Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F J Stevens.
Dysfunctional immunoglobulins (Igs) that are prone to aggregation are unavoidably generated by the diverse repertoire of B cells. Here, Fred Stevens and Yair Argon analyse the patterns of mutations that lead to pathological Igs, account for non-random mutations in human Ig sequences and suggest the exertion of selective forces, which contribute to determining and limiting the Ig repertoire.
Plasma cell dyscrasias may be responsible for Fanconi's syndrome, due to the toxicity of a free monoclonal kappa light chain toward kidney proximal tubules. Eight cases of Fanconi's syndrome were analyzed. We compared the structures of VkappaI variability subgroup V domains from five cases of Fanconi's syndrome and one myeloma without renal involvement. Among Fanconi cases, four putative structures were obtained after molecular modeling by homology, and the other had previously been refined by X-ray crystallography. The complete sequences of one VkappaI, one VkappaIII and N-terminal sequences of two VkappaI light chains, from patients with different forms of Fanconi's syndrome, were compared with four previously studied sequences. All three kappa chains responsible for a 'classical' form with intralysosomal crystals and a low mass myeloma, were encoded by the LCO2/O12 germline gene and had an unusual non-polar residue exposed to the solvent in the CDR-L1 loop. Of both VkappaI light chains from patients with Fanconi's syndrome without intracellular crystals, one derived from LCO2/O12 and the other from LCO8/O18 gene. Another feature that could be related to non-crystallization was the absence of accessible side chains in the CDR-L3 loop which is known to be implicated in dimer formation.
The most common form of systemic amyloidosis originates from antibody light chains. The large number of amino acid variations that distinguish amyloidogenic from nonamyloidogenic light chain proteins has impeded our understanding of the structural basis of light-chain fibril formation. Moreover, even among the subset of human light chains that are amyloidogenic, many primary structure differences are found. We compared the thermodynamic stabilities of two recombinant kappa4 light-chain variable domains (V(L)s) derived from amyloidogenic light chains with a V(L) from a benign light chain. The amyloidogenic V(L)s were significantly less stable than the benign V(L). Furthermore, only the amyloidogenic V(L)s formed fibrils under native conditions in an in vitro fibril formation assay. We used site-directed mutagenesis to examine the consequences of individual amino acid substitutions found in the amyloidogenic V(L)s on stability and fibril formation capability. Both stabilizing and destabilizing mutations were found; however, only destabilizing mutations induced fibril formation in vitro. We found that fibril formation by the benign V(L) could be induced by low concentrations of a denaturant. This indicates that there are no structural or sequence-specific features of the benign V(L) that are incompatible with fibril formation, other than its greater stability. These studies demonstrate that the V(L) beta-domain structure is vulnerable to destabilizing mutations at a number of sites, including complementarity determining regions (CDRs), and that loss of variable domain stability is a major driving force in fibril formation.
AL amyloidosis is a disease process characterized by the pathologic deposition of monoclonal light chains in tissue. To date, only limited information has been obtained on the molecular features that render such light chains amyloidogenic. Although protein products of the major human V kappa and V lambda gene families have been identified in AL deposits, one particular subgroup--lambda 6--has been found to be preferentially associated with this disease. Notably, the variable region of lambda 6 proteins (V lambda 6) has distinctive primary structural features including the presence in the third framework region (FR3) of two additional amino acid residues that distinguish members of this subgroup from other types of light chains. However, the structural consequences of these alterations have not been elucidated. To determine if lambda 6 proteins possess unique tertiary structural features, as compared to light chains of other V lambda subgroups, we have obtained x-ray diffraction data on crystals prepared from two recombinant V lambda 6 molecules. These components, isolated from a bacterial expression system, were generated from lambda 6-related cDNAs cloned from bone marrow-derived plasma cells from a patient (Wil) who had documented AL amyloidosis and another (Jto) with multiple myeloma and tubular cast nephropathy, but no evident fibrillar deposits. The x-ray crystallographic analyses revealed that the two-residue insertion located between positions 68 and 69 (not between 66 and 67 as previously surmised) extended an existing loop region that effectively increased the surface area adjacent to the first complementarity determining region (CDR1). Further, an unusual interaction between the Arg 25 and Phe 2 residues commonly found in lambda 6 molecules was noted. However, the structures of V lambda 6 Wil and Jto also differed from each other, as evidenced by the presence in the latter of certain ionic and hydrophobic interactions that we posit increased protein stability and thus prevented amyloid formation.
