Sean D. Moran

Two-dimensional IR spectroscopy and segmental 13C labeling reveals the domain structure of human γD-crystallin amyloid fibrils

The structural eye lens protein γD-crystallin is a major component of cataracts, but its conformation when aggregated is unknown. Using expressed protein ligation, we uniformly 13C labeled one of the two Greek key domains so that they are individually resolved in two-dimensional (2D) IR spectra for structural and kinetic analysis. Upon acid-induced amyloid fibril formation, the 2D IR spectra reveal that the C-terminal domain forms amyloid β-sheets, whereas the N-terminal domain becomes extremely disordered but lies in close proximity to the β-sheets. Two-dimensional IR kinetics experiments show that fibril nucleation and extension occur exclusively in the C-terminal domain. These results are unexpected because the N-terminal domain is less stable in the monomer form. Isotope dilution experiments reveal that each C-terminal domain contributes two or fewer adjacent β-strands to each β-sheet. From these observations, we propose an initial structural model for γD-crystallin amyloid fibrils. Because only 1 μg of protein is required for a 2D IR spectrum, even poorly expressing proteins can be studied under many conditions using this approach. Thus, we believe that 2D IR and protein ligation will be useful for structural and kinetic studies of many protein systems for which IR spectroscopy can be straightforwardly applied, such as membrane and amyloidogenic proteins.

Investigations of valanimycin biosynthesis: Elucidation of the role of seryl-tRNA

The antibiotic valanimycin is a naturally occurring azoxy compound produced by Streptomyces viridifaciens MG456-hF10. Precursor incorporation experiments showed that valanimycin is derived from l-valine and l-serine via the intermediacy of isobutylamine and isobutylhydroxylamine. Enzymatic and genetic investigations led to the cloning and sequencing of the valanimycin biosynthetic gene cluster, which was found to contain 14 genes. A novel feature of the valanimycin biosynthetic gene cluster is the presence of a gene (vlmL) that encodes a class II seryl-tRNA synthetase. Previous studies suggested that the role of this enzyme is to provide seryl-tRNA for the valanimycin biosynthetic pathway. Here, we report the results of investigations to elucidate the role of seryl-tRNA in valanimycin biosynthesis. A combination of enzymatic and chemical studies has revealed that the VlmA protein encoded by the valanimycin biosynthetic gene cluster catalyzes the transfer of the seryl residue from seryl-tRNA to the hydroxyl group of isobutylhydroxylamine to produce the ester O-seryl-isobutylhydroxylamine. These findings provide an example of the involvement of an aminoacyl-tRNA in an antibiotic biosynthetic pathway.

Structural motif of polyglutamine amyloid fibrils discerned with mixed-isotope infrared spectroscopy

Significance Expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tracts in proteins are associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington disease. The structure and dynamics of polyQ peptides are difficult to study due to the homogenous nature of the sequence and their high propensity to aggregate into amyloid fibrils. In this manuscript, we study mixtures of isotope-labeled peptides with 2D IR spectroscopy to resolve the structure of individual monomers within the polyQ. These results, in combination with spectra calculated from molecular-dynamics simulations, determine the dominant structure of polyQ fibrils consists of stacked β-hairpins. Polyglutamine (polyQ) sequences are found in a variety of proteins, and mutational expansion of the polyQ tract is associated with many neurodegenerative diseases. We study the amyloid fibril structure and aggregation kinetics of K2Q24K2W, a model polyQ sequence. Two structures have been proposed for amyloid fibrils formed by polyQ peptides. By forming fibrils composed of both 12C and 13C monomers, made possible by protein expression in Escherichia coli, we can restrict vibrational delocalization to measure 2D IR spectra of individual monomers within the fibrils. The spectra are consistent with a β-turn structure in which each monomer forms an antiparallel hairpin and donates two strands to a single β-sheet. Calculated spectra from atomistic molecular-dynamics simulations of the two proposed structures confirm the assignment. No spectroscopically distinct intermediates are observed in rapid-scan 2D IR kinetics measurements, suggesting that aggregation is highly cooperative. Although 2D IR spectroscopy has advantages over linear techniques, the isotope-mixing strategy will also be useful with standard Fourier transform IR spectroscopy.

