Native and Non-native Secondary Structure and Dynamics in the pH 4 Intermediate of Apomyoglobin

296

373

Protein surface hydration is fundamental to its structure and activity. We report here the direct mapping of global hydration dynamics around a protein in its native and molten globular states, using a tryptophan scan by site-specific mutations. With 16 tryptophan mutants and in 29 different positions and states, we observed two robust, distinct water dynamics in the hydration layer on a few (Ϸ1-8 ps) and tens to hundreds of picoseconds (Ϸ20 -200 ps), representing the initial local relaxation and subsequent collective network restructuring, respectively. Both time scales are strongly correlated with protein's structural and chemical properties. These results reveal the intimate relationship between hydration dynamics and protein fluctuations and such biologically relevant water-protein interactions fluctuate on picosecond time scales.femtosecond dynamics ͉ site-directed mutation ͉ tryptophan scan ͉ water-protein fluctuation W ater motion in the hydration layer is central to protein fluctuation, an essential determinant to its structural stability, dynamics, and function (1-9). Protein surface hydration is a longstanding unresolved problem, but recent extensive studies have merged into a cohesive picture: hydration water molecules are not static but dynamic in nature (1, 2, 10-18). NMR studies (13, 14) have revealed water residence times at protein surfaces within the subnanosecond regime, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (15-18) have indicated that water stays in the layer on the time scales from femtoseconds to picoseconds. These processes represent the dynamic exchange of hydration layer water with outside bulk water via thermal fluctuations. Femtosecond-resolved spectroscopic studies of protein solvation (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) recently have shown the dynamics of surface hydration on picosecond time scales with a biphasic distribution. We attributed the first ultrafast solvation to water local relaxation and the second longer-time dynamics to coupled water-protein fluctuations (25,27). To generalize the global heterogeneous hydration dynamics around protein surfaces, correlate the dynamics with protein local structures and chemical identities, and decipher the molecular mechanism of waterprotein fluctuations, we report here our direct mapping of water motions around a globular protein, apomyoglobin (apoMb), in its two states, native and molten globular, using intrinsic tryptophan residue (W) as a local molecular probe to scan the surface by protein engineering.Myoglobin from sperm whale has eight ␣-helices (A-H) with a total of 153 aa (Fig. 1) (28), and all experiments were done with apoMb by removal of the prosthetic heme group. We carefully designed more than 30 mutants and placed tryptophan one at a time along each helix at the protein surface. After we screened all mutant proteins with their structural content, stability, and excited-state lifetime of tryptophan, only 16 mutants are appropriate for mapping global hydration, as shown in Fig. 1. We used a laser wavelength of 290 nm with a pu...

Section: Hydration Dynamics In Molten Globularsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Hydration Dynamics In Molten Globularmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping hydration dynamics around a protein surface

Zhang

Wang

Kao

et al. 2007

296

373

“…Interestingly, acid-unfolded apomyoglobin shows a propensity for non-native helical structure in a region that connects the D and E helices, as well as the native-like structure observed in the A and H helices, which had been predicted in the kinetic studies (34). The NMR studies of the conformational propensities of the various forms of apomyoglobin (32)(33)(34)(35) included determination of the relaxation parameters of the polypeptide chain to site-specifically determine the backbone dynamics in each of the states of the protein. Instead of the ''model-free'' analysis that is suitable for folded proteins, the relaxation data were analyzed by calculating reduced spectral density functions J(0), J( N ), and J( H ) (36).…”

Section: Experimental Verification Of Modelsmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Thus, it has been possible to define the conformational propensities of unfolded and partly folded apomyoglobin by NMR (32)(33)(34)(35). Interestingly, acid-unfolded apomyoglobin shows a propensity for non-native helical structure in a region that connects the D and E helices, as well as the native-like structure observed in the A and H helices, which had been predicted in the kinetic studies (34).…”

Section: Experimental Verification Of Modelsmentioning

confidence: 91%

The role of hydrophobic interactions in initiation and propagation of protein folding

