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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 28, 29359-29366, July 9, 2004
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From the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology and the Center of Excellence in Structural Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
Received for publication, February 5, 2004 , and in revised form, April 23, 2004.
| ABSTRACT |
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-helix, the locus where plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) is bound. This structure of this helix is highly homologous with that of a recombinant SMB domain solved in a co-crystal with PAI-1 (Zhou, A., Huntington, J. A., Pannu, N. S., Carrell, R. W., and Read, R. J. (2003) Nat. Struct. Biol. 10, 541544), although the remainder of the structure differs. Significantly, the pattern of disulfide cross-links observed in this material isolated from human plasma is altogether different from the disulfides proposed for recombinant forms. The NMR structure reveals the relative orientation of binding sites for cell surface receptors, including an integrin-binding site at residues 4547, which was disordered and did not diffract in the co-crystal, and a site for the urokinase receptor, which overlaps with the PAI-1-binding site. | INTRODUCTION |
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A widely accepted model suggests that vitronectin is organized into functional domains that provide the broad repertoire necessary for binding to target ligands (1214). We recently used computational methods to predict the structure of the three domains comprising vitronectin (15). A threading algorithm gave high confidence predictions for the central domain of
200 amino acids and the C-terminal domain of
100 amino acids. Both domains exhibit features of a
-propeller fold. The computational approach was less successful for the third domain, corresponding to the N-terminal span of
50 amino acids that has been denoted the "somatomedin B" domain of vitronectin (14). An experimental determination of the fold of this domain is thus needed and is relevant to over 100 homologues in the sequence data base. Within this short N-terminal region from vitronectin lie binding sites for three critical ligands: PAI-1, integrins, and uPAR. The SMB domain contains eight cysteine residues that form four disulfide bonds, and recombinant forms of SMB have been used to identify amino acid residues that participate in binding these ligands (1619). The structure of a co-crystal of PAI-1 and a recombinant SMB was recently reported, further elucidating the features of the binding interface between vitronectin and PAI-1 (20).
We have purified the SMB domain from human plasma vitronectin using cyanogen bromide cleavage to release the first 51 amino acids from the bulk of the protein. In this work, two-dimensional NMR methods have been used to determine the solution structure of this domain. A single homogeneous species is observed with a unique disulfide-bonding pattern. Our results complement the x-ray crystallography on the complex and confirm the presence within the SMB domain of a sole
-helix containing known PAI-1-binding residues. However, the remainder of the chain displays an entirely different fold and different pattern of disulfides. Furthermore, the NMR structure defines the position of the integrin-binding tripeptide (RGD) site, which was unstructured in the co-crystal with PAI-1.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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Cyanogen Bromide Digestion of VitronectinHuman plasma vitronectin was isolated as described in Zhuang et al. (21). Purified vitronectin in an ammonium sulfate suspension was centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 2030 min at 4 °C. The pellet was resuspended in 0.005% trifluoroacetic acid and dialyzed against 0.005% trifluoroacetic acid for 4 h at 4 °C. The solvent was removed by lyophilization, and cyanogen bromide in 70% trifluoroacetic acid containing 200 mM iodoacetamide was added to the lyophilized vitronectin. The reaction mixture was flushed with N2 and incubated at room temperature in the dark for 22 h. After 22 h the reaction mixture was diluted with twice the volume of water and lyophilized. The lyophilized product was resuspended in 1% trifluoroacetic acid and centrifuged. The supernatant was separated on a 1 x 25-cm reverse phase C-18 HPLC column by gradient elution with 1732% acetonitrile in water containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid to isolate the desired N-terminal fragment representing the SMB domain. Fractions were analyzed for purity by re-injecting an aliquot on the reverse phase C-18 column, and the desired fractions were combined and stored at 20 °C. The size (m/z 5762.3) of the fragment was confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and its monomeric state was confirmed by sedimentation equilibrium analysis using an Optima XL-I ultracentrifuge from Beckman. The typical yield of vitronectin was 78 mg/liter of human plasma. The yield of SMB domain was
5%. Four preparations of vitronectin, each from 2 liters of plasma, were combined to accumulate the required amount of SMB domain for the NMR experiments.
NMR SpectroscopyNMR studies were performed with
90 µM SMB in a 500-µl sample volume. The lyophilized sample was dissolved in D2O or H2O containing 10% D2O at the appropriate pH. The sample pH was adjusted with either 100 mM trifluoroacetic acid or 100 mM NaOH. All NMR experiments were performed on a 600 MHz Varian Inova instrument equipped with a single gradient axis and a triple resonance probe for the observation of proton, carbon, and nitrogen nuclei. To assign overlapping resonances in two-dimensional NMR spectra, experiments were recorded at 288, 298, and 308 K and pH values ranging from 1.4 to 7.3. Best resolution was obtained at pH 4.4, and all the assignments were reported with respect to the spectra obtained at pH 4.4 and 298 K. Two-dimensional NMR data were acquired in phase-sensitive mode using the States-Haberkorn (22) method for quadrature detection in the indirect dimension. Spectra of SMB in H2O were recorded by using WET (23, 24) or WATERGATE sequences (25) for water suppression. Two-dimensional homonuclear NOESY (26) spectra were recorded with mixing times of 150, 200, and 250 ms. TOCSY spectra (27) were recorded using DIPSI spin-lock sequence with a 8 kHz radio frequency field and mixing times of 15, 30, 60, and 80 ms. Typically, spectra were acquired with 256 t1 increments, 2048 data points, a relaxation delay of 1 s, and a spectral width of 8500 Hz. For DQF-COSY spectra (28), 512 t1 increments were acquired. Spectra were recorded with 6496 scans per increment for NOESY, 2480 scans per increment for TOCSY, and 56 scans per increment for DQF-COSY. In all NOESY and TOCSY spectra, the data were multiplied by a 6090° phase shifted sin2 window function in both dimensions before Fourier transformation.
