title: Solution structure of a naturally-occurring zinc-peptide complex demonstrates that the N-terminal zinc-binding module of the Lasp-1 LIM domain is an independent folding unit.
abstract: The three-dimensional solution structure of the 1:1 complex between the synthetic peptide ZF-1 and zinc was determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The peptide, initially isolated from pig intestines, is identical in sequence to the 30 N-terminal amino acid residues of the human protein Lasp-1 belonging to the LIM domain protein family. The final set of 20 energy-refined NMR conformers has an average rmsd relative to the mean structure of 0.55 A for the backbone atoms of residues 3-30. Calculations without zinc atom constraints unambiguously identified Cys 5, Cys 8, His 26, and Cys 29 as the zinc-coordinating residues. LIM domains consist of two sequential zinc-binding modules and the NMR structure of the ZF-1-zinc complex is the first example of a structure of an isolated module. Comparison with the known structures of the N-terminal zinc-binding modules of both the second LIM domain of chicken CRP and rat CRIP with which ZF-1 shares 50% and 43% sequence identity, respectively, supports the notion that the zinc-binding modules of the LIM domain have a conserved structural motif and identifies local regions of structural diversity. The similarities include conserved zinc-coordinating residues, a rubredoxin knuckle involving Cys 5 and Cys 8, and the coordination of the zinc ion by histidine N delta in contrast to the more usual coordination by N epsilon observed for other zinc-finger domains. The present structure determination of the ZF-1-zinc complex establishes the N-terminal half of a LIM domain as an independent folding unit. The structural similarities of N- and C-terminal zinc-binding modules of the LIM domains, despite limited sequence identity, lead to the proposal of a single zinc-binding motif in LIM domains. The coordinates are available from the Brookhaven protein data bank, entry 1ZFO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hammarström
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Berndt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sillard
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adermann
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Otting
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013552:Swine; D015032:Zinc / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D016335:Zinc Fingers; D018909:src Homology Domains
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C096353:LASP1 protein, human; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011506:Proteins; C079406:ZF-1 protein, Sus scrofa; D015032:Zinc