The rational modification of protein stability is an important goal of protein design. Protein surface electrostatic interactions are not evolutionarily optimized for stability and are an attractive target for the rational redesign of proteins. We show that surface charge mutants can exert stabilizing effects in distinct and unanticipated ways, including ones that are not predicted by existing methods, even when only solvent-exposed sites are targeted. Individual mutation of three solvent-exposed lysines in the villin headpiece subdomain significantly stabilizes the protein, but the mechanism of stabilization is very different in each case. One mutation destabilizes native-state electrostatic interactions but has a larger destabilizing effect on the denatured state, a second removes the desolvation penalty paid by the charged residue, whereas the third introduces unanticipated native-state interactions but does not alter electrostatics. Our results show that even seemingly intuitive mutations can exert their effects through unforeseen and complex interactions.atomistic simulations | pH-dependent stability | protein pKa measurements | nuclear magnetic resonance | protein biophysics T he mutation of charged surface residues to enhance electrostatics is a popular approach in protein engineering (1). Target residues are often selected using estimates of the protein electrostatic potential (2). This approach relies on identifying residues that are involved in unfavorable electrostatic interactions, typically with residues of the same charge, or on identifying sites where new favorable electrostatic interactions can be introduced (3). Solvent-exposed charged residues are thought to not be involved in critical packing interactions in the native state, to not suffer large desolvation penalties upon protein folding, nor to make significant interactions in the denatured-state ensemble (DSE). Thus, residues to be targeted are typically chosen on the basis of calculations of protein native-state ensemble (NSE) electrostatics. Methods ranging from simple inspection of the protein surface, modified Tanford-Kirkwood approaches (3, 4) and Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) calculations have been used (5-7). Irrespective of the details, the general strategy is based on the assumption that surface electrostatic interactions can be modified without altering other native-state interactions and without altering DSE energetics. An attractive feature of these approaches is that they are computationally inexpensive and, unlike selectionbased methods or directed evolution, involve the generation of a limited number of mutants. Any increase in stability is generally assumed to result from modification of NSE electrostatics. We show that this approach leads to complicated and unanticipated results, even for very simple proteins.We use the villin headpiece subdomain HP36 as our model system. HP36 is a small three-helix protein that has become an extremely popular model system for experimental and computational studies of protein folding, owing to its ...
A hyperstable variant of the small independently folded helical subdomain (HP36) derived from the F-actin binding villin headpiece was designed by targeting surface electrostatic interactions and helical propensity. A double mutant N68A, K70M was significantly more stable than wild type. The Tm of wild type in aqueous buffer is 73.0 degrees C, whereas the double mutant did not display a complete unfolding transition. The double mutant could not be completely unfolded even by 10 M urea. In 3 M urea, the Tm of wild type is 54.8 degrees C while that of the N68AK70M double mutant is 73.9 degrees C. Amide H/2H exchange studies show that the pattern of exchange is very similar for wild type and the double mutant. The structures of a K70M single mutant and the double mutant were determined by X-ray crystallography and are identical to that of the wild type. Analytical ultracentrifugation demonstrates that the proteins are monomeric. The hyperstable mutant described here is expected to be useful for folding studies of HP36 because studies of the wild type domain have sometimes been limited by its marginal stability. The results provide direct evidence that naturally occurring miniature protein domains have not been evolutionarily optimized for global stability. The stabilizing effect of this double mutant could not be predicted by sequence analysis because K70 is conserved in the larger intact headpiece for functional reasons.
The helical subdomain of the villin headpiece is the smallest naturally occurring cooperatively folded protein. Its small size, simple three-helix topology, and very rapid folding have made it an extremely popular model system for computational and theoretical studies of protein folding. The domain has a well-packed hydrophobic core comprised in part of an unusual set of three closely packed phenylalanine residues, F47, F51, and F58 (denoted using the numbering of the larger headpiece protein). Aromatic-aromatic interactions have been thought to play a critical role in specifying the subdomain fold and have been proposed to play a general role in stabilizing small proteins. The modest stability of the subdomain has hindered studies of core packing since multiple mutations can lead to constructs which fail to fold, and even single mutants can result in poorly folded variants. Using a previously characterized hyperstable mutant of the domain, generated by targeting surface residues, a complete set of single, double, and triple core Phe to Leu mutants were characterized. A highly conserved surface Trp which is part of a Trp-Pro interaction was also examined. All mutants are well-folded as judged by CD and NMR, and all exhibit sigmoidal urea and thermally induced unfolding transitions, thus proving that aromatic-aromatic, aromatic-proline, or aromatic-hydrophobic interactions are not required for specifying the subdomain fold. Double mutant cycle analysis demonstrates that F47 and F51 make the strongest pairwise interaction. Mutations which lack F58 are the most destabilized, although even the triple mutant is folded. Interestingly, mutation of the central Phe, F51, has the smallest effect on stability even though it makes contact with both F47 and F58 and appears to form the strongest pairwise interaction.
The 36-residue helical subdomain of the villin headpiece, HP36, is one of the smallest cooperatively folded proteins, folding on the microsecond time scale. The domain is an extraordinarily popular model system for both experimental and computational studies of protein folding. The structure of HP36 has been determined using X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, with the resulting structures exhibiting differences in helix packing, van der Waals contacts, and hydrogen bonding. It is important to determine the solution structure of HP36 with as much accuracy as possible since this structure is widely used as a reference for simulations and experiments. We complement the existing data by using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations with explicit solvent to evaluate which of the experimental models is the better representation of HP36 in solution. After simulation for 50 ns initiated with the NMR structure, we observed that the protein spontaneously adopts structures with a backbone conformation, core packing, and C-capping motif on the third helix that are more consistent with the crystal structure. We also examined hydrogen bonding and side chain packing interactions between D44 and R55 and between F47 and R55, respectively, which were observed in the crystal structure but not in the NMR-based solution structure. Simulations showed large fluctuations in the distance between D44 and R55, while the distance between F47 and R55 remained stable, suggesting the formation of a cation-pi interaction between those residues. Experimental double mutant cycles confirmed that the F47-R55 pair has a larger energetic coupling than the D44-R55 interaction. Overall, these combined experimental and computational studies show that the X-ray crystal structure is the better reference structure for HP36 in solution at neutral pH. Our analysis also shows how detailed molecular dynamics simulations combined with experimental validation can help bridge the gap between NMR and crystallographic methods.
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