Observation of multiple myosin subfragment 1-ADP-fluoroberyllate complexes by 19F NMR spectroscopy

Metal Fluorides as Analogues for Studies on Phosphoryl Transfer Enzymes

The 1994 structure of a transition-state analogue with AlF₄^- and GDP complexed to G1α, a small G protein, heralded a new field of research into the structure and mechanism of enzymes that manipulate the transfer of phosphoryl (PO₃^- ) groups. The number of enzyme structures in the PDB containing metal fluorides (MF_x ) as ligands that imitate either a phosphoryl or a phosphate group was 357 at the end of 2016. They fall into three distinct geometrical classes: 1) Tetrahedral complexes based on BeF₃^- that mimic ground-state phosphates; 2) octahedral complexes, primarily based on AlF₄^- , which mimic "in-line" anionic transition states for phosphoryl transfer; and 3) trigonal bipyramidal complexes, represented by MgF₃^- and putative AlF₃⁰ moieties, which mimic the geometry of the transition state. The interpretation of these structures provides a deeper mechanistic understanding into the behavior and manipulation of phosphate monoesters in molecular biology. This Review provides a comprehensive overview of these structures, their uses, and their computational development.

Two-way communication between SecY and SecA suggests a Brownian ratchet mechanism for protein translocation

The essential process of protein secretion is achieved by the ubiquitous Sec machinery. In prokaryotes, the drive for translocation comes from ATP hydrolysis by the cytosolic motor-protein SecA, in concert with the proton motive force (PMF). However, the mechanism through which ATP hydrolysis by SecA is coupled to directional movement through SecYEG is unclear. Here, we combine all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with single molecule FRET and biochemical assays. We show that ATP binding by SecA causes opening of the SecY-channel at long range, while substrates at the SecY-channel entrance feed back to regulate nucleotide exchange by SecA. This two-way communication suggests a new, unifying 'Brownian ratchet' mechanism, whereby ATP binding and hydrolysis bias the direction of polypeptide diffusion. The model represents a solution to the problem of transporting inherently variable substrates such as polypeptides, and may underlie mechanisms of other motors that translocate proteins and nucleic acids.

Beryllium fluoride exchange rate accelerated by Mg²⁺ as discovered by ¹⁹F NMR

Beryllium fluoride is widely used as a phosphoryl analogue in macromolecular studies, which are not only fluoride-sensitive but also magnesium-dependent. The beryllium fluorides are a mixture of different species including BeF3(-) and BeF4(2-) exchanging under thermodynamic equilibrium in neutral aqueous solutions. In the cases of mimicking phosphate group transfer, both beryllium fluoride and the magnesium ion are generally needed. However, the impact of magnesium on the bioactivity of beryllium fluoride is not clear. We have found by (19)F NMR spectroscopy that Mg(2+) can severely affect the chemical exchange kinetics between BeF3(-) and BeF4(2-). When the F(-) concentration is relatively low, the presence of 10.0 mM Mg(2+) can accelerate the exchange rate 3-4 fold. However, when the F(-) concentration is relatively high, the Mg(2+) effect on the chemical exchange vanishes. On the basis of these findings, we proposed a possible mechanism that BeF4(2-) and Mg(2+) form an ion pair that affects the distribution of beryllium fluoride species and thus the activity in the solution.

Elucidation of spermidine interaction with nucleotide ATP by multiple NMR techniques

Interaction of polyamines with nucleotides plays a key role in many biological processes. Here we use multiple NMR techniques to characterize interaction of spermidine with adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP). Two-dimensional (1)H-(15)N spectra obtained from gs-HMBC experiments at varied pH show significant shift of N-1 peak around pH 2.0-7.0 range, suggesting that spermidine binds to N-1 site of ATP base. The binding facilitates N-1 deprotonation, shifting its pK(a) from 4.3 to 3.4. By correlating (15)N and (31)P chemical shift data, it is clear that spermidine is capable of concurrently binding to ATP base and phosphate sites around pH 4.0-7.0. The self-diffusion constants derived from (1)H PFG-diffusion measurements provide evidence that binding of spermidine to ATP is in 1:1 ratio, and pH variations do not induce significant nucleotide self-association in our samples. (31)P spectral analysis suggests that at neutral pH, Mg(2+) ion competes with spermidine and shows stronger binding to ATP phosphates. From (31)P kinetic measurements of myosin-catalyzed ATP hydrolysis, it is found that binding of spermidine affects the stability and reactivity of ATP. These NMR results are important for advancing the studies on nucleotide-polyamine interaction and its impact on nucleotide structures and activities under varied conditions.

