The NMR-solution structure of a metallochaperone model peptide with Cu (I) was determined, and a detailed protocol from sample preparation and 1D and 2D data collection to a three-dimensional structure is described.
Copper (I) binding by metallochaperone transport proteins prevents copper oxidation and release of the toxic ions that may participate in harmful redox reactions. The Cu (I) complex of the peptide model of a Cu (I) binding metallochaperone protein, which includes the sequence MTCSGCSRPG (underlined is conserved), was determined in solution under inert conditions by NMR spectroscopy.
NMR is a widely accepted technique for the determination of solution structures of proteins and peptides. Due to difficulty in crystallization to provide single crystals suitable for X-ray crystallography, the NMR technique is extremely valuable, especially as it provides information on the solution state rather than the solid state. Herein we describe all steps that are required for full three-dimensional structure determinations by NMR. The protocol includes sample preparation in an NMR tube, 1D and 2D data collection and processing, peak assignment and integration, molecular mechanics calculations, and structure analysis. Importantly, the analysis was first conducted without any preset metal-ligand bonds, to assure a reliable structure determination in an unbiased manner.
Peptides are widely used as protein models, potential drug leads and therapeutic agents in their own right. However, their small size and high degree of flexibility often precludes structure determination by X-ray due to difficulties in crystallization.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can be used to determine peptide structures and interactions. The method can give information regarding local and overall structure, binding and lower affinity interactions, and is applicable to difficult samples since it can be done in the solution state.
Copper transport in biological systems is achieved by intracellular copper metallochaperone proteins that specifically bind Cu (I) ions and deliver them to their target proteins through a series of protein-protein interactions, to protect the ions from oxidation and prevent the release of toxic copper2-5. The binding site is characterized by the conserved sequence, MXH/TCXanyXanyC, which has been shown both by NMR and crystallography to bind the Cu (I) by the soft thiolato ligands of the two cysteine residues, although an additional external ligand has also been proposed6-8. The structure-function relationship of these proteins has been a subject of intensive research9.
In the study presented here, a peptide model that includes the conserved sequence of copper metallochaperones was synthesized and reacted with Cu (I) under an inert environment. The presented protocol describes the steps of structure determination by NMR, including sample preparation, data collection, data processing, structure generation and structural analysis. The analysis was done in two steps: First structures were generated with no information regarding the mode of binding of the peptide to the copper ion. Once the binding mode was established empirically, these constraints were introduced to provide a high resolution structure. The mode of binding is the essential point in the model and was thus determined in an unbiased manner.
The NMR structural determination of model peptides is an extremely valuable technique that is often used by chemists and biologists. It may be applied relatively easily to different peptides under different conditions, and thus may shed light on relevant mechanisms10. Understanding the structure elucidation process provide a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed structures.
1. Sample Preparation
2. NMR Data Collection and Processing13
3. Peak Assignment and Integration Using SPARKY20
4. Molecular Mechanics Calculations to Generate Structure Ensemble using XPLOR22
5. Structure Analysis
As part of an ongoing study of copper-binding protein models, the structure of the conserved sequence MT/HCXXC within the linear peptide MTCSGCSRPG was determined by solution state NMR. The peptide was reacted with CuCl under inert environment and the pH was measured as ~3.0 by a universal stick. The amide region of the peptide showed an expansion upon reaction with copper, from 6.7-8.5 to 6.6-9.0 ppm (Figure 2). Line broadening due to slight copper oxidation is evident in the baseline.
The copper-reacted peptide sample was stable with time (Figure 7) and the spectra were well-resolved (Figure 8) and gave 81 NOE interactions that were acquired by ROESY experiment since the molecule gave near zero NOE interactions in the NOESY spectrum (see theoretical explanation in Figure 6).
The ensemble of the peptide derived for the reacted sample, but using no constraints to the metal gave 47 out of 50 nonviolated structures with an RMSD value of 1.44 and 2.07 Å on the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively. Of these, 13 low-energy conformers were chosen for further analysis, with RMSD values of 0.25 and 0.61 Å on the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively.
