The structure of homogeneous Co·Bleomycin (CoBLM) A2 green (the hydroperoxide form of CoBLM) has been determined using 2D NMR methods and molecular dynamics calculations. Previous studies of Xu et al. (Xu, R. X.; Nettesheim, D.; Otvos, J. D.; Petering, D. H. Biochemistry 1994, 33, 907−916) reported several possible structures for CoBLM A2 green compatible with their NMR data acquired on a mixture of CoBLM A2 green and A2 brown forms. The availability of the pure CoBLM A2 green, which is stable for months at neutral pH, has allowed the complete assignments of the 1H and 13C chemical shifts, observation of 55 intramolecular NOEs, and determination of 15 coupling constants allowing the definition of dihedral angles. These results are a prerequisite to determining its structure with duplex DNA of a defined sequence (Wu, W.; Vanderwall, D. E.; Turner, C. J.; Kozarich, J. W.; Stubbe, J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 1281−1294). Two screw sense isomers each containing two possible axial ligands (the primary amine of the β-aminoalanine and the carbamoyl nitrogen of the mannose) were considered as viable candidates for the structure of CoBLM A2 green. Using the NMR constraints and molecular dynamics calculations, the structures of all four isomers were generated. One set of screw sense isomers can be readily eliminated from considerations based on violations of NOE and dihedral angle constraints. The other screw sense isomer containing either one or the other of the postulated axial ligands has been examined in some detail. The structure containing the primary amine of β-aminoalanine as the axial ligand is favored on the basis of coupling constants and NOE arguments, potential energy considerations, model studies, and studies with analogs of BLM. The favored structure is compact with the bithiazole moiety folded back underneath the equatorial plane of the metal binding domain, on the same face as the hydroperoxide ligand. The geometry of the peptide linker is very well defined by the observed coupling constants in the valeryl and threonine moieties of the linker. CoBLM A2 green has been studied with two self-complementary oligonucleotides, d(CCAGGCCTGG) and d(CCAGTACTGG). Both of these oligomers possess a single, UV light-mediated cleavage site (C and T, respectively). In addition, fluorescent quenching studies have allowed the determination of the first sequence-specific dissociation constants of 1.7 × 10-7 and 1.5 × 10-7 M, respectively. Titration of CoBLM A2 green with each of these oligomers reveals a 1:1 complex in slow exchange on the NMR time scale. The upfield shifts of the bithiazole protons in both of these complexes are indicative of a partial intercalative mode of binding. The stage is now set for the determination of the structure of the CoBLM A2 green bound sequence specifically to DNA.

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The solution conformations and stability of apomyoglobin (apo-Mb), at both neutral and acidic pH, have been investigated by analyzing charge state distributions observed in the mass spectra, and by on-line monitoring of the hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in combination with circular dichroism (CD). The results demonstrate that the conformation of apo-Mb, which lacks the heme group, is considerably less stable than that of holomyoglobin in identical solution conditions at neutral pH. ESI-MS shows that apo-Mb in the buffered solution at pH 7 (native state) and at pH 4.3 (intermediate state) yields two distinct charge state distributions that presumably correspond to different protein conformations. Both conformations have the same H/D exchange rate. This provides strong evidence that both the native and the intermediate state of apo-Mb have highly dynamic structures, consisting of two or more rapidly interconverting conformations rather than single fixed conformations. However, the H/D exchange rate of the acid-induced compact state of apo-Mb at pH approximately 2 [Goto, Y., Calciano, L. J., & Fink, A. L. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 573-577] indicates that it has a stable, partially folded conformation. Although CD data suggest that apo-Mb in H20 at pH 6 and in the buffered solution at pH 7 has a native-like secondary structure, the charge state distribution and the H/D exchange rate measurements indicate that a large portion of the apo-Mb molecules are unfolded or partially unfolded under these conditions. Thus, conformational information obtained from ESI-MS measurements of the charge state distributions and H/D exchange rates is complementary to that obtained from CD measurements. The combination of these three measurements can be used to assess the conformational stability and conformational heterogeneity of a protein.

