Abstract
Rat seminal vesicle protein 4 (RSV4) is a member of the seminal vesicle protein family present in rats, 90 residues long. When secreted, it is involved in many functions related to the reproduction ranging from semen coagulation to sperm capacitation, but its fragments have also shown in vitro pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory and pro-coagulant activity, important in the cancer development. However, no three-dimensional model of this protein is yet available probably because of the presence of intrinsic disorder in the structure. In this article we report structural studies in solution of RSV4 by SEC (size exclusion chromatography) and CD (circular dichroism). In solution the monomer is highly flexible and poorly organized with the presence of highly fluctuating helical segments and, as also suggested by SEC, is classifiable as NU-PMG (natively unfolded pre-molten globule). The lack of a cooperative sigmoidal structural transition induced by thermal and GdmCl perturbation in monomer supports the poor structural organization expected for a NU-PMG conformational model. The structure of RSV4 monomer was modeled computationally and subjected to molecular dynamics simulations to study its conformational changes and energetic stability.
Highlights
Rat seminal vesicle protein 4 (RSV4) is a basic protein secreted from the rat seminal vesicle epithelium (Ostrowski et al, 1979; Pan and Li, 1982; Abrescia et al, 1986; Mansson et al, 1981)
SEC shows (Fig. 1; the inset refer to the elution of RSV4) that RSV4 elutes with an apparent molecular weight (Mr) of 16580
This value is obtained on the assumption that the RSV4 is a globular protein, which is unlikely based on the bioinformatic predictions of disorder
Summary
RSV4 is a basic protein secreted from the rat seminal vesicle epithelium (Ostrowski et al, 1979; Pan and Li, 1982; Abrescia et al, 1986; Mansson et al, 1981). RSV4 is an important member of the SV (seminal vesicle) protein family present in rats, and is responsible for many functions in reproduction ranging from semen coagulation, sperm hyaluronidase activity to sperm capacitation (Abrescia et al, 1985). Its sequence is 90 residues long (Pan and Li, 1982 ) and its some structural properties in solution have been studied (Mcdonald et al, 1983; Romano-carratelli et al, 2002). The trimeric form is responsible for its immune-modulatory activity whereas that monomeric for ita anti-inflammatory and pro-coagulant activity (Romano-Carratelli et al, 2002)
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