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Andreas Hofmann

Publications and source records attributed to Andreas Hofmann.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Crystallization of cyclase-associated protein from Dictyostelium discoideum.

Cyclase-associated protein (CAP) is a conserved two-domain protein that helps to activate the catalytic activity of adenylyl cyclase in the cyclase-bound state through interaction with Ras, which binds to the cyclase in a different region. With its other domain, CAP can bind monomeric actin and therefore also carries a cytoskeletal function. The protein is thus involved in Ras/cAMP-dependent signal transduction and most likely serves as an adapter protein translocating the adenylyl cyclase complex to the actin cytoskeleton. Crystals belonging to the orthorhombic space group C222, with unit-cell parameters a = 71.2, b = 75.1, c = 162.9 A, have been obtained from Dictyostelium discoideum CAP carrying a C-terminal His tag. A complete native data set extending to 2.2 A resolution was collected from a single crystal using an in-house X-ray system. The asymmetric unit contains one molecule of CAP.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Structure of cyclized green fluorescent protein.

Crystals of cyclic green fluorescent protein (cGFP) engineered by the previously reported split intein technology [Iwai et al. (2001), J. Biol. Chem. 276, 16548-16554] were obtained and the structure was solved using molecular replacement. Although the core of the protein can unambiguously be fitted from the first to the last residue of the genuine sequence, the electron density in the region of the linker peptide is rather poor owing to the high water content of the crystals. Therefore, it is concluded that this part of the protein is highly disordered in the present structure and is very flexible. This is supported by the absence of crystal contacts in the linker-peptide region and the fact that the core of the protein exhibits a very similar conformation to that known from other GFP structures, thereby not implicating any constraints arising from the presence of the artificial linker. Nevertheless, the density is consistent with the loop being intact, as confirmed by mass spectroscopy of dissolved crystals. The present structure contains an antiparallel cGFP dimer where the dimer interface is clearly different from other crystal structures featuring two GFP molecules. This adds further support to the fact that the cylinder surface of GFP is rather versatile and can employ various polar and non-polar patches in protein-protein interactions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Biophysical characterization of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases.

We have compared selected biophysical properties of three phosphodiesterases, from Arabidopsis thaliana, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Escherichia coli. All of them belong to a recently identified family of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases. Experiments elucidating folding stability, protein fluorescence, oligomerization behavior, and the effects of substrates were conducted, revealing differences between the plant and the yeast protein. According to CD spectroscopy, the latter protein exhibits an (alpha + beta) fold rather than an (alpha/beta) fold as found with CPDase (A. thaliana). The redox-dependent structural reorganization recently found for the plant protein by X-ray crystallography could not be detected by CD spectroscopy due to its only marginal effect on the total percentage of helical content. However, in the present study a redox-dependent effect was also observed for the yeast CPDase. The enzymatic activity of wild type CPDase (A. thaliana) as well as of four mutants were characterized by isothermal titration calorimetry and the results prove the requirement of all four residues of the previously identified tandem signature motif for the catalytic function. Within the comparison of the three proteins in this study, the PDase Homolog/RNA ligase (E. coli) shares more similarities with the plant than with the yeast protein.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2002

Plant annexins form calcium-independent oligomers in solution.

The oligomeric state in solution of four plant annexins, namely Anx23(Ca38), Anx24(Ca32), Anx(Gh1), and Anx(Gh2), was characterized by sedimentation equilibrium analysis and gel filtration. All proteins were expressed and purified as amino-terminal His(n) fusions. Sequencing of the Anx(Gh1) construct revealed distinct differences with the published sequence. Sedimentation equilibrium analysis of Anx23(Ca38), Anx24(Ca32), and Anx(Gh1) suggests monomer-trimer equilibria for each protein with association constants in the range of 0.9 x 10(10)-1.7 x 10(11) M(-2). All four proteins were subjected to analytical gel filtration under different buffer conditions. Observations from this experiment series agree quantitatively with the ultracentrifugation results, and strongly suggest calcium independence of the annexin oligomerization behavior; moreover, binding of calcium ions to the proteins seems to require disassembly of the oligomers. Anx(Gh2) showed a different elution profile than the other plant annexins; while having only a very small trimer content, this annexin seems to exist in a monomer-dimer equilibrium in solution.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Crystal structures of the semireduced and inhibitor-bound forms of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase from Arabidopsis thaliana.

The crystal structure of the semireduced form of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (CPDase) from Arabidopsis thaliana has been solved by molecular replacement and refined at the resolution of 1.8 A. We have previously reported the crystal structure of the native form of this enzyme, whose main target is ADP-ribose 1",2"-cyclic phosphate, a product of the tRNA splicing reaction. CPDase possesses six cysteine residues, four of which are involved in forming two intra-molecular disulfide bridges. One of these bridges, between Cys-104 and Cys-110, is opened in the semireduced CPDase, whereas the other remains intact. This change of the redox state leads to a conformational rearrangement in the loop covering the active site of the protein. While the native structure shows this partially disordered loop in a coil conformation, in the semireduced enzyme the N-terminal lobe of this loop winds up and elongates the preceding alpha-helix. The semireduced state of CPDase also enabled co-crystallization with a putative inhibitor of its enzymatic activity, 2',3'-cyclic uridine vanadate. The ligand is bound within the active site, and the mode of binding is in agreement with the previously proposed enzymatic mechanism. Selected biophysical properties of the oxidized and the semireduced CPDase are also discussed.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