BACKGROUND: The self-assembly properties of beta domains are important features of diverse classes of proteins that include cell-adhesion molecules, surface receptors and the immunoglobulin superfamily. Immunoglobulin light-chain variable domains are well suited to the study of structural factors that determine dimerization, including how residues at the interface influence the preferred dimer arrangement. RESULTS: Single-site mutants of light-chain variable domain Len, designated LenQ38E and LenK30T, formed 'flipped' dimers in which one domain was rotated by about 180 degrees compared with the native protein. The dimer in the native protein is similar to that found between variable domains in Fab immunoglobulin fragments. When compared to the native dimer, more surface area is buried, and more hydrogen bonds and salt bridges are formed between the monomers in the flipped conformation. CONCLUSIONS: Immunoglobulin light-chain variable domains can form a minimum of two distinct quaternary structures. Single-site mutations resulting from changes of one base, such as the exchange of Gln38 to Glu or Lys30 to Thr, change the 'conventional' dimer of protein Len to a flipped arrangement. Native Len is not found in the flipped-domain dimer conformation because it would have excess positive electrostatic potential at the dimer interface that is not compensated by other forces. Excess negative or positive electrostatic potential at the dimer interface can have a determining effect on the mode of dimerization.
The simulated structures of the enolases of Arabidopsis and the common ice plant contain a pair of Cys residues in the correct orientation to form a disulphide bond. Formation of this disulphide might be expected to affect the positioning of several residues in the active site. The enzyme in crude extracts of these two plants is activated by oxidation. Apparently formation of the disulphide crosslink enhances catalysis. The enolases from tomato leaves, maize roots and castor bean embryos lack one of these Cys residues and are not redox sensitive. It seems possible that enolase is redox-regulated by a cytosolic thioredoxin system in a limited number of plant species including ice plant and Arabidopsis.
The formation of the antibody variable domain binding unit (Fv) is the net result of three competing assembly reactions. The affinities of concurrent homologous interactions of heavy and light chain variable domains limits the heterologous interaction leading to productive formation of the Fv. To address the possible role of light chain dimerization in this phenomenon, the Gln38 residue at the dimer interface of an immunoglobulin light chain variable domain (VL) was replaced by charged amino acids. The effects of these mutations on VL homodimer formation were monitored by small-zone size exclusion HPLC and the affinities of interaction were determined by computer simulation. Reduced VL homodimerization was observed in three of the four mutants, Q38R, Q38D and Q38K. The association constants for the Q38R and Q38D homodimers were 1.2 x 10(4) and 3.2 x 10(3) M(-1), respectively. This corresponded to a 20-75-fold reduction in the homodimer association constant relative to the wild-type VL, which had an association constant of 2.4 x 10(5) M(-1). Surprisingly, the fourth charge mutant, Q38E, had a higher association constant than the wild-type VL. The potential for charged residues to facilitate heterodimeric assembly of immunoglobulin domains was also tested. Heterodimerization was observed between the Q38D and Q38R V(L)s, but with an association constant of 4.7 x 10(4) M(-1), approximately fivefold lower than that obtained for homodimerization of the native V(L). In addition, replacement of the neutral, solvent-accessible Gln38 residue with either Asp or Arg was found to be significantly destabilizing. These results suggest that charged residues could be introduced at immunoglobulin domain interfaces to guide heterodimer formation and to minimize unfavorable competing homologous associations. Nonetheless, these apparently simple modifications may also result in unintended consequences that are likely to depend upon structural features of particular variable domains.
Amyloidosis is a pathological process in which normally soluble proteins polymerize to form insoluble fibrils (amyloid). Amyloid formation is found in a number of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, adult-onset diabetes, and light-chain-associated amyloidosis. No pharmaceutical methods currently exist to prevent this process or to remove the fibrils from tissue. The search for treatment and prevention methods is hampered by a limited understanding of the biophysical basis of amyloid formation. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are long, unbranched heteropolysaccharides composed of repeating disaccharide subunits and are known to associate with amyloid fibrils. The interaction of amyloid-associated free light chains with GAGs was tested by both size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis experiments. The results indicated that heparin 16 000 and chondroitin sulfate B and C precipitated both human intact light chains and recombinant light chain variable domains. Although all light chains interacted with heparin, the strongest interactions were obtained with proteins that had formed amyloid. Molecular modeling indicated the possibility of interaction between heparin and the conserved saddlelike surface of the light chain dimer opposite the complementarity-determining segments that form part of the antigen-binding site of a functional antibody. This suggestion might offer a new path to block the aggregation of amyloid-associated light chain proteins, by design of antagonists based on properties of GAG binding. A hexasaccharide was modeled as the basis for a possible antagonist.
