Lazaros Kakalis

Characterization of the calcium-binding sites of calcineurin B

Calcineurin (CaN) is a calcium‐ and calmodulin‐dependent serine/threonine phosphatase whose inhibition by the immunosuppressant‐immunophilin complexes (cyclosporin‐cyclophilin and FK506‐FKBP) is considered key to the mechanism of immunosuppression. CaN is a heterodimer, consisting of a 59 kDa catalytic subunit (A) and a 19 kDa calcium‐binding regulatory subunit (B). The latter is postulated to harbor four calcium binding domains of the EF hand type. The titration of the CaN B apoprotein with the isomorphic Cd2+ was followed by 113Cd NMR and these data support one high‐affinity metal binding site and three lower‐affinity ones. Flow dialysis data with Ca2+ indicate one high affinity calcium binding site with K d ∼ 2.4 × 10−8 M and three other sites with K d ∼ 1.5 × 10−5 M. The chemical shifts of all four 113Cd resonances (−75, −93, −106 and −119 ppm) are in the same range as found in other 113Cd substituted calcium‐binding proteins, and are indicative of all‐oxygen coordination of pentagonal bipyramidal geometry.

Determination of pre-steady-state rate constants on the Escherichia coli pyruvate dehydrogenase complex reveals that loop movement controls the rate-limiting step.

Spectroscopic identification and characterization of covalent and noncovalent intermediates on large enzyme complexes is an exciting and challenging area of modern enzymology. The Escherichia coli pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex (PDHc), consisting of multiple copies of enzymic components and coenzymes, performs the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and is central to carbon metabolism linking glycolysis to the Krebs cycle. On the basis of earlier studies, we hypothesized that the dynamic regions of the E1p component, which undergo a disorder-order transition upon substrate binding to thiamin diphosphate (ThDP), play a critical role in modulation of the catalytic cycle of PDHc. To test our hypothesis, we kinetically characterized ThDP-bound covalent intermediates on the E1p component, and the lipoamide-bound covalent intermediate on the E2p component in PDHc and in its variants with disrupted active-site loops. Our results suggest that formation of the first covalent predecarboxylation intermediate, C2α-lactylthiamin diphosphate (LThDP), is rate limiting for the series of steps culminating in acetyl-CoA formation. Substitutions in the active center loops produced variants with up to 900-fold lower rates of formation of the LThDP, demonstrating that these perturbations directly affected covalent catalysis. This rate was rescued by up to 5-fold upon assembly to PDHc of the E401K variant. The E1p loop dynamics control covalent catalysis with ThDP and are modulated by PDHc assembly, presumably by selection of catalytically competent loop conformations. This mechanism could be a general feature of 2-oxoacid dehydrogenase complexes because such interfacial dynamic regions are highly conserved.

HIV protease substrate conformation: modulation by cyclophilin A.

Cyclophilin A (CyPA), a cytosolic peptidyl‐prolyl trans‐cis isomerase can accelerate the trans‐cis isomerization of Xxx‐Pro peptide bonds. One‐ and two‐dimensional 1H‐NMR spectroscopy were used to determine that the heptapeptide Ser‐Gln‐Asn‐Tyr‐Pro‐Ile‐Val, a model peptide of an HIV‐1 protease cleavage site in the gag polyprotein of HIV‐1, is a substrate for CyPA. Experiments revealed a slow exchange about the Tyr‐Pro peptide bond with 30±5% in the cis conformation (pH 1–9). While the interconversion rate is too slow to measure by kinetic NMR methods in the absence of CyPA, these methods, saturation transfer and NOE experiments, established that CyPA enhanced the rate of trans‐cis interconversion, a process inhibited by cyclosporin A (CsA). With a substrate:CyPA ratio of 40:1, an interconversion rate of 2.5 s−1 at 25°C was observed.

Nuclear magnetic resonance evidence for the role of the flexible regions of the E1 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from gram negative bacteria

Most bacterial pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes from either Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria have E1 components with an α2 homodimeric quaternary structure. In a sequel to our previous publications, we present the first NMR study on the flexible regions of the E1 component from Escherichia coli and its biological relevance. We report sequence-specific NMR assignments for 6 residues in the N-terminal 1–55 region and for a glycine in each of the two mobile active center loops of the E1 component, a 200-kDa homodimer. This was accomplished by using site-specific substitutions and appropriate labeling patterns along with a peptide with the sequence corresponding to the N-terminal 1–35 amino acids of the E1 component. To study the functions of these mobile regions, we also examined the spectra in the presence of (a) a reaction intermediate analog known to affect the mobility of the active center loops, (b) an E2 component construct consisting of a lipoyl domain and peripheral subunit binding domain, and (c) a peptide corresponding to the amino acid sequence of the E2 peripheral subunit binding domain. Deductions from the NMR studies are in excellent agreement with our functional finding, providing a clear indication that the N-terminal region of the E1 interacts with the E2 peripheral subunit binding domain and that this interaction precedes reductive acetylation. The results provide the first structural support to the notion that the N-terminal region of the E1 component of this entire class of bacterial pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes is responsible for binding the E2 component.

Elucidation of the Interaction Loci of the Human Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex E2·E3BP Core with Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase 1 and Kinase 2 by H/D Exchange Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The human pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) comprises three principal catalytic components for its mission: E1, E2, and E3. The core of the complex is a strong subcomplex between E2 and an E3-binding protein (E3BP). The PDC is subject to regulation at E1 by serine phosphorylation by four kinases (PDK1–4), an inactivation reversed by the action of two phosphatases (PDP1 and -2). We report H/D exchange mass spectrometric (HDX-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies in the first attempt to define the interaction loci between PDK1 and PDK2 with the intact E2·E3BP core and their C-terminally truncated proteins. While the three lipoyl domains (L1 and L2 on E2 and L3 on E3BP) lend themselves to NMR studies and determination of interaction maps with PDK1 and PDK2 at the individual residue level, HDX-MS allowed studies of interaction loci on both partners in the complexes, PDKs, and other regions of the E2·E3BP core, as well, at the peptide level. HDX-MS suggested that the intact E2·E3BP core enhances the binding specificity of L2 for PDK2 over PDK1, while NMR studies detected lipoyl domain residues unique to interaction with PDK1 and PDK2. The E2·E3BP core induced more changes on PDKs than any C-terminally truncated protein, with clear evidence of greater plasticity of PDK1 than of PDK2. The effect of L1L2S paralleled HDX-MS results obtained with the intact E2·E3BP core; hence, L1L2S is an excellent candidate with which to define interaction loci with these two PDKs. Surprisingly, L3S′ induced moderate interaction with both PDKs according to both methods.