Involvement of disulfide bonds and histidine 172 in a unique beta-sheet to alpha-helix transition of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein at the biomembrane interface.
Human alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP), which is comprised of 183 amino acid residues and 5 carbohydrate chains, is a major plasma protein that binds to basic and neutral drugs as well as to steroid hormones. It has a beta-sheet-rich structure in aqueous solution. Our previous findings suggest that AGP forms an alpha-helix structure through an interaction with biomembranes. We report herein on a study of the mechanism of alpha-helix formation in AGP using various modified AGPs. The disulfide reduced AGP (R-AGP) was extensively unfolded, whereas asialylated AGP (A-AGP) maintained the native structure. Intriguingly, reduced and asialylated AGP (RA-AGP) increased the alpha-helix content as observed in the presence of biomembrane models, and showed a significant decrease in ligand binding capacity. This suggests that AGP has an innate tendency to form an alpha-helix structure, and disulfide bonds are a key factor in the conformational transition between the beta-sheet and alpha-helix structures. However, RA-AGP with all histidine residues chemically modified (HRA-AGP) was found to lose the intrinsic ability to form an alpha-helix structure. Furthermore, disulfide reduction of the H172A mutant expressed in Pichia pastoris also caused a similar loss of folding ability. The present results indicate that disulfide bonds and the C-terminal region, including H172 of AGP, play important roles in alpha-helix formation in the interaction of the protein with biomembranes.
Nishi
Koji
K
Department of Biopharmaceutics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
Komine
Yoshio
Y
Fukunaga
Naoko
N
Maruyama
Toru
T
Suenaga
Ayaka
A
Otagiri
Masaki
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D003016:Clostridium perfringens; D004220:Disulfides / Q000737:chemistry*; D006639:Histidine / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D009961:Orosomucoid / Q000737:chemistry*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D013499:Surface Properties
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004220:Disulfides; D009961:Orosomucoid; D006639:Histidine