Neurotrophins are a family of proteins with pleiotropic effects mediated by two distinct receptor types, namely the Trk family, and the common neurotrophin receptor p75NTR. Binding of four mammalian neurotrophins, nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5), to p75NTR is studied by molecular modeling based on X-ray structures of the neurotrophins and the extracellular domain of p55TNFR, a homologue of p75NTR. The model of neurotrophin/receptor interactions suggests that the receptor binding domains of neurotrophins (loops I and IV) are geometrically and electrostatically complementary to a putative binding site of p75NTR, formed by the second and part of the third cysteine-rich domains. Geometric match of neurotrophin/receptor binding domains in the complexes, as characterized by shape complementarity statistic Sc, is comparable to known protein/protein complexes. All charged residues within the loops I and IV of the neurotrophins, previously determined as being critical for p75NTR binding, directly participate in receptor binding in the framework of the model. Principal residues of the binding site of p75NTR include Asp47, Lys56, Asp75, Asp76, Asp88, and Glu89. The additional involvement of Arg80 and Glu53 is specific for NGF and BDNF, respectively, and Glu73 participates in binding with NT-3 and NT-4/5. Neurotrophins are likely to induce similar, but not identical, conformational changes within the p75NTR binding site.

A previous NMR investigation of model decapeptides with identical β-strand sequences and different turn sequences demonstrated that, in these peptide systems, the turn residues played a more predominant role in defining the type of β-hairpin adopted than cross-strand side-chain interactions. This result needed to be tested in longer β-hairpin forming peptides, containing more potentially stabilizing cross-strand hydrogen bonds and side-chain interactions that might counterbalance the influence of the turn sequence. In that direction, we report here on the design and 1H NMR conformational study of three β-hairpin forming pentadecapeptides. The design consists of adding two and three residues at the N- and C-termini, respectively, of the previously studied decapeptides. One of the designed pentadecapeptides includes a potentially stabilizing R-E salt bridge to investigate the influence of this interaction on β-hairpin stability. We suggest that this peptide self-associates by forming intermolecular salt bridges. The other two pentadecapeptides behave as monomers. A conformational analysis of their 1H NMR spectra reveals that they adopt different types of β-hairpin structure despite having identical strand sequences. Hence, the β-turn sequence drives β-hairpin formation in the investigated pentadecapeptides that adopt β-hairpins that are longer than the average protein β-hairpins. These results reinforce our previous suggestion concerning the key role played by the turn sequence in directing the kind of β-hairpin formed by designed peptides.

The folding of immunoglobulin domains requires the formation of a conserved structural disulfide. Therefore, as a general rule, they cannot be functionally expressed in the reducing environment of the cellular cytoplasm. We have previously reported that stability engineering can lead to the cytoplasmic expression of functional immunoglobulin VL domains. Here we apply rational stability engineering by consensus sequence analysis to VH domains. Isolated VH domains tend to aggregate more easily than VL domains; they do not refold quantitatively and are generally more difficult to handle in vitro. To overcome these problems, we successfully predicted and experimentally verified several stabilizing point mutations in the VH domain of a designed, catalytic Fv fragment. The effect of single mutations was additive, and they could be combined in a prototype domain with significantly improved stability against chemical denaturation and a 20-fold increased half time of irreversible thermal denaturation, at physiological temperature. This stabilized, isolated VH domain could be expressed solubly in the reducing cellular cytoplasm of Escherichia coli, at a yield of approximately 1.2 mg/L of shake flask culture. It remains fully functional, as evidenced by the successful reconstitution of an esterolytic Fv fragment with the VL domain. This success provides further evidence that consensus sequence engineering is a rational, plannable route to the construction of intrabodies.

Based on results from both equilibrium and kinetic hydrogen exchange studies of Escherichia coli ribonuclease HI (RNase H), a fragment of RNase H (eABCD) was designed. The sequence of eABCD contains less than half of the protein's primary sequence and includes the regions that were shown to be the most protected from hydrogen exchange in all previous studies of RNase H. This core fragment of RNase H encodes a well-ordered protein with native-like properties. When isolated from the full-length monomeric protein, the eABCD fragment forms a stable dimer. However, we show indirectly that the monomeric form of eABCD is folded and has an overall secondary structure similar to the dimeric form.

