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R Kaptein

Publications and source records attributed to R Kaptein.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

The solution structure and dynamics of an Arc repressor mutant reveal premelting conformational changes related to DNA binding.

The solution structure of the hyperstable MYL mutant (R31M/E36Y/R40L) of the Arc repressor of bacteriophage P22 was determined by NMR spectroscopy and compared to that of the wild-type Arc repressor. A backbone rmsd versus the average of 0.37 A was obtained for the well-defined core region. For both Arc-MYL and the wild-type Arc repressor, evidence for a fast equilibrium between a packed ("in") conformation and an extended ("out") conformation of the side chain of Phe 10 was found. In the MYL mutant, the "out" conformation is more highly populated than in the wild-type Arc repressor. The Phe 10 is situated in the DNA-binding beta-sheet of the Arc dimer. While its "in" conformation appears to be the most stable, the "out" conformation is known to be present in the operator-bound form of Arc, where the Phe 10 ring contacts the phosphate backbone [Raumann, B. E., et al. (1994) Nature 367, 754-757]. As well as DNA binding, denaturation by urea and high temperatures induces the functionally active "out" conformation. With a repacking of the hydrophobic core, this characterizes a premelting transition of the Arc repressor. The dynamical properties of the Arc-MYL and the wild-type Arc repressor were further characterized by 15N relaxation and hydrogen-deuterium exchange experiments. The increased main chain mobility at the DNA binding site compared to that of the core of the protein as well as the reorientation of the side chain of Phe 10 is suggested to play an important role in specific DNA binding.

DNA↗
PubMed1999

Millisecond to microsecond time scale dynamics of the retinoid X and retinoic acid receptor DNA-binding domains and dimeric complex formation.

The all-trans retinoic acid and 9-cis retinoic acid receptors (RAR and RXR, respectively) belong to a family of ligand inducible transcription factors, which exert their effect via binding to hormone response elements. Both are members of the class II sub-family of nuclear receptors, which bind DNA as dimers, on tandem repeats of a hexamer motif separated by a variable spacer. The variability in spacer length and the head-to-tail organization of the hormone response elements result in different protein-protein interactions in each of the complexes. We show that the zinc-coordinating loop regions of RXR and RAR DNA-binding domains exhibit dynamics on the millisecond to microsecond time scale. The highly dynamic second zinc finger of RXR constitutes the primary protein-protein interface in many nuclear receptor assemblies on DNA. Dynamics is also observed in the first and second zinc fingers of RAR, which are implicated in dimeric interactions with RXR on response elements with spacers of 5 base pairs and 1 base pair, respectively. The striking correspondence between the regions that exhibit conformational exchange and the dimer interfaces of the proteins complexed with DNA suggests a functional role for the dynamics. The observed flexibility may allow the proteins to adapt to various partners and with different orientations upon assembly on DNA. Furthermore, the more extensive dynamics observed for RXR may reflect the greater ability of this protein to modulate its interaction surface since it participates in a wide variety of receptor complexes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Identification of the single-stranded DNA binding surface of the transcriptional coactivator PC4 by NMR.

The C-terminal domain of the eukaryotic transcriptional cofactor PC4 (PC4CTD) is known to bind with nanomolar affinity to single-stranded (ss)DNA. Here, NMR is used to study DNA binding by this domain in more detail. Amide resonance shifts that were observed in a 1H15N-HSQC-monitored titration of 15N-labeled protein with the oligonucleotide dT18 indicate that binding of the nucleic acid occurs by means of two anti-parallel channels that were previously identified in the PC4CTD crystal structure. The beta-sheets and loops that make up these channels exhibit above average flexibility in the absence of ssDNA, which is reflected in higher values of T1rho, reduced heteronuclear nuclear Overhauser effects and faster deuterium exchange rates for the amides in this region. Upon ssDNA binding, this excess flexibility is significantly reduced. The binding of ssDNA by symmetry-related channels reported here provides a structural rationale for the preference of PC4CTD for juxtaposed single-stranded regions (e.g. in heteroduplexes) observed in earlier work.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1999

Editing of chemical exchange-relayed NOEs in NMR experiments for the observation of protein-water interactions.

