Zinc-binding Domain Research Articles

Cloning, expression, and characterization of a peptidoglycan hydrolase from the Burkholderia pseudomallei phage ST79.

The lytic phage ST79 of Burkholderia pseudomallei can lyse a broad range of its host including antibiotic resistant isolates from within using a set of proteins, holin, lysB, lysC and endolysin, a peptidoglycan (PG) hydrolase enzyme. The phage ST79 endolysin gene identified as peptidase M15A was cloned, expressed and purified to evaluate its potential to lyse pathogenic bacteria. The molecular size of the purified enzyme is approximately 18 kDa and the in silico study cited here indicated the presence of a zinc-binding domain predicted to be a member of the subfamily A of a metallopeptidase. Its activity, however, was reduced by the presence of Zn2+. When Escherichia coli PG was used as a substrate and subjected to digestion for 5 min with 3 μg/ml of enzyme, the peptidase M15A showed 2 times higher in lysis efficiency when compared to the commercial lysozyme. The enzyme works in a broad alkaligenic pH range of 7.5–9.0 and temperatures from 25 to 42 °C. The enzyme was able to lyse 18 Gram-negative bacteria in which the outer membrane was permeabilized by chloroform treatment. Interestingly, it also lysed Enterococcus sp., but not other Gram-positive bacteria. In general, endolysin cannot lyse Gram-negative bacteria from outside, however, the cationic amphipathic C-terminal in some endolysins showed permeability to Gram-negative outer membranes. Genetically engineered ST79 peptidase M15A that showed a broad spectrum against Gram-negative bacterial PG or, in combination with an antibiotic the same way as combined drug methodology, could facilitate an effective treatment of severe or antibiotic resistant cases.

Tma108, a putative M1 aminopeptidase, is a specific nascent chain-associated protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The discovery of novel specific ribosome-associated factors challenges the assumption that translation relies on standardized molecular machinery. In this work, we demonstrate that Tma108, an uncharacterized translation machinery-associated factor in yeast, defines a subpopulation of cellular ribosomes specifically involved in the translation of less than 200 mRNAs encoding proteins with ATP or Zinc binding domains. Using ribonucleoparticle dissociation experiments we established that Tma108 directly interacts with the nascent protein chain. Additionally, we have shown that translation of the first 35 amino acids of Asn1, one of the Tma108 targets, is necessary and sufficient to recruit Tma108, suggesting that it is loaded early during translation. Comparative genomic analyses, molecular modeling and directed mutagenesis point to Tma108 as an original M1 metallopeptidase, which uses its putative catalytic peptide-binding pocket to bind the N-terminus of its targets. The involvement of Tma108 in co-translational regulation is attested by a drastic change in the subcellular localization of ATP2 mRNA upon Tma108 inactivation. Tma108 is a unique example of a nascent chain-associated factor with high selectivity and its study illustrates the existence of other specific translation-associated factors besides RNA binding proteins.

ArHsp40, a type 1 J-domain protein, is developmentally regulated and stress inducible in post-diapause Artemia franciscana.

Upon diapause termination and exposure to favorable environmental conditions, cysts of the crustacean Artemia franciscana reinitiate development, a process dependent on the resumption of metabolic activity and the maintenance of protein homeostasis. The objective of the work described herein was to characterize molecular chaperones during post-diapause growth of A. franciscana. An Hsp40 complementary DNA (cDNA) termed ArHsp40 was cloned and shown to encode a protein with an amino-terminal J-domain containing a conserved histidine, proline, and aspartic acid (HPD) motif. Following the J-domain was a Gly/Phe (G/F) rich domain, a zinc-binding domain which contained a modified CXXCXGXG motif, and the carboxyl-terminal substrate binding region, all characteristics of type I Hsp40. Multiple alignment and protein modeling showed that ArHsp40 is comparable to Hsp40s from other eukaryotes and likely to be functionally similar. qRT-PCR revealed that during post-diapause development, ArHsp40 messenger RNA (mRNA) varied slightly until the E2/E3 stage and decreased significantly upon hatching. The immunoprobing of Western blots demonstrated that ArHsp40 was also relatively constant until E2/E3 and then declined dramatically. The drop in ArHsp40 when metabolism and protein synthesis were increasing was unexpected and demonstrated developmental regulation. The reduction in ArHsp40 at such an active life history stage indicates, as one possibility, that A. franciscana possesses additional Hsp40s, one or more of which replaces ArHsp40 as development progresses. Increased synthesis upon heat shock established that in addition to being developmentally regulated, ArHsp40 is stress inducible and, because it is found in mature cysts, ArHsp40 has the potential to contribute to stress tolerance during diapause.