Dyson

Wright

Scheraga

2006

Self Cite

276

217

Globular proteins fold by minimizing the nonpolar surface that is exposed to water, while simultaneously providing hydrogenbonding interactions for buried backbone groups, usually in the form of secondary structures such as ␣-helices, ␤-sheets, and tight turns. A primary thermodynamic driving force for the formation of globular structure is thus the sequestration of nonpolar groups, but the correlation between the parts of proteins that are observed to fold first (termed folding initiation sites) and the ''hydrophobicity'' (as customarily defined) of the amino acids in these regions has been quite weak. It has previously been noted that many amino acid side chains contain considerable nonpolar sections, even if they also contain polar or charged groups. For example, a lysine side chain contains four methylenes, which may undergo hydrophobic interactions if the charged -NH 3 ؉ group is saltbridged or hydrogen-bonded. Folding initiation sites might therefore contain not only accepted ''hydrophobic'' amino acids, but also larger charged side chains. Recent experiments on the folding of mutant apomyoglobins provides corroboration for models based on the hypothesis that folding initiation sites arise from hydrophobic interactions. A near-perfect correlation was observed between the areas of the molecule that are present in the burstphase kinetic intermediate and both the free energy of formation of hydrophobic initiation sites and the parameter ''average area buried upon folding,'' which pinpoints large side chains, even those containing charged or polar portions. These results provide a putative mechanism for the control of protein-folding initiation and growth by polar͞nonpolar sequence propensity alone.folding pathways ͉ myoglobin ͉ ribonuclease F reed of the ribosome, and in the absence of chaperones, a newly synthesized protein exists in an ensemble of states, the so-called statistical coil, the nature of which is a subject of much recent investigation (1). It subsequently folds to the native biologically active structure whose free energy is considered to be a minimum under appropriate solution conditions (2). Since the seminal work of Anfinsen (2), the kinetics of the folding process and the final structure have been considered to be determined by the physical interactions among the amino acid residues to attain the thermodynamically favored state.A major question has involved the exact mechanism by which the interresidue interactions specify the initiation of folding in the unfolded polypeptide chain under folding conditions. Because nonpolar groups are not soluble in water, attention has been focused on the hydrophobic interactions between nonpolar side chains to achieve their sequestration from aqueous solvent. A model has been proposed in which nearby nonpolar groups in the chain participate in hydrophobic interactions with minimal loss of entropy of the chain because of the proximity of the interacting side chains in the amino acid sequence (3).Yet the chemical nature of the polypeptide chain complicates ...

“…The I form is structurally compact and contains Ϸ35% helical content (1,2). Hydrogen exchange results suggest that the A, G, and H helix regions are protected and are thus likely to be structured (2,8,9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonspecific hydrophobic interactions stabilize an equilibrium intermediate of apomyoglobin at a key position within the AGH region

Bertagna

Barrick

2004

Acid-induced unfolding of apomyoglobin (apoMb) proceeds in a multistate process involving at least one equilibrium intermediate (I) at pH 4.2. The structure of the I form has been investigated thoroughly, with significant effort devoted to identifying potentially stabilizing native contacts. Here, we test whether rigid side-chain packing interactions like those in holomyoglobin persist at a buried position, Met-131, within the low-pH apoMb intermediate. We have measured the urea-induced unfolding transitions of overpacking, underpacking, and polar substitutions of Met-131 to determine the effect on the stability of the native and intermediate states of apoMb. Whereas underpacking substitutions should destabilize the I form irrespective of the degree of native side-chainpacking interactions, we anticipate that overpacking replacements might show opposite effects in a tightly packed environment, compared with a region lacking native side-chain packing interactions. We observe that, whereas underpacking and polar substitutions destabilize the I form, overpacking substitutions are stabilizing, implying that I is structurally plastic. We also report a strong correlation between the I state unfolding free energies and side-chain transfer free energies from water to octanol. Our results suggest that, whereas side-chain hydrophobicity is important for the stability of the I form, specific side-chain packing interactions are not.