Characterization of cofactor influence on protein structure using mass spectrometry

Bakteriální protein WrbA z E. coli je zakládajícím členem nové rodiny FMN dependentních NAD(P)H oxidoreduktas, tvořící funkční i strukturní vývojový stupeň mezi bakteriálními flavodoxiny a některými savčími NAD(P)H:chinon oxidoreduktasami. Z těchto důvodů je protein WrbA v poslední době intenzivně studován pomocí různých analytických metod i počítačových simulací. Protein WrbA participuje na ochraně buněk před oxidativním stresem, přesná funkce proteinu WrbA in vivo je však stále neznámá. Protein WrbA tvoří v roztocích multimery, v μM koncentracích se při nízkých teplotách (4 řC) nachází ve formě dimeru, s rostoucí teplotou tetramerizuje. Dostupné trojrozměrné krystalové struktury obsahují informace pouze o tetramerní formě proteinu, dimerní forma dosud nebyla strukturně charakterizována. Tato práce byla zaměřena na studium dynamického chování proteinu v roztoku metodami vodík-deuteriové výměny a chemického síťování s následnou analýzou hmotnostním spektrometrem s vysokým rozlišením (FT-ICR). Sledováno bylo chování proteinu v závislosti na vazbě kofaktoru FMN nebo změnách teploty a koncentrace. Analýzou dat z vodík-deuteriové výměny byly získány informace o přístupnosti rozpouštědla a dynamice pro kompletní sekvenci proteinu. Popsán byl stabilizační vliv kofaktoru na tetramerní strukturu proteinu,...Bacterial protein WrbA from E. coli is the founding member of a new family of FMN-dependent NAD(P)H oxidoreductases, forming a functional and structural bridge between bacterial flavodoxin and certain mammalian NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase. For these reasons, protein WrbA is recently intensively studied using various analytical and computing methods. Protein WrbA participates in the protection of cells against oxidative stress, but precise function of the protein WrbA in vivo is still unknown. Protein WrbA forms multimers in solutions. In μM concentrations and at low temperature (4 řC) the protein is in the form of a dimer, with increasing temperature becomes tetrameric. Available three-dimensional crystal structure contains the information about the tetrameric form of the protein, the dimeric form has not been structurally characterized. This thesis was focused on the study of the dynamic behavior of protein WrbA in solution using methods of hydrogen-deuterium exchange and chemical cross-linking followed by mass spectrometric analysis with high resolution (FT-ICR). Behavior of the protein was monitored according to the presence of cofactor FMN. Effect of temperature and protein concentration was also studied. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange provided information about solvent accessibility and...Department of BiochemistryKatedra biochemieFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Study on conformational changes in proteins using mass spectrometry.

Some proteins and enzymes require presence of their specific ligand, cofaktor or prosthetic group for their activity. Binding of this specific molecule causes conformational changes, which permits to perform their function. In some occasions the identification of conformational changes is difficult. Using chemical cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry perform complex tool for searching and low resolution visualization of this changes. The aim of this thesis is study of conformational changes induced by binding of calcium ion to calmodulin protein molecule. Calmodulin is a secondary intermediate messenger, which can interact with various proteins. This feature associates with wide dynamical range of calmodulin. Thus calmodulin is the suitable target for identifying conformational changes. After reaction of protein with chemical cross-linkers with different arm length (DSG and DSS) were products of reaction digested by trypsine. Formed linked peptides were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and analysed followed mass spectrometry. Seven unique intramolecular cross-links were identified. Using isotope unlabeled cross-link reagents in the presence of Ca2+ in combination with using isotope labeled reagents in calcium free conditions we quantified formed lysine-lysine cross-links...

Study on conformational changes in proteins using mass spectrometry.

Some proteins and enzymes require presence of their specific ligand, cofaktor or prosthetic group for their activity. Binding of this specific molecule causes conformational changes, which permits to perform their function. In some occasions the identification of conformational changes is difficult. Using chemical cross-linking coupled with mass spectrometry perform complex tool for searching and low resolution visualization of this changes. The aim of this thesis is study of conformational changes induced by binding of calcium ion to calmodulin protein molecule. Calmodulin is a secondary intermediate messenger, which can interact with various proteins. This feature associates with wide dynamical range of calmodulin. Thus calmodulin is the suitable target for identifying conformational changes. After reaction of protein with chemical cross-linkers with different arm length (DSG and DSS) were products of reaction digested by trypsine. Formed linked peptides were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and analysed followed mass spectrometry. Seven unique intramolecular cross-links were identified. Using isotope unlabeled cross-link reagents in the presence of Ca2+ in combination with using isotope labeled reagents in calcium free conditions we quantified formed lysine-lysine cross-links...