The local RMSD plot (Figure 15) showed a region of stability between residues 3 and 7, in addition to the rigid C-terminal region including a proline residue. This region is found in a bend conformation between residues 4 and 7 in all conformations (Figure 19), which are stabilized by hydrogen bonding between backbone donors and acceptors, Gly5 and Thr2; Cys6 and Cys3 (Figure 20). This bend is also evident between C3 and S7 by the reduced 3JHNHα values in this region (Figure 11).
The conformations were superimposed over this region (Figure 16) and analyzed for possible binding residues. When considering Cys3, Cys6 and Met1 as potential binding residues, the shortest S.”.S distance was that between the thiolato groups of Cys3 and Cys6 (7.9±0.1 Å relative to 9.1±1.1 and 9.4±0.9 Å for SMet1…SCys3 and SMet1…SCys6, respectively). Copper-binding was introduced and the calculation was repeated to give the ensemble used for analysis (Figure 17).
The low-energy ensemble of the copper-bound peptide shows that the N-terminal amine is proximate to the bound copper (3.5-5.5 Å).
The electrostatic potential distribution on the surface of the molecule showed that arginine residue extends from the backbone of the peptide, forming a positive lobe of electrostatic potential, whereas the backbone carbonyls are arranged in a line forming a less prominent-1 kT/e electrostatic potential (Figure 23).
Figure 1. Scheme of the method.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 2. 1D NMR spectrum of apo- (green) and copper-reacted peptide (red) showing the change in distribution of amide resonances.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 3. COSY spectrum of copper-reacted peptide, showing HN-Ha neighboring proton group interactions.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 4. TOCSY spectrum of copper-reacted peptide, showing HN interactions with proton groups within the residue.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 5. ROESY spectrum of copper-reacted peptide, showing HN interactions with all proximate proton groups, independent of being covalently bound to amide.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 6. Theoretical calculation of NOE intensity of molecule by NOESY and ROESY experiment versus the correlation time, indicative of the rotation rate, which is dependent on effective size and spectrometer field15.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 7. 1D spectra of a stable copper complex (left pane) and the apo peptide (right pane) undergoing oxidation as a function of time.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 8. Overlay of fingerprint regions of ROESY (red-yellows), TOCSY (blue-greens) and COSY (purple) spectra of copper-bound peptide.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 9. Assigned fingerprint region of spectrum of copper-bound peptide.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 10. 1H chemical shift assignment table (ppm).Click here to view larger image.
Figure 11. 3JHNHα values table.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 12 . Inter-residual constrains list.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 13. Statistics on NMR-derived NOE constraint file used to generate ensemble of peptide.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 14. Ensemble derived from NMR data of copper-bound peptide. Complete 50-member ensemble representing all samples conformations superimposed on backbone.
Click here to view larger image.
Figure 15. Local four-residue RMSD values along the peptide sequence.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 16. Low-energy ensemble of copper-bound peptide without any restraints to the metal, representing the low-energy conformations that have no violations of experimental NMR-derived constraints, superimposed on core region of larger stability. This ensemble will be used to determine the residues that interact with the copper ion.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 17. Low-energy ensemble of copper-bound peptide, representing the low-energy conformations that have no violations of experimental NMR-derived constraints.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 18. Low-energy conformer of copper-bound peptide, representing the low-energy conformations that have no violations of experimental NMR-derived constraints.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 19. Secondary structure information for all members of the low-energy ensemble.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 20. Intramolecular hydrogen bounds found in the conformers of the ensemble.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 21. Low-energy representative conformation in grid used to calculate electrostatic potential distribution.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 22. Electrostatic potential mapped onto Van der Waals surface of low-energy representative conformation of peptide.Click here to view larger image.
Figure 23. Electrostatic potential iso-surface of low-energy representative conformation of peptide showing +/- 1 kT/e in blue and red, respectively.Click here to view larger image.
