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B W Matthews

Publications and source records attributed to B W Matthews.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Structure of a thermostable disulfide-bridge mutant of phage T4 lysozyme shows that an engineered cross-link in a flexible region does not increase the rigidity of the folded protein.

A disulfide bond introduced between amino acid positions 9 and 164 in phage T4 lysozyme has been shown to significantly increase the stability of the enzyme toward thermal denaturation [Matsumura, M., Becktel, W.J., Levitt, M., & Matthews, B. W. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 6562-6566]. To elucidate the structural features of the engineered disulfide, the crystal structure of the disulfide mutant has been determined at 1.8-A resolution. Residue 9 lies in the N-terminal alpha-helix, while residue 164 is located at the extreme C terminus of T4 lysozyme, which is the most mobile part of the molecule. The refined structure shows that the formation of the disulfide bond is accompanied by relatively large (approximately 2.5 A) localized shifts in C-terminal main-chain atoms. Comparison of the geometry of the engineered disulfide with those of naturally observed disulfides in proteins shows that the engineered bridge adopts a left-handed spiral conformation with a typical set of dihedral angles and C alpha-C alpha distance. The geometry of the engineered disulfide suggests that it is slightly more strained than the disulfide of oxidized dithiothreitol but that the strain is within the range observed in naturally occurring disulfides. The wild-type and cross-linked lysozymes have very similar overall crystallographic temperature factors, indicating that the introduction of the disulfide bond does not impose rigidity on the folded protein structure. In particular, residues 162-164 retain high mobility in the mutant structure, consistent with the idea that stabilization of the protein is due to the effect of the disulfide cross-link on the unfolded rather than the folded state.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cross-Linking Reagents↗
PubMed1990

A mutant T4 lysozyme (Val 131----Ala) designed to increase thermostability by the reduction of strain within an alpha-helix.

An attempt has been made to identify residues in T4 phage lysozyme that may have strained conformations and, by appropriate site-directed replacements, to reduce this strain and thus increase the thermostability of the protein. Valine 131, within alpha-helix 126-134, was identified as a potential candidate. Its side-chain rotational angle, chi 1, differs by approximately 18 degrees from the low-energy trans configuration. In addition, it is largely solvent exposed, yet is held in a rigid conformation. The mutant protein with Val 131 replaced by alanine was constructed and found to have a melting temperature 0.9 degrees C higher than that of wild-type lysozyme at pH 2.8. As a control, the mutant Val 131----Thr was also constructed and its melting temperature was found to be marginally lower than wild type. High-resolution crystal structure determinations of the mutant lysozymes show that their structures are virtually identical with that of wild-type lysozyme, except for the Val----Ala or Val----Thr replacement. Analysis of the different structures suggests that the design of the Val----Ala substitution was, in principle, successful, although the apparent gain in stability caused by reduction in strain is modest and is somewhat offset by the loss of hydrophobic interactions and by entropic effects. The results also help to provide a structural rationalization for the experimental and empirical observations that alanine has a higher helix propensity than valine or threonine.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Protein-DNA conformational changes in the crystal structure of a lambda Cro-operator complex.

The structure of a complex of bacteriophage lambda Cro protein with a 17-base-pair operator has been determined at 3.9-A resolution. Isomorphous derivatives obtained by the synthesis of site-specific iodinated DNA oligomers were of critical importance in solving the structure. The crystal structure contains three independent Cro-operator complexes that have very similar, although not necessarily identical, conformations. In the complex, the protein dimer undergoes a large conformational change relative to the crystal structure of the free protein. One monomer rotates by about 40 degrees relative to the other, this being accomplished primarily by a twisting of the two beta-sheet strands that connect one monomer with the other. In the complex, the DNA is bent by about 40 degrees into the shape of a boomerang but maintains essentially Watson-Crick B-form. In contrast to other known protein-DNA complexes, the DNA is not stacked end-to-end. The structure confirms the general features of the model previously proposed for the interaction of Cro with DNA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Substantial increase of protein stability by multiple disulphide bonds.

Disulphide bonds can significantly stabilize the native structures of proteins. The effect is presumed to be due mainly to a decrease in the configurational chain entropy of the unfolded polypeptide. In phage T4 lysozyme, a disulphide-free enzyme, engineered disulphide mutants that crosslink residues 3-97, 9-164 and 21-142 are significantly more stable than the wild-type protein. To investigate the effect of multiple-disulphide bonds on protein stability, mutants were constructed in which two or three stabilizing disulphide bridges were combined in the same protein. Reversible thermal denaturation shows that the increase in melting temperature resulting from the individual disulphide bonds is approximately additive. The triple-disulphide variant unfolds at a temperature 23.4 degrees C higher than wild-type lysozyme. The results demonstrate that a combination of disulphide bonds, each of which contributes to stability, can achieve substantial overall improvement in the stability of a protein.

