Ca 2+ -Regulated Photoproteins: Structural Insight into the Bioluminescence Mechanism (original) (raw)
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Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B-biology, 2017
Bioluminescence of a variety of marine coelenterates is determined by Ca 2+-regulated photoproteins. A strong interest in these proteins is for their wide analytical potential as intracellular calcium indicators and labels for in vitro binding assays. The presently known hydromedusan Ca 2+-regulated photoproteins contain three (aequorin and clytin) or five (obelin and mitrocomin) cysteine residues with one of them strictly conserved. We have constructed Cys-free aequorin and obelin by substitution of all cysteines to serine residues. Such mutants should be of interest for researchers by the possibility to avoid the incubation with dithiothreitol (or β-mercaptoethanol) required for producing an active photoprotein that is important for some prospective analytical assays in which the photoprotein is genetically fused with a target protein sensitive to the reducing agents. Cys-free mutants were expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized regarding the efficiency of photoprotein complex formation, functional activity, and conformational stability. The replacement of cysteine residues has been demonstrated to affect different properties of aequorin and obelin. Cys-free aequorin displays a twofold lower specific bioluminescence activity but preserves similar activation properties and light emission kinetics compared to the wild-type aequorin. In contrast, Cys-free obelin retains only~10% of the bioluminescence activity of wild-type obelin as well as binding coelenterazine and forming active photoprotein much less effectively. In addition, the substitution of Cys residues drastically changes the bioluminescence kinetics of obelin completely eliminating a "fast" component from the light signal decay curve. At the same time, the replacement of Cys residues increases conformational flexibility of both aequorin and obelin molecules, but again, the effect is more prominent in the case of obelin. The values of thermal midpoints of unfolding (T m) were determined to be 53.3 ± 0.2 and 44.6 ± 0.4°C for aequorin and Cys-free aequorin, and 49.1 ± 0.1 and 28.8 ± 0.3°C for obelin and Cys-free obelin, respectively. Thus, so far only Cys-free aequorin is suitable as a partner for fusing with a tag sensitive to reducing agents since the aequorin mutant preserves almost 50% of the bioluminescent activity and can be produced with a substantial yield.
Preparation and X-ray crystallographic analysis of the Ca 2+ -discharged photoprotein obelin
Acta Crystallographica Section D Biological Crystallography, 2004
Ca(2+)-regulated photoproteins belong to the EF-hand Ca(2+)-binding protein family. The addition of calcium ions initiates bright blue bioluminescence of the photoproteins, a result of the oxidative breakdown of coelenterazine peroxide to coelenteramide. Crystals of the Ca(2+)-discharged W92F mutant of obelin from Obelia longissima have been grown, representing the first crystallization of a photoprotein after the Ca(2+)-triggered bioluminescence. A green fluorescence observed from the crystals clearly demonstrates that coelenteramide, the bioluminescence product of coelenterazine peroxide, is bound within the protein. The diffraction pattern exhibits tetragonal Laue symmetry. Systematic absences indicate that the space group is either P4(3)2(1)2 or P4(1)2(1)2. The unit-cell parameters are a = b = 53.4, c = 144.0 A. The crystals diffract to 1.9 A resolution.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006
The crystal structure at 1.93-Å resolution is determined for the Ca 2؉ -discharged obelin containing three bound calcium ions as well as the product of the bioluminescence reaction, coelenteramide. This finding extends the series of available spatial structures of the ligand-dependent conformations of the protein to four, the obelin itself, and those after the bioluminescence reaction with or without bound Ca 2؉ and͞or coelenteramide. Among these structures, global conformational changes are small, typical of the class of ''calcium signal modulators'' within the EF-hand protein superfamily. Nevertheless, in the active site there are significant repositions of two residues. The His-175 imidazole ring flips becoming almost perpendicular to the original orientation corroborating the crucial importance of this residue for triggering bioluminescence. Tyr-138 hydrogen bonded to the coelenterazine N1-atom in unreacted obelin is moved away from the binding cavity after reaction. However, this Tyr is displaced by a water molecule from within the cavity, which now forms a hydrogen bond to the same atom, the amide N of coelenteramide. From this observation, a reaction scheme is proposed that would result in the neutral coelenteramide as the primary excited state product in photoprotein bioluminescence. From such a higher energy state it is now energetically feasible to account for the shorter wavelength bioluminescence spectra obtained from some photoprotein mutants or to populate the lower energy state of the phenolate anion to yield the blue bioluminescence ordinarily observed from native photoproteins.