Antibody light chains of the kappa subgroup are the predominant light chain component in human immune responses and are used almost exclusively in the antibody repertoire of mice. Human kappa light chains comprise four subgroups. To date, all crystallographic studies of human kappa light chains were carried out on proteins of the kappaI subgroup. The light chain produced by multiple myeloma patient Len. was of the kappaIV subgroup, it differed by only one residue from the germ-line gene encoded protein. The variable domain fragment of the light chain was crystallized from ammonium sulfate in space group C222(1). The crystal structure was determined by molecular replacement and refined at 1.95 A resolution to an R-factor of 0.15. Protein Len has six additional residues in its CDR1 segment compared to the kappaI proteins previously characterized. The kappaIV variable domain, Len, differs in only 23 of 113 residues from murine kappa light chain McPC603. The RMS deviation upon superimposing their alpha-carbons was 0.69 A. The CDR1 segment of the human and murine variable domains have the same length and conformation although their amino acid sequences differ in 5 out of 17 residues. Structural features were identified that could account for the significantly higher stability of the human kappaIV protein relative to its murine counterpart. This human kappaIV light chain structure is the closest human homolog to a murine light chain and can be expected to facilitate detailed structural comparisons necessary for effective humanization of murine antibodies.
Light chain deposition disease is a severe complication of certain immunoproliferative disorders, due to the secretion of a monoclonal light chain which precipitates close to basement membranes of several tissues. A kappa isotype restriction and an unusual frequency of a variable region subgroup (VkappaIV) suggest that precise structural features govern the propensity of pathogenic light chains to precipitate in extracellular spaces. We studied primary structures of light chains from six patients with light chain deposition disease in comparison with light chains from other pathological conditions. Sequence alignment revealed the presence of certain amino acids only in light chain deposition disease, in particular non-polar replacing hydrophilic residues. To determine the role of these residues, structures of the variable domain from four kappa chains belonging to VkappaI and VkappaIV subgroups responsible for deposition disease were modeled using known immunoglobulins as templates. The most evident structural features shared by all pathogenic light chains were hydrophobic residues exposed to the solvent in complementarity determining regions 1 or 3. In contrast to immunoglobulin light chain-related amyloidosis, where deposition of organized material might be due to electrostatic interactions between light chain dimers, hydrophobic interactions could enhance amorphous precipitation in non-amyloid light chain deposition disease.
The structure of a multisubunit protein (immunoglobulin light chain) was solved in three crystal forms, differing only in the solvent of crystallization. The three structures were obtained at high ionic strength and low pH, high ionic strength and high pH, and low ionic strength and neutral pH. The three resulting "snapshots" of possible structures show that their variable-domain interactions differ, reflecting their stabilities under specific solvent conditions. In the three crystal forms, the variable domains had different rotational and translational relationships, whereas no alteration of the constant domains was found. The critical residues involved in the observed effect of the solvent are tryptophans and histidines located between the two variable domains in the dimeric structure. Tryptophan residues are commonly found in interfaces between proteins and their subunits, and histidines have been implicated in pH-dependent conformation changes. The quaternary structure observed for a multisubunit protein or protein complex in a crystal may be influenced by the interactions of the constituents within the molecule or complex and/or by crystal packing interactions. The comparison of buried surface areas and hydrogen bonds between the domains forming the molecule and between the molecules forming the crystals suggest that, for this system, the interactions within the molecule are most likely the determining factors.
Chronically ill elderly clients in three communities in the Netherlands were provided with the services of care coordinators. Two studies were performed to evaluate the effects of this intervention. A study among 38 coordinators addressed the effects on the continuity of care. A second study among 72 elderly clients addressed the effects on client satisfaction. While the study among coordinators clearly revealed effects on continuity (especially for interpersonal continuity), hardly any effects on satisfaction with care were reported by clients. Therefore, the appointment of care coordinators seems valuable when aimed at increasing continuity, but other interventions can be more appropriate for the improvement of client care.
In the stimulated three-dimensional structure of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii sedoheptulose bisphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.37) there are two cysteine residues close enough to one another to form a redox-sensitive disulfide bond which would cross-link the nucleotide and carbon substrate domains. Examination of the redox modulation of this sedoheptulose bisphosphatase confirms that it resembles the higher plant enzyme in being activated by reduction. In the wheat and Arabidopsis enzymes, for which there is sequence information and which, like the Chlamydomonas enzyme, can be modeled, both redox-sensitive Cys residues appear to be located on the regulatory nucleotide-binding domain. Apparently different Cys residues are involved in modulation in the algal and higher plant sedoheptulose bisphosphatases.