DNA Mutational Analysis↗
PubMed1989

Contributions of left-handed helical residues to the structure and stability of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme.

Non-glycine residues in proteins are rarely observed to have "left-handed helical" conformations. For glycine, however, this conformation is common. To determine the contributions of left-handed helical residues to the stability of a protein, two such residues in phage T4 lysozyme, Asn55 and Lys124, were replaced with glycine. The mutant proteins fold normally and are fully active, showing that left-handed non-glycine residues, although rare, do not have an indispensable role in the folding of the protein or in its activity. The thermodynamic stability of the Lys124 to Gly variant is essentially identical with that of wild-type lysozyme. The Asn55 to Gly mutant protein is marginally less stable (0.5 kcal/mol). These results indicate that the conformational energy of a glycine and a non-glycine residue in the left-handed helical conformation are very similar. This is consistent with some theoretical energy distributions, but is inconsistent with others, which suggest that replacements of the sort described here might increase the stability of the protein by up to 5 kcal/mol. Crystallographic analysis of the mutant proteins shows that the backbone conformation of the Lys124 to Gly variant is essentially identical with that of the wild-type structure. In the case of the Asn55 to Gly replacement, however, the (phi, psi) values of residue 55 change by about 20 degrees. This suggests that the energy minimum for left-handed glycine residues is not the same as that for non-glycine residues. This is strongly indicated also by a survey of accurately determined protein crystal structures, which suggests that the energy minimum for left-handed glycine residues is near (phi = 90 degrees, psi = 0 degrees), whereas that for non-glycine residues is close to (phi = 60 degrees, psi = 30 degrees). This apparent energy minimum for glycine is not clearly predicted by any of the theoretical (phi, psi) energy contour maps.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Structural studies of mutants of T4 lysozyme that alter hydrophobic stabilization.

Multiple replacements at amino acid position 3 of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme have shown that the conformational stability of the protein is directly governed by the hydrophobicity of the residue substituted (Matsumura, M., Becktel, W. J., and Matthews, B. W. (1988) Nature 334, 406-410). Of the 13 mutant lysozymes made by site-directed mutagenesis, two variants, one with valine (I3V) and the other with tyrosine (I3Y), were crystallized and their structures solved. In this report we describe the crystal structures of these variants at 1.7 A resolution. While the structure of the I3V mutant is essentially the same as that of wild-type lysozyme, the I3Y mutant has substantial changes in its structure. The most significant of these are that the side chain of the tyrosine is not accommodated within the interior of the protein and the amino-terminal polypeptide (residues 1-9) moves 0.6-1.1 A relative to the wild-type structure. Using coordinates based on the wild-type and available mutant structures, solvent accessible surface area of residue 3 as well as the adjacent 9 residues in the folded form were calculated. The free energy of stabilization based on the transfer of these residues from a fully extended form to the interior to the folded protein was found to correlate well with the protein stability determined by thermodynamic analysis. The enhanced thermostability of the variant Ile-3----Leu, relative to wild-type lysozyme, can also be rationalized by surface-area calculations based on a model-built structure. Noncrystallization of most lysozyme variants at position 3 appears to be due to disruption of intermolecular contacts in the crystal. The Ile-3----Val variant is closely isomorphous with wild-type and maintains the same crystal contacts. In the Ile-3----Tyr variant, however, a new set of contacts is made in which direct protein-protein hydrogen bonds are replaced by protein-water-protein hydrogen bonds as well as a novel hydrogen bond involving the phenolic hydroxyl of the substituted tyrosine.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Is gamma-chymotrypsin a tetrapeptide acyl-enzyme adduct of alpha-chymotrypsin?

Refinement of the structure of gamma-chymotrypsin based on X-ray crystallographic data to 1.6-A resolution has confirmed the overall conformation of the molecule as reported previously [Cohen, G. H., Silverton, E. W., & Davies, D. R. (1981) J. Mol. Biol. 148, 449-479]. In addition, the new refinement suggests that gamma-chymotrypsin, which is operationally defined by its crystalline habit, may not be the free enzyme but rather a complex, possibly an acyl-enzyme adduct, with the tetrapeptide Pro-Gly-Ala-Tyr (or a close homologue). The crystallographic refinement provides a detailed geometrical description of the enzyme-substrate-solvent interactions that occur in the presumptive adduct.

Chymotrypsin↗
PubMed1989

High-resolution structure of the temperature-sensitive mutant of phage lysozyme, Arg 96----His.

