Helix termination

The helix termination motif may well be unique in containing so many special features of structural and functional importance in such a short length of sequence. Indeed, the experimental observation that the C-terminal end of segment 2B was a mutation hot spot that would lead to a large number of diseases (Parry and Steinert, 1999) was readily predictable on theoretical grounds. There are, as stated above, a multitude of key residues in this region that are involved in almost every aspect of the structure and assembly of IF molecules. 

Several groups have demonstrated the use of trNOESY experiments to determine the structure of peptides bound to their receptor. For example, Kisselev et al. determined the 3D solution structure of the transductin a-subunit bound to light-activated rhodopsin (51). They found that the peptide IKENLKDCGLF formed an a-helix terminated by an open reverse turn (Fig. 11), while in contrast the conformation of the peptide remained disordered when in contact with nonactivated rhodopsin. Their findings led to the development of derivatives of the peptide that maintained the binding conformation and had improved affinity (73). Importantly, in their studies they used rhodopsin in a membrane environment (extracted from bovine rods), emphasizing the capabilities of the method for the study of integral membrane receptor directed inhibitors in their natural environment. 

Rajashankar, K. R., Ramakumar, S., Jain, R. M., and Chauhan, V. S. (1996) Helix termination and chain reversal Crystal and molecular structure of the alpha, beta-dehydrooctapeptide Boc-Val-DeltaPhe-Phe-Ala-Leu-Ala-DeltaPhe-Leu-OH. J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 13, 641-647. 

Example Molecular dynamics simulations of selected portions of proteins can demonstrate the motion of an amino acid sequence while fixing the terminal residues. These simulations can probe the motion of an alpha helix, keeping the ends restrained, as occurs n atiirally m transmembrane proteins. You can also investigate the conformations of loops with fixed endpoints. 

The major stmctural feature of the HAz chain (blue in Figure 5.20) is a hairpin loop of two a helices packed together. The second a helix is 50 amino acids long and reaches back 76 A toward the membrane. At the bottom of the stem there is a i sheet of five antiparallel strands. The central i strand is from HAi, and this is flanked on both sides by hairpin loops from HAz. About 20 residues at the amino terminal end of HAz are associated with the activity by which the vims penetrates the host cell membrane to initiate infection. This region, which is quite hydrophobic, is called the fusion peptide. 

CDK2 has two domains, a small (85 residue) amino-terminal domain comprising a single a helix and a five-stranded p sheet and a larger (213 residues) domain that is mainly a-helical (Figure 6.17a). The cofactor in the... 

Figure 8.3 The DNA-binding protein Cro from bacteriophage lambda contains 66 amino acid residues that fold into three a helices and three P strands, (a) A plot of the Ca positions of the first 62 residues of the polypeptide chain. The four C-terminal residues are not visible in the electron density map. (b) A schematic diagram of the subunit structure. a helices 2 and 3 that form the helix-turn-helix motif ate colored blue and red, respectively. The view is different from that in (a), [(a) Adapted from W.F. Anderson et al., Nature 290 754-758, 1981. (b) Adapted from D. Ohlendorf et al., /. Mol. Biol. 169 757-769, 1983.]...

Figure 8.6 The N-terminal domain of lambda repressor, which binds DNA, contains 92 amino acid residues folded into five a helices. Two of these, a2 (blue) and a3 (red) form a helix-turn-hellx motif with a very similar structure to that of lambda Cro shown In Figure 8.4. The complete repressor monomer contains in addition a larger C-termlnal domain. (Adapted from C. Pabo and M. Lewis, Nature 298 443-447, 1982.)...

The polypeptide chain of the 92 N-terminal residues is folded into five a helices connected by loop regions (Figure 8.6). Again the helices are not packed against each other in the usual way for a-helical structures. Instead, a helices 2 and 3, residues 33-52, form a helix-turn-helix motif with a very similar structure to that found in Cro. 

In spite of the absence of the C-terminal domains, the DNA-binding domains of lambda repressor form dimers in the crystals, as a result of interactions between the C-terminal helix number 5 of the two subunits that are somewhat analogous to the interactions of the C-terminal p strand 3 in the Cro protein (Figure 8.7). The two helices pack against each other in the normal way with an inclination of 20° between the helical axes. The structure of the C-terminal domain, which is responsible for the main subunit interactions in the intact repressor, remains unknown. 

The helices at the N-terminal regions of the two polypeptide chains are intertwined and make extensive contacts in the central part of the molecule to form a stable core. This core supports two "heads", each comprising the last three helices from one polypeptide chain. Alpha helix 3 in the middle of the subunit chain is quite long and forms the main link between the core and the head. 

Figure 8.19 The a helices of the N-terminal region of the trp repressor are involved in subunit interactions and form a stable core in the middle of the dimer. Alpha helices 4-6, which include the helix-turn-helix motif, form two "head" regions at the two ends of the molecule. Alpha helix 3 connects the core to the head in both subunits. (Adapted from R.W. Schevitz et al., Nature 317 782-786, 1985.)...

Figure 8.21 Richardson-type diagram of the structure of one suhunit of the lac repressor. The polypeptide chain is arranged in four domains, an amino terminal DNA-hinding domain (red) with a helix-tum-helix motif, a hinge helix (purple), a large core domain which has two subdomains (green and hlue) and a C-terminal a helix. (Adapted from M. Lewis et al.. Science 271 1247-1254, 1996.)...

The polypeptide chain of the lac repressor subunit is arranged in four domains (Figure 8.21) an N-terminal DNA-hinding domain with a helix-turn-helix motif, a hinge helix which binds to the minor groove of DNA, a large core domain which binds the corepressor and has a structure very similar to the periplasmic arablnose-binding protein described in Chapter 4, and finally a C-terminal a helix which is involved in tetramerization. This a helix is absent in the PurR subunit structure otherwise their structures are very similar. 

The tetrameric structure of the lac repressor has a quite unusual V-shape (Figure 8.22). Each arm of the V-shaped molecule is a tight dimer, which is very similar in structure to the PurR dimer and which has the two N-termi-nal DNA binding domains close together at the tip of the arm. The two dimers of the lac repressor are held together at the other end by the four carboxy-terminal a helices, which form a four-helix bundle. 

Many biochemical and biophysical studies of CAP-DNA complexes in solution have demonstrated that CAP induces a sharp bend in DNA upon binding. This was confirmed when the group of Thomas Steitz at Yale University determined the crystal structure of cyclic AMP-DNA complex to 3 A resolution. The CAP molecule comprises two identical polypeptide chains of 209 amino acid residues (Figure 8.24). Each chain is folded into two domains that have separate functions (Figure 8.24b). The larger N-terminal domain binds the allosteric effector molecule, cyclic AMP, and provides all the subunit interactions that form the dimer. The C-terminal domain contains the helix-tum-helix motif that binds DNA. 

The side of the p sheet that faces away from DNA is covered by two long a helices. One of these helices contains a number of basic residues from the middle segment of the polypeptide chain while the second helix is formed by the C-terminal residues. Residues from these two helices and from the short loop that joins the two motifs (red in Figure 9.4) are likely candidates for interactions with other subunits of the TFIID complex, and with specific transcription factors. 

TFIIB is arranged in two domains, both of which have the cyclin fold described in Chapter 6. Both domains bind to the TBP-TATA box complex at the C-terminal stirrup and helix of TBP. The phosphate and sugar moities of DNA form extensive non-sequence-specific contacts with TFIIB both upstream and downstream of the middle of the TATA box. 

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