Classification of the treble clef zinc finger: noteworthy lessons for structure and function evolution.

Treble clef (TC) zinc fingers constitute a large fold-group of structural zinc-binding protein domains that mediate numerous cellular functions. We have analysed the sequence, structure, and function relationships among all TCs in the Protein Data Bank. This led to the identification of novel TCs, such as lsr2, YggX and TFIIIC τ 60 kDa subunit, and prediction of a nuclease-like function for the DUF1364 family. The structural malleability of TCs is evident from the many examples with variations to the core structural elements of the fold. We observe domains wherein the structural core of the TC fold is circularly permuted, and also some examples where the overall fold resembles both the TC motif and another unrelated fold. All extant TC families do not share a monophyletic origin, as several TC proteins are known to have been present in the last universal common ancestor and the last eukaryotic common ancestor. We identify several TCs where the zinc-chelating site and residues are not merely responsible for structure stabilization but also perform other functions, such as being redox active in C1B domain of protein kinase C, a nucleophilic acceptor in Ada and catalytic in organomercurial lyase, MerB.

Structure and Function of CW Domain Containing Proteins.

The CW domain is a zinc binding domain, composed of approximately 50- 60 amino acid residues with four conserved cysteine (C) and two to four conserved tryptophan (W) residues. The members of the superfamily of CW domain containing proteins, comprised of 12 different eukaryotic nuclear protein families, are extensively expressed in vertebrates, vertebrate-infecting parasites and higher plants, where they are often involved in chromatin remodeling, methylation recognition, epigenetic regulation and early embryonic development. Since the first CW domain structure was determined 5 years ago, structures of five CW domains have been solved so far. In this review, we will discuss these recent advances in understanding the identification, definition, structure, and functions of the CW domain containing proteins.

Mechanistic insight into cadmium-induced inactivation of the Bloom protein.

Cadmium is a toxic metal that inactivates DNA-repair proteins via multiple mechanisms, including zinc substitution. In this study, we investigated the effect of Cd2+ on the Bloom protein (BLM), a DNA-repair helicase carrying a zinc-binding domain (ZBD) and playing a critical role to ensure genomic stability. One characteristics of BLM-deficient cells is the elevated rate of sister chromatid exchanges, a phenomenon that is also induced by Cd2+. Here, we show that Cd2+ strongly inhibits both ATPase and helicase activities of BLM. Cd2+ primarily prevents BLM-DNA interaction via its binding to sulfhydryl groups of solvent-exposed cysteine residues and, concomitantly, promotes the formation of large BLM multimers/aggregates. In contrast to previously described Cd2+ effects on other zinc-containing DNA-repair proteins, the ZBD appears to play a minor role in the Cd2+-mediated inhibition. While the Cd2+-dependent formation of inactive multimers and the defect of DNA-binding were fully reversible upon addition of EDTA, the inhibition of the DNA unwinding activity was not counteracted by EDTA, indicating another mechanism of inhibition by Cd2+ relative to the targeting of a catalytic residue. Altogether, our results provide new clues for understanding the mechanism behind the ZBD-independent inactivation of BLM by Cd2+ leading to accumulation of DNA double-strand breaks.

