A Dynamic Zn Site in Helicobacter pylori HypA: A Potential Mechanism for Metal-Specific Protein Activity

HypA is an accessory protein and putative metallochaperone that is critical for supplying nickel to the active site of NiFe hydrogenases. In addition to binding Ni(II), HypA is known to contain a Zn site that has been suggested to play a structural role. X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been used to show that the Zn site changes structure upon binding nickel, from a S(3)(O/N)-donor ligand environment to an S(4)-donor ligand environment. This provides a potential mechanism for discriminating Ni(II) from other divalent metal ions. The Ni(II) site is shown to be a six-coordinate complex composed of O/N-donors including two histidines. As such, it resembles the nickel site in UreE, a nickel metallochaperone involved in nickel incorporation into urease

Ni(II) and Co(II) sensing by Escherichia coli RcnR.

Escherichia coli RcnR and Mycobacterium tuberculosis CsoR are the founding members of a recently identified, large family of bacterial metal-responsive DNA-binding proteins. RcnR controls the expression of the metal efflux protein RcnA only in response to Ni(II) and Co(II) ions. Here, the interaction of Ni(II) and Co(II) with wild-type and mutant RcnR proteins is examined to understand how these metals function as allsoteric effectors. Both metals bind to RcnR with nanomolar affinity and stabilize the protein to denaturation. X-ray absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies reveal six-coordinate high-spin sites for each metal that contains a thiolate ligand. Experimental data support a tripartite N-terminal coordination motif (NH(2)-Xaa-NH-His) that is common for both metals. However, the Ni(II)- and Co(II)-RcnR complexes are shown to differ in the remaining coordination environment. Each metal coordinates a conserved Cys ligand but with distinct M-S distances. Co(II)-thiolate coordination has not been previously observed in Ni(II)/Co(II) responsive metalloregulators. The ability of RcnR to recruit ligands from the N-terminal region of the protein distinguishes it from CsoR, which uses a lower coordination geometry to bind Cu(I). These studies facilitate comparisons between Ni(II)-RcnR and NikR, the other Ni(II)-responsive transcriptional regulator in E. coli, to provide a better understanding of how different nickel levels are sensed in E. coli. The identification of the Ni(II) and Co(II) binding sites in RcnR, in combination with bioinformatics analysis of all RcnR/CsoR family members, identify a four amino acid fingerprint that likely defines ligand-binding specificity, leading to an emerging picture of the similarities and differences between different classes of RcnR/CsoR proteins

Implications of Africa’s Transportation Systems for Development in the Era of Globalization

Colonial road-building, Colonial railways, Transportation planning, Economic development, Africa,