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A Tulinsky

Publications and source records attributed to A Tulinsky.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The structure of a complex of recombinant hirudin and human alpha-thrombin.

The crystallographic structure of a recombinant hirudin-thrombin complex has been solved at 2.3 angstrom (A) resolution. Hirudin consists of an NH2-terminal globular domain and a long (39 A) COOH-terminal extended domain. Residues Ile1 to Tyr3 of hirudin form a parallel beta-strand with Ser214 to Glu217 of thrombin with the nitrogen atom of Ile1 making a hydrogen bond with Ser195 O gamma atom of the catalytic site, but the specificity pocket of thrombin is not involved in the interaction. The COOH-terminal segment makes numerous electrostatic interactions with an anion-binding exosite of thrombin, whereas the last five residues are in a helical loop that forms many hydrophobic contacts. In all, 27 of the 65 residues of hirudin have contacts less than 4.0 A with thrombin (10 ion pairs and 23 hydrogen bonds). Such abundant interactions may account for the high affinity and specificity of hirudin.

Amino Acid Sequence

Structure of the lysine-fibrin binding subsite of human plasminogen kringle 4.

Human plasminogen kringle 4, which crystallizes in the orthorhombic system a = 32.15(2), b = 49.01(2), c = 49.04(3) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), four molecules per unit cell, protein volume fraction 0.62, has been determined at 1.9 A resolution. The structure was solved by rotation-translation methods using the structure of bovine prothrombin kringle 1 as a model and it has been refined at 1.9 A resolution to an R-value of 0.142. The root mean square (rms) deviation between the main-chain atoms of the two kringles is about 0.5 A while that between 31 conserved side chains is a surprisingly large 1.2 A. The structure of the lysine binding subsite of fibrin binding of kringle 4 is approximated well by prothrombin kringle 1 but with some notable exceptions. The latter transform the site from a non-binding kringle to one which recognizes lysine and other omega-amino-carboxylic acids. The binding site of the observed kringle 4 structure is also compared with one that was modelled from the structure of kringle 1 of prothrombin fragment 1 and NMR observations. Arginine residues of the binding site of a neighbouring molecule make ion pairs with aspartic acid residues in the binding site of another molecule in the kringle 4 structure.

Amino Acid Sequence

Structure of Ca2+ prothrombin fragment 1 including the conformation of the Gla domain.

The structure of Ca2+ prothrombin fragment 1 has been solved at 2.8-A resolution by X-ray crystallographic methods. Most of the Gla domain of fragment 1 (residues 1-48), which is high homologous with the N-terminal regions of six other blood proteins, cannot be identified in the electron density map of the apo structure. This is not the case when crystals are grown in the presence of Ca2+ ions where the Gla domain exhibits a well-defined folded structure. The folding of the Gla domain is dominated by secondary structure: (a) 3.0 turns of alpha-helix (25%) and (b) five short beta-strands arranged into two beta-structural units (40%). The Cys18-Cys23 disulfide of the small conserved loop of Gla domains is close to a cluster of conserved aromatic residues. The resulting interaction is probably responsible for the fluorescence quenching event accompanying Ca2+ ion binding. Since the Gla domain approximates a discoid, all the Gla residues are easily accessible to solvent. The arrangement of the paired Gla residues (7-8, 20-21, 26-27) is highly suggestive in that they essentially line one edge of the Gla domain creating a potentially intense electronegative environment. This region might well be that associated with phospholipid binding. The kringle structure of Ca2+ fragment 1 is essentially indistinguishable from that of the apoprotein at this stage.

Amino Acid Sequence

Human D-Phe-Pro-Arg-CH2-alpha-thrombin crystallization and diffraction data.

Human alpha-thrombin, inhibited with the high-affinity irreversible inhibitor D-Phe-Pro-Arg-chloromethylketone, has been crystallized from polyethylene glycol 8000 solutions buffered with 0.1 M-sodium phosphate. The crystals are: orthorhombic, a = 67.9(1) A, b = 87.9(1) A, c = 61.0(1) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with four molecules per unit cell. This gives a protein fraction of 58% consistent with the excellent X-ray diffraction quality of the crystals. A mercury heavy-atom derivative is being prepared from a thioester analogue of D-Phe-Pro-Arg-CH2-alpha-thrombin in anticipation of a complete crystallographic structure determination.

Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones

Human plasminogen kringle 4. Crystallization and preliminary diffraction data of two different crystal forms.

Human plasminogen kringle 4 has been crystallized in two different crystal forms: monoclinic, a = 32.78(3), b = 49.17(2), c = 46.27(3) A, beta = 100.67 degrees, space group P2(1), four molecules/unit cell, two molecules/asymmetric unit; orthorhombic, a = 32.09(7), b = 49.14(6), c = 49.47(9) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2, four molecules/unit cell. Both crystal forms have a large protein fraction (66% for monoclinic and 62% for orthorhombic) and diffract x-rays to 2.0 A resolution. A self-rotation function has been calculated with monoclinic data indicating a non-crystallographic 2-fold rotation approximately parallel to a* (peak height of 14.3 x sigma). Cross-rotation function calculations are in progress utilizing the coordinates of the conserved structure of kringle 1 of prothrombin and plasminogen kringle 4.

Crystallization

Crystallization and preliminary diffraction data of Escherichia coli ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase.

ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase from Escherichia coli has been crystallized from polyethylene glycol 8000 solutions. The crystals are: orthorhombic, a = 155(2), b = 153(2), c = 174(2) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), four tetrameric molecules/unit cell. This gives a solvent fraction of about 75% consistent with the relatively poor diffraction quality of crystals (5.0-A resolution) and their sensitivity to x-ray exposure damage. Ways of circumventing the former and improving the latter are proposed.

Crystallization

Structure of prothrombin fragment 1 refined at 2.8 A resolution.

The structure of prothrombin fragment 1, solved at 2.8 A resolution (1 A = 0.1 nm) by a combination of multiple and single isomorphous replacement methods utilizing solvent flattening, has been refined by restrained least-squares methods (R = 0.24), solvent not included, using fairly stringent restraints on the molecular geometry and individual thermal parameters. The inner kringle loop possesses significantly lower B-values than the outer loops even though the former also constitutes a surface of the folded kringle structure. This surface forms the Lys sub-site of the fibrin binding site of other kringles. The hydrogen bonding network and ion pair interactions of fragment 1 appear to maintain a compact folded structure among the various loops of the kringle structure. On the other hand, since there is only one hydrogen bond between the kringle and its preceding 30 residues, considerable flexibility is suggested for the Gla-domain consistent with its disorder in crystals. A chitobiose has been located at the Asn77 glycosylation site, but only a single N-acetyl-glucosamine is ordered at Asn101. The lysine binding site region of other kringles is not properly developed in fragment 1, accounting for its lack of Lys/fibrin affinity. Most of the conserved sequence among 11 different kringles is associated with either: (1) protecting the inner loop disulfides Cys87-127, Cys115-139 upon which the folding is based; or (2) a requirement of the lysine binding site. The remainder of the conservation is generally associated with the ten reverse turns of the folding; of these 40 residues, or about half the sequence, 14 are conserved among eight different turns. The intermolecular packing consists of infinite helical columns of fragment 1 molecules related by a crystallographic 4(3) screw axis, which are held together by van der Waals' interactions of aromatic clusters from different molecules related by a crystallographic 2-fold rotation axis.

Amino Acid Sequence

Preliminary x-ray investigation of an orthorhombic crystal of hevein.

Hevein, a small protein from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis, has been crystallized by the vapor diffusion method using 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol and CaCl2 as the precipitant agents. The crystals are orthorhombic space group P21212 with a = 21.88, b = 31.90, and c = 51.24 A and one molecule in the asymmetric unit. The crystals are quite stable to x-rays and suitable for a high resolution three-dimensional structure determination.

Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides

Lysine/fibrin binding sites of kringles modeled after the structure of kringle 1 of prothrombin.

