Jörgen Ådén

The bacterial curli system possesses a potent and selective inhibitor of amyloid formation.

Curli are extracellular functional amyloids that are assembled by enteric bacteria during biofilm formation and host colonization. An efficient secretion system and chaperone network ensures that the major curli fiber subunit, CsgA, does not form intracellular amyloid aggregates. We discovered that the periplasmic protein CsgC was a highly effective inhibitor of CsgA amyloid formation. In the absence of CsgC, CsgA formed toxic intracellular aggregates. In vitro, CsgC inhibited CsgA amyloid formation at substoichiometric concentrations and maintained CsgA in a non-β-sheet-rich conformation. Interestingly, CsgC inhibited amyloid assembly of human α-synuclein, but not Aβ42, in vitro. We identified a common D-Q-Φ-X0,1-G-K-N-ζ-E motif in CsgC client proteins that is not found in Aβ42. CsgC is therefore both an efficient and selective amyloid inhibitor. Dedicated functional amyloid inhibitors may be a key feature that distinguishes functional amyloids from disease-associated amyloids.

Direct Observation of Protein Unfolded State Compaction in the Presence of Macromolecular Crowding

Proteins fold and function in cellular environments that are crowded with other macromolecules. As a consequence of excluded volume effects, compact folded states of proteins should be indirectly stabilized due to destabilization of extended unfolded conformations. Here, we assess the role of excluded volume in terms of protein stability, structural dimensions and folding dynamics using a sugar-based crowding agent, dextran 20, and the small ribosomal protein S16 as a model system. To specifically address dimensions, we labeled the protein with BODIPY at two positions and measured Trp-BODIPY distances under different conditions. As expected, we found that dextran 20 (200 mg/ml) stabilized the variants against urea-induced unfolding. At conditions where the protein is unfolded, Förster resonance energy transfer measurements reveal that in the presence of dextran, the unfolded ensemble is more compact and there is residual structure left as probed by far-ultraviolet circular dichroism. In the presence of a crowding agent, folding rates are faster in the two-state regime, and at low denaturant concentrations, a kinetic intermediate is favored. Our study provides direct evidence for protein unfolded-state compaction in the presence of macromolecular crowding along with its energetic and kinetic consequences.

Modulation of a pre-existing conformational equilibrium tunes adenylate kinase activity

Structural plasticity is often required for distinct microscopic steps during enzymatic reaction cycles. Adenylate kinase from Escherichia coli (AK(eco)) populates two major conformations in solution; the open (inactive) and closed (active) state, and the overall turnover rate is inversely proportional to the lifetime of the active conformation. Therefore, structural plasticity is intimately coupled to enzymatic turnover in AK(eco). Here, we probe the open to closed conformational equilibrium in the absence of bound substrate with NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. The conformational equilibrium in absence of substrate and, in turn, the turnover number can be modulated with mutational- and osmolyte-driven perturbations. Removal of one hydrogen bond between the ATP and AMP binding subdomains results in a population shift toward the open conformation and a resulting increase of k(cat). Addition of the osmolyte TMAO to AK(eco) results in population shift toward the closed conformation and a significant reduction of k(cat). The Michaelis constants (K(M)) scale with the change in k(cat), which follows from the influence of the population of the closed conformation for substrate binding affinity. Hence, k(cat) and K(M) are mutually dependent, and in the case of AK(eco), any perturbation that modulates k(cat) is mirrored with a proportional response in K(M). Thus, our results demonstrate that the equilibrium constant of a pre-existing conformational equilibrium directly affects enzymatic catalysis. From an evolutionary perspective, our findings suggest that, for AK(eco), there exists ample flexibility to obtain a specificity constant (k(cat)/K(M)) that commensurate with the exerted cellular selective pressure.

Folding of an unfolded protein by macromolecular crowding in vitro.

