Pressure Dependence Of Chemical Shifts Research Articles

Including the Ensemble of Unstructured Conformations in the Analysis of Protein's Native State by High-Pressure NMR Spectroscopy.

The analysis of pressure induced changes in the chemical shift of proteins allows statements on structural fluctuations proteins exhibit at ambient pressure. The inherent issue of separating general pressure effects from structural related effects on the pressure dependence of chemical shifts has so far been addressed by considering the characteristics of random coil peptides on increasing pressure. In this work, chemically and pressure denatured states of the cold shock protein B from Bacillus subtilis (BsCspB) have been assigned in 2D 1H-15N HSQC NMR spectra and their dependence on increasing hydrostatic pressure has been evaluated. The pressure denatured polypeptide chain has been used to separate general from structural related effects on 1H and 15N chemical shifts of native BsCspB and the implications on the interpretation of pressure induced changes in the chemical shift regarding the structure of BsCspB are discussed. It has been found that the ensemble of unstructured conformations of BsCspB shows different responses to increasing pressure than random coil peptides do. Thus, the approach used for considering the general effects that arise when hydrostatic pressure increases changes the structural conclusions that are drawn from high pressure NMR spectroscopic experiments that rely on the analysis of chemical shifts.

Including the Ensemble of Unstructured Conformations in the Analysis of Protein's Native State by High‐Pressure NMR Spectroscopy

The analysis of pressure induced changes in the chemical shift of proteins allows statements on structural fluctuations proteins exhibit at ambient pressure. The inherent issue of separating general pressure effects from structural related effects on the pressure dependence of chemical shifts has so far been addressed by considering the characteristics of random coil peptides on increasing pressure. In this work, chemically and pressure denatured states of the cold shock protein B from Bacillus subtilis (BsCspB) have been assigned in 2D 1H‐15N HSQC NMR spectra and their dependence on increasing hydrostatic pressure has been evaluated. The pressure denatured polypeptide chain has been used to separate general from structural related effects on 1H and 15N chemical shifts of native BsCspB and the implications on the interpretation of pressure induced changes in the chemical shift regarding the structure of BsCspB are discussed. It has been found that the ensemble of unstructured conformations of BsCspB shows different responses to increasing pressure than random coil peptides do. Thus, the approach used for considering the general effects that arise when hydrostatic pressure increases changes the structural conclusions that are drawn from high pressure NMR spectroscopic experiments that rely on the analysis of chemical shifts.

Solution structure and pressure response of thioredoxin-1 of Plasmodium falciparum.

We present here the solution structures of the protein thioredoxin-1 from Plasmodium falciparum (PfTrx-1), in its reduced and oxidized forms. They were determined by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy at 293 K on uniformly 13C-, 15N-enriched, matched samples allowing to identification of even small structural differences. PfTrx-1 shows an α/β-fold with a mixed five-stranded β-sheet that is sandwiched between 4 helices in a β1 α1 β2 α2 β3 α3 β4 β5 α4 topology. The redox process of the CGPC motif leads to significant structural changes accompanied by larger chemical shift changes from residue Phe25 to Ile36, Thr70 to Thr74, and Leu88 to Asn91. By high-field high-pressure NMR spectroscopy, rare conformational states can be identified that potentially are functionally important and can be used for targeted drug development. We performed these experiments in the pressure range from 0.1 MPa to 200 MPa. The mean combined, random-coil corrected B1* values of reduced and oxidized thioredoxin are quite similar with -0.145 and -0.114 ppm GPa-1, respectively. The mean combined, random-coil corrected B2* values in the reduced and oxidized form are 0.179 and 0.119 ppm GPa-2, respectively. The mean ratios of the pressure coefficients B2/B1 are -0.484 and -0.831 GPa-1 in the reduced and oxidized form respectively. They differ at some points in the structure after the formation of the disulfide bond between C30 and C33. The thermodynamical description of the pressure dependence of chemical shifts requires the assumption of at least three coexisting conformational states of PfTrx-1. These three conformational states were identified in the reduced as well as in the oxidized form of the protein, therefore, they represent sub-states of the two main oxidation states of PfTrx-1.

High pressure response of 1H NMR chemical shifts of purine nucleotides

The study of the pressure response by NMR spectroscopy provides information on the thermodynamics of conformational equilibria in proteins and nucleic acids. For obtaining a database for expected pressure effects on free nucleotides and nucleotides bound in macromolecular complexes, the pressure response of 1H chemical shifts and J-coupling constants of the purine 5′-ribonucleotides AMP, ADP, ATP, GMP, GDP, and GTP were studied in the absence and presence of Mg2+-ions. Experiments are supported by quantum-chemical calculations of populations and chemical shift differences in order to corroborate structural interpretations and to estimate missing data for AMP. The preference of the ribose S puckering obtained from the analysis of the experimental J-couplings is also confirmed by the calculations. In addition, the pressure response of the non-hydrolysable GTP analogues GppNHp, GppCH2p, and GTPγS was examined within a pressure range up to 200 MPa. As observed earlier for 31P NMR chemical shifts of these nucleotides the pressure dependence of chemical shifts is clearly non-linear in most cases. In di- and tri-phospho nucleosides, the resonances of the two protons bound to the ribose 5′ carbon are non-equivalent and can be observed separately. The gg-rotamer at C4′- C5′ bond is strongly preferred and the downfield shifted resonance can be assigned to the H5″ proton in the nucleotides. In contrast, in adenosine itself the frequencies of the two resonances are interchanged.

