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Assignment of the 600-MHz 1H-NMR spectrum of amicyanin from Thiobacillus versutus by two-dimensional NMR methods provides information on secondary structure.

The nearly complete assignment (pH 6.8; T 310 K) of the 1H-NMR spectrum of reduced amicyanin from Thiobacillus versutus is reported. Experimental evidence is presented, that the structure of the amicyanin contains two beta-sheets, a feature common to plastocyanins and azurins. The loops joining the beta-strands have also been identified. The loop F-G (Thr94-Phe98), together with the flanking residues Cys93 and Met99, comprises three of the four copper ligands and is short compared to similar loops in plastocyanin and azurin. His96 turns out to be the copper ligand that can be protonated. Amicyanin resembles plastocyanin in overall structure but differs from it on account of an N-terminal strand of 22 amino acids in front of strand A, shorter loops A-B, D-E and F-G and the absence of any alpha-helical segments.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Detection and distribution of aluminium in bone.

The distribution of aluminium has been investigated using a new histochemical technique in transiliac bone biopsy specimens from 20 patients with aluminium related bone disease and 17 with other metabolic bone diseases. The method, which employs solochrome azurine at acid pH (acid solochrome azurine), showed a wider distribution of aluminium within cortical and trabecular bone than other histochemical techniques. The results compared well with atomic absorption spectrophotometric analysis of these biopsy specimens. Wavelength dispersive electron probe analysis of serial sections validated the procedure. The method has certain advantages over both these analytical techniques.

Aluminum↗

The structural homology of amicyanin from Thiobacillus versutus to plant plastocyanins.

The complete amino acid sequence of the blue copper protein amicyanin of Thiobacillus versutus, induced when the bacterium is grown on methylamine, has been determined as follows: QDKITVTSEKPVAAADVPADAVVVGIEKMKYLTPEVTIKAGETVYWVNGEVMPHNVA FKKGIVGEDAFRGEMMTKDQAYAITFNEAGSYDYFCTPHPFMRGKVIVE. The four copper ligand residues in this 106-residue-containing polypeptide chain are His54, Cys93, His96, and Met99. The Thiobacillus amicyanin is 52% similar to the amicyanin of Pseudomonas AM1, the only other copper protein known with the same spacing between the second histidine ligand and the methionine ligand. T. versutus amicyanin contains no cysteine bridge and is more closely related to the plant copper protein plastocyanin than to the bacterial copper protein azurin. Alignment of the two known amicyanin sequences with the consensus sequence of the plastocyanins and comparison with the known three-dimensional structure of poplar leaves plastocyanin reveals that the bacterial proteins have the same overall structure with two beta-sheets packed face to face. The major structural differences between the amicyanins and the plastocyanins appear to be located in two of the five loops that connect the six identified beta-strands of the amicyanins. The first of these two loops, connecting strands F and G, contains a ligand histidine and must have a different conformation from the same loop in the plastocyanins because it is shorter by two amino acids. Further differences occur in the loop connecting the strands D and E. This loop contains only 17 residues in amicyanin whereas the corresponding loop of plastocyanin contains 25 residues. Despite these differences the amicyanins appear much closer related to the plastocyanins than to the azurins. The present findings demonstrate that the occurrence of blue copper proteins with clearly plastocyanin-like features is not restricted to photosynthetic redox chains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Paramagnetic NMR studies of blue and purple copper proteins.

1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy is applied to investigate the CU(A) and type 1 active sites of copper proteins in solution. The analysis of hyperfine shifted 1H resonances allows the comparison of the electron spin density delocalization in the CU(A) site of the wild-type soluble domains of various cytochrome c oxidases (Thermus thermophilus, Paracoccus denitrificans, and Paracoccus versutus) and genetically engineered constructs (soluble domain of quinol oxidase from Escherichia coli and Thiobacillus versutus amicyanin). Comparable spin densities are found on the two terminal His ligands for the wild-type constructs as opposed to the engineered proteins where the spin is more unevenly distributed on the two His residues. A reevaluation of the Cys H(beta) chemical shifts that is in agreement with the data published for both the P. denitrificans and the P. versutus Cu(A) soluble domains confirms the thermal accessibility of the 2B(3u) electronic excited state and indicates the existence of slightly different spin densities on the two bridging Cys ligands. The 13C-NMR spectrum of isotopically enriched oxidized azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa reveals six fast relaxing signals, which can be partially identified by 1- and 2-dimensional (1-D, 2-D) direct detection techniques combined with 3-D triple resonance experiments. The observed contact shifts suggest the presence of direct spin density transfer and spin polarization mechanisms for the delocalization of the unpaired electron.