Excitable cells and tissues like muscle or brain show a highly fluctuating consumption of ATP, which is efficiently regenerated from a large pool of phosphocreatine by the enzyme creatine kinase (CK). The enzyme exists in tissue—as well as compartment-specific isoforms. Numerous pathologies are related to the CK system: CK is found to be overexpressed in a wide range of solid tumors, whereas functional impairment of CK leads to a deterioration in energy metabolism, which is phenotypic for many neurodegenerative and age-related diseases. The crystal structure of chicken cytosolic brain-type creatine kinase (BB-CK) has been solved to 1.41 Å resolution by molecular replacement. It represents the most accurately determined structure in the family of guanidino kinases. Except for the N-terminal region (2–12), the structures of both monomers in the biological dimer are very similar and closely resemble those of the other known structures in the family. Specific Ca2+-mediated interactions, found between two dimers in the asymmetric unit, result in structurally independent heterodimers differing in their N-terminal conformation and secondary structure.

The high-resolution structure of BB-CK presented in this work will assist in designing new experiments to reveal the molecular basis of the multiple isoform-specific properties of CK, especially regarding different subcellular locations and functional interactions with other proteins. The rather similar fold shared by all known guanidino kinase structures suggests a model for the transition state complex of BB-CK analogous to the one of arginine kinase (AK). Accordingly, we have modeled a putative conformation of CK in the transition state that requires a rigid body movement of the entire N-terminal domain by rms 4 Å from the structure without substrates.

We report the solution structure of the chemotactic cytokine (chemokine) vMIP-II. This protein has unique biological activities in that it blocks infection by several different human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains. This occurs because vMIP-II binds to a wide range of chemokine receptors, some of which are used by HIV to gain cell entry. vMIP-II is a monomeric protein, unlike most members of the chemokine family, and its structure consists of a disordered N-terminus, followed by a helical turn (Gln25–Leu27), which leads into the first strand of a three-stranded antiparallel β-sheet (Ser29–Thr34; Gly42–Thr47; Gln52–Asp56). Following the sheet is a C-terminal α-helix, which extends from residue Asp60 until Gln68. The final five residues beyond the C-terminal helix (Pro70–Arg74) are in an extended conformation, but several of these C-terminal residues contact the first β-strand. The structure of vMIP-II is compared to other chemokines that also block infection by HIV-1, and the structural basis of its lack of ability to form a dimer is discussed.

The factors that influence the enhanced stability observed experimentally of human rhinovirus 14 (HRV14) upon binding a hydrophobic antiviral drug have been investigated by molecular dynamics. Simulations centered about the HRV14 drug-binding pocket allow the reliable assessment of differences in capsid protein motions of HRV14 and drug-bound HRV14. We propose that the experimentally observed stabilization of the ligated virus arises from higher entropy, rather than enthalpy. Time-averaged interaction energies between the viral protein and molecules occupying the pocket are less favorable in the presence of the drug, consistent with the proposal that the observed stability arises from entropic effects. Interaction energies characterizing subunit–subunit contacts within one viral protomer are found to be substantially stronger than those between two protomers. Such distinction in subunit interaction would have clear implications on assembly and disassembly. Drug binding is found to affect large-scale, collective properties, while leaving local atomic properties unperturbed. Specifically, the simulations reveal a weakening of long-range correlations in atomic motions upon drug binding. On the other hand, neither the fast time scale RMS fluctuations of individual atomic positions nor the fluctuation build-up curves from the capsid β-sandwich forming the drug-binding pocket show a consistent distinction between the drug-bound and drug-free viral simulations. Collectively, the detailed description available from the simulations provides an understanding of the experimental observations on the drug-induced changes in thermal stability and protease sensitivity reported for picornaviruses. The predicted significance of binding entropy can be explored experimentally and should be considered in the design of new antiviral compounds.

