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Adelinda Yee

Publications and source records attributed to Adelinda Yee.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Solution structure of a novel calcium binding protein, MTH1880, from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum.

MTH1880 is a hypothetical protein from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, a target organism of structural genomics. The solution structure determined by NMR spectroscopy demonstrates a typical alpha + beta-fold found in many proteins with different functions. The molecular surface of the protein reveals a small, highly acidic pocket comprising loop B (Asp36, Asp37, Asp38), the end of beta2 (Glu39), and loop D (Ser57, Ser58, Ser61), indicating that the protein would have a possible cation binding site. The NMR resonances of several amino acids within the acidic binding pocket in MTH1880, shifted upon addition of calcium ion. This calcium binding motif and overall topology of MTH1880 differ from those of other calcium binding proteins. MTH1880 did not show a calcium-induced conformational change typical of calcium sensor proteins. Therefore, we propose that the MTH1880 protein contains a novel motif for calcium-specific binding, and may function as a calcium buffering protein.

Amino Acid Motifs↗

Solution structure of the hypothetical protein Mth677 from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum: a novel alpha+beta fold.

The structure of Mth677, a hypothetical protein from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (Mth), has been determined by using heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods on a double-labeled (15)N-(13)C sample. Mth677 adopts a novel alpha+beta fold, consisting of two alpha-helices (one N terminal and one C terminal) packed on the same side of a central beta-hairpin. This structure is likely shared by its three orthologs, detected in three other Archaebacteria. There are no clear features in the sequences of these proteins or in the genome organization of Mth to make a reliable functional assignment to this protein. However, the structural similarity to Escherichia coli MinE, the protein which controls that division occurs at the midcell site, lends support to the proposal that Mth677 might be, in Mth, the counterpart of the topological specificity domain of MinE in E. coli.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Structural similarity of YbeD protein from Escherichia coli to allosteric regulatory domains.

Lipoic acid is an essential prosthetic group in several metabolic pathways. The biosynthetic pathway of protein lipoylation in Escherichia coli involves gene products of the lip operon. YbeD is a conserved bacterial protein located in the dacA-lipB intergenic region. Here, we report the nuclear magnetic resonance structure of YbeD from E. coli. The structure includes a beta alpha beta beta alpha beta fold with two alpha-helices on one side of a four-strand antiparallel beta-sheet. The beta 2-beta 3 loop shows the highest sequence conservation and is likely functionally important. The beta-sheet surface contains a patch of conserved hydrophobic residues, suggesting a role in protein-protein interactions. YbeD shows striking structural homology to the regulatory domain from d-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, hinting at a role in the allosteric regulation of lipoic acid biosynthesis or the glycine cleavage system.

Allosteric Regulation↗

Strategies for structural proteomics of prokaryotes: Quantifying the advantages of studying orthologous proteins and of using both NMR and X-ray crystallography approaches.

Only about half of non-membrane-bound proteins encoded by either bacterial or archaeal genomes are soluble when expressed in Escherichia coli (Yee et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2002;99:1825-1830; Christendat et al., Prog Biophys Mol Biol 200;73:339-345). This property limits genome-scale functional and structural proteomics studies, which depend on having a recombinant, soluble version of each protein. An emerging strategy to increase the probability of deriving a soluble derivative of a protein is to study different sequence homologues of the same protein, including representatives from thermophilic organisms, based on the assumption that the stability of these proteins will facilitate structural analysis. To estimate the relative merits of this strategy, we compared the recombinant expression, solubility, and suitability for structural analysis by NMR and/or X-ray crystallography for 68 pairs of homologous proteins from E. coli and Thermotoga maritima. A sample suitable for structural studies was obtained for 62 of the 68 pairs of homologs under standardized growth and purification procedures. Fourteen (eight E. coli and six T. maritima proteins) samples generated NMR spectra of a quality suitable for structure determination and 30 (14 E. coli and 16 T. maritima proteins) samples formed crystals. Only three (one E. coli and two T. maritima proteins) samples both crystallized and had excellent NMR properties. The conclusions from this work are: (1) The inclusion of even a single ortholog of a target protein increases the number of samples for structural studies almost twofold; (2) there was no clear advantage to the use of thermophilic proteins to generate samples for structural studies; and (3) for the small proteins analyzed here, the use of both NMR and crystallography approaches almost doubled the number of samples for structural studies.

Archaeal Proteins↗

Structural proteomics: toward high-throughput structural biology as a tool in functional genomics.

Structural proteomics is the determination of atomic resolution three-dimensional protein structures on a genome-wide scale in order to better understand the relationship between protein sequence, structure, and function. Here we describe our ongoing structural proteomics project on the nonmembrane proteins of the archeaon, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. This article provides a snapshot of an ongoing pilot project in an emerging area of multidisciplinary research that involves bioinformatics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and instrumental methods such as NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. An assessment of the technical challenges in this type of large-scale project along with a comparison of the efficiency of sample production for both X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy will be discussed. Examples of new insights into protein function and the relationship between structure and sequence will also be presented.