An experimental approach for the editing of exchange-relayed NOEs in water-selective NOE experiments is presented. The proposed pulse sequence is based on the application during the NOE mixing time of continuous wave irradiation, which saturates resonances of relaying labile protons in slow chemical exchange with water. The technique can efficiently reduce the contributions of exchange-relayed NOE peaks that often crowd the water-selective NOE spectra and hide direct intermolecular NOEs between water and protein protons. The present approach opens new opportunities for the characterization of hydration by NMR, even in the proximity of polar labile groups.

Macromolecular Substances↗
PubMed1999

Microsecond time scale dynamics in the RXR DNA-binding domain from a combination of spin-echo and off-resonance rotating frame relaxation measurements.

Slow protein dynamics can be studied by 15N spin-echo (CPMG) and off-resonance rotating frame relaxation through the effective field dependence of the exchange-mediated relaxation contribution. It is shown that, by a combination of these complementary techniques, a more extended sampling of the microsecond time scale processes is achieved than by either method alone. 15N R2 and improved off-resonance R1 rho experiments [Mulder et al. (1998) J. Magn. Reson., 131, 351-357] were applied to the 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor DNA-binding domain and allowed the identification of 14 residues exhibiting microsecond time scale dynamics. Assuming exchange between two conformational substates, average lifetimes ranging from 37 to 416 microseconds, and chemical shift differences of up to 3 ppm were obtained. The largest perturbation of tertiary structure was observed for the second zinc finger region, which was found to be disordered in the solution structure [Holmbeck et al. (1998) J. Mol. Biol., 281, 271-284]. Since this zinc-coordinating domain comprises the principal dimerization interface for RXR in a wide repertoire of complexes with different hormone receptors to their cognate response elements, this finding has important implications for our understanding of nuclear receptor assembly on DNA direct repeats. The flexibility observed for the dimerization domain may explain how RXR, through the ability to adaptively interact with a wide variety of highly homologous partner molecules, demonstrates such a versatile DNA-binding repertoire.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

The tetramerization domain of the Mnt repressor consists of two right-handed coiled coils.

The tetrameric Mnt repressor is involved in the genetic switch between the lysogenic and lytic growth of Salmonella bacteriophage P22. The solution structure of its C-terminal tetramerization domain, which holds together the two dimeric DNA-binding domains, has been determined by NMR spectroscopy. This structure reveals an assembly of four alpha-helical subunits, consisting of a dimer of two antiparallel coiled coils with a unique right-handed twist. The superhelical winding is considerably stronger and the interhelical separation closer than those found in the well-known left-handed coiled coils in fibrous proteins and leucine zippers. An unusual asymmetry arises between the two monomers that comprise one right-handed coiled coil. A difference in the packing to the adjacent monomer of the other coiled coil occurs with an offset of two helical turns. The two asymmetric monomers within each coiled coil interconvert on a time scale of seconds. Both with respect to symmetry and handedness of helical packing, the C2 symmetric four-helix bundle of Mnt differs from other oligomerization domains that assemble DNA-binding modules, such as that in the tumor suppressor p53 and the E. coli lac repressor.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Solution structure and backbone dynamics of the photoactive yellow protein.

