Although serine proteases are found ubiquitously in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, and they comprise the largest of all of the peptidase families, their dynamic motions remain obscure. The backbone dynamics of the coagulation serine protease, apo-thrombin (S195M-thrombin), were compared to the substrate-bound form (PPACK-thrombin). R1, R2, 15N-{1H}NOEs, and relaxation dispersion NMR experiments were measured to capture motions across the ps to ms timescale. The ps-ns motions were not significantly altered upon substrate binding. The relaxation dispersion data revealed that apo-thrombin is highly dynamic, with μs-ms motions throughout the molecule. The region around the N-terminus of the heavy chain, the Na+-binding loop, and the 170 s loop, all of which are implicated in allosteric coupling between effector binding sites and the active site, were dynamic primarily in the apo-form. Most of the loops surrounding the active site become more ordered upon PPACK-binding, but residues in the N-terminal part of the heavy chain, the γ-loop, and anion-binding exosite 1, the main allosteric binding site, retain μs-ms motions. These residues form a dynamic allosteric pathway connecting the active site to the main allosteric site that remains in the substrate-bound form.

Human α-thrombin is a serine protease with dual functions. Thrombin acts as a procoagulant, cleaving fibrinogen to make the fibrin clot, but when bound to thrombomodulin (TM), it acts as an anticoagulant, cleaving protein C. A minimal TM fragment consisting of the 4th, 5th, and most of the 6th EGF-like domain (TM456m) has been prepared that has much improved solubility, thrombin-binding capacity, and anticoagulant activity over previous TM456 constructs. In the present work we compare backbone amide exchange of human α-thrombin in three states: apo, PPACK-bound, and TM456m-bound. Beyond causing decreased amide exchange at their binding sites, TM and PPACK both cause decreased amide exchange in regions more distant from the active site, within the γ-loop and the adjacent N-terminus of the heavy chain. The decreased amide exchange in the N-terminus of the heavy chain is consistent with the historic model of activation of serine proteases, which involves insertion of this region into the β-barrel promoting the correct conformation of the catalytic residues. Contrary to crystal structures of thrombin, HDXMS results suggest that the conformation of apo-thrombin does not yet have the N-terminus of the heavy chain properly inserted for optimal catalytic activity, and that binding of TM allosterically promotes the catalytically active conformation.

Protein domains containing three or more ankyrin repeats (ARs) are ubiquitous in all phyla. Sequence alignments previously identified certain conserved positions, which have been shown to stabilize AR domains and promote their folding. Consensus mutations [Y254L/T257A (YLTA) and C186P/A220P (CPAP)] stabilize the naturally occuring AR domain of human IκBα to denaturation; however, only the YLTA mutations stabilize the protein to proteasomal degradation. We present results from NMR experiments designed to probe the roles of these consensus mutations in IκBα. According to residual dipolar coupling analysis, the gross structures of the AR domains of both mutants appear to be similar to the wild type (WT). Comparison of chemical shifts of mutant and WT proteins reveals that the YLTA and CPAP consensus mutations cause unexpected long-range effects throughout the AR domains. Backbone dynamics experiments reveal that the YLTA mutations in the sixth AR order the C-terminal PEST sequence on the picosecond-to-nanosecond timescale, compared to either the WT or the CPAP mutant IκBαs. This property is likely the mechanism by which the half-life of YLTA IκBα is extended in vivo.

The Sco protein from Thermus thermophilus has previously been shown to perform a disulfide bond reduction in the Cu protein from T. thermophilus, which is a soluble protein engineered from subunit II of cytochrome ba oxidase that lacks the transmembrane helix. The native cysteines on TtSco and TtCu were mutated to serine residues to probe the reactivities of the individual cysteines. Conjugation of TNB to the remaining cysteine in TtCu and subsequent release upon incubation with the complementary TtSco protein demonstrated the formation of the mixed disulfide intermediate. The cysteine of TtSco that attacks the disulfide bond in the target TtCu protein was determined to be TtSco Cysteine 49. This cysteine is likely more reactive than Cysteine 53 due to a higher degree of solvent exposure. Removal of the metal binding histidine, His 139, does not change MDI formation. However, altering the arginine adjacent to the reactive cysteine in Sco (Arginine 48) does alter the formation of the MDI. Binding of Cu or Cu to TtSco prior to reaction with TtCu was found to preclude formation of the mixed disulfide intermediate. These results shed light on a mechanism of disulfide bond reduction by the TtSco protein and may point to a possible role of metal binding in regulating the activity. IMPORTANCE: The function of Sco is at the center of many studies. The disulfide bond reduction in Cu by Sco is investigated herein and the effect of metal ions on the ability to reduce and form a mixed disulfide intermediate are also probed.

Exogenous manganese acts as an electron source for both photosystem I1 (PS 11) and radical superoxides formed after PS I. This conclusion is supported by measurements of external acidification when chloroplasts containing exogenous manganese and methyl viologen are illuminated. The acidification and increased oxygen consumption when manganese was added shows two moles of protons to be produced per mole of oxygen consumed. Reactions for manganese oxidation preceding PS I1 and following PS I are given with the net result: 2H2O + Mn2+ + O2 ͛4 MnO2 + H2O2 + 2H+ This reaction was shown to reverse in the dark and to have a chlorophyll dependency for both the rate of the forward photoreaction and reverse dark reaction. The pH-dependency shows manganese can compete with water as an electron source for PS II only under alkaline conditions and the electrochemical potentials for the competition are discussed in terms of the half reactions involved.