Bacterial Proteins↗

1H(C) and 1H(N) total NOE correlations in a single 3D NMR experiment. 15N and 13C time-sharing in t1 and t2 dimensions for simultaneous data acquisition.

Simultaneous data acquisition in time-sharing (TS) multi-dimensional NMR experiments has been shown an effective means to reduce experimental time, and thus to accelerate structure determination of proteins. This has been accomplished by spin evolution time-sharing of the X and Y heteronuclei, such as (15)N and (13)C, in one of the time dimensions. In this work, we report a new 3D TS experiment, which allows simultaneous (13)C and (15)N spin labeling coherence in both t(1) and t(2) dimensions to give four NOESY spectra in a single 3D experiment. These spectra represent total NOE correlations between (1)H(N) and (1)H(C) resonances. This strategy of double time-sharing (2TS) results in an overall four-fold reduction in experimental time compared with its conventional counterpart. This 3D 2TS CN-CN-H HSQC-NOESY-HSQC pulse sequence also demonstrates improvements in water suppression, (15)N spectral resolution and sensitivity, which were developed based on 2D TS CN-H HSQC and 3D TS H-CN-H NOESY-HSQC experiments. Combining the 3D TS and the 3D 2TS NOESY experiments, NOE assignment ambiguities and errors are considerably reduced. These results will be useful for rapid protein structure determination to complement the effort of discerning the functions of diverse genomic proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A novel member of the split betaalphabeta fold: Solution structure of the hypothetical protein YML108W from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

As part of the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium pilot project focused on small eukaryotic proteins and protein domains, we have determined the NMR structure of the protein encoded by ORF YML108W from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. YML108W belongs to one of the numerous structural proteomics targets whose biological function is unknown. Moreover, this protein does not have sequence similarity to any other protein. The NMR structure of YML108W consists of a four-stranded beta-sheet with strand order 2143 and two alpha-helices, with an overall topology of betabetaalphabetabetaalpha. Strand beta1 runs parallel to beta4, and beta2:beta1 and beta4:beta3 pairs are arranged in an antiparallel fashion. Although this fold belongs to the split betaalphabeta family, it appears to be unique among this family; it is a novel arrangement of secondary structure, thereby expanding the universe of protein folds.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular↗

Solution structure of ribosomal protein S28E from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum.

The ribosomal protein S28E from the archaeon Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum is a component of the 30S ribosomal subunit. Sequence homologs of S28E are found only in archaea and eukaryotes. Here we report the three-dimensional solution structure of S28E by NMR spectroscopy. S28E contains a globular region and a long C-terminal tail protruding from the core. The globular region consists of four antiparallel beta-strands that are arranged in a Greek-key topology. Unique features of S28E include an extended loop L2-3 that folds back onto the protein and a 12-residue charged C-terminal tail with no regular secondary structure and greater flexibility relative to the rest of the protein. The structural and surface resemblance to OB-fold family of proteins and the presence of highly conserved basic residues suggest that S28E may bind to RNA. A broad positively charged surface extending over one side of the beta-barrel and into the flexible C terminus may present a putative binding site for RNA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identification of a novel archaebacterial thioredoxin: determination of function through structure.

As part of a high-throughput, structural proteomic project we have used NMR spectroscopy to determine the solution structure and ascertain the function of a previously unknown, conserved protein (MtH895) from the thermophilic archeon Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. Our findings indicate that MtH895 contains a central four-stranded beta-sheet core surrounded by two helices on one side and a third on the other. It has an overall fold superficially similar to that of a glutaredoxin. However, detailed analysis of its three-dimensional structure along with molecular docking simulations of its interaction with T7 DNA polymerase (a thioredoxin-specific substrate) and comparisons with other known members of the thioredoxin/glutaredoxin family of proteins strongly suggest that MtH895 is more akin to a thioredoxin. Furthermore, measurement of the pK(a) values of its active site thiols along with direct measurements of the thioredoxin/glutaredoxin activity has confirmed that MtH895 is, indeed, a thioredoxin and exhibits no glutaredoxin activity. We have also identified a group of previously unknown proteins from several other archaebacteria that have significant (34-44%) sequence identity with MtH895. These proteins have unusual active site -CXXC- motifs not found in any known thioredoxin or glutaredoxin. On the basis of the results presented here, we predict that these small proteins are all members of a new class of truncated thioredoxins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

An NMR approach to structural proteomics.

The influx of genomic sequence information has led to the concept of structural proteomics, the determination of protein structures on a genome-wide scale. Here we describe an approach to structural proteomics of small proteins using NMR spectroscopy. Over 500 small proteins from several organisms were cloned, expressed, purified, and evaluated by NMR. Although there was variability among proteomes, overall 20% of these proteins were found to be readily amenable to NMR structure determination. NMR sample preparation was centralized in one facility, and a distributive approach was used for NMR data collection and analysis. Twelve structures are reported here as part of this approach, which allowed us to infer putative functions for several conserved hypothetical proteins.

Bacterial Proteins↗