Investigation into the binding of dyes within protein crystals

Stacked binding of a PET ligand to Alzheimer's tau paired helical filaments

Accumulation of filamentous aggregates of tau protein in the brain is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and many other neurodegenerative tauopathies. The filaments adopt disease-specific cross-β amyloid conformations that self-propagate and are implicated in neuronal loss. Development of molecular diagnostics and therapeutics is of critical importance. However, mechanisms of small molecule binding to the amyloid core is poorly understood. We used cryo-electron microscopy to determine a 2.7 Å structure of AD patient-derived tau paired-helical filaments bound to the PET ligand GTP-1. The compound is bound stoichiometrically at a single site along an exposed cleft of each protofilament in a stacked arrangement matching the fibril symmetry. Multiscale modeling reveals pi-pi aromatic interactions that pair favorably with the small molecule-protein contacts, supporting high specificity and affinity for the AD tau conformation. This binding mode offers critical insight into designing compounds to target different amyloid folds found across neurodegenerative diseases.

Lysozyme crystals dyed with bromophenol blue: where has the dye gone?

Protein crystals can easily be coloured by adding dyes to their mother liquor, but most structures of these protein-dye complexes remain unsolved. Here, structures of lysozyme in complex with bromophenol blue obtained by soaking orthorhombic and tetragonal crystals in a saturated solution of the dye at different pH values from 5.0 to 7.5 are reported. Two different binding sites can be found in the lysozyme-bromophenol blue crystals: binding site I is located near the amino- and carboxyl-termini, while binding site II is located adjacent to helices α1 (residues 4-15) and α3 (residues 88-100). In the orthorhombic crystals soaked at pH 7.0, binding of the dye takes place in both sites without significant changes in the unit cell. However, soaking tetragonal crystals with bromophenol blue results in two different complexes. Crystals soaked at pH 5.5 (HEWL-T1) show a single dye molecule bound to site II, and the crystals belong to space group P4₃2₁2 without significant changes in the unit cell (a = b = 78.50, c = 37.34 Å). On the other hand, crystals soaked at pH 6.5 in the presence of imidazole (HEWL-T2) show up to eight molecules of the dye bound to site II, and display changes in space group (P2₁2₁2₁) and unit cell (a = 38.00, b = 76.65, c = 84.86 Å). In all of the structures, the dye molecules are placed at the surface of the protein near to positively charged residues accessible through the main solvent channels of the crystal. Differences in the arrangement of the dye molecules at the surface of the protein suggest that the binding is not specific and is mainly driven by electrostatic interactions.

The structure of bovine β-lactoglobulin in crystals grown at pH 3.8 exhibiting novel threefold twinning

Bovine β-lactoglobulin was crystallized from 3 M NaCl buffered at pH 3.8 with sodium citrate as thick hexagonal prisms of greater than 1 mm in edge length. Analyses of the X-ray diffraction intensities using three different current algorithms were unanimous in specifying the space group to be P6322, with unit-cell dimensions a = b = 75.47, c = 140.79 Å. No progress could be made, however, towards an acceptable solution by molecular replacement using this symmetry. In the end, it was found that the true space group was C2221, a subgroup of P6322, with a = 65.89, b = 114.12, c = 140.51 Å, with the apparent 622 symmetry arising from an unusual threefold or tritohedral twinning. An assembly based on a model of the protein in another crystal form (PDB entry 1beb) containing three molecules in the asymmetric unit was refined to 2.3 Å resolution with a final R factor of 0.23 and Rfree of 0.26. NCS restraints were maintained throughout. For the most part, the molecules found in this crystal form are virtually the same as in PDB entry 1beb, although there are numerous local variations, particularly in loop elements, rotamer conformation differences and some alterations, including additions, at the termini.

Penetration of dyes into protein crystals

Experiments were carried out on 15 different protein crystals with the objective of estimating the rates of penetration of dye molecules into the crystals. The dyes were in the molecular-weight range 250-1000 Da and the protein crystals were of dimensions of 0.7 mm or greater. Experiments were also conducted on protein crystals grown between glass cover slips (separation 200 µm) that restricted the direction of diffusion. The rate of penetration of dyes into protein crystals depends very much on the degree of association between the dye and protein molecules. Dye penetration was not consistent with pure diffusion when the affinity of the protein for the dye was significant, and this was frequent. Penetration rates were less dependent on factors such as the molecular weight of the dye or the diffusion direction. For weakly interacting protein crystal/dye combinations, penetration was a fair measure of diffusivity and the observed rates were in the range 60-100 µm h^-1. For strongly interacting combinations, the rates of penetration were of the order of 15-30 µm h^-1.