The structure of the temperature-sensitive mutant lysozyme of bacteriophage T4 in which arginine 96 is replaced by histidine has been determined crystallographically and refined to a residual of 17.6% at 1.9-A resolution. Overall, the three-dimensional structure of the mutant protein is extremely similar to that of wild type. There are local distortions in the mutant structure suggesting that the substituted His 96 residue is under strain. This appears to be one of the major reasons for the decreased thermostability. In wild-type lysozyme the guanidinium of Arg 96 is located at the carboxy terminus of alpha-helix 82-90 and makes a pair of hydrogen bonds to two of the carbonyl groups in the last turn of the helix. The loss of this "helix dipole" interaction also appears to contribute to the destabilization. The pKa* of His 96 in the mutant lysozyme has been determined by nuclear magnetic resonance and found to be 6.8 at 10 degrees C. This relatively normal value of the histidine pKa* suggests that the protonated and unprotonated forms of the imidazole ring are perturbed equally by the protein environment or, what is equivalent, the mutant lysozyme is equally stable with either histidine species.

Arginine↗
PubMed1989

Thiorphan and retro-thiorphan display equivalent interactions when bound to crystalline thermolysin.

The three-dimensional structures of (S)-thiorphan and (R)-retro-thiorphan bound to thermolysin have been determined crystallographically and refined to residuals of 0.183 and 0.187 at 1.7-A resolution. Thiorphan [N-[(S)-2-(mercaptomethyl)-1-oxo-3-phenylpropyl]glycine] [HSCH2CH(CH2C6H5)CONHC-H2COOH] and retro-thiorphan [[[(R)-1-(mercaptomethyl)-2-phenylethyl] amino]-3-oxopropanoic acid] [HSCH2CH(CH2C6H5)NHCOCH2COOH] are isomeric thiol-containing inhibitors of endopeptidase EC 24-11 (also called "enkephalinase"). The mode of binding of thiorphan to thermolysin is similar to that of (2-benzyl-3-mercaptopropanoyl)-L-alanylglycinamide [Monzingo, A.F., & Matthews, B.W. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 3390-3394] with the inhibitor sulfur atom coordinated to the active site zinc and the peptide portion forming substrate-like interactions with the enzyme. The isomeric inhibitor retro-thiorphan, which differs from thiorphan by the inversion of an amide bond, utilizes very similar interactions with enzyme. Despite the inversion of the -CO-NH- linkage the carbonyl oxygen and amide nitrogen display very similar hydrogen bonding, as anticipated by B.P. Roques et al. [(1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 3178-3182]. These results explain why thermolysin and possibly other zinc endopeptidases such as endopeptidase EC 24-11 fail to discriminate between these retro-inverso inhibitors.

Crystallization↗
PubMed1989

Control of enzyme activity by an engineered disulfide bond.

A novel approach to the control of enzyme catalysis is presented in which a disulfide bond engineered into the active-site cleft of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme is capable of switching the activity on and off. Two cysteines (Thr21----Cys and Thr142----Cys) were introduced by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis into the active-site cleft. These cysteines spontaneously formed a disulfide bond under oxidative conditions in vitro, and the catalytic activity of the oxidized (cross-linked) T4 lysozyme was completely lost. On exposure to reducing agent, however, the disulfide bond was rapidly broken, and the reduced (non-cross-linked) lysozyme was restored to full activity. Thus an enzyme has been engineered such that redox potential can be used to control catalytic activity.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1989

Crystallization of the bifunctional biotin operon repressor.

The bifunctional birA gene product, BirA, which represses the biotin biosynthetic bio operon and also activates biotin in Escherichia coli, has been crystallized. The crystals have the tetragonal space group P4(1)2(1)2, or its enantiomorph, with unit cell dimensions a = b = 114.0 A and c = 60.2 A and diffract to at least 2.3 A resolution. The crystal packing requires that the monomers of the birA protein be arranged as dimers with two-fold symmetry. BirA is the first protein to be crystallized that is both a transcriptional regulator and an enzyme.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1989

Structural basis of DNA-protein recognition.

Recent structure determinations of several repressor-operator complexes have shown how proteins can recognize specific binding sites on DNA. Although each of these repressor proteins belongs to the 'helix-turn-helix' class of DNA-binding proteins, they do not use a simple code for recognition.

DNA-Binding Proteins↗
PubMed1989

Stabilization of phage T4 lysozyme by engineered disulfide bonds.