How to Get Insight into Amyloid Structure and Formation from Infrared Spectroscopy.

There is an enormous amount of interest in the structures and formation mechanisms of amyloid fibers. In this Perspective, we review the most common structural motifs of amyloid fibers and discuss how infrared spectroscopy and isotope labeling can be used to identify their structures and aggregation kinetics. We present three specific strategies, site-specific labeling to obtain residue-by-residue structural information, isotope dilution of uniformly labeled proteins for identifying structural folds and protein mixtures, and expressed protein ligation for studying the domain structures of large proteins. For each of these methods, vibrational couplings are the source of the identifying features in the infrared spectrum. Examples are provided using the proteins hIAPP, Aβ, polyglutamine, and γD-crystallin. We focus on FTIR spectroscopy but also describe new observables made possible by 2D IR spectroscopy.

Instantaneous ion configurations in the K+ ion channel selectivity filter revealed by 2D IR spectroscopy

Potassium channels are responsible for the selective permeation of K+ ions across cell membranes. K+ ions permeate in single file through the selectivity filter, a narrow pore lined by backbone carbonyls that compose four K+ binding sites. Here, we report on the two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectra of a semisynthetic KcsA channel with site-specific heavy (13C18O) isotope labels in the selectivity filter. The ultrafast time resolution of 2D IR spectroscopy provides an instantaneous snapshot of the multi-ion configurations and structural distributions that occur spontaneously in the filter. Two elongated features are resolved, revealing the statistical weighting of two structural conformations. The spectra are reproduced by molecular dynamics simulations of structures with water separating two K+ ions in the binding sites, ruling out configurations with ions occupying adjacent sites.

A Strongly Absorbing Class of Non-Natural Labels for Probing Protein Electrostatics and Solvation with FTIR and 2D IR Spectroscopies

A series of non-natural infrared probes is reported that consist of a metal-tricarbonyl modified with a -(CH2)n- linker and cysteine-specific leaving group. They can be site-specifically attached to proteins using mutagenesis and similar protocols for EPR spin labels, which have the same leaving group. We characterize the labels frequencies and lifetimes using 2D IR spectroscopy in solvents of varying dielectric. The frequency range spans 10 cm(-1), and the variation in lifetimes ranges from 6 to 19 ps, indicating that these probes are very sensitive to their environments. Also, we attached probes with -(CH2)-, -(CH2)3-, and -(CH2)4- linkers to ubiquitin at positions 6 and 63 and collected spectra in aqueous buffer. The frequencies and lifetimes were correlated for 3C and 4C linkers, as they were in the solvents, but did not correlate for the 1C linker. We conclude that lifetime measures solvation, whereas frequency reflects the electrostatics of the environment, which in the case of the 1C linker is a measure of the protein electrostatic field. We also labeled V71C α-synuclein in buffer and membrane-bound. Unlike most other infrared labels, this label has extremely strong cross sections and thus can be measured with 2D IR spectroscopy at sub-millimolar concentrations. We expect that these labels will find use in studying the structure and dynamics of membrane-bound, aggregated, and kinetically evolving proteins for which high signal-to-noise at low protein concentrations is imperative.

Structural and sequence analysis of the human γD-crystallin amyloid fibril core using 2D IR spectroscopy, segmental 13C labeling, and mass spectrometry.