Cardiomyopathy due to monoclonal light chain deposits is a complication of plasma cell disorders. The deposits may be either fibrillar as in light chain amyloid or nonfibrillar as in light chain deposition disease. The reasons for these structural differences are still unknown. We characterized the myocardial deposits by immunohistochemical examination of sections and extraction and biochemical analysis of the tissue deposits in a patient (MCM) who died of myeloma and systemic light chain deposition disease. Amino acid sequence analysis of the extracted nonfibrillar MCM kappa-light chain reveals that it belongs to the L12a germline subset of the kappa(I) protein and contains five distinctive amino acid substitutions (three in the framework region III and two in the complementarity-determining region III) that have not been reported previously in the same positions in other kappa(I) light chains. The theoretically determined isoelectric point (pI 8.21) of the MCM light chain is high compared with the low isoelectric point of other Bence Jones proteins from subjects without light chain deposition disease. The diffuse binding to basement membranes and the high isoelectric point of the MCM kappa-light chain suggest electrostatic interaction as a possible mechanism of tissue deposition. The spatial locations of the five distinctive residues and a sixth rare substitution of the MCM protein modeled on the backbone structure of REI, a kappa(I)-soluble Bence Jones light chain of known three-dimensional structure, may be responsible for protein destabilization, partial unfolding, and aggregation leading to tissue deposition.
Malate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase are members of the structurally and functionally homologous family of 2-ketoacid dehydrogenases. Both enzymes display high specificity for their respective keto substrates, oxaloacetate and pyruvate. Closer analysis of their specificity, however, reveals that the specificity of malate dehydrogenase is much stricter and less malleable than that of lactate dehydrogenase. Site-specific mutagenesis of the two enzymes in an attempt to reverse their specificity has met with contrary results. Conversion of a specific active-site glutamine to arginine in lactate dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus generated an enzyme that displayed activity toward oxaloacetate equal to that of the native enzyme toward pyruvate (H. M. Wilks et al. (1988) Science 242, 1541-1544). We have constructed a series of mutants in the mobile, active site loop of the Escherichia coli malate dehydrogenase that incorporate the complementary change, conversion of arginine 81 to glutamine, to evaluate the role of charge distribution and conformational flexibility within this loop in defining the substrate specificity of these enzymes. Mutants incorporating the change R81Q all had reversed specificity, displaying much higher activity toward pyruvate than to the natural substrate, oxaloacetate. In contrast to the mutated lactate dehydrogenase, these reversed-specificity mutants were much less active than the native enzyme. Secondary mutations within the loop of the E. coli enzyme (A80N, A80P, A80P/M85E/D86T) had either no or only moderately beneficial effects on the activity of the mutant enzyme toward pyruvate. The mutation A80P, which can be expected to reduce the overall flexibility of the loop, modestly improved activity toward pyruvate. The possible physiological relevance of the stringent specificity of malate dehydrogenase was investigated. In normal strains of E. coli, fermentative metabolism was not affected by expression of the mutant malate dehydrogenase. However, when expressed in a strain of E. coli unable to ferment glucose, the mutant enzyme restored growth and produced lactic acid as the sole fermentation product.
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Monoclonal human light chains, i.e. Bence Jones proteins, and their recombinant variable fragments (VL) were screened for proteolytic activity using peptide-methylcoumarinamide (peptide-MCA) conjugates and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) as substrates. Sixteen of 21 Bence Jones proteins and one of three VL fragments were capable of detectable cleavage of one or more substrates. The magnitude and kinetic characteristics of the activity varied with different substrates. Among the peptide-MCA substrates, the presence of tripeptide or tetrapeptide moieties with a basic residue at the scissile bond generally favored expression of the activity. The influence of N-terminal flanking residue recognition was evident from differing values of Km and kcat (turnover number) observed using different Arg-containing peptide-MCA substrates. Different light chains displayed different kinetic parameters for the same substrate, suggesting unique catalytic sites. Hydrolysis of VIP was characterized by nanomolar Michaelis-Menten constants (Km), suggesting comparatively high affinity recognition of this peptide. The 25-kDa monomer and the 50-kDa dimer forms of one light chain preparation were resolved by gel filtration in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride. Following renaturation, the monomer displayed 51-fold greater peptide-MCA-hydrolyzing activity than the dimer. A renatured VL domain prepared by gel filtration in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride displayed VIP-hydrolyzing activity in the 12.5-kDa peak fractions. These results provide evidence for the proteolytic activity of certain human light chains and imply that this phenomenon may have a pathophysiological significance.
Tertiary-structure modeling suggests the occurrence of disulfide bonds in the cytosolic form of fructose-bisphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.11) in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Redox modulation could then control the AMP sensitivity of fructosebisphosphatase in the cytosol, as suggested by the experiments of E. Khayat et al. (1993, Plant Physiol. 101, 57-64). Modeling also reveals two cysteine residues correctly positioned to form a disulfide bond and hence potentially redox-sensitive in the cytosolic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12) from the facultative crassulacean metabolism plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.