Specific anionic residues of the recombinant kringle 2 domain of tissue-type plasminogen activator that are responsible for stabilization of its interaction with omega-amino acid ligands.

The involvement of specific aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E) residues of the recombinant (r) kringle 2 (K2) domain of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) in stabilizing its interaction with omega-amino acid ligands has been assessed by examination of these binding events subsequent to site-directed mutagenesis of the relevant amino acid residues. We have expressed and purified nonconservative alanine (A) replacement mutants at the following amino acid sequence locations in r-K2tPA:E17 (r-[K2tPA/E17A]), E75 (r-[K2tPA/E75A]), and D78 (r-[K2tPA/D78A]). More conservative E for D replacements were generated at the only other anionic (at neutral pH) amino acids of r-[K2tPA], viz., D57 (r-[K2tPA/D57E]) and D59 (r-[K2tPA/D59E]). Each of these variant polypeptides was then utilized for binding investigations with a series of omega-amino acids. No substantial differences were found in the binding constants (pH 8.0, 25 degrees C) for the ligands, 6-aminohexanoic acid (6-AHxA), 7-aminoheptanoic acid (7-AHpA), L-lysine, and trans-(aminomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid (AMCHA), among wild-type (wt) r-K2tPA, r-[K2tPA/E17A], r-[K2tPA/E75A], and r-[K2tPA/D78A]. On the other hand, dramatic effects on this same binding were observed in recombinant mutants with alterations at D57 and D59. In these cases, even with the most conservative replacements, i.e., r-[K2tPA/D57E] and r-[K2tPA/D59E], the Kd values for these ligands were increased approximately 3-6-fold and 18-85-fold, respectively. NMR analysis of these variants suggested that no substantial gross conformational changes occurred as a result of the mutations made, but some localized alterations in amino acid microenvironments did take place.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)