The partly folded states of α-lactalbumin (α-LA) exposed to acid solution at pH 2.0 (A-state) or at neutral pH upon EDTA-mediated removal of the single protein-bound calcium ion (apo form) have been probed by limited proteolysis experiments. These states are nowadays commonly considered to be molten globules and thus protein-folding intermediates. Pepsin was used for proteolysis at acid pH, while proteinase K and chymotrypsin at neutral pH. The expectations were that these proteolytic probes would detect sites and/or chain regions in the partly folded states of α-LA sufficiently dynamic, or even unfolded, capable of binding and adaptation to the specific stereochemistry of the protease's active site. A time-course analysis of the proteolytic events revealed that the fast, initial proteolytic cuts of the 123-residue chain of α-LA in its A-state or apo form by the three proteases occur at the same chain region 39–54, the actual site(s) of cleavage depending upon the protease employed. This region in native α-LA encompasses the β-sheets of the protein. Subsequent cleavages occur mostly at chain regions 31–35 and 95–105. Four fragment species of α-LA have been isolated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and their conformational properties examined by circular dichroism and fluorescence emission spectroscopy. The single chain fragment 53–103, containing all the binding sites for calcium in native α-LA and cross-linked by two disulfide bridges, maintains in aqueous buffer and in the presence of calcium ions a folded structure characterized by the same content of α-helix of the corresponding chain segment in native α-LA. Evidence for some structure was also obtained for the two-chain species 1–40 and 104–123, as well as 1–31 and 105–123, both systems being covalently linked by two disulfide bonds. In contrast, the protein species given by fragment 1–34 connected to fragment 54–123 or 57–123 via four disulfide bridges adopts in solution a folded structure with the helical content expected for a native-like conformation. Of interest, the proteolytic fragment species herewith isolated correspond to the structural domains and subdomains of α-LA that can be identified by computational analysis of the three-dimensional structure of native α-LA (Siddiqui AS, Barton GI, 1995, Protein Sci 4:872–884). The fast, initial cleavages at the level of the β-sheet region of native α-LA indicate that this region is highly mobile or even unfolded in the α-LA molten globule(s), while the rest of the protein chain maintains sufficient structure and rigidity to prevent extensive proteolysis. The subsequent cleavages at chain segment 95–105 indicate that also this region is somewhat mobile in the A-state or apo form of the protein. It is concluded that the overall domain topology of native α-LA is maintained in acid or at neutral pH upon calcium depletion. Moreover, the molecular properties of the partly folded states of α-LA deduced here from proteolysis experiments do correlate with those derived from previous NMR and other physicochemical measurements.

The human C3a anaphylatoxin receptor (C3aR) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) composed of seven transmembrane α-helices connected by hydrophilic loops. Previous studies of chimeric C3aR/C5aR and loop deletions in C3aR demonstrated that the large extracellular loop2 plays an important role in noneffector ligand binding; however, the effector binding site for C3a has not been identified. In this study, selected charged residues in the transmembrane regions of C3aR were replaced by Ala using site-directed mutagenesis, and mutant receptors were stably expressed in the RBL-2H3 cell line. Ligand binding studies demonstrated that R161A (helix IV), R340A (helix V), and D417A (helix VII) showed no binding activity, although full expression of these receptors was established by flow cytometric analysis. C3a induced very weak intracellular calcium flux in cells expressing these three mutant receptors. H81A (helix II) and K96A (helix III) showed decreased ligand binding activity. The calcium flux induced by C3a in H81A and K96A cells was also consistently reduced. These findings suggest that the charged transmembrane residues Arg161, Arg340, and Asp417 in C3aR are essential for ligand effector binding and/or signal coupling, and that residues His81 and Lys96 may contribute less directly to the overall free energy of ligand binding. These transmembrane residues in C3aR identify specific molecular contacts for ligand interactions that account for C3a-induced receptor activation.

We describe here a systematic investigation into the role of position a in the hydrophobic core of a model coiled-coil protein in determining coiled-coil stability and oligomerization state. We employed a model coiled coil that allowed the formation of an extended three-stranded trimeric oligomerization state for some of the analogs; however, due to the presence of a Cys-Gly-Gly linker, unfolding occurred from the same two-stranded monomeric oligomerization state for all of the analogs. Denaturation from a two-stranded state allowed us to measure the relative contribution of 20 different amino acid side chains to coiled-coil stability from chemical denaturation profiles. In addition, the relative hydrophobicity of the substituted amino acid side chains was assessed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and found to correlate very highly (R = 0.95) with coiled-coil stability. We also determined the effect of position a in specifying the oligomerization state using ultracentrifugation as well as high-performance size-exclusion chromatography. We found that nine of the analogs populated one oligomerization state exclusively at peptide concentrations of 50 μM under benign buffer conditions. The Leu-, Tyr-, Gln-, and His-substituted analogs were found to be exclusively three-stranded trimers, while the Asn-, Lys-, Orn-, Arg-, and Trp-substituted analogs formed exclusively two-stranded monomers. Modeling results for the Leu-substituted analog showed that a three-stranded oligomerization state is preferred due to increased side-chain burial, while a two-stranded oligomerization state was observed for the Trp analog due to unfavorable cavity formation in the three-stranded state.

