Evolutionary relationships within the family of P-type cation pumps.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N M Green.
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Over forty sequences of P-type ion pumps have been determined. They fall into five families showing between 20% and 50% identity in sequence. The conserved residues are concentrated in several regions which are found in all the pumps. All the defined functional sites are associated with conserved segments and provide a basis for subdivision into domains, to which tentative secondary and tertiary structures can be assigned. The domains have been assembled into a structure consisting of a conserved core with variable loops and deletions on the surface, which accommodates site mutants, affinity labels and known epitopes. This model has been correlated with the results of an electron crystallographic study of the Ca++ pump. Two types of crystal have been examined in negative stain and in amorphous ice; thin plates which diffract to 4A and long helical tubes which diffract to 15A. The plates have given a 6A projection map, some of which can be interpreted by difference from the map of the negatively stained crystal, as transmembrane helices. Three dimensional interpretation will require a tilt series. In the meantime, analysis of the tubes has given a 14A 3D map which clearly defines the cytoplasmic domains and their relation to the transmembrane region (Stokes and Toyoshima in preparation). Although it is not yet possible to assign specific functions to the cytoplasmic lobes, the structure at this resolution is consistent with the model.
The proteins of sarcoplasmic reticulum were cross-linked by rapid oxidation of thiol groups with I2. About two-thirds of the thiols were oxidized without any significant cross-linking, implying an extensive formation of intramolecular disulphide bonds. When the thiols were completely oxidized at room temperature a series of oligomers containing up to five molecules were observed, as well as large aggregates which were excluded from the gels. Complete oxidation at -10 degrees C left most of the ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) as monomer. Similar results were obtained when copper-phenanthroline complexes or dimethyl suberimidate were used as cross-linking reagents. We conclude that most of the cross-linked species arise by linking of randomly colliding ATPase molecules which are present in the membrane at very high concentration.
Two lysine residues of bovine serum albumin reacted with 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene with apparent second-order rate constants approx. 500-times greater than those observed in similar reactions with low-molecular-weight lysine derivatives. A series of dinitrophenyl (Dnp)-bovine serum albumins were prepared and their ability to bind univalent fragments of anti-Dnp antibody was measured by fluorescence-quenching titrations. Compared with the Dnp group of the free hapten, 6-N-Dnp-aminohexanoate, the majority of the protein-bound Dnp groups were unavailable to the antibody at pH8.0. When the same Dnp-albumins were titrated at pH3.0 the availability of the Dnp groups increased approx. 3-fold. Dnp-albumins were treated with pepsin at pH3.0 and Dnp-containing fragments isolated by chromatography on DE-52 DEAE-cellulose. Fluorescence-quenching titrations showed that the Dnp groups on the fragments behaved like the free hapten with respect to quenching efficiency, although with an increased dissociation constant. The association between the Dnp-albumins and the antibody was measured also by difference-spectral titrations at high protein concentrations. Antibody binding was increased under these conditions, but the Dnp group of mono-Dnp-albumin remained unavailable to antibody. We propose that the reactive lysine residues are located in clefts between the globular sub-domains of the single polypeptide chain. Dnp groups attached to these lysine residues are fully exposed to the solvent, but binding of the macromolecular probe, anti-Dnp antibody, is sterically hindered by the adjacent surface of the albumin molecule.
A preliminary investigation of the primary structure of the Ca(2+-transporting ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) protein of rabbit skeletal-muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum is reported. The preparation of derivatives of delipidated protein in a form suitable for sequence analysis is described. Tryptic peptides containing S-carboxymethylcysteine residues were isolated from the reduced carboxymethylated protein, and their sequences were partially determined. The results are consistent with mol.wt. about 105000 for the polypeptide, and the absence of extended repeated lengths of sequence. The distribution of tryptophan and cysteine residues between large, aggregated peptides and soluble tryptic peptides shows that these residues are concentrated in different regions of the primary structure. This observation agrees with other evidence that these residues are, on the whole, widely separated in the native protein. The details of the procedures used to isolate the peptides, and the evidence for the determination of their sequences, are given Supplementary Publication SUP 50085 (30 pages), which has been deposited at the British Library Lending Division, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem.J. (1978) 169, 5.
