Pierre Montaville

The PIP2 binding mode of the C2 domains of rabphilin-3A.

Phosphatidylinositol‐4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) is a key player in the neurotransmitter release process. Rabphilin‐3A is a neuronal C2 domain tandem containing protein that is involved in this process. Both its C2 domains (C2A and C2B) are able to bind PIP2. The investigation of the interactions of the two C2 domains with the PIP2 headgroup IP3 (inositol‐1,4,5‐trisphosphate) by NMR showed that a well‐defined binding site can be described on the concave surface of each domain. The binding modes of the two domains are different. The binding of IP3 to the C2A domain is strongly enhanced by Ca2+ and is characterized by a KD of 55 μM in the presence of a saturating concentration of Ca2+ (5 mM). Reciprocally, the binding of IP3 increases the apparent Ca2+‐binding affinity of the C2A domain in agreement with a Target‐Activated Messenger Affinity (TAMA) mechanism. The C2B domain binds IP3 in a Ca2+‐independent fashion with low affinity. These different PIP2 headgroup recognition modes suggest that PIP2 is a target of the C2A domain of rabphilin‐3A while this phospholipid is an effector of the C2B domain.

Structural Determinants for Ca2+ and Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate Binding by the C2A Domain of Rabphilin-3A

Rabphilin-3A is a neuronal C2 domain tandem containing protein involved in vesicle trafficking. Both its C2 domains (C2A and C2B) are able to bind phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, a key player in the neurotransmitter release process. The rabphilin-3A C2A domain has previously been shown to bind inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3; phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate headgroup) in a Ca2+-dependent manner with a relatively high affinity (50 μm) in the presence of saturating concentrations of Ca2+. Moreover, IP3 and Ca2+ binding to the C2A domain mutually enhance each other. Here we present the Ca2+-bound solution structure of the C2A domain. Structural comparison with the previously published Ca2+-free crystal structure revealed that Ca2+ binding induces a conformational change of Ca2+ binding loop 3 (CBL3). Our IP3 binding studies as well as our IP3-C2A docking model show the active involvement of CBL3 in IP3 binding, suggesting that the conformational change on CBL3 upon Ca2+ binding enables the interaction with IP3 and vice versa, in line with a target-activated messenger affinity mechanism. Our data provide detailed structural insight into the functional properties of the rabphilin-3A C2A domain and reveal for the first time the structural determinants of a target-activated messenger affinity mechanism.

The C2A-C2B linker defines the high affinity Ca2+ binding mode of rabphilin-3A

The Ca2+ binding properties of C2 domains are essential for the function of their host proteins. We present here the first crystal structures showing an unexpected Ca2+ binding mode of the C2B domain of rabphilin-3A in atomic detail. Acidic residues from the linker region between the C2A and C2B domains of rabphilin-3A interact with the Ca2+-binding region of the C2B domain. Because of these interactions, the coordination sphere of the two bound Ca2+ ions is almost complete. Mutation of these acidic residues to alanine resulted in a 10-fold decrease in the intrinsic Ca2+ binding affinity of the C2B domain. Using NMR spectroscopy, we show that this interaction occurred only in the Ca2+-bound state of the C2B domain. In addition, this Ca2+ binding mode was maintained in the C2 domain tandem fragment. In NMR-based liposome binding assays, the linker was not released upon phospholipid binding. Therefore, this unprecedented Ca2+ binding mode not only shows how a C2 domain increases its intrinsic Ca2+ affinity, but also provides the structural base for an atypical protein-Ca2+-phospholipid binding mode of rabphilin-3A.

Structure of the C2A domain of rabphilin-3A.

Rabphilin-3A is a neuronal protein containing a C2-domain tandem. To date, only the structure of the C2B domain has been solved. The crystal structure of the Ca2+-free C2A domain has been solved by molecular replacement and refined to 1.92 A resolution. It adopts the classical C2-domain fold consisting of an eight-stranded antiparallel beta-sandwich with type I topology. In agreement with its Ca2+-dependent negatively charged membrane-binding properties, this C2 domain contains all the conserved acidic residues responsible for calcium binding. However, the replacement of a conserved aspartic acid residue by glutamic acid allows formation of an additional strong hydrogen bond, resulting in increased rigidity of calcium-binding loop 1. The electrostatic surface of the C2A domain consists of a large positively charged belt surrounded by two negatively charged patches located at both tips of the domain. In comparison, the structurally very similar C2A domain of synaptotagmin I has a highly acidic electrostatic surface, suggesting completely unrelated functions for these two C2A domains.

Sensitivity Enhancement of Methyl-TROSY by Longitudinal 1 H Relaxation Optimization

The NMR detection of methyl groups is of keen interest because they provide the long-range distance information required to establish global folds of high molecular weight proteins. Using longitudinal relaxation optimization, we achieve a gain in sensitivity of approximately 1.6-fold in the methyl-TROSY and its NOESY experiments for the 38 kDa protein mitogen activated protein kinase p38 in its fully protonated and and labeled state.