High pressure 31P NMR spectroscopy on guanine nucleotides

The 31P NMR pressure response of guanine nucleotides bound to proteins has been studied in the past for characterizing the pressure perturbation of conformational equilibria. The pressure response of the 31P NMR chemical shifts of the phosphate groups of GMP, GDP, and GTP as well as the commonly used GTP analogs GppNHp, GppCH2p and GTPγS was measured in the absence and presence of Mg2+-ions within a pressure range up to 200MPa. The pressure dependence of chemical shifts is clearly non-linear. For all nucleotides a negative first order pressure coefficient B 1 was determined indicating an upfield shift of the resonances with pressure. With exception of the α-phosphate group of Mg2+·GMP and Mg2+·GppNHp the second order pressure coefficients are positive. To describe the data of Mg2+·GppCH2p and GTPγS a Taylor expansion of 3rd order is required. For distinguishing pH effects from pressure effects a complete pH titration set is presented for GMP, as well as GDP and GTP in absence and presence of Mg2+ ions using indirect referencing to DSS under identical experimental conditions. By a comparison between high pressure 31P NMR data on free Mg2+-GDP and Mg2+-GDP in complex with the proto-oncogene Ras we demonstrate that pressure induced changes in chemical shift are clearly different between both forms.

Pressure dependence of backbone chemical shifts in the model peptides Ac-Gly-Gly-Xxx-Ala-NH2.

For a better understanding of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detected pressure responses of folded as well as unstructured proteins the availability of data from well-defined model systems are indispensable. In this work we report the pressure dependence of chemical shifts of the backbone atoms (1)H(α), (13)C(α) and (13)C' in the protected tetrapeptides Ac-Gly-Gly-Xxx-Ala-NH2 (Xxx one of the 20 canonical amino acids). Contrary to expectation the chemical shifts of these nuclei have a nonlinear dependence on pressure in the range from 0.1 to 200MPa. The polynomial pressure coefficients B 1 and B 2 are dependent on the type of amino acid studied. The coefficients of a given nucleus show significant linear correlations suggesting that the NMR observable pressure effects in the different amino acids have at least partly the same physical cause. In line with this observation the magnitude of the second order coefficients of nuclei being direct neighbors in the chemical structure are also weakly correlated.

Relationship between nonlinear pressure-induced chemical shift changes and thermodynamic parameters.

NMR chemical shift analysis is a powerful method to investigate local changes in the environment of the observed nuclear spin of a polypeptide that are induced by application of high hydrostatic pressure. Usually, in the fast exchange regime, the pressure dependence of chemical shifts is analyzed by a second order Taylor expansion providing the first- and second-order pressure coefficient B1 and B2. The coefficients then are interpreted in a qualitative manner. We show here that in a two-state model, the ratio of B2/B1 is related to thermodynamic parameters, namely the ratio of the difference of compressibility factors Δβ' and partial molar volumes ΔV. The analysis is applied to the random-coil model peptides Ac-Gly-Gly-Xxx-Ala-NH2, with Xxx being one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids. The analysis gives an average Δβ'/ΔV ratio of 1.6 GPa(-1) provided the condition |ΔG(0)| ≪ 2RT holds for the difference of the Gibbs free energies (ΔG(0)) of the two states at the temperature (T0) and the pressure (p0). The amide proton and nitrogen B2/B1 of a given amino acid Xxx are strongly correlated, indicating that their pressure-dependent chemical shift changes are due to the same thermodynamic process. As a possible physical mechanism providing a two-state model, the hydrogen bonding of water with the corresponding amide protein was simulated for isoleucine in position Xxx. The obtained free energy could satisfy the relation |ΔG(0)| ≪ 2RT. The derived relation was applied to the β-amyloid peptide Aβ and the phosphocarrier protein HPr from S. carnosus. For the transition of state 1 to state 2' of Aβ, the derived relation of B2/B1 to Δβ'/ΔV can be confirmed experimentally. The HPr protein is characterized by substantially higher negative B2/B1 values than those found in the tetrapeptides with an average value of approximately -5.1 GPa(-1) (Δβ'/ΔV of 5.1 GPa(-1) provided |ΔG(0)| ≪ 2RT holds). Qualitatively, the B2/B1 ratio can be used to predict regions of the HPr protein involved in the interaction with enzyme I or HPr-kinase/phosphatase.

HIGH RESOLUTION NMR MEASUREMENT UNDER HIGH PRESSURE AND PRESSURE DEPENDENCE OF THE PROTON CHEMICAL SHIFTS

Abstract The high resolution proton nmr spectra of a liquid sample under the pressures up to 1650 atm. were obtained at room temperature on an ordinary 60 MHz high resolution spectrometer. Explanation of the handy-type equipment for the experiment and some observations on the pressure dependence of chemical shifts were reported.