Site-directed mutants of human RECQ1 reveal functional importance of the zinc binding domain

RecQ helicases are a highly conserved family of ATP-dependent DNA-unwinding enzymes with key roles in DNA replication and repair in all kingdoms of life. The RECQ1 gene encodes the most abundant RecQ homolog in humans. We engineered full-length RECQ1 harboring point mutations in the zinc-binding motif (amino acids 419–480) within the conserved RecQ-specific-C-terminal (RQC) domain known to be critical for diverse biochemical and cellular functions of RecQ helicases. Wild-type RECQ1 contains a zinc ion. Substitution of three of the four conserved cysteine residues that coordinate zinc severely impaired the ATPase and DNA unwinding activities but retained DNA binding and single strand DNA annealing activities. Furthermore, alteration of these residues attenuated zinc binding and significantly changed the overall conformation of full-length RECQ1 protein. In contrast, substitution of cysteine residue at position 471 resulted in a wild-type like RECQ1 protein. Differential contribution of the conserved cysteine residues to the structure and functions of the RECQ1 protein is also inferred by homology modeling. Overall, our results indicate that the zinc binding motif in the RQC domain of RECQ1 is a key structural element that is essential for the structure-functions of RECQ1. Given the recent association of RECQ1 mutations with breast cancer, these results will contribute to understanding the molecular basis of RECQ1 functions in cancer etiology.

Characterization of a Linked Jumonji Domain of the KDM5/JARID1 Family of Histone H3 Lysine 4 Demethylases

The KDM5/JARID1 family of Fe(II)- and α-ketoglutarate-dependent demethylases remove methyl groups from tri- and dimethylated lysine 4 of histone H3. Accumulating evidence from primary tumors and model systems supports a role for KDM5A (JARID1A/RBP2) and KDM5B (JARID1B/PLU1) as oncogenic drivers. The KDM5 family is unique among the Jumonji domain-containing histone demethylases in that there is an atypical insertion of a DNA-binding ARID domain and a histone-binding PHD domain into the Jumonji domain, which separates the catalytic domain into two fragments (JmjN and JmjC). Here we demonstrate that internal deletion of the ARID and PHD1 domains has a negligible effect on in vitro enzymatic kinetics of the KDM5 family of enzymes. We present a crystal structure of the linked JmjN-JmjC domain from KDM5A, which reveals that the linked domain fully reconstitutes the cofactor (metal ion and α-ketoglutarate) binding characteristics of other structurally characterized Jumonji domain demethylases. Docking studies with GSK-J1, a selective inhibitor of the KDM6/KDM5 subfamilies, identify critical residues for binding of the inhibitor to the reconstituted KDM5 Jumonji domain. Further, we found that GSK-J1 inhibited the demethylase activity of KDM5C with 8.5-fold increased potency compared with that of KDM5B at 1 mm α-ketoglutarate. In contrast, JIB-04 (a pan-inhibitor of the Jumonji demethylase superfamily) had the opposite effect and was ~8-fold more potent against KDM5B than against KDM5C. Interestingly, the relative selectivity of JIB-04 toward KDM5B over KDM5C in vitro translates to a ~10-50-fold greater growth-inhibitory activity against breast cancer cell lines. These data define the minimal requirements for enzymatic activity of the KDM5 family to be the linked JmjN-JmjC domain coupled with the immediate C-terminal helical zinc-binding domain and provide structural characterization of the linked JmjN-JmjC domain for the KDM5 family, which should prove useful in the design of KDM5 demethylase inhibitors with improved potency and selectivity.

Discovery of Immunodominant B Cell Epitopes within Surface Pneumococcal Virulence Proteins in Pediatric Patients with Invasive Pneumococcal Disease

