title: Improved estimation of the secondary structures of proteins by vacuum-ultraviolet circular dichroism spectroscopy.
abstract: The vacuum-ultraviolet circular dichroism (VUVCD) spectra of 16 globular proteins (insulin, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose isomerase, lipase, conalbumin, transferrin, catalase, subtilisin A, alpha-amylase, staphylococcal nuclease, papain, thioredoxin, carbonic anhydrase, elastase, avidin, and xylanase) were successfully measured in aqueous solutions at 25 degrees C from 260 to 160 nm under a high vacuum using a synchrotron-radiation VUVCD spectrophotometer. These proteins exhibited characteristic CD spectra below 190 nm that were related to their different secondary structures, which could not be detected with a conventional CD spectrophotometer. The component spectra of alpha-helices, beta-strands, turns, and unordered structures were obtained by deconvolution analysis of the VUVCD spectra of 31 reference proteins including the 15 proteins reported in our previous paper [Matsuo, K. et al. (2004) J. Biochem. 135, 405-411]. Prediction of the secondary-structure contents using the SELCON3 program was greatly improved, especially for alpha-helices, by extending the short-wavelength limit of CD spectra to 160 nm and by increasing the number of reference proteins. The numbers of alpha-helix and beta-strand segments, which were calculated from the distorted alpha-helix and beta-strand contents, were close to those obtained on X-ray crystallography. These results demonstrate the usefulness of synchrotron-radiation VUVCD spectroscopy for the secondary structure analysis of proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical and Life Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yonehara
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gekko
mesh_terms: D002942:Circular Dichroism / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D012984:Software; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / Q000379:methods*; D017356:Synchrotrons; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction