Biomedical subjects

A Lostao

Publications and source records attributed to A Lostao.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Dissecting the energetics of the apoflavodoxin-FMN complex.

Many flavoproteins are non-covalent complexes between FMN and an apoprotein. To understand better the stability of flavoproteins, we have studied the energetics of the complex between FMN and the apoflavodoxin from Anabaena PCC 7119 by a combination of site-directed mutagenesis, titration calorimetry, equilibrium binding constant determinations, and x-ray crystallography. Comparison of the strength of the wild type and mutant apoflavodoxin-FMN complexes and that of the complexes between wild type apoflavodoxin and shortened FMN analogues (riboflavin and lumiflavin) allows the dissection of the binding energy into contributions associated with the different parts of the FMN molecule. The estimated contribution of the phosphate is greatest, at 7 kcal mol(-1); that of the isoalloxazine is of around 5-6 kcal mol(-1) (mainly due to interaction with Trp-57 and Tyr-94 in the apoprotein) and the ribityl contributes least: around 1 kcal mol(-1). The stabilization of the complex is both enthalpic and entropic although the enthalpy contribution is dominant. Both the phosphate and the isoalloxazine significantly contribute to the enthalpy of binding. The ionic strength does not have a large effect on the stability of the FMN complex because, although it weakens the phosphate interactions, it strengthens the isoalloxazine-protein hydrophobic interactions. Phosphate up to 100 mM does not affect the strength of the riboflavin complex, which suggests the isoalloxazine and phosphate binding sites may be independent in terms of binding energy. Interestingly, we find crystallographic evidence of flexibility in one of the loops (57-62) involved in isoalloxazine binding.

Apoproteins↗

PubMed1999

Electron-nuclear double resonance and hyperfine sublevel correlation spectroscopic studies of flavodoxin mutants from Anabaena sp. PCC 7119.

The influence of the amino acid residues surrounding the flavin ring in the flavodoxin of the cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7119 on the electron spin density distribution of the flavin semiquinone was examined in mutants of the key residues Trp(57) and Tyr(94) at the FMN binding site. Neutral semiquinone radicals of the proteins were obtained by photoreduction and examined by electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) and hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectroscopies. Significant differences in electron density distribution were observed in the flavodoxin mutants Trp(57) --> Ala and Tyr(94) --> Ala. The results indicate that the presence of a bulky residue (either aromatic or aliphatic) at position 57, as compared with an alanine, decreases the electron spin density in the nuclei of the benzene flavin ring, whereas an aromatic residue at position 94 increases the electron spin density at positions N(5) and C(6) of the flavin ring. The influence of the FMN ribityl and phosphate on the flavin semiquinone was determined by reconstituting apoflavodoxin samples with riboflavin and with lumiflavin. The coupling parameters of the different nuclei of the isoalloxazine group, as detected by ENDOR and HYSCORE, were very similar to those of the native flavodoxin. This indicates that the protein conformation around the flavin ring and the electron density distribution in the semiquinone form are not influenced by the phosphate and the ribityl of FMN.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

PubMed1998

Apoflavodoxin: structure, stability, and FMN binding.

Flavodoxins are one domain alpha/beta electron transfer proteins that participate in photosynthetic reactions. All flavodoxins carry a molecule of flavin mononucleotide (FMN), non-covalently bound, that confers redox properties to the protein. There are two structurally distinct flavodoxins, short ones and long flavodoxins; the latter contain an extra loop with unknown function. We have undertaken the study of the stability and folding of the apoflavodoxin from Anabaena (a long flavodoxin) and the analysis of the interaction between the apoflavodoxin and FMN. Our studies indicate that apoflavodoxin folds in a few seconds to a form that is competent in FMN binding. The stability of this apoflavodoxin is low and its urea denaturation can be described by a two-state mechanism. The role of the different parts of the apoflavodoxin in the stability and structure of the whole protein is being investigated using mutagenesis and specific cleavage to generate apoflavodoxin fragments. The X-ray structure of apoflavodoxin is very similar to that of its complex with FMN, the main difference being the conformation of the two aromatic residues that sandwich FMN in the complex. In apoflavodoxin these groups interact with each other so closing the FMN binding site. Despite this fact, apoflavodoxin binds FMN tightly and rapidly, and the resulting holoflavodoxin displays a high conformational stability. We have found that one role of the aromatic residues that interact with FMN is to help to retain bound the reduced form of the cofactor whose complex with apoflavodoxin is otherwise too weak.

Anabaena↗

PubMed1997

Differential stabilization of the three FMN redox forms by tyrosine 94 and tryptophan 57 in flavodoxin from Anabaena and its influence on the redox potentials.

Flavodoxins are electron transfer proteins that carry a noncovalently bound flavin mononucleotide molecule as the redox-active center. The redox potentials of the flavin nucleotide are profoundly altered upon interaction with the protein. In Anabaena flavodoxin, as in many flavodoxins, the flavin is sandwiched between two aromatic residues (Trp57 and Tyr94) thought to be implicated in the alteration of the redox potentials. We have individually replaced these two residues by each of the other aromatic residues, by alanine and by leucine. For each mutant, we have determined the redox potentials and the binding energies of the oxidized FMN--apoflavodoxin complexes. From these data, the binding energies of the semireduced and reduced complexes have been calculated. Comparison of the binding energies of wild-type and mutant flavodoxins at the three redox states suggests that the interaction between Tyr94 and FMN stabilizes the apoflavodoxin--FMN complex in all redox states. The oxidized and semireduced complexes are, however, more strongly stabilized than the reduced complex, making the semiquinone/hydroquinone midpoint potential more negative in flavodoxin than in unbound FMN. Trp57 also stabilizes all redox forms of FMN, thus cooperating with Tyr94 in strong FMN binding. On the other hand, Trp57 seems to slightly destabilize the semireduced complex relative to the oxidized one. Finally, we have observed that reduction of mutants lacking Trp57 is slow relative to that of wild-type or mutants lacking Tyr94, which suggests that Trp57 could play a role in the kinetics of flavodoxin redox reactions.

Anabaena↗