Immunosuppressor binding to the immunophilin FKBP59 affects the local structural dynamics of a surface beta-strand: time-resolved fluorescence study.

The interaction of the immunophilin domain of FKBP59 (FKBP59-I) with immunosuppressant drugs was investigated by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence of tryptophan. One of the two Trp residues present in this protein (W89), conserved in almost all immunophilins, is buried in the hydrophobic core and participates in the immunosuppressant binding. By comparison with the highly homologous protein FKBP12, containing only the buried Trp, it has been concluded that its weak fluorescence is due to an atypical H-bond interaction involving the indole nitrogen and the Phe129 benzene ring. The second Trp residue (W59) in FKBP59-I is located on the external hydrophilic side of the 50-60 beta-sheet [Craescu, C. T., Rouvière, N., Popescu, A., Cerpolini, E., Lebeau, M.-C., Baulieu, E.-E., & Mispelter, J. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 11045-11052] and is responsible for >95% of the fluorescence emission. The long lifetime of the major excited state, the large activation energy of thermal quenching, and the rotational correlation time distribution pattern suggest that its environment is not highly mobile. Binding of the immunosuppressant drugs FK506 and rapamycin leads to a approximately 60% decrease of the fluorescence intensity without any change in the fluorescence emission maximum. Time-resolved measurements show that this "quenching" is due to a conformational change which depletes the long excited-state lifetime population to the profit of a more quenched minor excited state, which becomes prominent in the complexes. This is accompanied by a strong slowing of the indole ring dynamics in the case of FK506 and by a complete immobilization in the case of rapamycin, as shown by two-dimensional (tau, theta) maximum entropy analysis of the polarized fluorescence decays. Binding of the immunosuppressant drugs therefore modifies the structure and the dynamics of the external side of the 50-60 beta-sheet in FKBP59-I, which could be relevant for the formation of ternary complexes with other protein targets.