β-Lactamases are the major resistance mechanism to β-lactam antibiotics and pose a growing threat to public health. Recently, bacteria have become resistant to β-lactamase inhibitors, making this problem pressing. In an effort to overcome this resistance, non-β-lactam inhibitors of β-lactamases were investigated for complementarity to the structure of AmpC β-lactamase from Escherichia coli. This led to the discovery of an inhibitor, benzo(b)thiophene-2-boronic acid (BZBTH2B), which inhibited AmpC with a Ki of 27 nM. This inhibitor is chemically dissimilar to β-lactams, raising the question of what specific interactions are responsible for its activity. To answer this question, the X-ray crystallographic structure of BZBTH2B in complex with AmpC was determined to 2.25 Å resolution. The structure reveals several unexpected interactions. The inhibitor appears to complement the conserved, R1-amide binding region of AmpC, despite lacking an amide group. Interactions between one of the boronic acid oxygen atoms, Tyr150, and an ordered water molecule suggest a mechanism for acid/base catalysis and a direction for hydrolytic attack in the enzyme catalyzed reaction. To investigate how a non-β-lactam inhibitor would perform against resistant bacteria, BZBTH2B was tested in antimicrobial assays. BZBTH2B significantly potentiated the activity of a third-generation cephalosporin against AmpC-producing resistant bacteria. This inhibitor was unaffected by two common resistance mechanisms that often arise against β-lactams in conjunction with β-lactamases. Porin channel mutations did not decrease the efficacy of BZBTH2B against cells expressing AmpC. Also, this inhibitor did not induce expression of AmpC, a problem with many β-lactams. The structure of the BZBTH2B/AmpC complex provides a starting point for the structure-based elaboration of this class of non-β-lactam inhibitors.

Endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase H hydrolyzes the β-(1–4)-glycosidic link of the N,N′-diacetylchitobiose core of high-mannose and hybrid asparagine-linked oligosaccharides. Seven mutants of the active site residues, Asp130 and Glu132, have been prepared, assayed, and crystallized. They include single site mutants of each residue to the corresponding amide, to Ala and to the alternate acidic residue, and to the double amide mutant. The mutants of Asp130 are more active than the corresponding Glu132 mutants, consistent with the assignment of the latter residue as the primary catalytic residue. The amide mutants are more active than the alternate acidic residue mutants, which in turn are more active than the Ala mutants. The structures of the Asn mutant of Asp130 and the double mutant are very similar to that of the wild-type enzyme. Several residues surrounding the mutated residues, including some that form part of the core of the β-barrel and especially Tyr168 and Tyr244, adopt a very different conformation in the structures of the other two mutants of Asp130 and in the Asp mutant of Glu132. The results show that the residues in the upper layers of the β-barrel can organize into two very distinct packing arrangements that depend on subtle electrostatic and steric differences and that greatly affect the geometry of the substrate-binding cleft. Consequently, the relative activities of several of the mutants are defined by structural changes, leading to impaired substrate binding, in addition to changes in functionality.

The knowledge of the binding sites of G protein-coupled cholecystokinin receptors represents important insights that may serve to understand their activation processes and to design or optimize ligands. Our aim was to identify the amino acid of the cholecystokinin-A receptor (CCK-AR) binding site in an interaction with the sulfate of CCK, which is crucial for CCK binding and activity. A three-dimensional model of the [CCK-AR-CCK] complex was built. In this model, Arg197 was the best candidate residue for a ionic interaction with the sulfate of CCK. Arg197 was exchanged for a methionine by site-directed mutagenesis. Wild-type and mutated CCK-AR were transiently expressed in COS-7 cells for pharmacological and functional analysis. The mutated receptor on Arg197 did not bind the agonist radioligand 125I-BH-[Thr, Nle]-CCK-9; however, it bound the nonpeptide antagonist [3H]-SR27,897 as the wild-type receptor. The mutant was ≅1,470- and 3,200-fold less potent than the wild-type CCK-AR to activate G proteins and to induce inositol phosphate production, respectively. This is consistent with the 500-fold lower potency and 800-fold lower affinity of nonsulfated CCK relative to sulfated CCK on the wild-type receptor. These data, together with those showing that the mutated receptor failed to discriminate nonsulfated and sulfated CCK while it retained other pharmacological features of the CCK-AR, strongly support an interaction between Arg197 of the CCK-AR binding site and the sulfate of CCK. In addition, the mutated CCK-AR resembled the low affinity state of the wild-type CCK-AR, suggesting that Arg197–sulfate interaction regulates conformational changes of the CCK-AR that are required for its physiological activation.

Lumazine synthase catalyzes the penultimate step in the synthesis of riboflavin in plants, fungi, and microorganisms. The enzyme displays two quaternary structures, the pentameric forms in yeast and fungi and the 60-meric icosahedral capsids in plants and bacteria. To elucidate the structural features that might be responsible for differences in assembly, we have determined the crystal structures of lumazine synthase, complexed with the inhibitor 5-nitroso-6-ribitylamino-2,4-pyrimidinedione, from spinach and the fungus Magnaporthe grisea to 3.3 and 3.1 Å resolution, respectively. The overall structure of the subunit and the mode of inhibitor binding are very similar in these enzyme species. The core of the subunit consists of a four-stranded parallel β-sheet sandwiched between two helices on one side and three helices on the other. The packing of the five subunits in the pentameric M. grisea lumazine synthase is very similar to the packing in the pentameric substructures in the icosahedral capsid of the plant enzyme. Two structural features can be correlated to the differences in assembly. In the plant enzyme, the N-terminal β-strand interacts with the β-sheet of the adjacent subunit, thus extending the sheet from four to five strands. In fungal lumazine synthase, an insertion of two residues after strand β1 results in a completely different orientation of this part of the polypeptide chain and this conformational difference prevents proper packing of the subunits at the trimer interface in the icosahedron. In the spinach enzyme, the β-hairpin connecting helices α4 and α5 participates in the packing at the trimer interface of the icosahedron. Another insertion of two residues at this position of the polypeptide chain in the fungal enzyme disrupts the hydrogen bonding in the hairpin, and the resulting change in conformation of this loop also interferes with proper intrasubunit contacts at the trimer interface.

Catalysis by thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) from Escherichia coli requires alternation between two domain arrangements. One of these conformations has been observed by X-ray crystallography (Waksman G, Krishna TSR, Williams CH Jr, Kuriyan J, 1994, J Mol Biol 236:800–816). This form of TrxR, denoted FO, permits the reaction of enzyme-bound reduced FAD with a redox-active disulfide on TrxR. As part of an investigation of conformational changes and intermediates in catalysis by TrxR, an X-ray structure of the FO form of TrxR with both the FAD and active site disulfide reduced has been determined. Reduction after crystallization resulted in significant local conformation changes. The isoalloxazine ring of the FAD cofactor, which is essentially planar in the oxidized enzyme, assumes a 34° “butterfly” bend about the N(5)–N(10) axis in reduced TrxR. Theoretical calculations reported by others predict ring bending of 15–28° for reduced isoalloxazines protonated at N(1). The large bending in reduced TrxR is attributed in part to steric interactions between the isoalloxazine ring and the sulfur of Cys138, formed by reduction of the active site disulfide, and is accompanied by changes in the positions and interactions of several of the ribityl side-chain atoms of FAD. The bending angle in reduced TrxR is larger than that for any flavoprotein in the Protein Data Bank. Distributions of bending angles in published oxidized and reduced flavoenzyme structures are different from those found in studies of free flavins, indicating that the protein environment has a significant effect on bending.

We have identified regions in poly(A) polymerases that interact with ATP. Conditions were established for efficient cross-linking of recombinant bovine and yeast poly(A) polymerases to 8-azido-ATP. Mn2+ strongly stimulated this reaction due to a 50-fold lower Ki for 8-azido-ATP in the presence of Mn2+. Mutations of the highly conserved Asp residues 113, 115, and 167, critical for metal binding in the catalytic domain of bovine poly(A) polymerase, led to a strong reduction of cross-linking efficiency, and Mn2+ no longer stimulated the reaction. Sites of 8-azido-ATP cross-linking were mapped in different poly(A) polymerases by CNBr-cleavage and analysis of tryptic peptides by mass spectroscopy. The main cross-link in Schizosaccharomyces pombe poly(A) polymerase could be assigned to the peptide DLELSDNNLLK (amino acids 167–177). Database searches with sequences surrounding the cross-link site detected significant homologies to other nucleotidyltransferase families, suggesting a conservation of the nucleotide-binding fold among these families of enzymes. Mutations in the region of the “helical turn motif” (a domain binding the triphosphate moiety of the nucleotide) and in the suspected nucleotide-binding helix of bovine poly(A) polymerase impaired ATP binding and catalysis. The results indicate that ATP is bound in part by the helical turn motif and in part by a region that may be a structural analog to the fingers domain found in many polymerases.

