beta Structure of aqueous staphylococcal enterotoxin B by spectropolarimetry and sequence-based conformational predictions.

Conformations of the globular protein staphylococcal enterotoxin B have been examined experimentally by ultraviolet circular dichroism (CD) and visible optical rotatory dispersion (ORD). Chen-Yang-Chau analysis (Chen, Y.-H., Yang, J.T., and Chau, K. H. (1974), Biochemistry 13, 3350) of the far-ultraviolet CD spectrum of native enterotoxin B revealed (assuming an average helix length of 11 residues) 9% alpha helix, 38% beta structure, and 53% random coil. A fourfold increase in alpha-helix was observed for enterotoxin exposed to 0.2% sodium dodecyl sulfate, behavior typical for globular proteins of low helical content. Values of -40 to -50 for the Moffitt-Yang parameter b0 calculated from visible ORD suggested 6-13% alpha helix in native enterotoxin. Application of a new predictive model (Chou, P. Y., and Fasman, G. D. (1974), Biochemistry 13,222) to the amino acid sequence of enterotoxin B indicated 11% alpha helix, 34% beta structure, and 55% coil in native enterotoxin. The excellent agreement for the amount of alpha and beta conformation utilizing different optical and predictive methods indicates beta structure as the dominant secondary structure in native enterotoxin B. Most of the beta structure is predicted by Chou-Fasman analysis to reside in two large regions of antiparallel beta sheet involving residues 81-148 and residues 184-217. Such highly cooperative regions of anti-parallel beta sheet account for the slow unfolding of enterotoxin B in concentrated guanidine hydrochloride and rapid folding of guanidine hydrochloride denatured enterotoxin B to native conformation(s) (Warren, J.R., Spero, L., and Metzger, J. F. (1974), Biochemistry 13, 1678). A more than twofold increase in alpha-helix content with a small diminution in beta structure was detected by CD and ORD upon acidification of aqueous enterotoxin to pH 2.5. Thus, the beta structure of enterotoxin B appears to resist isothermal denaturation and constitutes a stable interior core of structure in the enterotoxin molecule.