Myosin-catalyzed ATP hydrolysis elucidated by 31P NMR kinetic studies and 1H PFG-diffusion measurements

We conducted (31)P NMR kinetic studies and (1)H-diffusion measurements on myosin-catalyzed hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) under varied conditions. The data elucidate well the overall hydrolysis rate and various factors that significantly impact the reaction. We found that the enzymatic hydrolysis of ATP to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) was followed by ADP hydrolysis, and different nucleotides such as ADP and guanosine triphosphate acted as competitors of ATP. Increasing ATP or Mg(2+) concentration resulted in decreased hydrolysis rate, and such effect can be related to the decrease of ATP diffusion constants. Below 50 degrees C, the hydrolysis was accelerated by increasing temperature following the Arrhenius' law, but the hydrolysis rate was significantly lowered at higher temperature (approximately 60 degrees C), due to the thermal-denaturation of myosin. The optimal pH range was around pH 6-8. These results are important for characterization of myosin-catalyzed ATP hydrolysis, and the method is also applicable to other enzymatic nucleotide reactions.

Reverse conformational changes of the light chain-binding domain of myosin V and VI processive motor heads during and after hydrolysis of ATP by small-angle X-ray solution scattering

We used small-angle X-ray solution scattering (SAXS) technique to investigate the nucleotide-mediated conformational changes of the head domains [subfragment 1 (S1)] of myosin V and VI processive motors that govern their directional preference for motility on actin. Recombinant myosin V-S1 with two IQ motifs (MV-S1IQ2) and myosin VI-S1 (MVI-S1) were engineered from Sf9 cells using a baculovirus expression system. The radii of gyration (R(g)) of nucleotide-free MV-S1IQ2 and MVI-S1 were 48.6 and 48.8 A, respectively. In the presence of ATP, the R(g) value of MV-S1IQ2 decreased to 46.7 A, while that of MVI-S1 increased to 51.7 A, and the maximum chord length of the molecule decreased by ca 9% for MV-S1IQ2 and increased by ca 6% for MVI-S1. These opposite directional changes were consistent with those occurring in S1s with ADP and Vi or AlF(4)(-2) bound (i.e., in states mimicking the ADP/Pi-bound state of ATP hydrolysis). Binding of AMPPNP induced R(g) changes of both constructs similar to those in the presence of ATP, suggesting that the timing of the structural changes for their motion on actin is upon binding of ATP (the pre-hydrolysis state) during the ATPase cycle. Binding of ADP to MV-S1IQ2 and MVI-S1 caused their R(g) values to drop below those in the nucleotide-free state. Thus, upon the release of Pi, the reverse conformational change could occur, coupling to drive the directional motion on actin. The amount of R(g) change upon the release of Pi was ca 6.4 times greater in MVI-S1 than in MV-S1IQ2, relating to the production of the large stroke of the MVI motor during its translocation on actin. Atomic structural models for these S1s based upon the ab initio shape reconstruction from X-ray scattering data were constructed, showing that MVI-S1 has the light-chain-binding domain positioned in the opposite direction to MV-S1IQ2 in both the pre- and post-powerstroke transition. The angular change between the light chain-binding domains of MV-S1IQ2 in the pre- to post-powerstroke transition was approximately 50 degrees, comparable to that of MII-S1. On the other hand, that of MVI-S1 was approximately 100 degrees or approximately 130 degrees much less than the currently postulated changes to allow the maximal stroke size of myosin VI-S1 but still significantly larger than those of other myosins reported so far. The results suggest that some additional alterations or elements are required for MVI-S1 to take maximal working strokes along the actin filament.