The solution structure of photoactive yellow protein (PYP), a photosensory protein from Ectothiorhodospira halophila, has been determined by multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. The structure consists of an open, twisted, 6-stranded, antiparallel beta-sheet, which is flanked by four alpha-helices on both sides. The final set of 26 selected structures is well-defined for the regions spanning residues Phe6-Ala16, Asp24-Ala112, and Tyr118-Val125 and displays a root-mean-square deviation, versus the average, of 0.45 A for the backbone and 0.88 A for all heavy atoms. Comparison of the solution structure with an earlier published 1.4 A crystal structure (Borgstahl, G. E. O., Williams, D. R., and Getzoff, E. D. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 6278-6287) reveals a similarity with a root-mean-square deviation of 1.77 A for the backbone for the well-defined regions. The most distinct difference in the backbone with the crystal structure is found near the N-terminus, for residues Asp19-Leu23, which corresponds to an alpha-helix in the crystal structure and to one of the poorest defined regions in the solution structure. To characterize the dynamic behavior of PYP in solution, we undertook a 15N relaxation study and measurements of hydrogen/deuterium exchange. Determination of order parameters through the model-free Lipari-Szabo approach enabled the identification of several regions of enhanced dynamics. The comparison of atomic displacements in the backbone traces of the ensemble structures, with mobility measurements from NMR, show that the poorly defined regions feature fast internal motions in the nanosecond to picosecond time scale.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1998

Recommendations for the presentation of NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids--IUPAC-IUBMB-IUPAB Inter-Union Task Group on the standardization of data bases of protein and nucleic acid structures determined by NMR spectroscopy.

The recommendations presented here are designed to support easier communication of NMR data and NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids through unified nomenclature and reporting standards. Much of this document pertains to the reporting of data in journal articles; however, in the interest of the future development of structural biology, it is desirable that the bulk of the reported information be stored in computer-accessible form and be freely accessible to the scientific community in standardized formats for data exchange. These recommendations stem from an IUPAC-IUBMB-IUPAB inter-union venture with the direct involvement of ICSU and CODATA. The Task Group has reviewed previous formal recommendations and has extended them in the light of more recent developments in the field of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy. Drafts of the recommendations presented here have been examined critically by more than 50 specialists in the field and have gone through two rounds of extensive modification to incorporate suggestions and criticisms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Quality assessment of NMR structures: a statistical survey.

A statistical analysis is reported of experimental data and coordinates of a set of 97 NMR structures deposited in the PDB. The aim is to assess the quality of these structures in relation to the amount of experimental information. Experimental restraints were analysed using the program AQUA. Many nomenclature inconsistencies between deposited restraint and coordinate files were observed. The experimental restraint files were found to contain a high proportion of redundant restraints. Procedures for analysing and correcting the inconsistencies and restraint counts are described. The analysis of NOE restraint violations (using AQUA) and of a wide variety of geometrical quality indicators (using PROCHECK-NMR and WHAT IF) provides a reference for other NMR structure determinations. The extent of NOE violations is anti-correlated with the quality of the Ramachandran map. The precision as measured by the circular variance of backbone dihedral angles, does increase with the amount of experimental data, as expected, but is sometimes overestimated. Bond lengths, bond angles and planarity of groups can deviate considerably from ideal values. Outliers appear to cluster per laboratory, indicating that the results depend on particulars of refinement protocols and/or software. We have identified a problem of atom overlap in a number of refined structures.We recommend adhering to the standard nomenclature as put forward by an IUPAC Task Group, to ensure consistency between restraints and coordinates, and to omit redundant restraints from the deposition. The results obtained from this analysis and the AQUA program are available through the World Wide Web.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed1998

Recommendations for the presentation of NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids.

The recommendations presented here are designed to support easier communication of NMR data and NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids through unified nomenclature and reporting standards. Much of this document pertains to the reporting of data in journal articles; however, in the interest of the future development of structural biology, it is desirable that the bulk of the reported information be stored in computer-accessible form and be freely accessible to the scientific community in standardized formats for data exchange. These recommendations stem from an IUPAC-IUBMB-IUPAB inter-union venture with the direct involvement of ICSU and CODATA. The Task Group has reviewed previous formal recommendations and has extended them in the light of more recent developments in the field of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy. Drafts of the recommendations presented here have been examined critically by more than 50 specialists in the field and have gone through two rounds of extensive modification to incorporate suggestions and criticisms.