Protein folding in vivo takes place in a highly crowded environment. The resulting excluded volume forces are thought to stabilize folded forms of proteins. In agreement, many in vitro studies have shown that the presence of macromolecular crowding agents increases the stability of folded proteins but often by only a few kJ per mol. Although it should not matter at what position in the transition between folded and unfolded forms the effect of crowding is employed, there have been no studies assessing whether excluded volume forces alone can correctly fold polypeptides that are mostly unfolded. However, some studies have indicated that the effect of crowding becomes larger the more destabilized the protein is (but still being folded), suggesting that the crowding effect may be exaggerated for unfolded proteins. To address this question directly, we turned to a destabilized mutant of protein L that is mostly unfolded in water but can be folded upon addition of salt. We find that the effect of 200 mg/mL Dextran 20 on the folding equilibrium constant for unfolded protein L (ΔΔGU ≈ 2 kJ mol(-1)) matches the crowding effects found on the folded wild type protein and the mutant when prefolded by salt. This result indicates that the excluded volume effect is independent of starting protein stability and that crowding can shift the reaction toward the folded form when the polypeptide is in the transition region between folded and unfolded states.

Bacterial Chaperones CsgE and CsgC Differentially Modulate Human α-Synuclein Amyloid Formation via Transient Contacts

Amyloid formation is historically associated with cytotoxicity, but many organisms produce functional amyloid fibers (e.g., curli) as a normal part of cell biology. Two E. coli genes in the curli operon encode the chaperone-like proteins CsgC and CsgE that both can reduce in vitro amyloid formation by CsgA. CsgC was also found to arrest amyloid formation of the human amyloidogenic protein α-synuclein, which is involved in Parkinson’s disease. Here, we report that the inhibitory effects of CsgC arise due to transient interactions that promote the formation of spherical α-synuclein oligomers. We find that CsgE also modulates α-synuclein amyloid formation through transient contacts but, in contrast to CsgC, CsgE accelerates α-synuclein amyloid formation. Our results demonstrate the significance of transient protein interactions in amyloid regulation and emphasize that the same protein may inhibit one type of amyloid while accelerating another.

Extreme Temperature Tolerance of a Hyperthermophilic Protein Coupled to Residual Structure in the Unfolded State

Understanding the mechanisms that dictate protein stability is of large relevance, for instance, to enable design of temperature-tolerant enzymes with high enzymatic activity over a broad temperature interval. In an effort to identify such mechanisms, we have performed a detailed comparative study of the folding thermodynamics and kinetics of the ribosomal protein S16 isolated from a mesophilic (S16(meso)) and hyperthermophilic (S16(thermo)) bacterium by using a variety of biophysical methods. As basis for the study, the 2.0 A X-ray structure of S16(thermo) was solved using single wavelength anomalous dispersion phasing. Thermal unfolding experiments yielded midpoints of 59 and 111 degrees C with associated changes in heat capacity upon unfolding (DeltaC(p)(0)) of 6.4 and 3.3 kJ mol(-1) K(-1), respectively. A strong linear correlation between DeltaC(p)(0) and melting temperature (T(m)) was observed for the wild-type proteins and mutated variants, suggesting that these variables are intimately connected. Stopped-flow fluorescence spectroscopy shows that S16(meso) folds through an apparent two-state model, whereas S16(thermo) folds through a more complex mechanism with a marked curvature in the refolding limb indicating the presence of a folding intermediate. Time-resolved energy transfer between Trp and N-(4,4-difluoro-5,7-dimethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-3-yl)methyl iodoacetamide of proteins mutated at selected positions shows that the denatured state ensemble of S16(thermo) is more compact relative to S16(meso). Taken together, our results suggest the presence of residual structure in the denatured state ensemble of S16(thermo) that appears to account for the large difference in quantified DeltaC(p)(0) values and, in turn, parts of the observed extreme thermal stability of S16(thermo). These observations may be of general importance in the design of robust enzymes that are highly active over a wide temperature span.