Peptides formed as reaction products, of specific hydrolysis of proteins by trypsin, are characterized by a basic residue (Arg or Lys) at the C-terminus, which facilitates formation of abundant [M + 2H]2+ ions under electrospray or ionspray conditions. These doubly charged ions readily dissociate upon collisional activation to y" and b fragment ions which are mass complements of one another. The suggestion that these fragments are formed by direct charge-separation dissociations must contend with the observation that the y" intensities are generally appreciably larger than those of their b counterparts. However, it is shown that this can be accounted for by a greater susceptibility of the b ions to undergo further dissociation to smaller fragments such as immonium ions. In addition no evidence could be found to support alternative mechanisms, including dissociative electron capture, for which equal intensities of the two fragment ion series are not obligatory. Initial protonation at the N-terminus was shown to be required for formation of these [M + 2H]2+ ions via its suppression by mono-acetylation at the N-terminus. These findings, and others concerning formation of [y"']2+ fragments, are consistent with extensions of published mechanisms for formation of b and of y" fragments from singly protonated peptides, via charge-site-induced cleavages and intramolecular proton transfers between nitrogen atoms, respectively.

The crystal structure of the metallo-␤-lactamase CcrA3 indicates that the active site of this enzyme contains a binuclear zinc center. To aid in assessing the involvement of specific residues in ␤-lactam hydrolysis and susceptibility to inhibitors, individual substitutions of selected amino acids were generated. Substitution of the zinc-ligating residue Cys 181 with Ser (C181S) resulted in a significant reduction in hydrolytic activity; k cat values decreased 2-4 orders of magnitude for all substrates. Replacement of His 99 with Asn (H99N) significantly reduced the hydrolytic activity for penicillin and imipenem. Replacement of Asp 103 with Asn (D103N) showed reduced hydrolytic activity for cephaloridine and imipenem. Deletion of amino acids 46 -51 dramatically reduced both the hydrolytic activity and affinity for all ␤-lactams. The metal binding capacity of each mutant enzyme was examined using nondenaturing electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Two zinc ions were observed for the wild-type enzyme and most of the mutant enzymes. However, for the H99N, C181S, and D103N enzymes, three different zinc content patterns were observed. These enzymes contained two zinc molecules, one zinc molecule, and a mixture of one or two zinc molecules/enzyme molecule, respectively. Two enzymes with substitutions of Cys 104 or Cys 104 and Cys 155 were also composed of mixed enzyme populations.

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Genetic screening in fission yeast has identified a gene named stp1+ that rescues cdc25-22 [Mondesert et al. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 27996-27999]. This gene encodes a 17.4 kDa protein that is 42% identical to members of the low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatases (low M(r)PTPases) previously known to exist only in mammalian species. A simple and efficient purification procedure was developed to obtain the homogeneous recombinant yeast low M(r)PTPase, Stp1, in large quantities suitable for kinetic and structural studies. Authentic Stp1 was produced as judged by amino terminal protein sequencing and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analyses. Stp1 was shown to possess intrinsic phosphatase activity toward both aryl phosphates (such as phosphotyrosine) and alkyl phosphates (such as phosphoserine). Stp1 also dephosphorylated phosphotyrosyl peptide/protein substrates. The yeast enzyme was 6-fold slower than the mammalian enzymes, which made it amenable to pre-steady-state stopped-flow spectroscopic kinetic analysis at 30 degrees C and pH 6.0. Burst kinetics was observed with Stp1 using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as a substrate, suggesting that the rate-limiting step corresponds to the decomposition of the phosphoenzyme intermediate. Interestingly, the bovine heart low M(r)PTPase was capable of removing phosphate groups from both phosphotyrosyl and phosphoseryl/threonyl protein substrates with comparable efficiencies. The low M(r)PTPases, like the Cdc25 family of phosphatases, may represent a new group of dual specificity phosphatases which may be involved in cell cycle control.