The catalytic transition state in ATP synthase

The catalytic transition state of ATP synthase has been characterized and modeled by combined use of (1) Mg-ADP-fluoroaluminate, Mg-ADP-fluoroscandium, and corresponding Mg-IDP-fluorometals as transition-state analogs; (2) fluorescence signals of beta-Trp331 and beta-Trp148 as optical probes to assess formation of the transition state; (3) mutations of critical catalytic residues to determine side-chain ligands required to stabilize the transition state. Rate acceleration by positive catalytic site cooperativity is explained as due to mobility of alpha-Arg376, acting as an "arginine finger" residue, which interacts with nucleotide specifically at the transition state step of catalysis, not with Mg-ATP- or Mg-ADP-bound ground states. We speculate that formation and collapse of the transition state may engender catalytic site alpha/beta subunit-interface conformational movement, which is linked to gamma-subunit rotation.

Helical order in tarantula thick filaments requires the "closed" conformation of the myosin head

Myosin heads are helically ordered on the thick filament surface in relaxed muscle. In mammalian and avian filaments this helical arrangement is dependent on temperature and it has been suggested that helical order is related to ATP hydrolysis by the heads. To test this hypothesis, we have used electron microscopy and image analysis to study the ability and temperature dependence of analogs of ATP and ADP.Pi to induce helical order in tarantula thick filaments. ATP or analogs were added to rigor myofibrils or purified thick filaments at 22 degrees C and 4 degrees C and the samples negatively stained. The ADP.Pi analogs ADP.AlF4 and ADP.Vi, and the ATP analogs ADP.BeFx, AMPPNP and ATPgammaNH2, all induced helical order in tarantula thick filaments, independent of temperature. In the absence of nucleotide, or in the presence of ADP or the ATP analog, ATPgammaS, there was no helical ordering. According to crystallographic and tryptophan fluorescence studies, all of these analogs, except ATPgammaS and ADP, induce the "closed" conformation of the myosin head (in which the gamma phosphate pocket is closed). We suggest that helical order requires the closed conformation of the myosin head but is not dependent on the hydrolysis of ATP.

Engineering Dictyostelium discoideum myosin II for the introduction of site-specific fluorescence probes

Dictyostelium discoideum is a useful host for the production of constructs for the analysis of structure-function relationships of myosin. Here we describe the use of myosin II constructs containing a single tryptophan residue, at different locations, for probing events at the nucleotide binding site, the relay loop and the communication path between them. GFP fusions have also been expressed at the N- and C-termini of the myosin motor to provide sensitive probes of the actomyosin dissociation reaction in microscope-based kinetic assays. We report on the fluorescence anisotropy of these constructs in the context of their use as resonance energy transfer probes.

Effect of ionic strength on the conformation of myosin subfragment 1-nucleotide complexes

The effect of ionic strength on the conformation and stability of S1 and S1-nucleotide-phosphate analog complexes in solution was studied. It was found that increasing concentration of KCl enhances the reactivity of Cys(707) (SH1 thiol) and Lys(84) (reactive lysyl residue) and the nucleotide-induced tryptophan fluorescence increment. In contrast, high KCl concentration lowers the structural differences between the intermediate states of ATP hydrolysis in the vicinity of Cys(707), Trp(510) and the active site, possibly by increasing the flexibility of the molecule. High concentrations of neutral salts inhibit both the formation and the dissociation of the M**.ADP.Pi analog S1.ADP.Vi complex. High ionic strength profoundly affects the structure of the stable S1.ADP.BeF(x) complex, by destabilizing the M*.ATP intermediate, which is the predominant form of the complex at low ionic strength, and shifting the equilibrium to favor the M**.ADP.Pi state. The M*.ATP intermediate is destabilized by perturbation of ionic interactions possibly by disruption of salt bridges. Two salt-bridge pairs, Glu(501)-Lys(505) in the Switch II helix and Glu(776)-Lys(84) connecting the catalytic domain to the lever arm, seem most appropriate to consider for participating in the ionic strength-induced transition of the open M*.ATP to the closed M**.ADP.Pi state of S1.