Azurin↗

The tunnelling conductance of molecularly ordered metalloprotein arrays.

Metalloproteins can be self-assembled in molecularly ordered, electrochemically addressable arrays. We report here on a study of the transport characteristics of the blue copper protein, azurin, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, by a combination of electrochemical and scanning probe techniques (scanning tunnelling microscopy and conducting atomic force microscopy). Redox-switchable chemisorbed molecular arrays can be formed from both wild-type and mutant proteins using the strong affinity of cysteine residue thiolates for pristine gold surfaces. The molecular transconductance of single protein molecules within these arrays has been studied under controllable conditions where it has been additionally possible to resolve the effects of protein mechanical perturbation. Although tunnelling appears to be non-resonant and adequately explained through the use of a square barrier model, under some conditions the contribution of the redox-active copper centre to conductance is resolvable.

Azurin↗

Crystal structure analysis of amicyanin and apoamicyanin from Paracoccus denitrificans at 2.0 A and 1.8 A resolution.

The crystal structure of amicyanin, a cupredoxin isolated from Paracoccus denitrificans, has been determined by molecular replacement. The structure has been refined at 2.0 A resolution using energy-restrained least-squares procedures to a crystallographic residual of 15.7%. The copper-free protein, apoamicyanin, has also been refined to 1.8 A resolution with residual 15.5%. The protein is found to have a beta-sandwich topology with nine beta-strands forming two mixed beta-sheets. The secondary structure is very similar to that observed in the other classes of cupredoxins, such as plastocyanin and azurin. Amicyanin has approximately 20 residues at the N-terminus that have no equivalents in the other proteins; a portion of these residues forms the first beta-strand of the structure. The copper atom is located in a pocket between the beta-sheets and is found to have four coordinating ligands: two histidine nitrogens, one cysteine sulfur, and, at a longer distance, one methionine sulfur. The geometry of the copper coordination is very similar to that in the plant plastocyanins. Three of the four copper ligands are located in the loop between beta-strands eight and nine. This loop is shorter than that in the other cupredoxins, having only two residues each between the cysteine and histidine and the histidine and methionine ligands. The amicyanin and apoamicyanin structures are very similar; in particular, there is little difference in the positions of the coordinating ligands with or without copper. One of the copper ligands, a histidine, lies close to the protein surface and is surrounded on that surface by seven hydrophobic residues. This hydrophobic patch is thought to be important as an electron transfer site.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A missing link in cupredoxins: crystal structure of cucumber stellacyanin at 1.6 A resolution.

Stellacyanins are blue (type I) copper glycoproteins that differ from other members of the cupredoxin family in their spectroscopic and electron transfer properties. Until now, stellacyanins have eluded structure determination. Here we report the three-dimensional crystal structure of the 109 amino acid, non-glycosylated copper binding domain of recombinant cucumber stellacyanin refined to 1.6 A resolution. The crystallographic R-value for all 18,488 reflections (sigma > 0) between 50-1.6 A is 0.195. The overall fold is organized in two beta-sheets, both with four beta-stands. Two alpha-helices are found in loop regions between beta-strands. The beta-sheets form a beta-sandwich similar to those found in other cupredoxins, but some features differ from proteins such as plastocyanin and azurin in that the beta-barrel is more flattened, there is an extra N-terminal alpha-helix, and the copper binding site is much more solvent accessible. The presence of a disulfide bond at the copper binding end of the protein confirms that cucumber stellacyanin has a phytocyanin-like fold. The ligands to copper are two histidines, one cysteine, and one glutamine, the latter replacing the methionine typically found in mononuclear blue copper proteins. The Cu-Gln bond is one of the shortest axial ligand bond distances observed to date in structurally characterized type I copper proteins. The characteristic spectroscopic properties and electron transfer reactivity of stellacyanin, which differ significantly from those of other well-characterized cupredoxins, can be explained by its more exposed copper site, its distinctive amino acid ligand composition, and its nearly tetrahedral ligand geometry. Surface features on the cucumber stellacyanin molecule that could be involved in interactions with putative redox partners are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Detection of common three-dimensional substructures in proteins.