Characterization of cofactor influence on protein structure using mass spectrometry

Bacterial protein WrbA from E. coli is the founding member of a new family of FMN-dependent NAD(P)H oxidoreductases, forming a functional and structural bridge between bacterial flavodoxin and certain mammalian NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase. For these reasons, protein WrbA is recently intensively studied using various analytical and computing methods. Protein WrbA participates in the protection of cells against oxidative stress, but precise function of the protein WrbA in vivo is still unknown. Protein WrbA forms multimers in solutions. In μM concentrations and at low temperature (4 řC) the protein is in the form of a dimer, with increasing temperature becomes tetrameric. Available three-dimensional crystal structure contains the information about the tetrameric form of the protein, the dimeric form has not been structurally characterized. This thesis was focused on the study of the dynamic behavior of protein WrbA in solution using methods of hydrogen-deuterium exchange and chemical cross-linking followed by mass spectrometric analysis with high resolution (FT-ICR). Behavior of the protein was monitored according to the presence of cofactor FMN. Effect of temperature and protein concentration was also studied. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange provided information about solvent accessibility and..

Binding of eIF3 in complex with eIF5 and eIF1 to the 40S ribosomal subunit is accompanied by dramatic structural changes

eIF3 is a large multiprotein complex serving as an essential scaffold promoting binding of other eIFs to the 40S subunit, where it coordinates their actions during translation initiation. Perhaps due to a high degree of flexibility of multiple eIF3 subunits, a high-resolution structure of free eIF3 from any organism has never been solved. Employing genetics and biochemistry, we previously built a 2D interaction map of all five yeast eIF3 subunits. Here we further improved the previously reported in vitro reconstitution protocol of yeast eIF3, which we cross-linked and trypsin-digested to determine its overall shape in 3D by advanced mass-spectrometry. The obtained cross-links support our 2D subunit interaction map and reveal that eIF3 is tightly packed with its WD40 and RRM domains exposed. This contrasts with reported cryo-EM structures depicting eIF3 as a molecular embracer of the 40S subunit. Since the binding of eIF1 and eIF5 further fortified the compact architecture of eIF3, we suggest that its initial contact with the 40S solvent-exposed side makes eIF3 to open up and wrap around the 40S head with its extended arms. In addition, we mapped the position of eIF5 to the region below the P- and E-sites of the 40S subunit

Natural Killer Cell Activation Receptor NKp30 Oligomerization Depends on Its N-Glycosylation

NKp30 is one of the main human natural killer (NK) cell activating receptors used in directed immunotherapy. The oligomerization of the NKp30 ligand binding domain depends on the length of the C-terminal stalk region, but our structural knowledge of NKp30 oligomerization and its role in signal transduction remains limited. Moreover, ligand binding of NKp30 is affected by the presence and type of N-glycosylation. In this study, we assessed whether NKp30 oligomerization depends on its N-glycosylation. Our results show that NKp30 forms oligomers when expressed in HEK293S GnTI− cell lines with simple N-glycans. However, NKp30 was detected only as monomers after enzymatic deglycosylation. Furthermore, we characterized the interaction between NKp30 and its best-studied cognate ligand, B7-H6, with respect to glycosylation and oligomerization, and we solved the crystal structure of this complex with glycosylated NKp30, revealing a new glycosylation-induced mode of NKp30 dimerization. Overall, this study provides new insights into the structural basis of NKp30 oligomerization and explains how the stalk region and glycosylation of NKp30 affect its ligand affinity. This furthers our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in NK cell activation, which is crucial for the successful design of novel NK cell-based targeted immunotherapeutics

MS-Based Approaches Enable the Structural Characterization of Transcription Factor/DNA Response Element Complex

The limited information available on the structure of complexes involving transcription factors and cognate DNA response elements represents a major obstacle in the quest to understand their mechanism of action at the molecular level. We implemented a concerted structural proteomics approach, which combined hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX), quantitative protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid cross-linking (XL), and homology analysis, to model the structure of the complex between the full-length DNA binding domain (DBD) of Forkhead box protein O4 (FOXO4) and its DNA binding element (DBE). The results confirmed that FOXO4-DBD assumes the characteristic forkhead topology shared by these types of transcription factors, but its binding mode differs significantly from those of other members of the family. The results showed that the binding interaction stabilized regions that were rather flexible and disordered in the unbound form. Surprisingly, the conformational effects were not limited only to the interface between bound components, but extended also to distal regions that may be essential to recruiting additional factors to the transcription machinery. In addition to providing valuable new insights into the binding mechanism, this project provided an excellent evaluation of the merits of structural proteomics approaches in the investigation of systems that are not directly amenable to traditional high-resolution techniques