The Lys binding site of kringle 1 and 4 (K1 and K4) of plasminogen (PG) has been modeled on the basis of the three-dimensional structure of kringle 1 of prothrombin and 300- and 600-MHZ proton nuclear magnetic resonance observations. These structures were then compared to the corresponding regions of modeled kringle 1 and 2 of tissue plasminogen activator (PA). The coordinates of the modeled structures have been refined by energy minimization in the presence and absence of epsilon-aminocaproic acid ligand in order basically to remove unacceptable van der Waals contacts. The binding site is characterized by an apparent dipolar surface, the polar parts of which are separated by a hydrophobic region of highly conserved aromatic residues. Zwitterionic ligands such as Lys and epsilon-aminocaproic acid form ion pair interactions with Asp55 and Asp57 located on the dipolar surface; the latter are also conserved in all the Lys binding kringles. The cationic center of the dipolar surface is Arg71, in the case of PGK4, and is composed of Arg34 and Arg71 in PGK1. The doubly charged anionic/cationic interaction centers of the latter might account for the larger binding constants of PGK1 for like-ligands but the modeling suggests that PGK4 might be kinetically faster in binding bulkier ligands. The binding site region of PAK2, which also binds Lys, resembles those of PGK1 and PGK4. Since PAK2 lacks both cationic center Arg residues, ligand carboxylate binding appears to be accomplished though an imidazolium ion of His64, which is located just below the outer surface of the kringle.

Amino Acid Sequence

Proton magnetic resonance study of lysine-binding to the kringle 4 domain of human plasminogen. The structure of the binding site.

The binding of L-Lys, D-Lys and epsilon-aminocaproic acid (epsilon ACA) to the kringle 4 domain of human plasminogen has been investigated via one and two-dimensional 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 300 and 600 MHz. Ligand-kringle association constants (Ka) were determined assuming single site binding. At 295 K, pH 7.2, D-Lys binds to kringle 4 much more weakly (Ka = 1.2 mM-1) than does L-Lys (Ka = 24.4 mM-1). L-Lys binding to kringle 4 causes the appearance of ring current-shifted high-field resonances within the -1 approximately less than delta approximately less than 0 parts per million range. The ligand origin of these signals has been confirmed by examining the spectra of kringle 4 titrated with deuterated L-Lys. A systematic analysis of ligand-induced shifts on the aromatic resonances of kringle 4 has been carried out on the basis of 300 MHz two-dimensional chemical shift correlated (COSY) and double quantum correlated spectroscopies. Significant differences in the effect of L-Lys and D-Lys binding to kringle 4 have been observed in the aromatic COSY spectrum. In particular, the His31 H4 and Trp72 H2 singlets and the Phe64 multiplets appear to be the most sensitive to the particular enantiomers, indicating that these residues are in proximity to the ligand C alpha center. In contrast, the rest of the indole spectrum of Trp72 and the aromatic resonances of Trp62 and Tyr74, which are affected by ligand presence, are insensitive to the optical nature of the ligand isomer. These results, together with two-dimensional proton Overhauser studies and ligand-kringle saturation transfer experiments reported previously, enabled us to generate a model of the kringle 4 ligand-binding site from the crystallographic co-ordinates of the prothrombin kringle 1. The latter, although lacking recognizable lysine-binding capability, is otherwise structurally homologous to the plasminogen kringles.

Binding Sites

Complete assignment of the aromatic proton magnetic resonance spectrum of the kringle 1 domain from human plasminogen: structure of the ligand-binding site.

The kringle 1 domain of human plasminogen has been investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy at 300 and 600 MHz on the basis of a fragment obtained via controlled proteolysis of the zymogen with Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease. The aromatic spectrum has been fully analyzed and all resonances assigned. The Tyr ring signals were identified by reference to the recently reported spectra of the plasminogen kringle 4 homologues from human, bovine, and porcine origin [Ramesh, V., Gyenes, M., Patthy, L., & Llinás, M. (1986) Eur. J. Biochem. 159, 581-595]. In particular, Tyr74 was assigned on the basis of a proton Overhauser experiment showing cross-relaxation with the Trp-II (Trp62) indole ring, a connectivity previously observed in all the kringle 4 variants and that clearly represents a conserved feature of the kringle structure. Ligand binding was investigated by monitoring the effects of the antifibrinolytic drugs epsilon-aminohexanoic acid and p-benzylaminesulfonic acid (BASA) on the 1H NMR spectrum of kringle 1. It is observed that although most aromatic resonances are perturbed by ligand presence, the chemical shift response is significantly more marked for Phe36, Trp62, and Tyr72. Proton Overhauser experiments centered on aromatic transitions from these residues reveal efficient cross-relaxation with BASA, which indicates direct contacts between the hydrophobic side chain rings and the ligand hydrocarbon moiety at the binding site. A close interaction is also found between Tyr64 and Try72 which indicates that the residue 64 ring is positioned close to the binding site. Excellent overall agreement is found between the NMR data and the molecular folding of the prothrombin kringle 1 determined crystallographically [Park, C. H., & Tulinsky, A. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 3977-3982]. A structure is proposed here for the kringle 1 lysine-binding site which is based upon the NMR results, the X-ray structure, and computer graphics modeling. It is concluded that although features of the lysine-binding site are common to plasminogen kringles 1 and 4, in kringle 1 the binding site extends beyond the kringle inner loop as it encompasses residues Arg34 and Phe36 as well. Furthermore, it appears that in kringle 1 Arg34 and Asp55 are likely to play a direct role in the ligand-kringle 1 interaction by reinforcing the polarity of the cationic and anionic centers of the side chains of Arg71 and Asp57, which have been implicated to provide the electrostatic charges in kringle 4 that balance those of the ligand dipole at the binding site.

