A search for site-filling ligands in the Mcg bence-jones dimer: Crystal binding studies of fluorescent compounds

Abstract

In trigonal crystals grown in 1.9 M ammonium sulfate buffered at pH 6.2, the Mcg light-chain (Bence-Jones) dimer has a highly aromatic binding cavity accessible to a wide range of hydrophobic and aromatic ligands. A search was made for site-filling ligands by diffusing compounds into the crystals and determining their locations, orientations and relative occupancies by difference Fourier analysis at 2.7-Å resolution. 1-Anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate, a small ligand in comparison with the rest of the series, initially occupied a site in the main binding cavity. With time, however, this ligand changed its position to the deep binding pocket beyond the floor of the main cavity. The original binding site remained vacant, despite the presence of a large excess of ligand in the soaking solution. Ligands increasing in size from fluorescein to bis( N-methyl)acridine (lucigenin) to dimers of carboxytetramethylrhodamine were found to bind with stringent stereospecificity in the main cavity, but the mode of binding was different in each case. The dimer of the 6-isomer of carboxytetramethylrhodamine, in which the two carboxyl groups are in para positions on the phenyl moiety, proved to be an effective site-filling ligand. The differences in the binding properties of dimers of 5- and 6-carboxytetramethylrhodamine led to an explanation for isomeric discrimination in the binding site. There were extensive conformational changes in the binding cavity to accommodate the ligands, particularly 6-carboxytetramethylrhodamine. The second and third hyper-variable loops proved very flexible, and moved in ways to expand the binding site. The side chains of key tyrosine and phenylalanine residues in the site were also highly mobile. Their orientations adjusted to optimize complementarity with the ligands. These conformational adjustments are consistent with the tenets of a limited neo-instructive theory of ligand binding.