Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
Protein Sci. 2010 Apr;19(4):693-702. doi: 10.1002/pro.346.
Point mutations in proteins can have different effects on protein stability depending on the mechanism of unfolding. In the most interesting case of I27, the Ig-like module of the muscle protein titin, one point mutation (Y9P) yields opposite effects on protein stability during denaturant-induced "global unfolding" versus "vectorial unfolding" by mechanical pulling force or cellular unfolding systems. Here, we assessed the reason for the different effects of the Y9P mutation of I27 on the overall molecular stability and N-terminal unraveling by NMR. We found that the Y9P mutation causes a conformational change that is transmitted through beta-sheet structures to reach the central hydrophobic core in the interior and alters its accessibility to bulk solvent, which leads to destabilization of the hydrophobic core. On the other hand, the Y9P mutation causes a bend in the backbone structure, which leads to the formation of a more stable N-terminal structure probably through enhanced hydrophobic interactions.
蛋白质中的点突变会根据展开机制对蛋白质稳定性产生不同的影响。在最有趣的情况下,即肌球蛋白titin 的免疫球蛋白样模块中的 I27 ,一个点突变(Y9P)在变性剂诱导的“全局展开”与机械拉力或细胞展开系统引起的“矢量展开”过程中对蛋白质稳定性产生相反的影响。在这里,我们通过 NMR 评估了 I27 的 Y9P 突变对整体分子稳定性和 N 端解开的不同影响的原因。我们发现,Y9P 突变会引起构象变化,这种变化通过β-折叠结构传递,到达内部的中央疏水区,并改变其对体相溶剂的可及性,从而导致疏水区的不稳定。另一方面,Y9P 突变会导致骨架结构弯曲,从而形成更稳定的 N 端结构,这可能是通过增强疏水相互作用实现的。