We present a fully automatic algorithm for three-dimensional alignment of protein structures and for the detection of common substructures and structural repeats. Given two proteins, the algorithm first identifies all pairs of structurally similar fragments and subsequently clusters into larger units pairs of fragments that are compatible in three dimensions. The detection of similar substructures is independent of insertion/deletion penalties and can be chosen to be independent of the topology of loop connections and to allow for reversal of chain direction. Using distance geometry filters and other approximations, the algorithm, implemented in the WHAT IF program, is so fast that structural comparison of a single protein with the entire database of known protein structures can be performed routinely on a workstation. The method reproduces known non-trivial superpositions such as plastocyanin on azurin. In addition, we report surprising structural similarity between ubiquitin and a (2Fe-2S) ferredoxin.

Algorithms↗

Noninvasive tracing of recombinant proteins with "fluorophenylalanine-fingers".

High-level residue-specific replacement of phenylalanine residues in recombinant human annexin V and azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with o-fluorophenylalanine, m-fluorophenylalanine, and p-fluorophenylalanine has been achieved using the selective pressure incorporation method. Incorporation was confirmed analytically and by UV spectroscopy while the secondary and tertiary structures of these protein mutants in solution remained unchanged upon the effected substitutions. Fluorinated phenylalanines alone and when integrated into proteins exhibit two characteristic and prominent shoulders ("fingers") in the UV spectrum in the range of 260-270 nm, which do not overlap with the contributions of tyrosine and tryptophan residues in the protein UV spectra. Thus, the presence of such "fluorophenylalanine fingers" ("FF fingers") opens a new spectral window to identify the labeled target protein among other nonlabeled cellular proteins in preparative work by simple UV spectroscopy. In the coming era of proteomics such a reliable, cheap, and easy reproducible methodology might have a great potential for speeding up the identification and characterization of target molecules in the total protein output from the genomes of a variety of organisms.

Annexin A5↗

The covalent structure of the blue copper-containing nitrite reductase from Achromobacter xylosoxidans.

The complete amino acid sequence of the blue copper-containing nitrite reductase enzyme (NiR) from Achromobacter xylosoxidans has been determined by chemical analysis, supported by high precision mass analysis. The polypeptide chain contains 336 residues with an overall charge of 0, including the +2 state of each of the copper ions. The two NiR enzymes for which the three-dimensional structures have been solved are green in color and have different absorption spectra than those of the blue-colored protein from A. xylosoxidans. The ligands to the two copper atoms are conserved. Therefore, the difference between the blue and the green NiR must depend on subtle changes in the geometry of the type I copper-sulfur bond. Both overall protein charge and active site charge are different in A. xylosoxidans NiR which may reflect the use of azurin as electron donor as opposed to the other enzymes that use pseudoazurin.

Alcaligenes↗

The Greek key protein apo-pseudoazurin folds through an obligate on-pathway intermediate.

Folding of the 123 amino acid residue Greek key protein apo-pseudo azurin from Thiosphaera pantotropha has been examined using stopped-flow circular dichroism in 0.5 M Na2SO4 at pH 7.0 and 15 degrees C. The data show that the protein folds from the unfolded state with all eight proline residues in their native isomers (seven trans and one cis) to an intermediate within the dead-time of the stopped-flow mixing (50 ms). The urea dependence of the rates of folding and unfolding of the protein were also determined. The ratio of the folding rate to the unfolding rate (extrapolated into water) is several orders of magnitude too small to account for the equilibrium stability of the protein, consistent with the population of an intermediate. Despite this, the logarithm of the rate of folding versus denaturant concentration is linear. These data can be rationalised by the population of an intermediate under all refolding conditions. Accordingly, kinetic and equilibrium measurements were combined to fit the chevron plot to an on-pathway model (U <==> I <==> N). The fit shows that apo-pseudoazurin rapidly forms a compact species that is stabilised by 25 kJ/mol before folding to the native state at a rate of 2 s-1. Although the data can also be fitted to an off-pathway model (I <==> U <==> N), the resulting kinetic parameters indicate that the protein would have to fold to the native state at a rate of 86,000 s-1 (a time constant of only 12 microseconds). Similarly, models in which this intermediate is bypassed also lead to unreasonably fast refolding rates. Thus, the intermediate populated during the refolding of apo-pseudoazurin appears to be obligate and on the folding pathway. We suggest, based on this study and others, that some intermediates play a critical role in limiting the search to the native state.