Four different disulfide bridges (linking positions 9-164, 21-142, 90-122, and 127-154) were introduced into a cysteine-free phage T4 lysozyme at sites suggested by theoretical calculations and computer modeling. The new cysteines spontaneously formed disulfide bonds on exposure to air in vitro. In all cases the oxidized (crosslinked) lysozyme was more stable than the corresponding reduced (noncrosslinked) enzyme toward thermal denaturation. Relative to wild-type lysozyme, the melting temperatures of the 9-164 and 21-142 disulfide mutants were increased by 6.4 degrees C and 11.0 degrees C, whereas the other two mutants were either less stable or equally stable. Measurement of the equilibrium constants for the reduction of the engineered disulfide bonds by dithiothreitol indicates that the less thermostable mutants tend to have a less favorable crosslink in the native structure. The two disulfide bridges that are most effective in increasing the stability of T4 lysozyme have, in common, a large loop size and a location that includes a flexible part of the molecule. The results suggest that stabilization due to the effect of the crosslink on the entropy of the unfolded polypeptide is offset by the strain energy associated with formation of the disulfide bond in the folded protein. The design of disulfide bridges is discussed in terms of protein flexibility.

Disulfides↗
PubMed1989

Hydrophobic packing in T4 lysozyme probed by cavity-filling mutants.

To probe the nature of the hydrophobic cores of proteins and to test potential ways of increasing protein thermostability, an attempt was made to improve the packing within T4 bacteriophage lysozyme by engineered amino acid replacements. Two mutations, Leu-133----Phe and Ala-129----Val, which were designed to fill the largest cavities that exist in the folded structure of the native protein, were constructed. The mutant proteins have normal activities and their thermal stabilities are marginally lower than that of wild-type lysozyme. Crystal structure analysis of the mutant proteins shows that the introduced amino acids are accommodated with very little perturbation of the three-dimensional structure. Incorporation of the more bulky hydrophobic residues within the core of the protein is expected to provide an increase in hydrophobic stabilization, but this is seen to be offset by the introduction of strain. Inspection of the mutant structures shows that in each case the introduced amino acid side chain is forced to adopt a non-optimal dihedral angle X1. Strain is also observed in the form of bond angle distortion and in unfavorable van der Waals contacts. The results illustrate how the observed core structures of proteins represent a compromise between the hydrophobic effect, which will tend to maximize the core packing density, and the strain energy that would be incurred in eliminating all packing defects. The results also suggest that mutations designed to increase protein stability by filling existing cavities may be effective in some cases but are unlikely to provide a general method for increasing protein stability.

Alanine↗
PubMed1988

Enhanced protein thermostability from designed mutations that interact with alpha-helix dipoles.

Two different genetically engineered amino-acid substitutions designed to interact with alpha-helix dipoles in T4 lysozyme are shown to increase the thermal stability of the protein. Crystallographic analyses of the mutant lysozyme structures suggest that the stabilization is due to electrostatic interaction and does not require precise hydrogen bonding between the substituted amino acid and the end of the alpha-helix.

Aspartic Acid↗
PubMed1988

Crystallization of methionine aminopeptidase from Escherichia coli.

Crystals of methionine aminopeptidase from Escherichia coli have been obtained. The crystals are of space group P2(1) with unit cell dimensions a = 39.3 A, b = 62.6 A, c = 54.3 A, beta = 107.8 degrees and diffract to 2.1-A resolution. They contain one polypeptide chain in the asymmetric unit and are suitable for a high resolution crystallographic study.

Aminopeptidases↗
PubMed1988

The structure of rat mast cell protease II at 1.9-A resolution.

The structure of rat mast cell protease II (RMCP II), a serine protease with chymotrypsin-like primary specificity, has been determined to a nominal resolution of 1.9 A by single isomorphous replacement, molecular replacement, and restrained crystallographic refinement to a final R-factor of 0.191. There are two independent molecules of RMCP II in the asymmetric unit of the crystal. The rms deviation from ideal bond lengths is 0.016 A and from ideal bond angles is 2.7 degrees. The overall structure of RMCP II is extremely similar to that of chymotrypsin, but the largest differences between the two structures are clustered around the active-site region in a manner which suggests that the unusual substrate specificity of RMCP II is due to these changes. Unlike chymotrypsin, RMCP II has a deep cleft around the active site. An insertion of three residues between residues 35 and 41 of chymotrypsin, combined with concerted changes in sequence and a deletion near residue 61, allows residues 35-41 of RMCP II to adopt a conformation not seen in any other serine protease. Additionally, the loss of the disulfide bridge between residues 191 and 220 of chymotrypsin leads to the formation of an additional substrate binding pocket that we propose to interact with the P3 side chain of bound substrate. RMCP II is a member of a homologous subclass of serine proteases that are expressed by mast cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and cytotoxic T-cells. Thus, the structure of RMCP II forms a basis for an explanation of the unusual properties of other members of this class.

Amino Acid Sequence↗