X-ray structures of the apo and MgATP-bound states of Dictyostelium discoideum myosin motor domain

Myosin is the most comprehensively studied molecular motor that converts energy from the hydrolysis of MgATP into directed movement. Its motile cycle consists of a sequential series of interactions between myosin, actin, MgATP, and the products of hydrolysis, where the affinity of myosin for actin is modulated by the nature of the nucleotide bound in the active site. The first step in the contractile cycle occurs when ATP binds to actomyosin and releases myosin from the complex. We report here the structure of the motor domain of Dictyostelium discoideum myosin II both in its nucleotide-free state and complexed with MgATP. The structure with MgATP was obtained by soaking the crystals in substrate. These structures reveal that both the apo form and the MgATP complex are very similar to those previously seen with MgATPgammaS and MgAMP-PNP. Moreover, these structures are similar to that of chicken skeletal myosin subfragment-1. The crystallized protein is enzymatically active in solution, indicating that the conformation of myosin observed in chicken skeletal myosin subfragment-1 is unable to hydrolyze ATP and most likely represents the pre-hydrolysis structure for the myosin head that occurs after release from actin.

X-ray structures of the Dictyostelium discoideum myosin motor domain with six non-nucleotide analogs

The three-dimensional structures of the truncated myosin head from Dictyostelium discoideum myosin II complexed with dinitrophenylaminoethyl-, dinitrophenylaminopropyl-, o-nitrophenylaminoethyl-, m-nitrophenylaminoethyl-, p-nitrophenylaminoethyl-, and o-nitrophenyl-N-methyl-aminoethyl-diphosphate.beryllium fluoride have been determined to better than 2.3-A resolution. The structure of the protein and nucleotide binding pocket in these complexes is very similar to that of S1dC.ADP.BeF(x) (Fisher, A. J., Smith, C. A., Thoden, J., Smith, R., Sutoh, K., Holden, H. M., and Rayment, I. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 8960-8972). The position of the triphosphate-like moiety is essentially identical in all complexes. Furthermore, the alkyl-amino group plays the same role as the ribose by linking the triphosphate to the adenine binding pocket; however, none of the phenyl groups lie in the same position as adenine in S1dC.MgADP.BeF(x), even though several of these nucleotide analogs are functionally equivalent to ATP. Rather the former location of adenine is occupied by water in the nanolog complexes, and the phenyl groups are organized in a manner that attempts to optimize their hydrogen bonding interactions with this constellation of solvent molecules. A comparison of the kinetic and structural properties of the nanologs relative to ATP suggests that the ability of a substrate to sustain tension and to generate movement correlates with a well defined interaction with the active site water structure observed in S1dC.MgADP.BeF(x).

Contractile properties of rabbit psoas muscle fibres inhibited by beryllium fluoride

The structure of truncated, recombinant Dictyostelium myosin motor domain complexed with Mg.ADP and slowly dissociating analogues of Pi has previously been characterized as two main states (S1-MgADP plus BeFx vs. A1F4- or Vi). The BeFx bound state is thought to mimic the weak actin-binding M.ATP complex, while the states with A1F4- or Vi bound mimic the M.ADP.Pi state. While the effects of A1F4- and Vi on fibre mechanics have been previously described (Chase et al., 1994, 1993), the effects of BeFx have not been characterized in detail. At pCa 4.5 (12 degrees C), we measured (i) steady-state isometric tension, (ii) stiffness (KS; 1 kHz sinusoids), and (iii) unloaded shortening velocity (Vu; slack test) in single skinned muscle fibres from rabbit psoas. Results were compared when tension was inhibited with either BeFx or 2,3-butanedione-monoxime (BDM) or modulated by altering myoplasmic [Ca2+]. With 3 mM total fluoride, 1 mM BeFx inhibited both tension and KS by approximately 50% (compared to 7-10 mM BDM and 50-100 microM A1F4-). Increasing [BeFx] to 10 mM further reduced tension to approximately 15% P0, but had little further effect on KS; with BDM and altered [Ca2+], KS scaled more proportionately with tension. Inhibition of tension and KS by BeFx was more rapidly reversible, compared with slow recovery from tension inhibition with A1F4- or Vi. Vu exhibited a complex dependence on [BeFx], being relatively unaffected by concentrations < or = 1 mM, and becoming inhibited steeply for [BeFx] above this level. With BDM, Vu co-varied more directly with force. Our results suggest that BeFx may induce a different cross-bridge state in fibres than do A1F4- or Vi, but all three analogues of Pi form complexes that mimic crossbridge states that follow ATP hydrolysis.