Apoproteins↗

Crystal structure of auracyanin, a "blue" copper protein from the green thermophilic photosynthetic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus.

Auracyanin B, one of two similar blue copper proteins produced by the thermophilic green non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus, crystallizes in space group P6(4)22 (a=b=115.7 A, c=54.6 A). The structure was solved using multiple wavelength anomalous dispersion data recorded about the CuK absorption edge, and was refined at 1.55 A resolution. The molecular model comprises 139 amino acid residues, one Cu, 247 H(2)O molecules, one Cl(-) and two SO(4)(2-). The final residual and estimated standard uncertainties are R=0.198, ESU=0.076 A for atomic coordinates and ESU=0.05 A for Cu---ligand bond lengths, respectively. The auracyanin B molecule has a standard cupredoxin fold. With the exception of an additional N-terminal strand, the molecule is very similar to that of the bacterial cupredoxin, azurin. As in other cupredoxins, one of the Cu ligands lies on strand 4 of the polypeptide, and the other three lie along a large loop between strands 7 and 8. The Cu site geometry is discussed with reference to the amino acid spacing between the latter three ligands. The crystallographically characterized Cu-binding domain of auracyanin B is probably tethered to the periplasmic side of the cytoplasmic membrane by an N-terminal tail that exhibits significant sequence identity with known tethers in several other membrane-associated electron-transfer proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Crystal structure of the soluble domain of the major anaerobically induced outer membrane protein (AniA) from pathogenic Neisseria: a new class of copper-containing nitrite reductases.

The major anaerobically induced outer membrane protein (AniA) from pathogenic Neisseria gonorrhoeae is essential for cell growth under oxygen limiting conditions in the presence of nitrite and is protective against killing by human sera. A phylogenic analysis indicates that AniA is a member of a new class of copper-containing nitrite reductases. Expression of the soluble domain of AniA yields a protein capable of reducing nitrite with specific activity of 160 units/mg, approximately 50 % of that measured for the nitrite reductase from the strong soil denitrifier Alcaligenes faecalis S-6. The crystal structure of the soluble domain of AniA was solved by molecular replacement and sixfold averaging to a resolution of 2.4 A. The nitrite soaked AniA crystal structure refined to 1.95 A reveals a bidentate mode of substrate binding to the type II copper. Despite low sequence identity (approximately 30 %), the core cupredoxin fold of AniA is similar to that found in copper-containing nitrite reductases from soil bacteria. The main structural differences are localized to two attenuated surface loops that map to deletions in the sequence alignment. In soil nitrite reductases, one of these surface loops is positioned near the type I copper site and contributes residues to the docking surface for proteaceous electron donors. In AniA, the attenuation of this loop results in a restructured hydrophobic binding surface that may be required to interact with a lipid anchored azurin. The second attenuated loop is positioned on the opposite side of AniA and may facilitate a more intimate interaction with the lipid membrane. A unique combination of structural effectors surrounding the type I copper site of sAnia contribute to a unusual visible absorption spectra with components observed previously in either green or blue type I copper sites.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Dynamic fluorescence in copper proteins. Selected examples.

The fluorescence properties of three copper proteins, namely human superoxide dismutase, Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin and Thiobacillus versutus amicyanin have been studied. All these proteins show a non-exponential decay of fluorescence, though the tryptophanyl residues responsible for the emission are very differently located in the three proteins. All the three decays can be fitted by at least two lifetimes or better with one or two lorentzian-shaped, continuous distributions of lifetime. In each case the removal of copper affects the quantum yield of fluorescence without affecting the shape of the emission.

Azurin↗

Metal-ligand interactions in perturbed blue copper sites: a paramagnetic (1)H NMR study of Co(II)-pseudoazurin.