Amino Acid Sequence

Structure of a tetrahedral transition state complex of alpha-chymotrypsin dimer at 1.8-A resolution.

A 1.8-A resolution x-ray crystallographic restrained least squares refinement has been carried out on the phenylethane boronic acid (PEBA) complex of alpha-chymotrypsin dimer (alpha-CHT), and it has been compared to the 1.67-A resolution structure of the native enzyme. PEBA has a high binding affinity for alpha-CHT, and the boronate forms a tetrahedral complex with Ser-195 OG of one molecule of the dimer; the boronate in the other molecule is severely disordered and does not form a tetrahedral complex. The former could be a model of the transition state of catalysis. The complex of PEBA X alpha-CHT displays significant nonequivalence in conformation of side chains between the independent molecules comparable to the native enzyme, but, like the latter, shows a high degree of fidelity in the folding of the main chain. The orientation of the phenyl ring, CA and CB of PEBA, in the specificity sites of the two molecules is similar, suggesting that recognition is fairly insensitive to small departures from local symmetry; the same does not apply to the boronate functionalities suggesting that greater precision is required for catalysis. The folding of the molecule remains the same upon PEBA binding, but some of the side chains respond nonequivalently. The latter is a consequence of the inherent nonequivalence of the native dimer and the asymmetrical nature of the PEBA binding.

Binding Sites

Three-dimensional structure of the kringle sequence: structure of prothrombin fragment 1.

The three-dimensional structure of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 has been solved at 2.8-A resolution. The electron density clearly reveals four disulfide bridges along with more than 80% of the side chains completely in density, which correspond faithfully to the kringle sequence, its preceding 30 residues, and the dodecapeptide carboxy terminal; the polysaccharide and the first 35 residues of the amino terminal of fragment 1 are disordered or about 40% of the structure. The folding of the kringle sequence is based upon close disulfide van der Waals contacts between Cys-87-Cys-127 and Cys-115-Cys-139 (4.1 A between midpoints of the bridges), two antiparallel strands of highly conserved (113-118, 124-129) beta-structure, and the stacking of some conserved aromatic residues, all near the center of the folded structure. Moreover, the overall folding appears to be duplicated as a pair of stacked duplex loops with an antiparallel open loop. The overall shape of the kringle structure approximates an eccentric oblate ellipsoid of dimensions 11 X 28 X 30 A. The residues immediately preceding the kringle are dominated by alpha-helical structure (Phe-41-Cys-48; Leu-56-Glu-63). Residues Phe-41-Trp-42 and Tyr-45, which are conserved in factor IX, factor X, protein C, and protein Z, form another aromatic stacked cluster while the Cys-48-Cys-61 disulfide loop corresponds to the well-known alpha/beta structural unit. The dodecapeptide carboxy-terminal interkringle chain extends along the periphery of the kringle in its plane and forms a beta-structure with the kringle-closing Ser-140-Val-143 tetrapeptide.

Amino Acid Sequence

Preliminary crystallographic data and quaternary structural implications of the central subunit of the multi-subunit complex transcarboxylase.