The contribution of structural information to understand binding mechanisms is well-accepted. Peptides are useful as models for protein binding and interactions; however they are not amenable to the main method for structure determination, X-ray crystallography. NMR is particularly useful for these systems, since the structures can be readily solved in solution. This is especially for the case of metallochaperone-mimetics that additionally require structure determination under an inert environment to prevent oxidation of the metal ion.
The MTCSGCSRPG peptide, containing the conserved MT/HCXXC motif, bound Cu (I) as was evident by the significant change of spectrum from the apo-form to the peptide reacted with copper. The need for a ROESY experiment at the field of 600 MHz, due to a spectrum with null interactions in the NOESY spectrum, indicates a compact peptide, since our experience shows that smaller peptides of 6-7 residues fall in the null signal of the NOESY regime, but peptides of this size usually give adequate signal. In the ROESY spectrum 81 cross-peaks were observed, N of these were inter-residue cross-peaks and (81-N) were intra-residue cross-peaks. This is a small number of peaks compared to proteins, but is expected in small peptides; Particularly cyclic peptides, which tend to give a small number of interactions since all the sidechains point outward and undergo little interaction with one another.
As the metal itself cannot be detected directly by the 1H NMR measurements, one must conclude on the metal binding residues from the distances obtained between suspected donor atoms. To assure a reliable structure, no metal-ligand binding constraints should be added to the initial calculations. Previous studies have shown that forcing metal binding in an incorrect form may still lead to reasonable structural factors even if the structure is incorrect10.
The experiments gave highly nonviolated conformations in an ensemble of low RMSD. The low RMSD of a potentially flexible peptide lends further support for copper binding, which would reduce the conformational flexibility of the molecule. The RMSD values of the binding region were reduced to values around 0.05 Å, which shows tremendous stabilization as expected by the ring closure. The secondary bend and hydrogen-bonding found in the 3-7 region, also indicated binding in this region.
The negative charge obtained when two thiols bind the copper (I) peptide is offset by the N-terminal amine that was held proximate to the bound copper.
When inspecting the resulting distances between potential donor atoms, including the two cysteine residues and the methionine group, the ones located at positions most probable to bind metal were the sidechains of Cys3 and Cys6. Therefore, binding constraints were added between these residues and the metal center, and the resulting structure was evaluated. To further support the resulting structure, various additional control measurements that include preset bonds to other residues may be performed and the structural factors compared. This is especially important where the result of the model is unexpected. In previous studies using similar measurements using protein-mimetic peptides, unusual binding modes were observed, including methionine instead of cysteine7.
Excess copper is toxic to biological systems and copper transport is very tightly controlled. Therefore, it is interesting and mechanistically important to understand how copper is transferred from one protein to another. The transport cannot depend on simple release and acquire mechanism, but must somehow include both stronger and weaker modes of binding, much like how one would transfer an object carefully from the fingers of one hand to another. This type of study provides much information regarding the mechanism of copper binding in biological systems and can be used to further investigate many different aspects of metallochaperone activity in nature. The systems may be easily mutated and manipulated to mimic many different aspects of copper-binding in nature, and may be analyzed without using prior assumptions of the binding mode.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
We thank the Human Frontier Science Program (Young investigator grant (RGY)0068-2006) for financial support.
Avance DMX 600 MHz Spectrometer | Bruker | ||
NMR sample tubes | Wilmad | 535-PP | |
Glove box | MBraun | LM05-019 | |
Lyophilizer | VirTis | benchtopK | |
Peptide | BioChemia | Custom made | >95% purity |
Copper (1) chloride | Aldrich | 224332 | |
Hydrochloric acid | BioLab | 231-595-7 | |
Sodium hydroxide | Gadot | 1310-73-2 | |
d6-Dimethylsulfoxide | Aldrich | 236926 | |
Deuterium oxide | Aldrich | 151882 |