An extremely stable Ni(II) complex derived from the hydrolytic cleavage of the C-terminal tail of histone H2A

Solution structure of a designed cyclic peptide ligand for nickel and copper ions

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to study a cyclic peptide derived from the amino-terminal copper-and-nickel-binding (ATCUN) motif. The three-dimensional structure of the unliganded peptide in aqueous solution was solved by simulated annealing using distance constraints derived from Nuclear Overhauser Effects. A structural model for the Ni(II)-bound complex was also produced based on NMR evidence and prior spectroscopic data, which are consistent with crystal structures of linear ATCUN complexes. Structural interpolation, or "morphing," was used to understand the transition of this highly structured cyclic peptide from its unliganded structure to its metal-ion-bound structure.

The involvement of amino acid side chains in shielding the nickel coordination site: an NMR study

Coordination of proteins and peptides to metal ions is known to affect their properties, often by a change in their structural organization. Side chains of the residues directly involved in metal binding or very close to the coordination centre may arrange themselves around it, in such a way that they can, for instance, disrupt the protein functions or stabilize a metal complex by shielding it from the attack of water or other small molecules. The conformation of these side chains may be crucial to different biological or toxic processes. In our research we have encountered such behaviour in several cases, leading to interesting results for our purposes. Here we give an overview on the structural changes involving peptide side chains induced by Ni(II) coordination. In this paper we deal with a number of peptides, deriving from proteins containing one or more metal coordinating sites, which have been studied through a series of NMR experiments in their structural changes caused by Ni(II) complexation. Several peptides have been included in the study: short sequences from serum albumin (HSA), Des-Angiotensinogen, the 30-amino acid tail of histone H4, some fragments from histone H2A and H2B, the initial fragment of human protamine HP2 and selected fragments from prion and Cap43 proteins. NMR was the election technique for gathering structural information. Experiments performed for this purpose included 1D ¹H and ¹³C, and 2D HSQC, COSY, TOCSY, NOESY and ROESY acquisitions, which allowed the calculation of the Ni(II) complexes structural models.

Effect of common buffers and heterocyclic ligands on the binding of Cu(II) at the multimetal binding site in human serum albumin

Visible-range circular dichroism titrations were used to study Cu(II) binding properties of Multimetal Binding Site (MBS) of Human Serum Albumin (HSA). The formation of ternary MBS-Cu(II)-Buffer complexes at pH 7.4 was positively verified for sodium phosphate, Tris, and Hepes, the three most common biochemical buffers. The phosphate > Hepes > Tris order of affinities, together with strong spectral changes induced specifically by Tris, indicates the presence of both Buffer-Cu(II) and Buffer-HSA interactions. All complexes are strong enough to yield a nearly 100% ternary complex formation in 0.5 mM HSA dissolved in 100 mM solutions of respective buffers. The effects of warfarin and ibuprofen, specific ligands of hydrophobic pockets I and II in HSA on the Cu(II) binding to MBS were also investigated. The effects of ibuprofen were negligible, but warfarin diminished the MBS affinity for Cu(II) by a factor of 20, as a result of indirect conformational effects. These results indicate that metal binding properties of MBS can be modulated directly and indirectly by small molecules.

Transition metal complexes of short multihistidine peptides

Nickel(ii), cobalt(ii) and cadmium(ii) complexes of terminally protected multihistidine peptides including Ac-HGH-OH, Ac-HGH-NHMe, Ac-HHGH-OH, Ac-HAHVH-NH(2), Ac-HVHGH-NH(2), Ac-HGHVH-NH(2) and Ac-(His-Sar)(n)-His-NH(2) (n = 1, 2 or 3) were studied by potentiometric, UV-Vis, CD and (1)H NMR spectroscopic techniques. It was found that the complexes in which the histidine imidazole nitrogens coordinate with ML stoichiometry are the main species in the physiological pH-range in all cases. The stability of these complexes is determined by the number of bound imidazole rings, the presence of the carboxylate group and the quality of the metal ion centre. The larger the number of coordinated imidazole-N donor atoms, the higher the stability of the complex. The stability constants of the ML complexes follow the Ni(ii) > Co(ii) approximately Cd(ii) order. Cobalt(ii) and cadmium(ii) are not, but nickel(ii) is able to promote the deprotonation and the coordination of amide nitrogens and NiH(-2)L and NiH(-3)L (Ni(2)H(-4)L) species predominate in basic solutions. For the pentapeptides with the exception of the sarcosine containing ligand the presence of coordination isomers is supported by spectroscopic methods. These data reveal that the favoured isomers are coordinated on the C-termini, but the ratio of isomers depends on the sequence of peptides.

Complex formation processes of terminally protected peptides containing two or three histidyl residues. Characterization of the mixed metal complexes of peptides

Copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) complexes of the peptides Ac-HVVH-NH2 and Ac-HAAHVVH-NH2 have been studied by potentiometric, UV-vis, CD, EPR and NMR spectroscopic measurements. Both tetra and heptapeptides can form relatively stable macrochelates with copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) ions, in which the ligands are coordinated via the side-chain imidazole functions. Formation of the macrochelates slightly suppresses, but cannot prevent the copper(II) and nickel(II) ion promoted deprotonation and coordination of the amide functionalities. The overall stoichiometry of the major species is [MH(-3)L]- with a 4N (=N-,N-,N-,Nim) coordination mode. In the case of Ac-HAAHVVH-NH2, coordination isomers of this species can exist with a preference for copper(II) or nickel(II) binding at the internal histidyl residue. In the copper(II)-Ac-HAAHVVH-NH2 system, the presence of the two anchoring sites results in the formation of dinuclear complexes. The existence of these species requires the involvement of amide functions in metal binding. Both equilibrium and spectroscopic data support the fact that the copper(II) ions of the dinuclear species are independent from each other providing a good chance for the formation of various mixed metal complexes. It was found that zinc(II) is not able to significantly alter the copper(II) binding of the heptapeptide, but it can occupy the uncoordinated histidyl sites. The formation of the copper(II)-nickel(II) mixed species was obtained in alkaline solutions and CD spectra suggest the statistical distribution of the two metal ions among the histidyl residues. The binding of HAAHVVH to palladium(II) is exclusive below pH 8 and the mixed metal species of palladium(II) and copper(II) ions are formed only in slightly basic solutions.

Alterations of histone modifications and transgene silencing by nickel chloride

Although it has been well established that insoluble nickel compounds are potent carcinogens and soluble nickel compounds are less potent, the mechanisms remain unclear. Nickel compounds are weakly mutagenic, but cause epigenetic effects in cells. Previous studies have shown that insoluble nickel compounds enter cells by phagocytosis and silence gene expression, but the entry of soluble nickel compounds and their effects on gene silencing have not been well studied. Here, we have demonstrated, using a dye that fluoresces when nickel ions bind, that soluble nickel compounds were taken up by cells. Nickel ions localized initially in the cytoplasm, but later entered the nucleus and eventually silenced a transgene. In addition, we described three major changes in histone modification of cells exposed to soluble nickel compounds: (i) loss of acetylation of H2A, H2B, H3 and H4; (ii) increases of H3K9 dimethylation; and (iii) substantial increases of the ubiquitination of H2A and H2B. These effects were observed at nickel exposure conditions that had minimum effects on cell cytotoxicity. Moreover, we demonstrated that nickel-induced transgene silencing was associated with similar changes of histone modifications in their nuclesomes. This study is the first to show that nickel compounds increase histone ubiquitination in cells. These new findings will further our understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms of nickel-mediated carcinogenesis.