The identification of immunodominant B cell epitopes within surface pneumococcal virulence proteins in pediatric patients with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is a valuable approach to define novel vaccine candidates. To this aim, we evaluated sera from children with IPD and age-matched controls against 141 20-mer synthetic peptides covering the entire sequence of major antigenic fragments within pneumococcal virulence proteins; namely, choline-binding protein D (CbpD), pneumococcal histidine triad proteins (PhtD and PhtE), pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA), plasminogen and fibronectin binding protein B (PfbB), and zinc metalloproteinase B (ZmpB). Ten immunodominant B cell epitopes were identified: CbpD-pep4 (amino acids (aa) 291-310), PhtD-pep11 (aa 88-107), PhtD-pep17 (aa 172-191), PhtD-pep19 (aa 200-219), PhtE-pep32 (aa 300-319), PhtE-pep40 (aa 79-98), PfbB-pep76 (aa 180-199), PfbB-pep79 (aa 222-241), PfbB-pep90 (aa 484-503), and ZmpB-pep125 (aa 431-450). All epitopes were highly conserved among different pneumococcal serotypes, and four of them were located within the functional zinc-binding domain of the histidine triad proteins PhtD and PhtE. Peptides CbpD-pep4, PhtD-pep19, and PhtE-pep40 were broadly recognized by IPD patient sera with prevalences of 96.4%, 92.9%, and 71.4%, respectively, whereas control sera exhibited only minor reactivities (<10.7%). Their specificities for IPD were 93.3%, 95%, and 96.7%; their sensitivities were 96.4%, 92.9%, and 71.4% and their positivity likelihood ratios for IPD were 14.5, 18.6, and 21.4, respectively. Furthermore, purified antibodies against CbpD-pep4, PhtD-pep19, and PhtE-pep40 readily bound on the surfaces of different pneumococcal serotypes, as assessed by FACS and immunofluorescence analysis. The identified immunodominant B cell epitopes provide a better understanding of immune response in IPD and are worth evaluation in additional studies as potential vaccine candidates.

Semi-Empirical Structure Determination of Escherichia coli Hsp33 and Identification of Dynamic Regulatory Elements for the Activation Process

The activation process of the redox-regulated chaperone heat shock protein 33 (Hsp33) is constituted by the oxidation-induced unfolding of the C-terminal zinc-binding domain and concomitant oligomerization of the N-terminal core domain. Herein, the semi-empirical solution structure of Escherichia coli Hsp33 in the reduced, inactive form was generated through conformational space annealing calculations, utilizing minimalistic NMR data and multiple homology restraints. The various conformations of oxidized Hsp33 and some mutant forms were also investigated in solution. Interestingly, a specific region concentrated around the interdomain linker stretch and its interacting counterparts, the N-terminal β-strand 1 and α-helix 1, hardly showed up as signals in the NMR measurements. The NMR spectra of an Hsp33 derivative with a six-residue deletion in the disordered N-terminus implied a plausible conformational exchange associated with the identified region, and the corresponding exchange rate appeared slower than that of the wild type. Subsequent mutations that destroyed the structure of the β1 or α1 elements resulted in the formation of a reduced but active monomer, without the unfolding of the zinc-binding domain. Collectively, structural insights into the inactive and active conformations, including wild-type and mutant proteins, suggest that the dynamic interactions of the N-terminal segments with their contacting counterpart, the interdomain linker stretch, in the reduced, inactive state are the structural determinants regulating the activation process of the post-translationally regulated chaperone, Hsp33.

Catalytic Strand Separation by RECQ1 Is Required for RPA-Mediated Response to Replication Stress