Databases as Topic↗
PubMed1998

Mobilities of the inner three core residues and the Man(alpha 1--6) branch of the glycan at Asn78 of the alpha-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin are restricted by the protein.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a heterodimeric glycoprotein hormone involved in the maintenance of the corpus luteum in early pregnancy. The free alpha-subunit of hCG has a biological activity of its own, namely, stimulation of prolactin secretion from term pregnancy decidual cells [Blithe, D. L., et al. (1991) Endocrinology 129, 2257-2259]. Glycosylation at Asn78 of the alpha-subunit is required for the stability of the protein, but the exact nature of the stabilizing effect is not known. In our previous study, it was indicated that GlcNAc-1 at Asn78 has a reduced mobility, whereas the glycan at Asn52 is highly mobile [De Beer, T., et al. (1996) Eur. J. Biochem. 241, 229-242]. In the present investigation, it is shown that the PNGase F susceptibility of the Asn52-linked glycan in the free alpha-subunit is absent in the heterodimer. Thus, the high mobility of the glycan at Asn52 may be characteristic for the free alpha-subunit. For accurate modeling of alpha hCG, knowledge of the behavior of each of the glycans is essential. In this context, the mobility of the glycans and their interactions with the protein are explored by NMR spectroscopy using desialylated, partially deglycosylated free alpha-subunit (as-pd alpha) carrying glycans at Asn78 only. NOEs between GlcNAc-2 and several amino acid residues indicate that GlcNAc-2 is involved in stabilizing alpha hCG. From the values of 13C relaxation parameters T2 and T1 rho of the constituting monosaccharide residues, it was concluded that the inner three residues have a severely restricted mobility. The Man-4 and Man-4' residues of the diantennary oligosaccharide exhibit a similar relaxation behavior, suggesting that the Man-4' branch occurs in a single conformation of the C5-C6 linkage of Man-3 instead of in rapidly interconverting conformations that are known to exist for this linkage for the free oligosaccharide.

Asparagine↗
PubMed1998

An Off-resonance Rotating Frame Relaxation Experiment for the Investigation of Macromolecular Dynamics Using Adiabatic Rotations

15N off-resonance rotating frame relaxation can be applied to the study of internal dynamics in proteins in the millisecond to microsecond regime. We show that the performance of existing methods can be improved by application of simultaneous amplitude and phase-modulated adiabatic RF pulses to align the nuclear spin magnetization with the off-resonance spin-lock field for all the spins under investigation. Application of this technique to the 269-residue serine protease PB92 allowed the measurement of 15N off-resonance rotating frame relaxation rates for all nonoverlapping residues in the protein, including the arginine side chains, encompassing a chemical shift range of 50 ppm. Simulations indicate that by use of the proposed adiabatic RF pulses rotating frame relaxation rates can be obtained for magnetization vectors aligned at arbitrary angles with the static field. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Recommendations for the presentation of NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids. IUPAC-IUBMB-IUPAB Inter-Union Task Group on the Standardization of Data Bases of Protein and Nucleic Acid Structures Determined by NMR Spectroscopy.

The recommendations presented here are designed to support easier communication of NMR data and NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids through unified nomenclature and reporting standards. Much of this document pertains to the reporting of data in journal articles; however, in the interest of the future development of structural biology, it is desirable that the bulk of the reported information be stored in computer-accessible form and be freely accessible to the scientific community in standardized formats for data exchange. These recommendations stem from an IUPAC-IUBMB-IUPAB inter-union venture with the direct involvement of ICSU and CODATA. The Task Group has reviewed previous formal recommendations and has extended them in the light of more recent developments in the field of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy. Drafts of the recommendations presented here have been examined critically by more than 50 specialists in the field and have gone through two rounds of extensive modification to incorporate suggestions and criticisms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Structural and dynamic changes of photoactive yellow protein during its photocycle in solution.