2008
The systems named “preliminary charged” occupy a special place among numerous bioluminescence systems. The most well-known and studied representatives of such bioluminescence systems are Ca 2+ -regulated photoproteins, which are mainly responsible for the luminescence of marine coelenterates [1]. The photoprotein molecule is a stable enzyme–substrate complex composed of a monosubunit polypeptide and an oxygen- preactivated substrate, 2-hydroperoxycoelenterazine, which is stably but noncovalently bound to the protein. Bioluminescence is initiated by calcium ions and emerges due to oxidative decarboxylation of the substrate bound to the protein. This causes formation of the reaction product, coelenteramide (CLM), in an excited state, and ëé 2 . The transition of CLM from the excited to ground state is accompanied by light emission. The bioluminescence of photoproteins is independent of é 2 , because oxygen is already bound to the protein as a 2-hydroperoxy derivative of coelenterazine. The independence of oxygen is among the main distinctions of photoprotein reactions from the other bioluminescence reactions catalyzed by luciferases. The bioluminescence of photoproteins is observed in the range of 465–495 nm and depends on the particular organism from which the photoprotein is isolated. The photoproteins bound to 2-hydroperoxycoelenterazine do not fluoresce but display a bright fluorescence immediately after the reaction, when bound to CLM.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2004
Ca 2؉-regulated photoproteins are members of the EFhand calcium-binding protein family. The addition of Ca 2؉ produces a blue bioluminescence by triggering a decarboxylation reaction of protein-bound hydroperoxycoelenterazine to form the product, coelenteramide, in an excited state. Based on the spatial structures of aequorin and several obelins, we have postulated mechanisms for the Ca 2؉ trigger and for generation of the different excited states that are the origin of the different colors of bioluminescence. Here we report the crystal structure of the Ca 2؉-discharged photoprotein obelin at 1.96-Å resolution. The results lend support to the proposed mechanisms and provide new structural insight into details of these processes. Global conformational changes caused by Ca 2؉ association are typical of the class of calcium signal modulators within the EF-hand protein superfamily. Accommodation of the Ca 2؉ ions into the loops of the EF-hands is seen to propagate into the active site of the protein now occupied by the coelenteramide where there is a significant repositioning and flipping of the His-175 imidazole ring as crucially required in the trigger hypothesis. Also the H-bonding between His-22 and the coelenterazine found in the active photoprotein is preserved at the equivalent position of coelenteramide, confirming the proposed rapid excited state proton transfer that would lead to the excited state of the phenolate ion pair, which is responsible for the blue emission of bioluminescence.
FEBS Journal, 2014
Ca 2+-regulated photoproteins are responsible for the bioluminescence of a variety of marine coelenterates. All hydromedusan photoproteins are a single-chain polypeptide to which 2-hydroperoxycoelenterazine is tightly but non-covalently bound. Bioluminescence results from oxidative decarboxylation of 2-hydroperoxycoelenterazine, generating protein-bound coelenteramide in an excited state. The bioluminescence spectral maxima of recombinant photoproteins vary in the range 462-495 nm, despite a high degree of identity of amino acid sequences and spatial structures of these photoproteins. Based on studies of obelin and aequorin mutants with substitution of Phe to Tyr and Tyr to Phe, respectively [Stepanyuk GA et al. (2005) FEBS Lett 579, 1008-1014], it was suggested that the spectral differences may be accounted for by an additional hydrogen bond between the hydroxyl group of a Tyr residue and an oxygen atom of the 6-(p-hydroxyphenyl) substituent of coelenterazine. Here, we report the crystal structures of two conformation states of the F88Y obelin mutant that has bioluminescence and product fluorescence spectra resembling those of aequorin. Comparison of spatial structures of the F88Y obelin conformation states with those of wild-type obelin clearly shows that substitution of Phe to Tyr does not affect the overall structures of either F88Y obelin or its product following Ca 2+ discharge, compared to the conformation states of wild-type obelin. The hydrogen bond network in F88Y obelin being due to the Tyr substitution clearly supports the suggestion that different hydrogen bond patterns near the oxygen of the 6-(p-hydroxyphenyl) substituent are the basis for spectral modifications between hydromedusan photoproteins.
Protein Science, 2000
The crystal structure of the photoprotein obelin~22.2 kDa! from Obelia longissima has been determined and refined to 1.7 Å resolution. Contrary to the prediction of a peroxide, the noncovalently bound substrate, coelenterazine, has only a single oxygen atom bound at the C2-position. The protein-coelenterazine 2-oxy complex observed in the crystals is photo-active because, in the presence of calcium ion, bioluminescence emission within the crystal is observed. This structure represents only the second de novo protein structure determined using the anomalous scattering signal of the sulfur substructure in the crystal. The method used here is theoretically different from that used for crambin in 1981 4.72 kDa! and represents a significant advancement in protein crystal structure determination.
Protein Science, 2000
The crystal structure of the photoprotein obelin (22.2 kDa) from Obelia longissima has been determined and refined to 1.7 Å resolution. Contrary to the prediction of a peroxide, the noncovalently bound substrate, coelenterazine, has only a single oxygen atom bound at the C2-position. The protein-coelenterazine 2-oxy complex observed in the crystals is photo-active because, in the presence of calcium ion, bioluminescence emission within the crystal is observed. This structure represents only the second de novo protein structure determined using the anomalous scattering signal of the sulfur substructure in the crystal. The method used here is theoretically different from that used for crambin in 1981 (4.72 kDa) and represents a significant advancement in protein crystal structure determination.
Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2018
Site-directed mutagenesis is a powerful tool to investigate the structure-function relationship of proteins and a function of certain amino acid residues in catalytic conversion of substrates during enzymatic reactions. Hence, it is not surprising that this approach was repeatedly applied to elucidate the role of certain amino acid residues in various aspects of photoprotein bioluminescence, mostly for aequorin and obelin, and to design mutant photoproteins with altered properties (modified calcium affinity, faster or slower bioluminescence kinetics, different emission color) which would either allow the development of novel bioluminescent assays or improvement of characteristics of the already existing ones. This information, however, is scattered over different articles. In this review, we systematize the findings that were made using site-directed mutagenesis studies regarding the impact of various amino acid residues on bioluminescence of hydromedusan Ca 2+-regulated photoproteins. All key residues that have been identified are pinpointed, and their influence on different aspects of photoprotein functioning such as active photoprotein complex formation, bioluminescence reaction, calcium response and light emitter formation is discussed.