Three (BLM, WRN, and RECQ4) of the five human RecQ helicases are linked to genetic disorders characterized by genomic instability, cancer, and accelerated aging [1]. RECQ1, the first human RecQ helicase discovered [2-4] and the most abundant [5], was recently implicated in breast cancer [6, 7]. RECQ1 is an ATP-dependent DNA-unwinding enzyme (helicase) [8, 9] with roles in replication [10-12] and DNA repair [13-16]. RECQ1 is highly expressed in various tumors and cancer cell lines (for review, see [17]), and its suppression reduces cancer cell proliferation [14], suggesting a target for anti-cancer drugs. RECQ1's assembly state plays a critical role in modulating its helicase, branch migration (BM), or strand annealing [18, 19]. The crystal structure of truncated RECQ1 [20, 21] resembles that of E.coli RecQ [22] with two RecA-like domains, a RecQ-specific zinc-binding domain and a winged-helix domain, the latter implicated in DNA strand separation and oligomer formation. In addition, a conserved aromatic loop (AL) is important for DNA unwinding by bacterial RecQ [23, 24] and truncated RECQ1 helicases [21]. To better understand the roles of RECQ1, two AL mutants (W227A and F231A) in full-length RECQ1 were characterized biochemically and genetically. The RECQ1 mutants were defective in helicase or BM but retained DNA binding, oligomerization, ATPase, and strand annealing. RECQ1-depleted HeLa cells expressing either AL mutant displayed reduced replication tract length, elevated dormant origin firing, and increased double-strand breaks that could be suppressed by exogenously expressed replication protein A (RPA). Thus, RECQ1 governs RPA's availability in order to maintain normal replication dynamics, suppress DNA damage, and preserve genome homeostasis.

Functionality of Class A and Class B J-protein co-chaperones with Hsp70

At their C-termini, cytosolic Hsp70s have an EEVD tetrapeptide that interacts with J-protein co-chaperones of the B, but not A, class. This interaction is required for partnering with yeast B-type J-proteins in protein folding. Here we report conservation of this feature. Human B-type J-proteins also have a stringent EEVD requirement. Human A-type J-proteins function less well than their yeast orthologs with Hsp70ΔEEVD. Changes in the zinc binding domain, a domain absent in B-type J-proteins, overcomes this partial EEVD dependence. Our results suggest that the structurally similar A- and B-class J-proteins of the cytosol have evolved conserved, yet distinct, features that enhance specialized functionality of Hsp70 machinery.

Evaluation of the Intrinsic Zn(II) Affinity of a Cys3His1 Site in the Absence of Protein Folding Effects.

Zinc finger transcription factors are the largest class of metalloproteins in the human genome. Binding of Zn(II) to their canonical Cys2His2, Cys3His1, or Cys4 sites results in metal-induced protein folding events required to achieve their biologically active structures. However, the coupled nature of metal binding and protein folding obscures the individual free energy contributions of each process toward overall zinc finger stabilization. Herein, we separate the energetic contributions of metal-ligand interactions from those of protein-protein interactions using a natural protein scaffold that retains essentially identical structures with and without Zn(II) bound, the 59 amino acid zinc binding domain of human transcription factor IIB (ZBD-TFIIB). The formation constant of Zn(II)-ZBD-TFIIB, which contains a single Cys3His1 site, was determined to be 1.5 × 10(15) M(-1) via fluorimetry and isothermal titration calorimetry. Isothermal titration calorimetry showed that Zn(II) binding is entropically favored at pH 5.5, 7.0, and 8.0 and enthalpically favored at pH 8.0 but slightly enthalpically disfavored at pH 5.5 and 7.0. The conditional dissociation constants of Zn(II)-ZBD-TFIIB and natural Cys3His1 zinc finger proteins were compared to determine the free energy cost of protein folding in the latter. Our analysis reveals that the energetic cost to fold zinc finger proteins is minimal relative to the contribution of Zn(II) binding and suggests that the true role of Zn(II) binding may be to modulate protein dynamics and/or kinetically template the protein folding process.

Virtual screening approach of sirtuin inhibitors results in two new scaffolds

Sirtuins (SIRT1–SIRT7) are NAD dependent deacetylases and intriguing drug targets in for example neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Virtual screening has been shown to be a fast and efficient method of discovering new sirtuin inhibitors. In this study, a new putative binding site on the zinc binding domain of sirtuins was utilized to screen the ZINC database virtually in order to discover new sirtuin inhibiting scaffolds. Altogether 26 compounds were tested in vitro and initially 15 inhibitors displayed >30% SIRT3 inhibition. However, the evaluation of raw data from in vitro assay revealed that many of the compounds had intrinsic property to interfere with the fluorescence signal at the assay wavelengths resulting in false positives. All compounds with over 30% SIRT3 inhibition were studied more closely for their behavior in the assay and eventually, three compounds were identified as novel sirtuin inhibitors. They displayed 32–40% SIRT3 and 21–60% SIRT2 inhibition. The inhibitors display two new scaffolds, the smaller of which can be considered as a promising fragment, which offers a base for structural optimization.

