title: Calcium dependence of aequorin bioluminescence dissected by random mutagenesis.
abstract: Aequorin bioluminescence is emitted as a rapidly decaying flash upon calcium binding. Random mutagenesis and functional screening were used to isolate aequorin mutants showing slow decay rate of luminescence. Calcium sensitivity curves were shifted in all mutants, and an intrinsic link between calcium sensitivity and decay rate was suggested by the position of all mutations in or near EF-hand calcium-binding sites. From these results, a low calcium affinity was assigned to the N-terminal EF hand and a high affinity to the C-terminal EF-hand pair. In WT aequorin, the increase of the decay rate with calcium occurred at constant total photon yield and thus determined a corresponding increase of light intensity. Increase of the decay rate was underlain by variations of a fast and a slow component and required the contribution of all three EF hands. Conversely, analyses of double EF-hand mutants suggested that single EF hands are sufficient to trigger luminescence at a slow rate. Finally, a model postulating that proportions of a fast and a slow light-emitting state depend on calcium concentration adequately described the calcium dependence of aequorin bioluminescence. Our results suggest that variations of luminescence kinetics, which depend on three EF hands endowed with different calcium affinities, critically determine the amplitude of aequorin responses to biological calcium signals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Diversité Cellulaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7637, Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, 10 Rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tricoire
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuzuki
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Courjean
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gibelin
authors.forename: Gaëlle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bourout
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rossier
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lambolez
mesh_terms: D000331:Aequorin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002474:Cell-Free System; D020832:EF Hand Motifs; D005973:Glutamine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D007930:Leucine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049449:Luminescence; D008954:Models, Biological; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D000331:Aequorin; D007930:Leucine; D002118:Calcium