Pseudoazurin is an electron transfer copper protein, a member of the cupredoxin family. The protein is frequently found in denitrifying bacteria, where it is the electron donor of nitrite reductase. The copper at the active site is coordinated to His40, Cys78, His81 and Met86 in a distorted tetragonal geometry. We have recorded and assigned the (1)H NMR spectra of Co(II)-substituted pseudoazurin from Achromobacter cycloclastes. The (1)H NMR spectrum of Co(II)-pseudoazurin closely resembles that of Co(II)-rusticyanin, reflecting an altered conformation for the Met-Co(II)-Cys moiety in both proteins, compared to Co(II)-azurin, amicyanin and stellacyanin. The electron spin density onto the Sgamma(Cys) is larger in Co(II)-pseudoazurin compared to Co(II)-rusticyanin. Instead, the Co(II)-Met interaction is similar in both derivatives. Hence, the different metal-ligand interactions might be independently modulated by the protein structure. The present work also shows that the electron spin density onto the Co(II)-S(cys) bond is sensibly smaller than the Cu(II)-S(cys). Notwithstanding, NMR data on Co(II)-substituted blue copper proteins can be safely extrapolated to native Cu(II) proteins.

Alcaligenes↗

Paramagnetic NMR investigations of Co(II) and Ni(II) amicyanin.

The paramagnetic 1H NMR spectra of the Co(II) and Ni(II) substituted forms of the type 1 blue copper protein (cupredoxin) amicyanin have been assigned. This is the first such analysis of a cupredoxin, which has a distorted tetrahedral active site with the ligands provided by two histidines, a cysteine and a methionine. The isotropic shifts of the resonances in these spectra are compared with those of Co(II) and Ni(II) azurin. A number of interesting similarities and differences are found. The coordination of the metal by the two equatorial histidine ligands is very similar in both proteins. The interaction between the introduced metal and the thiolate sulfur of the equatorial cysteine ligand is enhanced in the amicyanin derivatives. Resonances belonging to the weak axial methionine ligand exhibit much larger shifts in the amicyanin derivatives, indicative of shorter M(II)-S(Met) distances. The presence of shorter axial M(II)-S(Met) and equatorial M(II)-S(Cys) distances in both Co(II) and Ni(II) amicyanin is ascribed to the absence of a second axially interacting amino acid at the active site of this cupredoxin.

Azurin↗

Electrostatic interactions of 4-carboxy-2,6-dinitrophenyllysine-modified cytochromes c with physiological and non-physiological redox partners.

An analysis of the effect of electrostatic properties of 4-carboxy-2,6-dinitrophenyllysine (CDNP-lysine) cytochromes c on their reactions with strongly and weakly binding redox partners is given. For strongly binding systems (cytochrome-c oxidase, cytochrome-c reductase, sulphite oxidase and yeast cytochrome-c peroxidase) the magnitude of the dipole moments of the CDNP cytochromes c determines their relative reactivities. For weakly binding redox agents, such as hexacyanoferrate(III), cobalt(III)tris(1,10-phenanthroline), azurin and plastocyanin, the electrostatic potential at the haem edge accounts for the greater part of the relative activities. Relative rate data were obtained from the literature. It is concluded that the dipole moment of native cytochromes c may account for an approx. 50-fold increase in the efficiency of its physiological activity towards membrane-bound enzymes. A correction on a formula to describe the contribution of a molecular dipole moment to the ionic strength dependence of a bimolecular rate constant (Koppenol, W. H. (1980) Biophys. J. 29, 493-508) leads to an equation nearly identical to that obtained by Van Leeuwen et al. (Van Leeuwen, J.W., Mofers, F.J.M. and Verrman, E.C.I. (1981) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 635, 434-439).

Azurin↗

Periplasmic location of p-cresol methylhydroxylase in Pseudomonas putida.

The cellular location of the flavocytochrome c, p-cresol methylhydroxylase was investigated in two strains of Pseudomonas putida. In both cases the enzymes were shown to be located in the periplasmic fraction by their release during treatment of the bacteria with EDTA and lysozyme in a solution containing a high concentration of sucrose. For strain NCIB 9869 the finding is in accord with the suggestion that the physiological acceptor for the enzyme is azurin as this too was shown to be located mostly in the periplasm.

Azurin↗