Waterloo Research

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Browsing Waterloo Research by Subject "3-Dimensional Nmr-Spectroscopy"

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    Structural Consequences of Calmodulin EF Hand Mutations
    (American Chemical Society, 2017-02-21) Piazza, Michael; Taiakina, Valentina; Dieckmann, Thorsten; Guillemette, J. Guy
    Calmodulin (CaM) is a cytosolic Ca2+-binding protein that serves as a control element for many enzymes. It consists of two globular domains, each containing two EF hand pairs capable of binding Ca2+, joined by a flexible central linker region. CaM is able to bind and activate its target proteins in the Ca2+-replete and Ca2+-deplete forms. To study the Ca2+-dependent/independent properties of binding and activation of target proteins by CaM, CaM constructs with Ca2+-binding disrupting mutations of Asp to Ala at position one of each EF hand have been used. These CaM mutant proteins are deficient in binding Ca2+ in either the N-lobe EF hands (CaM12), C-lobe EF hands (CaM34), or all four EF hands (CaM1234). To investigate potential structural changes these mutations may cause, we performed detailed NMR studies of CaM12, CaM34, and CaM1234 including determining the solution structure of CaM1234. We then investigated if these CaM mutants affected the interaction of CaM with a target protein known to interact with apoCaM by determining the solution structure of CaM34 bound to the iNOS CaM binding domain peptide. The structures provide direct structural evidence of changes that are present in these Ca2+-deficient CaM mutants and show these mutations increase the hydrophobic exposed surface and decrease the electronegative surface potential throughout each lobe of CaM. These Ca2+-deficient CaM mutants may not be a true representation of apoCaM and may not allow for native-like interactions of apoCaM with its target proteins.
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    Structural Studies of a Complex Between Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Calmodulin at Physiological Calcium Concentration
    (American Chemical Society, 2016-10-25) Piazza, Michael; Dieckmann, Thorsten; Guillemette, J. Guy
    The small acidic protein calmodulin (CaM) serves as a Ca2+ sensor and control element for many enzymes including nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzymes that play major roles in key physiological and pathological processes. CaM binding causes a conformational change in NOS to allow for the electron transfer between the reductase and oxygenase domains through a process that is thought to be highly dynamic. In this report, NMR spectroscopy was used to determine the solution structure of the endothelial NOS (eNOS) peptide in complex with CaM at the lowest Ca2+ concentration (225 nM) required for CaM to bind to eNOS and corresponds to a physiological elevated Ca2+ level found in mammalian cells. Under these conditions, the CaM–eNOS complex has a Ca2+-replete C-terminal lobe bound to the eNOS peptide and a Ca2+ free N-terminal lobe loosely associated with the eNOS peptide. With increasing Ca2+ concentration, the binding of Ca2+ by the N-lobe of CaM results in a stronger interaction with the C-terminal region of the eNOS peptide and increased α-helical structure of the peptide that may be part of the mechanism resulting in electron transfer from the FMN to the heme in the oxygenase domain of the enzyme. Surface plasmon resonance studies performed under the same conditions show Ca2+ concentration-dependent binding kinetics were consistent with the NMR structural results. This investigation shows that structural studies performed under more physiological relevant conditions provide information on subtle changes in structure that may not be apparent when experiments are performed in excess Ca2+ concentrations.
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