The hexameric central subunit (Mr = 360,000) of the multi-subunit complex transcarboxylase has been crystallized by bulk dialysis against 250 mM-sodium acetate (pH 5.5). The crystals are cubic, a = 193.1 A, space group P4(1)32 or enantiomorph. The number of molecules per unit cell is four and was deduced from the density of the crystals (1.10 g cm-3) and the mother liquor (1.01 g cm-3) and the specific volume of the protein calculated from molecular dimensions obtained from electron microscopy studies. Four molecules per cell requires the central subunits to lie on 3-fold axes, which are perpendicular to 2-fold rotation axes, so that the molecules satisfy 32 symmetry giving one subunit as the asymmetric unit. Of the four possible models that have been considered for the quaternary structure of transcarboxylase, only that with antiparallel subunits, two sets of isologous binding sites and D3 symmetry is in agreement with the symmetry requirements of the cubic crystals.

Carboxyl and Carbamoyl Transferases

The structure of prothrombin fragment 1 at 3.5-A resolution.

The structure of prothrombin fragment 1 has been determined at 3.5-A resolution by multiple isomorphous replacement methods with four heavy atom derivatives. The final average figure of merit is 0.72. There is a large cylindrical solvent region with an average diameter of 35-40 A along the entire length of the c axis (85 A) centered at about x = y = 1/2. The connected density forming the wall of this channel is not of sufficient extent to account for the 156 residues of fragment 1 and the two accompanying carbohydrate chains totaling 5000 in molecular weight. Deglycosylated fragment 1 crystallizes isomorphously with fragment 1, and a difference map between the two revealed that the sugar chains are severely disordered and reside in the solvent channel. Although the disordered carbohydrate and the complexity of five disulfides in a 126-residue sequence have hampered the complete tracing of the peptide chain, two-thirds of the molecule has been accounted for in the form of an unusually oblate ellipsoid of about 15 X 30 X 35 A. The folding of the molecule has little secondary structure (one alpha-helix (7%), 20% beta-structure) in agreement with dichroism measurements and one of the points of carbohydrate attachment is suggested from the deglycosylated difference map.

Amino Acid Sequence

Comparison of the independent solvent structures of dimeric alpha-chymotrypsin with themselves and with gamma-chymotrypsin.

The solvent structure of alpha-chymotrypsin has been determined in the restrained least squares refinement (1.67-A resolution) of the dimeric molecule (Blevins, R. A., and Tulinsky, A. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 4264-4275). A total of 247 water molecules reduced the R-factor by 0.039 to 0.179. The average occupancy of solvent is 0.77 and the average isotropic thermal parameter is 22 A2. About 80% of the solvent is around the surface, 10% is in the dimer interface, and 10% is interior. There are 49 pairs of water molecules related by 2-fold noncrystallographic symmetry (within 1.0 A) and 199 waters that can potentially hydrogen bond with protein or themselves. The specificity sites contain 5 water molecules, 2 of which are displaced by substrate binding. The remainder probably aid in identifying and positioning the latter for catalysis. Four of these waters also occur in gamma-chymotrypsin. Considering the water structure in the dimer interface region of alpha-chymotrypsin with that of gamma-chymotrypsin reveals that about two-thirds of the solvent in this region is lost on dimerization. Last, 4 of the water molecules of alpha-chymotrypsin have been identified to be sulfate ions from a difference map based on crystals with selenate exchanged mother liquor.

Binding Sites

The refinement and the structure of the dimer of alpha-chymotrypsin at 1.67-A resolution.

The two molecules of the asymmetric unit of the pH 3.5 conformer of alpha-chymotrypsin have been refined at 1.67-A resolution using restrained least squares methods with Hendrickson's program (PROLSQ). The final R factor is 0.179 (including 247 water molecules). The folding of the main chain of the independent molecules is the same within experimental error but the same does not generally apply to the side chain stereochemistry. From this we conclude that the folding of a protein structure is basically independent of most of the detailed stereochemistry of its side chains. The side chains of the interface region between the independent molecules display pronounced asymmetry. This asymmetry suggests that dynamic and asymmetrical structural changes take place at the time of oligomerization leading to more energetically favorable interactions for the dimer. Comparison of the structures of the independent molecules of alpha-chymotrypsin with the structure of monomeric gamma-chymotrypsin revealed that although the folding of the three molecules is essentially the same, numerous and significant differences pervade the side chain stereochemistry attributable to general flexibility. The specificity site of alpha-chymotrypsin is occupied by ordered water molecules in a similar way to gamma-chymotrypsin and other proteins. Some of these water molecules are displaced when substrate binds to the enzyme, while the others appear to help identify and position the aromatic side chain in catalysis.

Binding Sites