Inhibition of myosin ATPase by metal fluoride complexes

Magnesium (Mg2+) is the physiological divalent cation stabilizing nucleotide or nucleotide analog in the active site of myosin subfragment 1 (S1). In the presence of fluoride, Mg2+ and MgADP form a complex that traps the active site of S1 and inhibits myosin ATPase. The ATPase inactivation rate of the magnesium trapped S1 is comparable but smaller than the other known gamma-phosphate analogs at 1.2 M-1 s-1 with 1 mM MgCl2. The observed molar ratio of Mg/S1 in this complex of 1.58 suggests that magnesium occupies the gamma-phosphate position in the ATP binding site of S1 (S1-MgADP-MgFx). The stability of S1-MgADP-MgFx at 4 degrees C was studied by EDTA chase experiments but decomposition was not observed. However, removal of excess fluoride causes full recovery of the K+-EDTA ATPase activity indicating that free fluoride is necessary for maintaining a stable trap and suggesting that the magnesium fluoride complex is bonded to the bridging oxygen of beta-phosphate more loosely than the other known phosphate analogs. The structure of S1 in S1-MgADP-MgFx was studied with near ultraviolet circular dichroism, total tryptophan fluorescence, and tryptophan residue 510 quenching measurements. These data suggest that S1-MgADP-MgFx resembles the M**.ADP.Pi steady-state intermediate of myosin ATPase. Gallium fluoride was found to compete with MgFx for the gamma-phosphate site in S1-MgADP-MgFx. The ionic radius and coordination geometry of magnesium, gallium and other known gamma-phosphate analogs were compared and identified as important in determining which myosin ATPase intermediate the analog mimics.

X-ray diffraction studies on the structural changes of rigor muscles induced by binding of phosphate analogs in the presence of MgADP

To clarify the structure of the ATP hydrolysis intermediates (ADP.Pi bound state) formed by actomyosin crossbridges, the effects of various phosphate analogs in the presence of MgADP on the structures of the thin and thick filaments in glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibers in the rigor state have been investigated by X-ray diffraction with a short exposure time using synchrotron radiation. When MgADP and phosphate analogs such as metallofluorides (BeFx = 3,4 and AlF4) and vanadate (VO4(Vi)) were added to rigor fibers in the presence of the ATP-depletion backup system, the intensities of the actin-based layer lines were markedly weakened. The greatest effect (approximately 50% decrease in intensity) was observed in the presence of BeFx among the analogs examined. The intensity distribution of the 5.9 nm actin-based layer line shifted towards that observed in the Ca(2+)-activated fibers, while the first actin layer line at approximately 1/36.7 nm-1 retained a rigor-like profile with an intensity weakened by approximately 50%. The intensity of the equatorial 10 reflection increased while that of the 11 reflection changed little, resulting in only a small increase (approximately 1.7 fold) in the intensity ratio of the 10 to the 11 reflection. No resting-like pattern appeared upon the addition of MgADP and BeFx. These results indicate that a substantial fraction (approximately 40%) of the myosin heads dissociate from actin but the detached heads remain in the vicinity of the actin filaments when MgADP and BeFx bind. The states produced by binding phosphate analogs to a rigor muscle differ from the resting-like state produced by adding them to a contracting muscle (Takemori et al., J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 117 (1995) 603-608). Our conclusion put forward to explain the data is that one of the two heads of a crossbridge is detached and the other retains a rigor-like attachment.

