Refolding of the hyperthermophilic protein Ssh10b involves a kinetic dimeric intermediate

Without salt, the 'thermophilic' protein Mth10b is just mesophilic

Most proteins from thermophiles or hyperthermophiles are intrinsically thermostable. However, though Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum ΔH is a thermophilic archaeon with an optimal growth temperature of 65 °C, Mth10b, an atypical member the Sac10b protein family from M. thermoautotrophicum ΔH, seems not intrinsically thermostable. In this work, to clarify the molecular mechanism of Mth10b remaining stable under its physiological conditions, the thermodynamic properties of Mth10b were studied through equilibrium unfolding experiments performed at pH 7.0 monitored by circular dichroism (CD) spectra in detail. Our work demonstrated that Mth10b is not intrinsically thermostable and that due to the masking effect upon the large numbers of destabilizing electrostatic repulsions resulting from the extremely uneven distribution of charged residues over the surface of Mth10b, salt can contribute to the thermostability of Mth10b greatly. Considering that the intracellular salt concentration is high to 0.7 M, we concluded that salt is the key extrinsic factor to Mth10b remaining stable under its physiological conditions. In other word, without salt, 'thermophilic' protein Mth10b is just a mesophilic one.

Molecular mechanism underlying the interaction of typical Sac10b family proteins with DNA

The Sac10b protein family is regarded as a family of DNA-binding proteins that is highly conserved and widely distributed within the archaea. Sac10b family members are typically small basic dimeric proteins that bind to DNA with cooperativity and no sequence specificity and are capable of constraining DNA negative supercoils, protecting DNA from Dnase I digestion, and do not compact DNA obviously. However, a detailed understanding of the structural basis of the interaction of Sac10b family proteins with DNA is still lacking. Here, we determined the crystal structure of Mth10b, an atypical member of the Sac10b family from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum ΔH, at 2.2 Å. Unlike typical Sac10b family proteins, Mth10b is an acidic protein and binds to neither DNA nor RNA. The overall structure of Mth10b displays high similarity to its homologs, but three pairs of conserved positively charged residues located at the presumed DNA-binding surface are substituted by non-charged residues in Mth10b. Through amino acids interchanges, the DNA-binding ability of Mth10b was restored successfully, whereas the DNA-binding ability of Sso10b, a typical Sac10b family member, was weakened greatly. Based on these results, we propose a model describing the molecular mechanism underlying the interactions of typical Sac10b family proteins with DNA that explains all the characteristics of the interactions between typical Sac10b family members and DNA.

Mth10b, a unique member of the Sac10b family, does not bind nucleic acid

The Sac10b protein family is regarded as a group of nucleic acid-binding proteins that are highly conserved and widely distributed within archaea. All reported members of this family are basic proteins that exist as homodimers in solution and bind to DNA and/or RNA without apparent sequence specificity in vitro. Here, we reported a unique member of the family, Mth10b from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum ΔH, whose amino acid sequence shares high homology with other Sac10b family proteins. However, unlike those proteins, Mth10b is an acidic protein; its potential isoelectric point is only 4.56, which is inconsistent with the characteristics of a nucleic acid-binding protein. In this study, Mth10b was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified using a three-column chromatography purification procedure. Biochemical characterization indicated that Mth10b should be similar to typical Sac10b family proteins with respect to its secondary and tertiary structure and in its preferred oligomeric forms. However, an electrophoretic mobility shift analysis (EMSA) showed that neither DNA nor RNA bound to Mth10b in vitro, indicating that either Mth10b likely has a physiological function that is distinct from those of other Sac10b family members or nucleic acid-binding ability may not be a fundamental factor to the actual function of the Sac10b family.