title: The N-terminal domain of human centrin 2 has a closed structure, binds calcium with a very low affinity, and plays a role in the protein self-assembly.
abstract: Centrins are well-conserved calcium binding proteins from the EF-hand superfamily implicated in various cellular functions, such as centrosome duplication, DNA repair, and nuclear mRNA export. The intrinsic molecular flexibility and the self-association tendency make difficult the structural characterization of the integral protein. In this paper we report the solution structure, the Ca2+ binding properties, and the intermolecular interactions of the N-terminal domain of two human centrin isoforms, HsCen1 and HsCen2. In the absence of Ca2+, the N-terminal construct of HsCen2 revealed a compact core conformation including four almost antiparallel alpha-helices and a short antiparallel beta-sheet, very similar to the apo state structure of other calcium regulatory EF-hand domains. The first 25 residues show a highly irregular and dynamic structure. The three-dimensional model for the N-terminal domain of HsCen1, based on the high sequence conservation and NMR spectroscopic data, shows very close structural properties. Ca2+ titration of the apo-N-terminal domain of HsCen1 and HsCen2, monitored by NMR spectroscopy, revealed a very weak affinity (10(2)-10(3) M(-1)), suggesting that the cellular role of this domain is not calcium dependent. Isothermal calorimetric titrations showed that an 18-residue peptide, derived from the N-terminal unstructured fragment, has a significant affinity (approximately 10(5) M(-1)) for the isolated C-terminal domain, suggesting an active role in the self-assembly of centrin molecules.
authors.affiliation: INSERM/Institut Curie-Recherche, Centre Universitaire Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 112, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Ao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miron
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Duchambon
authors.forename: Liliane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Assairi
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Blouquit
authors.forename: Constantin T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Craescu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002151:Calorimetry; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: C472752:CETN2 protein, human; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002118:Calcium