Chemical shift assignments of zinc finger domain of methionine aminopeptidase 1 (MetAP1) from Homo sapiens.

Methionine aminopeptidase Type I (MetAP1) cleaves the initiator methionine from about 70% of all newly synthesized proteins in almost every living cell. Human MetAP1 is a two domain protein with a zinc finger on the N-terminus and a catalytic domain on the C-terminus. Here, we report the chemical shift assignments of the amino terminal zinc binding domain (ZBD) (1-83 residues) of the human MetAP1 derived by using advanced NMR spectroscopic methods. We were able to assign the chemical shifts of ZBD of MetAP1 nearly complete, which reveal two helical fragments involving residues P44-L49 (α1) and Q59-K82 (α2). The protein structure unfolds upon complex formation with the addition of 2M excess EDTA, indicated by the appearance of amide resonances in the random coil chemical shift region of (15)NHSQC spectrum.

Molecular dynamics simulation reveals insights into the mechanism of unfolding by the A130T/V mutations within the MID1 zinc-binding Bbox1 domain.

The zinc-binding Bbox1 domain in protein MID1, a member of the TRIM family of proteins, facilitates the ubiquitination of the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 2A and alpha4, a protein regulator of PP2A. The natural mutation of residue A130 to a valine or threonine disrupts substrate recognition and catalysis. While NMR data revealed the A130T mutant Bbox1 domain failed to coordinate both structurally essential zinc ions and resulted in an unfolded structure, the unfolding mechanism is unknown. Principle component analysis revealed that residue A130 served as a hinge point between the structured β-strand-turn-β-strand (β-turn-β) and the lasso-like loop sub-structures that constitute loop1 of the ββα-RING fold that the Bbox1 domain adopts. Backbone RMSD data indicate significant flexibility and departure from the native structure within the first 5 ns of the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation for the A130V mutant (>6 Å) and after 30 ns for A130T mutant (>6 Å). Overall RMSF values were higher for the mutant structures and showed increased flexibility around residues 125 and 155, regions with zinc-coordinating residues. Simulated pKa values of the sulfhydryl group of C142 located near A130 suggested an increased in value to ~9.0, paralleling the increase in the apparent dielectric constants for the small cavity near residue A130. Protonation of the sulfhydryl group would disrupt zinc-coordination, directly contributing to unfolding of the Bbox1. Together, the increased motion of residues of loop 1, which contains four of the six zinc-binding cysteine residues, and the increased pKa of C142 could destabilize the structure of the zinc-coordinating residues and contribute to the unfolding.

Dispensability of zinc and the putative zinc-binding domain in bacterial glutamyl-tRNA synthetase.

The putative zinc-binding domain (pZBD) in Escherichia coli glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS) is known to correctly position the tRNA acceptor arm and modulate the amino acid-binding site. However, its functional role in other bacterial species is not clear since many bacterial GluRSs lack a zinc-binding motif in the pZBD. From experimental studies on pZBD-swapped E. coli GluRS, with Thermosynechoccus elongatus GluRS, Burkholderia thailandensis GluRS and E. coli glutamyl-queuosine-tRNAAsp synthetase (Glu-Q-RS), we show that E. coli GluRS, containing the zinc-free pZBD of B. thailandensis, is as functional as the zinc-bound wild-type E. coli GluRS, whereas the other constructs, all zinc-bound, show impaired function. A pZBD-tinkered version of E. coli GluRS that still retained Zn-binding capacity, also showed reduced activity. This suggests that zinc is not essential for the pZBD to be functional. From extensive structural and sequence analyses from whole genome database of bacterial GluRS, we further show that in addition to many bacterial GluRS lacking a zinc-binding motif, the pZBD is actually deleted in some bacteria, all containing either glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (GlnRS) or a second copy of GluRS (GluRS2). Correlation between the absence of pZBD and the occurrence of glutamine amidotransferase CAB (GatCAB) in the genome suggests that the primordial role of the pZBD was to facilitate transamidation of misacylated Glu-tRNAGln via interaction with GatCAB, whereas its role in tRNAGlu interaction may be a consequence of the presence of pZBD.

The hexameric structure of the human mitochondrial replicative helicase Twinkle.

The mitochondrial replicative helicase Twinkle is involved in strand separation at the replication fork of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Twinkle malfunction is associated with rare diseases that include late onset mitochondrial myopathies, neuromuscular disorders and fatal infantile mtDNA depletion syndrome. We examined its 3D structure by electron microscopy (EM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and built the corresponding atomic models, which gave insight into the first molecular architecture of a full-length SF4 helicase that includes an N-terminal zinc-binding domain (ZBD), an intermediate RNA polymerase domain (RPD) and a RecA-like hexamerization C-terminal domain (CTD). The EM model of Twinkle reveals a hexameric two-layered ring comprising the ZBDs and RPDs in one layer and the CTDs in another. In the hexamer, contacts in trans with adjacent subunits occur between ZBDs and RPDs, and between RPDs and CTDs. The ZBDs show important structural heterogeneity. In solution, the scattering data are compatible with a mixture of extended hexa- and heptameric models in variable conformations. Overall, our structural data show a complex network of dynamic interactions that reconciles with the structural flexibility required for helicase activity.

CPSF30, a Novel Non-Classical Zinc Finger Protein that Utilizes Iron & Zinc Coordination for RNA Recognition

Zinc finger (ZF) proteins are eukaryotic proteins that are involved in transcriptional and translational regulation. ZFs utilize cysteine and histidine residues to coordinate zinc ions to fold and function properly. There are fourteen different classes of zinc finger proteins, which are classified based upon the ligands involved in zinc coordination, the ZF domain folds, and the proteins’ biological targets. Cleavage and Polyadenylation Specificity Factor 30 (CPSF30) is a ‘non-classical’ ZF protein that contains multiple Cys3His zinc binding domains and is involved in pre-mRNA regulation. CPSF30 contains 5 Cys3His domains and a Cys2HisCys zinc knuckle domain. A construct of CPSF30 construct containing only CPSF30's five Cys3His domains, denoted as CPSF305FE was prepared. This protein is predicted to have five zinc ions; however, UV-visible and ICP-MS analysis of the isolated construct revealed that CPSF305FE contains iron in addition to zinc in a 1:4:1 Fe:Zn:CPSF305FE stoichiometetry. XAS analysis identified the iron site as a 2Fe-2S cluster. CPSF30 is predicted to recognize AU-rich RNA sequences. To test this hypothesis, RNA binding studies using both electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) and fluorescence anisotropy (FA) of CPSF305FE with α-synuclein pre-mRNA (which contains an AU-rich sequence) along with a series of mutated RNA sequences were performed. These studies revealed that CPSF30 binds to α-synuclein pre-RNA with nanomolar affinity and requires the AU-rich sequence for binding. The binding interaction was best fit to a cooperative binding model, suggesting that the CPF30/RNA binding event is cooperative.

Influence of Zinc-Binding on Folding and Dynamics of Zinc Finger Proteins: In Silico

We present results of microsecond, all atom molecular dynamics simulations for various proteins including the zinc binding domains of NEMO and XIAP. Each zinc finger was simulated with and without zinc and with protonated and deprotonated zinc-binding cysteines. Simulation analyses suggest the bound zinc increases stabilization of the protein structure and causes changes to protein dynamics. In the absence of a bound zinc ion, proteins have a tendency to at least partially unfold and some simulations show complete loss of secondary structure. Differences in free energy of the four structural cases suggest that binding the zinc-ion is energetically inexpensive, where the (de)-protonation of the cysteines is the more significant contributor to free energy differences between the four structures.