Near UV circular dichroism from biomimetic model compounds define the coordination geometry of vanadate centers in MeVi- and MeADPVi-rabbit myosin subfragment 1 complexes in solution

The circular dichroism (CD) spectrum was measured from vanadate (Vi) cyclic esters of chiral vicinal diols, hydroxycarboxylates, and cyclodextrines as a function of Vi concentration ([Vi]) and at the lowest energy transitions of the vanadium. At low [Vi] and in the presence of excess vicinal diols, hydroxycarboxylates, or cyclodextrines the CD signal intensity scales linearly with [Vi] indicating the predominance of a monomeric cyclic ester. At higher [Vi], the signal intensity in the presence of the vicinal diols and hydroxycarboxylates become nonlinear in [Vi], indicating formation of a dimeric cyclic ester. Vanadium-51 NMR (51V-NMR) indicates the coordination geometry of several of these model Vi centers in solution and identifies the CD signals characteristic to Vi trigonal bipyramidal (tbp) and octahedral (Oh) coordination geometries from monomeric and dimeric species. The CD spectra from monomeric and dimeric forms of the tbp-coordinated model compounds have two apparent transitions with amplitudes of opposite sign at wavelengths > or = 240 nm. Spectra from the monomeric and dimeric Oh coordinated species are distinct from the tbp-type spectra over the same wavelength domain because of the presence of two additional transitions with opposite sign amplitudes. These model spectra were compared to the vanadate CD spectra from Vi bound to rabbit myosin subfragment 1 (S1) in solution, in the presence of divalent metal cations (MeVi-S1) or trapped with MeADP (MeADPVi-S1). Polymeric MeVi binds to the active site of S1 and the vanadate centers in MnVi-S1 or CoVi-S1 produce a CD signal resembling that from the tbp model. The trapped ATPase transition state analog MeADPVi produces a different CD signal resembling that from the Oh model.

X-ray crystal structure and solution fluorescence characterization of Mg.2'(3')-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl) nucleotides bound to the Dictyostelium discoideum myosin motor domain

Mant (2'(3')-O-(N-methylanthraniloyl)) labeled nucleotides have proven to be useful tools in the study of the kinetic mechanism of the myosin ATPase by fluorescence spectroscopy. The sensitivity of the mant fluorophore to its local environment also makes it suitable to investigate the exposure of bound nucleotides to solvent from collisional quenching measurements. Here we present the crystal structure of mant-ADP and beryllium fluoride complexed with Dictyostelium discoideum myosin motor domain (S1dC) at 1.9 A resolution. We complement the structural approach with an investigation of the accessibility of the mant moiety to solvent using acrylamide quenching of fluorescence emission. In contrast to rabbit skeletal myosin subfragment 1, where the mant group is protected from acrylamide (Ksv=0.2 M-1), the fluorophore is relatively exposed when bound to Dictyostelium myosin motor domain (Ksv= 1.4 M-1). Differences between the Dictyostelium structure and that of vertebrate skeletal subfragment 1, in the region of the nucleotide binding pocket, are proposed as an explanation for the differences observed in the solvent accessibility of complexed mant-nucleotides. We conclude that protection of the mant group from acrylamide quenching does not report on overall closure of the nucleotide binding pocket but reflects more local structural changes.

Differential scanning calorimetric study of the complexes of modified myosin subfragment 1 with ADP and vanadate or beryllium fluoride

The effects of various modifications of rabbit skeletal myosin subfragment 1 on the thermal denaturation of subfragment 1 in ternary complexes with Mg-ADP and orthovanadate (V1) or beryllium fluoride (BeFx) have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. It has been shown that specific modifications of SH1 group of Cys-707 by different sulfhydryl reagents, trinitrophenylation of Lys-83, and reductive methylation of lysine residues promote the decomposition of the S1.ADP.Vi complex and change the character of structural transitions of the subfragment 1 molecule induced by the formation of this complex, but they have much less or no influence on subfragment 1 thermal stability in the S1.ADP.BeFx complex. Thus, the differential scanning calorimetric studies on modified subfragment 1 preparations reveal a significant difference between S1.ADP.Vi and S1.ADP.BeFx complexes. It is suggested that S1.ADP.Vi and S1.ADP.BeFx complexes represent structural analogues of different transition states of the ATPase cycle, namely the intermediate states S1**.ADP.Pi and S1*.ATP, respectively. It is also proposed that during formation of the S1.ADP.Vi complex the region containing both Cys-707 and Lys-83 plays an important role in the spread of conformational changes from the active site of subfragment 1 ATPase throughout the structure of the entire subfragment 1 molecule. In such a case, the effects of reductive methylation of lysine residues on the subfragment 1 structure in the S1.ADP.Vi complex are related to the modification of Lys-83.