Extraordinary μs-ms backbone dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana peroxiredoxin Q

Peroxiredoxin Q (PrxQ) isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana belongs to a family of redox enzymes called peroxiredoxins, which are thioredoxin- or glutaredoxin-dependent peroxidases acting to reduce peroxides and in particular hydrogen peroxide. PrxQ cycles between an active reduced state and an inactive oxidized state during its catalytic cycle. The catalytic mechanism involves a nucleophilic attack of the catalytic cysteine on hydrogen peroxide to generate a sulfonic acid intermediate with a concerted release of a water molecule. This intermediate is subsequently relaxed by the reaction of a second cysteine, denoted the resolving cysteine, generating an intramolecular disulfide bond and release of a second water molecule. PrxQ is recycled to the active state by a thioredoxin-dependent reduction. Previous structural studies of PrxQ homologues have provided the structural basis for the switch between reduced and oxidized conformations. Here, we have performed a detailed study of the activity, structure and dynamics of PrxQ in both the oxidized and reduced states. Reliable and experimentally validated structural models of PrxQ in both oxidation states were generated using homology based modeling. Analysis of NMR spin relaxation rates shows that PrxQ is monomeric in both oxidized and reduced states. As evident from R(2) relaxation rates the reduced form of PrxQ undergoes unprecedented dynamics on the slow μs-ms timescale. The ground state of this conformational dynamics is likely the stably folded reduced state as implied by circular dichroism spectroscopy. We speculate that the extensive dynamics is intimately related to the catalytic function of PrxQ.

Correlated Inter-Domain Motions in Adenylate Kinase

Correlated inter-domain motions in proteins can mediate fundamental biochemical processes such as signal transduction and allostery. Here we characterize at structural level the inter-domain coupling in a multidomain enzyme, Adenylate Kinase (AK), using computational methods that exploit the shape information encoded in residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) measured under steric alignment by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We find experimental evidence for a multi-state equilibrium distribution along the opening/closing pathway of Adenylate Kinase, previously proposed from computational work, in which inter-domain interactions disfavour states where only the AMP binding domain is closed. In summary, we provide a robust experimental technique for study of allosteric regulation in AK and other enzymes.

Copper binding triggers compaction in N-terminal tail of human copper pump ATP7B

Protein conformational changes are fundamental to biological reactions. For copper ion transport, the multi-domain protein ATP7B in the Golgi network receives copper from the cytoplasmic copper chaperone Atox1 and, with energy from ATP hydrolysis, moves the metal to the lumen for loading of copper-dependent enzymes. Although anticipated, conformational changes involved in ATP7Bs functional cycle remain elusive. Using spectroscopic methods we here demonstrate that the four most N-terminal metal-binding domains in ATP7B, upon stoichiometric copper addition, adopt a more compact arrangement which has a higher thermal stability than in the absence of copper. In contrast to previous reports, no stable complex was found in solution between the metal-binding domains and the nucleotide-binding domain of ATP7B. Metal-dependent movement of the first four metal-binding domains in ATP7B may be a trigger that initiates the overall catalytic cycle.

Small pH and Salt Variations Radically Alter the Thermal Stability of Metal-Binding Domains in the Copper Transporter, Wilson Disease Protein

Although strictly regulated, pH and solute concentrations in cells may exhibit temporal and spatial fluctuations. Here we study the effect of such changes on the stability, structure, and dynamics in vitro and in silico of a two-domain construct (WD56) of the fifth and sixth metal-binding domains of the copper transport protein, ATP7B (Wilson disease protein). We find that the thermal stability of WD56 is increased by 40 °C when increasing the pH from 5.0 to 7.5. In contrast, addition of salt at pH 7.2 decreases WD56 stability by up to 30 °C. In agreement with domain-domain coupling, fractional copper loading increases the stability of both domains. HSQC chemical shift changes demonstrate that, upon lowering the pH from 7.2 to 6, both His in WD6 as well as the second Cys of the copper site in each domain become protonated. MD simulations reveal increased domain-domain fluctuations at pH 6 and in the presence of high salt concentration, as compared to at pH 7 and low salt concentration. Thus, the surface charge distribution at high pH contributes favorably to overall WD56 stability. By introducing more positive charges by lowering the pH, or by diminishing charge-charge interactions by salt, fluctuations among the domains are increased and thereby overall stability is reduced. Copper transfer activity also depends on pH: delivery of copper from chaperone Atox1 to WD56 is more efficient at pH 7.2 than at pH 6 by a factor of 30. It appears that WD56 is an example where the free energy landscapes for folding and function are linked via structural stability.