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) plays an important role in plasma lipoprotein metabolism through its ability to transfer cholesteryl ester, triglyceride, and phospholipid between lipoproteins. CETP is a member of a gene family that also includes bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI). The crystal structure of BPI shows it to be composed of two domains that share a similar structural fold that includes an apolar ligand-binding pocket. As structurally important residues are conserved between BPI and CETP, it is thought that CETP and BPI may have a similar overall conformation. We have previously proposed a model of CETP structure based on the binding characteristics of anti-CETP monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). We now present a refined epitope map of CETP that has been adapted to a structural model of CETP that uses the atomic coordinates of BPI. Four epitopes composed of CETP residues 215–219, 219–223, 223–227, and 444–450, respectively, are predicted to be situated on the external surface of the central β-sheet and a fifth epitope (residues 225–258) on an extended linker that connects the two domains of the molecule. Three other epitopes, residues 317–331, 360–366, and 393–410, would form part of the putative carboxy-terminal β-barrel. The ability of the corresponding mAbs to compete for binding to CETP is consistent with the proximity of the respective epitopes in the model. These results thus provide experimental evidence that is consistent with CETP and BPI having similar surface topologies.

Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) is a ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP), which enzymatically removes a single adenine base from a conserved, surface exposed loop sequence of ribosomal rRNA. We now present unprecedented experimental evidence that PAP can release not only adenine but guanine as well from Escherichia coli rRNA, albeit at a rate 20 times slower than for adenine. We also report X-ray structure analysis and supporting modeling studies for the interactions of PAP with guanine. Our modeling studies indicated that PAP can accommodate a guanine base in the active site pocket without large conformational changes. This prediction was experimentally confirmed, since a guanine base was visible in the active site pocket of the crystal structure of the PAP-guanine complex.

The crystal structure of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) from the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, which belongs to the aminotransferase subfamily Iγ, has been determined at 2.5 Å resolution with the R-value R = 15.1%. T. cruzi TAT shares less than 15% sequence identity with aminotransferases of subfamily Iα but shows only two larger topological differences to the aspartate aminotransferases (AspATs). First, TAT contains a loop protruding from the enzyme surface in the larger cofactor-binding domain, where the AspATs have a kinked α-helix. Second, in the smaller substrate-binding domain, TAT has a four-stranded antiparallel β-sheet instead of the two-stranded β-sheet in the AspATs. The position of the aromatic ring of the pyridoxal-5′-phosphate cofactor is very similar to the AspATs but the phosphate group, in contrast, is closer to the substrate-binding site with one of its oxygen atoms pointing toward the substrate. Differences in substrate specificities of T. cruzi TAT and subfamily Iα aminotransferases can be attributed by modeling of substrate complexes mainly to this different position of the cofactor-phosphate group. Absence of the arginine, which in the AspATs fixes the substrate side-chain carboxylate group by a salt bridge, contributes to the inability of T. cruzi TAT to transaminate acidic amino acids. The preference of TAT for tyrosine is probably related to the ability of Asn17 in TAT to form a hydrogen bond to the tyrosine side-chain hydroxyl group.

A method to produce αβ T-cell receptors (TCRs) in a soluble form suitable for biophysical analysis was devised involving in vitro refolding of a TCR fusion protein. Polypeptides corresponding to the variable and constant domains of each chain of a human and a murine receptor, fused to a coiled coil heterodimerization motif from either c-Jun (alpha) or v-Fos (beta), were overexpressed separately in Escherichia coli. Following recovery from inclusion bodies, the two chains of each receptor were denatured, and then refolded together in the presence of denaturants. For the human receptor, which is specific for the immunodominant influenza A HLA–A2-restricted matrix epitope (M58-66), a heterodimeric protein was purified in milligram yields and found to be homogeneous, monomeric, antibody-reactive, and stable at concentrations lower than 1 μM. Using similar procedures, analogous results were obtained with a murine receptor specific for an influenza nucleoprotein epitope (366–374) restricted by H2-Db. Production of these receptors has facilitated a detailed analysis of viral peptide–Major Histocompatibility Complex (peptide–MHC) engagement by the TCR using both surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and, in the case of the human TCR, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) (Willcox et al., 1999). The recombinant methods described should enable a wide range of TCR–peptide–MHC interactions to be studied and may also have implications for the production of other heterodimeric receptor molecules.