SummaryAtomic level structural information on αB-Crystallin (αB), a prominent member of the small Heat Shock Protein (sHSP) family has been a challenge to obtain due its polydisperse, oligomeric nature. We show that magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR can be used to obtain high-resolution information on ∼ 580 kDa human αB assembled from 175-residue, 20 kDa subunits. An ∼100-residue α-crystallin domain is common to all sHSPs and solution-state NMR was performed on two different α-crystallin domain constructs isolated from αB. In vitro, the chaperone-like activities of full-length αB and the isolated α-crystallin domain are identical. Chemical shifts of the backbone and the C β resonances have been obtained for residues 64-162 (α-crystallin domain plus part of the C-terminus) in αB and the isolated α-crystallin domain by solid-and solution-state NMR, respectively. Both sets of data strongly predict six β-strands in the α-crystallin domain. A majority of residues in the α-crystallin domain have similar chemical shifts in both solid-and solution-state indicating a similar structure for the domain in its isolated and oligomeric forms. Sites of inter-subunit interaction are identified from chemical shift differences that cluster to specific regions of the α-crystallin domain. Multiple signals are observed for the resonances of M68 in the oligomer, identifying the region containing this residue as existing in heterogeneous environments within αB. Evidence for a novel dimerization motif in the human α-crystallin domain is obtained by a comparison of (i) solid-and solution-state chemical shift data and (ii) 1 H-15 N HSQC spectra as a function of pH. The isolated α-crystallin domain undergoes a dimer-monomer transition over the pH range of 7.5 to 6.8. This steep pH-dependent switch may be important for αB to function optimally, e.g., to preserve the filament integrity of cardiac muscle proteins such as actin and desmin during cardiac ischemia which is accompanied by acidosis.

The thermal unfolding of the wild-type Cro repressor, its disulfide-bridged mutant Cro-V55C (with the Val-55 --> Cys single amino acid substitution), and a CNBr-fragment (13-66)2 of Cro-V55C was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The combined approach reveals that thermal denaturation of Cro-WT and Cro-V55C proceeds in two steps through equilibrium unfolding intermediates. The first thermal transition of the Cro-V55C dimer involves the melting of the alpha-helices and the short beta-strand localized in the N-terminal part of the molecule. This event is accompanied by the formation of tetramers, and also impacts on the hydrogen-bonding interactions of the C-terminal beta-strands. The beta-sheet formed by the C-terminal parts of each polypeptide chain is the major structural feature of the intermediate state of Cro-V55C and unfolds during a second thermal transition, which is accompanied by the dissociation of the tetramers. Cutting of 12 amino acids in the N-terminal region is sufficient to prevent the formation of alpha-helical structure in the CNBr-fragment of Cro-V55C, and to induce tetramerization already at room temperature. The tetramers may persist over a broad temperature range, and start to dissociate only upon thermal unfolding of the beta-sheet structure formed by the C-terminal regions. The wild-type protein is a dimer at room temperature and at protein concentrations of 1.8-5.8 mg/mL. At lower concentrations, the dimers are stable until the onset of thermal unfolding, which is accompanied by the dissociation of the dimers into monomers. At higher protein concentrations, the unfolding is more complex and involves the formation of tetramers at intermediate temperatures. At these intermediate temperatures, the Cro-WT has lost all of its alpha-helical structure and also most of its native beta-sheet structure. Upon further temperature increase, a tendency for an intermolecular association of the beta-strands is observed, which may result in irreversible beta-aggregation at high protein concentrations.