Light irradiation of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) induces a photocycle, in which red-shifted (pR) and blue-shifted (pB) intermediates have been characterized. An NMR study of the long-lived pB intermediate now reveals that it exhibits a large degree of disorder and exists as a family of multiple conformers that exchange on a millisecond time scale. This shows that the behavior of PYP in solution is different from what has been observed in the crystalline state. Furthermore, differential refolding to ground state pG is observed, whereby the central beta-sheet and parts of the helical structure are formed first and the region around the chromophore at a later stage.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1997

The solution structure of the amino-terminal HHCC domain of HIV-2 integrase: a three-helix bundle stabilized by zinc.

BACKGROUND: Integrase mediates a crucial step in the life cycle of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The enzyme cleaves the viral DNA ends in a sequence-dependent manner and couples the newly generated hydroxyl groups to phosphates in the target DNA. Three domains have been identified in HIV integrase: an amino-terminal domain, a central catalytic core and a carboxy-terminal DNA-binding domain. The amino-terminal region is the only domain with unknown structure thus far. This domain, which is known to bind zinc, contains a HHCC motif that is conserved in retroviral integrases. Although the exact function of this domain is unknown, it is required for cleavage and integration. RESULTS: The three-dimensional structure of the amino-terminal domain of HIV-2 integrase has been determined using two-dimensional and three-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance data. We obtained 20 final structures, calculated using 693 nuclear Overhauser effects, which display a backbone root-mean square deviation versus the average of 0.25 A for the well defined region. The structure consists of three alpha helices and a helical turn. The zinc is coordinated with His 12 via the N epsilon 2 atom, with His16 via the N delta 1 atom and with the sulfur atoms of Cys40 and Cys43. The alpha helices form a three-helix bundle that is stabilized by this zinc-binding unit. The helical arrangement is similar to that found in the DNA-binding domains of the trp repressor, the prd paired domain and Tc3A transposase. CONCLUSION: The amino-terminal domain of HIV-2 integrase has a remarkable hybrid structure combining features of a three-helix bundle fold with a zinc-binding HHCC motif. This structure shows no similarity with any of the known zinc-finger structures. The strictly conserved residues of the HHCC motif of retroviral integrases are involved in metal coordination, whereas many other well conserved hydrophobic residues are part of the protein core.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Involvement of laser photo-CIDNP (chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization)-reactive amino acid side chains in ligand binding by galactoside-specific lectins in solution.

For proteins in solution the validity of certain crystallographic parameters can be ascertained by a combination of molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations and NMR spectroscopy. Using the laser photo-CIDNP (chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) technique as a measure for surface accessibility of histidine, tyrosine and tryptophan, the spectra of bovine galectin-1 and Erythrina corallodendron lectin (EcorL) are readily reconcilable with the crystallographic data for these two proteins. The results emphasise the role of Trp68/Trp69 for carbohydrate binding in bovine galectin-1/chicken galectins and of Trp194 in murine galectin-3. This feature derived from the crystal structure of bovine galectin-1 is maintained in solution for the prototype human homologue, two avian galectins and the chimera-type murine galectin-3, as the spectra corroborate the CIDNP-inferable spatial parameters of the four calculated models for binding-site architecture. In EcorL, Tyr106/Tyr108 are constituents of the extended combining pocket, which can be shielded in solution by ligand presence. Discrepancies between results from modelling and CIDNP measurements concern primarily the lack of reactivity of histidine residues for human and avian prototype galectins and of Tyr82/Tyr229 of the plant lectin. Site-directed mutagenesis of EcorL is assumed to provide information on the role of a certain residue for functional aspects. When single-site mutants of EcorL ([Ala106]EcorL, [Ala108]EcorL, [Ala229]EcorL) were subjected to molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations, the apparent surface accessibilities even of spatially separated amino acid side chains could non-uniformly be affected. This conclusion is supported by the assessment of the spectra for the mutant proteins. On the basis of these CIDNP-results modelling of the binding-site architecture of the lectin indicates the occurrence of notable alterations in the orientation of Tyr106/Tyr108 phenyl rings. The implied potential effect of single-site mutations on conformational features of a protein will deserve attention for the interpretation of studies comparing wild-type and mutant proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