title: Spectroscopic evidence for an intermediate in the T6 to R6 allosteric transition of the Co(II)-substituted insulin hexamer.
abstract: The phenol-induced conformational transition in the insulin hexamer is known to involve a large change in structure wherein residues 1-8 of the insulin B-chain are transformed from an extended coil (T-state) to a helix (R-state). This change in protein conformation both exposes a cryptic protein pocket on each subunit to which phenol binds and forces the HisB10 zinc sites to undergo a change in coordination geometry from octahedral to tetrahedral [Derewenda, U., Derewenda, Z., Dodson, E. J., Dodson, G. G., Reynolds, C. D., Smith, G. D., Sparks, C., & Swensen, D. (1989) Nature 338, 593-596]. Substitution of Co(II) for Zn(II) at the HisB10 sites introduces a sensitive chromophoric probe of the structural and chemical events that occur during this allosteric transition [Roy, M., Brader, M. L., Lee, R. W.-K., Kaarsholm, N. C., Hansen, J. F., & Dunn, M. F. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 19081-19085]. In this study, using rapid-scannig stopped-flow (RSSF) UV-visible spectroscopic studies, we demonstrate that a transient chemical intermediate is formed during the phenol-induced conversion of Co(II)-substituted hexamer from the T-state to the R-state. Decomposition of the RSSF spectra gave a spectrum for the intermediate with d-d transitions consistent with the assignment of the intermediate as either a distorted tetrahedral or a 5-coordinate Co(II) species. Possible structures for the intermediate and the implications of these findings to the allosteric mechanism are considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside 92521-0129.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000495:Allosteric Site; D000818:Animals; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D019800:Phenol; D010636:Phenols; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation / Q000187:drug effects; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013552:Swine; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D010636:Phenols; D019800:Phenol; D003035:Cobalt