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The ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) from sarcoplasmic reticulum contains 20 thiol groups/115000 daltons, measured by using either N-ethyl[(14)C]maleimide or 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate) in sodium dodecyl sulphate. After reduction there were 26 thiol groups, in good agreement with 26.5 residues of cysteic acid found by amino acid analysis. The difference between this and the 20 residues measured before reduction implies the presence of three disulphide residues. The same number of disulphide residues was found by direct measurement. Three to six fewer thiol groups were found in preparations made in the absence of dithiothreitol. The missing residues were accounted for as cysteic acid. The distribution of disulphide bonds and of exposed and buried thiol groups among the tryptic fragments of the molecule was measured after labelling with N-ethyl[(14)C]-maleimide. The disulphides were confined to fragment B (mol.wt. 55000), whereas several thiol groups were present on each of the fragments (A, B, A(1) and A(2)). The kinetics of the reaction of the ATPase with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate) showed that four or five of the thiol groups were unreactive in the absence of detergent and that 13 of the remainder reacted with a single first-order rate constant. In the presence of ATP and Ca(2+) the reaction rate of all but two groups of this class was uniformly decreased. In the presence or absence of ATP and Ca(2+) the rate constant for inactivation was close to the rate constant for this class, but was not identical with it. No selective protection of a specific active-site-thiol group was observed. Parallel experiments with sarcoplasmic reticulum gave similar results, except that the reaction rates were a little lower and there were two more buried groups. Solution of ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum in detergent greatly increased the reactivity of all thiol groups. The effects of low concentrations of deoxycholate were reversible. EGTA or low concentrations (0.02mm) of Ca(2+) of Mg(2+) had very little effect on the reactivity.
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The methods of Chou & Fasman [Biochemistry (1974) 13, 211-222, 222-245] and of Lim [J. Mol. Biol. (1974)88, 857-872, 873-894] for predicting secondary structure from amino acid sequence have been applied to five predominantly helical membrane-associated peptides. The predictions from the method of Lim (1974a,b) are consistent with the experimental observations, whereas those from Chou & Fasman (1974a,b), although not inconsistent with alpha-helix, favour a beta-structure for several very hydrophobic regions. The results may be rationalized in terms of the effect of the solvent on the conformation of a polypeptide.
A series of N-(N-dinitrophenylaminoalkyl)maleimides were sythesized with alkyl-chain lengths of two, four and six carbon atoms. When these compounds reacted with the thiol group of mercaptalbumin, the tryptophan fluorescence of the protein was quenched. This change in fluorescence was used to determine the rate of reaction of the Dnp (dinitrophenyl)-maleimides with mercaptalbumin. The second-order rate constants were similar to those observed in reactions between low-molecular-weight thiol compounds and maleimides. When N-(N-Dnp-aminoalkyl)succinimidomercaptalbumins were added to univalent fragments of anti-Dnp antibody the antibody fluorescence was quenched. Florescence-quenching titrations showed that the protein-bound Dnp groups were fully available to the antibody even when the alkyl chain was short. The apparent dissociation constants were significantly greater than that of the interaction between anti-Dnp antibody and the free hapten, 6-(N-Dnp)-aminohexanoate. The antibody fluorescence was quenched efficienty by [dnp-Lys41]ribonuclease A, also with an increased dissociation constant. It could be concluded from the increase in dissociation constant that the Dnp group spent no more than 0.1% of its time in the dissociated state, available to antibody. The second-order rate constants for the association between the Dnp-mercaptablumins and the antibody were determined and were similar in magnitude to those observed in other interactions between protein and anti-protein antibody.
Many aspects of cell behaviour are regulated by the interaction of extracellular ligands with specific receptors exposed on the cell surface. The receptors correspond to membrane proteins and expecially glycoproteins. A key event in regulation is the transmission across the surface membrane of the information resulting from receptor-ligand interaction. The activation of lymphocytes by Phaseolus vulgaris phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) provides a convenient experimental model for the study of the molecular basis of receptor-ligand interaction and the molecular consequences of interaction. The receptor mediating lymphocyte activation by PHA is probably a unique glycoprotein which is present to the extent of about 3 X 10(4) molecules/cell. The PHA-receptor complex solubilized in 1% sodium deoxycholate has a molecular size of about 3 X 10(5). The primary event in the activation process is probably an increase in the permeability of the surface membrane to Ca2+. This may be achieved by PHA cross-linking ('patching') the receptors to form a polar channel that permits an influx of Ca2+.
The two halves of the ATPase, M, 115,000, from sarcoplasmic reticulum produ-ed by limited trypsin treatment have been purified in sodium dodecylsulphate. The fragment of Mr60,000 has been purified by electrophoresis on cellulose acetate slabs and that of Mr 55,000 by gel filtration. The two halves of the 60,000 Mr fragment (Mr33,000 and 24,000) produced by more extensive trypsin treatment have also been purified by gel filtration in sodium dodecylsulphate. The sum of the amino acid analyses of the constituent tryptic fragments is in good agreement with that for the whole ATPase. The amino acid compositions of the two halves of the ATPase were strikingly similar. N-terminal analysis shows that the ATPase and its constituent tryptic polypeptides all possess a single N-terminal alanine implying no further cleavage of the polypeptide by trypsin. Attempts to solubilize selectively the tryptic fragments from the membrane by a variety of denaturing and solubilising agents under a variety of conditions have proved unsuccessful, suggesting that the interaction between the tryptic polypeptides is stronger than between the lipid and the protein. The possibility that the interaction between the tryptic polypeptides includes disulphide bonding has been eliminated.
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