Active site comparisons highlight structural similarities between myosin and other P-loop proteins

The phosphate binding loop (P-loop) is a common feature of a large number of enzymes that bind nucleotide whose consensus sequence is often used as a fingerprint for identifying new members of this group. We review here the binding sites of nine purine nucleotide binding proteins, with a focus on their relationship to the active site of myosin. This demonstrates that there is considerable conversation in the distribution and nature of the ligands that coordinate the triphosphate moiety. This comparison further suggests that at least myosin and the G-proteins utilize a similar mechanism for nucleotide hydrolysis.

Use of 19F NMR to probe protein structure and conformational changes

19F NMR has proven to be a powerful technique in the study of protein structure and dynamics because the 19F nucleus is easily incorporated at specific labeling sites, where it provides a relatively nonperturbing yet sensitive probe with no background signals. Recent applications of 19F NMR in mapping out structural and functional features of proteins, including the galactose-binding protein, the transmembrane aspartate receptor, the CheY protein, dihydrofolate reductase, elongation factor-Tu, and D-lactose dehydrogenase, illustrate the utility of 19F NMR in the analysis of protein conformational states even in molecules too large or unstable for full NMR structure determination. These studies rely on the fact that the chemical shift of 19F is extremely sensitive to changes in the local conformational environment, including van der Waals packing interactions and local electrostatic fields. Additional information is provided by solvent-induced isotope shifts or line broadening of the 19F resonance by aqueous and membrane-bound paramagnetic probes, which may reveal the proximity of a 19F label to bulk solvent or a biological membrane. Finally, the effect of exchanging conformations on the 19F resonance can directly determine the kinetic parameters of the conformational transition.

Formation of stable inhibitory complexes of myosin subfragment 1 using fluoroscandium anions

Evidence is presented that MgADP can be noncovalently trapped in myosin subfragment 1 in the presence of ScFx resulting in the concomitant loss of ATPase function. The rate of inactivation in the presence of MgCl2 at 25 degrees C is 8.7 M-1 s-1 which is too slow for a simple collisional mechanism and suggests that a subsequent slow isomerization step is responsible for formation of a stable tenary complex, S1.MgADP.ScFx in a manner analogous to that proposed for the Vi stabilized complex by Goodno (Goodno, C. C. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 2620-2624). It is also found that ADP can be trapped in subfragment 1 in the absence of MgCl2 indicating the formation of an S1.ADP.ScFx complex. The stability of these complexes at 4 degrees C was studied by following the loss of trapped [14C]ADP with a chase with ADP. The rate of nucleotide loss at 4 degrees C was biphasic for both complexes suggesting that the inhibitory complexes exist in two distinct states as previously proposed for the ternary complex stabilized by Vi (Mihashi, K., Ooi, A., and Hiratsuka, T. (1990) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 107, 464-469). Formation of these complexes resulted in a marked enhancement of the intrinsic tryptophyl fluorescence suggesting that conformationally they may resemble the steady-state intermediate formed with MgATP. The failure to observe photolysis in the presence of excess Vi at sites associated with the ATP consensus sequence suggests that in these complexes ScFx occupies the site responsible for these cleavage reactions and that it is not displaced by the added Vi.

Interaction of F-actin with phosphate analogues studied by differential scanning calorimetry

The thermal unfolding of F-actin and the changes induced in it by the binding of phosphate analogues were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. It is shown that the conformation of actin is drastically altered by interaction with beryllium fluoride or aluminium fluoride, while the effects of vanadate and phosphate are negligible. The effect of beryllium fluoride on the F-actin structure, as reflected in a significant increase of the actin thermal stability, is much more pronounced in the presence of Mg2+ than in the case of F-actin polymerized by KCl or LiCl in the absence of Mg2+. It is concluded that differential scanning calorimetry is a very convenient method for probing the conformational changes in F-actin caused by the interaction with phosphate analogues.