Identifying the sequence and structural content of residues that compose the core of amyloid fibrils is important because core regions likely control the process of fibril extension and provide potential drug targets. Human γD-crystallin is an eye lens protein that aggregates into amyloid fibrils under acidic conditions. In this manuscript, we use a pepsin enzymatic digest to isolate the core of the amyloid fibrils. The sequence of the core is identified with MALDI MS/MS and its structure is probed with 2D IR spectroscopy and (13)C isotope labeling. Mass spectrometry of the digest identifies residues 80-163 as the amyloid core, which spans most of the C-terminal domain, the linker, and a small portion of the N-terminal domain. From 2D IR spectroscopy of the digested fibrils, we learn that only the C-terminal domain contributes to the amyloid β-sheets while the N-terminal and linker residues are disordered. A comparison to the native crystal structure reveals that loops and α-helices in the native state must undergo conformational transitions to β-strands upon aggregation. These locations may be good drug binding targets. Besides providing new information about γD-crystallin, this study demonstrates the complementarity of mass spectrometry and 2D IR spectroscopy to obtain both sequence and structure information that neither technique provides individually, which will be especially useful for samples only available in microgram quantities.

Amyloid Fiber Formation in Human γD-Crystallin Induced by UV-B Photodamage

γD-Crystallin is an abundant structural protein of the lens that is found in native and modified forms in cataractous aggregates. We establish that UV-B irradiation of γD-Crystallin leads to structurally specific modifications and precipitation via two mechanisms: amorphous aggregates and amyloid fibers. UV-B radiation causes cleavage of the backbone, in large measure near the interdomain interface, where side chain oxidations are also concentrated. 2D IR spectroscopy and expressed protein ligation localize fiber formation exclusively to the C-terminal domain of γD-Crystallin. The native β-sandwich domains are not retained upon precipitation by either mechanism. The similarities between the amyloid forming pathways when induced by either UV-B radiation or low pH suggest that the propensity for the C-terminal β-sandwich domain to form amyloid β-sheets determines the misfolding pathway independent of the mechanism of denaturation.

Identification, characterization, and bioconversion of a new intermediate in valanimycin biosynthesis.

The antibiotic valanimycin is a naturally occurring azoxy compound isolated from Streptomyces viridifaciens. Detailed investigations have shown that valanimycin is derived from L-valine and L-serine via the intermediacy of O-(L-seryl)isobutylhydroxylamine. Sequence analysis of the valanimycin biosynthetic genes provides relatively few clues concerning the nature of the later stages of the pathway. Two exceptions are provided by the vlmJ and vlmK genes. The translation product of vlmJ exhibits similarity to diacylglycerol kinases, while the translation product of vlmK exhibits a weak similarity to the MmgE/PrpD superfamily of proteins. This superfamily includes 2-methylcitrate dehydratase. This communication describes the isolation and structure elucidation of valanimycin hydrate from vlmJ and vlmK mutants of S. viridifaciens. Additional studies have shown that the conversion of valanimycin hydrate into valanimycin by S. viridifaciens requires both the vlmJ and vlmK genes and that VlmJ catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of the hydroxyl group of valanimycin hydrate prior to VlmK-catalyzed dehydration.

An alternative structural isoform in amyloid-like aggregates formed from thermally denatured human γD-crystallin.

The eye lens protein γD‐crystallin contributes to cataract formation in the lens. In vitro experiments show that γD‐crystallin has a high propensity to form amyloid fibers when denatured, and that denaturation by acid or UV‐B photodamage results in its C‐terminal domain forming the β‐sheet core of amyloid fibers. Here, we show that thermal denaturation results in sheet‐like aggregates that contain cross‐linked oligomers of the protein, according to transmission electron microscopy and SDS‐PAGE. We use two‐dimensional infrared spectroscopy to show that these aggregates have an amyloid‐like secondary structure with extended β‐sheets, and use isotope dilution experiments to show that each protein contributes approximately one β‐strand to each β‐sheet in the aggregates. Using segmental 13C labeling, we show that the organization of the proteins two domains in thermally induced aggregates results in a previously unobserved structure in which both the N‐terminal and C‐terminal domains contribute to β‐sheets. We propose a model for the structural organization of the aggregates and attribute the recruitment of the N‐terminal domain into the fiber structure to intermolecular cross linking.