protein and P31A but biphasic for P117G and P117T mutants. The slower phases were typically 10% of the total amplitude except in the transition region. The rates of the fastest and medium phases of the wild-type were essentially unaffected by the mutations. Double-jump experiments in which the protein was unfolded in a high concentration of denaturant for a short time period and then refolded to final Gdn-SCN concentrations near the Cm revealed a fast increase in fluorescence emission corresponding to formation of the native state, followed by a slower decrease with an amplitude that varied with the guanidine concentration and time of unfolding.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Effect of proline mutations on the stability and kinetics of folding of staphylococcal nuclease. 844 12

The stability of two mutants G88V (Gly-88-->Val) and A69T (Ala-69-->Thr) of staphylococcal nuclease was analyzed by molecular dynamics simulations. The calculated free energy differences of denaturation for G88V and A69T were -1.1 and -2.8 kcal/mol, respectively. These values are in good agreement with the experimental values. The free energy differences divided into electrostatic and van der Waals components were analyzed. These two mutants are mainly destabilized due to van der Waals interactions. There is little difference between the electrostatic contribution to the free energy change in the native state and that in the denatured state. In each mutant structure, a small cavity appears in the vicinity of the perturbed residue. It is suggested that intramolecular van der Waals interactions of the mutants are weaker than those of the wild-type. Furthermore, analyses of the contributions of each residue near the perturbed residue and of water to the free energy difference of denaturation suggest that the interaction between water and the perturbed residue plays a very important role in the stability of staphylococcal nuclease, and that a small hydrophobic core consisting of the three aromatic rings (Tyr-27, Phe-34, Phe-76) and the side chain of Met-32 is also important for the stability.
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PMID:Molecular dynamics study of the stability of staphylococcal nuclease mutants: component analysis of the free energy difference of denaturation. 847 33

To quantitate the contributions of the ionizable amino acids to the stability of the native state of staphylococcal nuclease, each of the 23 lysines, 5 arginines, 4 histidines, 12 glutamic acids, and 8 aspartic acids was substituted with both alanine and glycine. This collection of 104 mutant proteins was analyzed by guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) denaturation, using intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence to quantitate the equilibrium between native and denatured states. From the analysis of these data, each mutant protein's stability in the absence of denaturant (delta GH2O) and sensitivity to changes in denaturant concentration [mGuHCl = d(delta G)/d[GuHCl]] were obtained. Several general trends in these values suggest that electrostatic interactions make only a minor contribution to the net stability of this protein. For the residue pairs that form ten salt bridges and ten charged hydrogen bonds between side chains, no correlation was observed between the stability losses (delta delta G) accompanying alanine substitution of each member of the pair. Little or no significant correlation was found between the magnitude of the loss in stability and the local electrostatic potential calculated from the three-dimensional structure by numerical and model dependent solutions of the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The structural parameters which correlated most strongly with stability loss are measures of the extent of burial of the residue in the native structure, as was previously observed for alanine and glycine substitutions of large hydrophobic residues [Shortle et al. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 8033] and of the polar, uncharged residues [Green et al. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 5717]. These results suggest that the ionizable amino acids contribute to stability predominantly through packing and bonding interactions that do not depend on their electrostatic charge.
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PMID:Contributions of the ionizable amino acids to the stability of staphylococcal nuclease. 863 91

Structural analysis of delta131delta, a fragment model of the denatured state of staphylococcal nuclease, has been extended by obtaining long-range distance restraints between protein chain segments based on paramagnetic relaxation enhancement methods. PROXYL spin labels were attached at unique cysteine residues introduced at 14 different sites along the polypeptide chain, and the resulting enhancements of amide proton relaxation were measured by NMR spectroscopy. To minimize perturbation of denatured state structure, these labeling sites were chosen on the basis of a high solvent exposure in the native state and a small change in stability and m-value upon mutation of the wild-type residue to cysteine or alanine. EPR spectroscopy confirmed that in all cases the PROXYL label of the modified protein was solvent-exposed and undergoing free isotropic rotation. By quantifying at 500 MHz and 600 MHz the enhancement of both T1 and T2 relaxation for amide protons resolved in a 1H-15N correlation spectrum, the apparent correlation time for the free electron-proton vectors for six PROXYL-labeled proteins could be estimated. With these data plus the enhancements in transverse relaxation rate (R2) for the other eight proteins, the time-averaged, r(-6) weighted distance between the free electron on the unique nitroxide and 30 to 60 amide protons in each protein could be approximated. Inspection of the pattern of R2 enhancements reveals a significant amount of long-range structure in this denatured state, a clear indication that it is not a random coil.
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PMID:Characterization of long-range structure in the denatured state of staphylococcal nuclease. I. Paramagnetic relaxation enhancement by nitroxide spin labels. 914 49


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