Data Analysis and Structure DeterminationNMR data were processed with Felix 2000 and SPARKY (T. D. Goddard and D. G. Kneller, The University of California, San Diego) software operating on a Silicon Graphics Indigo 2 work station or on a Silicon Graphics Origin 300 server. Cross-peak intensities observed in NOE experiments were divided into four categories as strong, medium, weak, and very weak. These intensities were converted into distance restraints as follows: strong, 1.82.7 Å; medium, 1.83.4 Å; weak, 1.84.5 Å, and very weak, 1.86.0 Å. An additional 1.0 Å was added to upper limits involving methyl protons. Similarly, an additional 0.5 Å for methylene protons and 2.3 Å for degenerate H
and H
protons of tyrosines and phenylalanines were added to the upper limits. Also, 0.2 Å was added to the upper limits of NOEs involving amide protons. Coupling constants were extracted from the DQF-COSY spectra. Backbone
angles were restrained to 120 ± 50° for 3JHNH
= 89 Hz, and 120 ± 40° for 3JHNH
> 9 Hz. A restraint of 100 ± 80° was also applied to the
angle for residues that show stronger NHi-H
i-1 NOE than the intraresidue NH-H
NOE (29). A total of 329 NOE restraints and 18
restraints were used in structure determination.
All calculations were carried out using the AMBER force field interfaced with DISCOVER (Accelerys, San Diego, CA) on an Origin 300 work station. Random structures were generated by subjecting the peptide to an initial 10,000-step minimization at 298 K. The temperature was then raised gradually to 1000 K during a 1000-step dynamics simulation. The peptide was subjected to minimization and a 10-ps dynamics run at 1000 K. The NMR-derived restraints were then imposed on the peptide and the peptide was slowly annealed to 298 K in a 100-ps trajectory. Finally, the structures were subjected to further minimization at 298 K. The force constant for the distance restraints was 100 kcal/mol Å2 and the dielectric constant was 4. Using this simulated annealing protocol, an ensemble of 20 starting structures was obtained. These structures were then used to make further resonance assignments and increase the number of unambiguous NOE restraints. In the final step of the refinement, 60 structures were obtained and analyzed by MOLMOL (30) and PROCHECK NMR (31). The statistics given in Table I are for the 20 structures with the lowest total energy.
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| RESULTS |
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coupling constants. Cross-peaks representing smaller coupling constants were absent from the DQF-COSY spectrum because of limitations in concentration of the biological material. All the determined coupling constants were >8 Hz. There were no patterns of cross-peaks to indicate the presence of regular secondary structure elements in SMB. Rapid exchange of virtually all amide protons also supported this observation. Thus, the backbone assignment strategy relied heavily on the sequential NOESY-TOCSY cross-peak analyses of the NH-H
regions of the spectra.
Side chain assignments were made on the basis of the scalar connectivities obtained through a series of TOCSY spectra using different mixing times at different pH values and temperatures. Aromatic parts of tyrosine and phenylalanine residues were assigned on the basis of NOE cross-peaks. No stereospecific assignments were made for methylene protons. Because of ring opening of homoserine lactone at higher pH values, a few residues near the C terminus showed two sets of resonances with slight differences in chemical shifts that did not hinder the resonance assignments. A sequential connectivity for the last three residues was not observed, thus these residues were tentatively assigned. Residues 9 and 10 were also tentatively assigned because of resonance overlap. Overall, backbone, and side chain assignments of 46 residues were completed, sufficient for structural calculations to be performed on this polypeptide. The single proline residue (Pro41) of SMB was identified to be in a trans conformation based on the observation of NOEs between lysine 40 NH/H
and proline 41 H
. The complete resonance assignment of SMB is given in Supplemental Materials Table I.
Assignment of DisulfidesAttempts to identify the disulfide bridges from NOE cross-peaks observed between CH
i and CH
j and/or between CH
i and CH
j of cysteines using published methods (34, 35) were not successful. Spectral overlap between intra- and inter-residue NOE cross-peaks involving cysteines, combined with the spatial proximity of the six cysteines in the core region of SMB, precluded unequivocal identification of the disulfide bridges solely by NMR. Similar problems have been encountered with other cysteine-rich proteins (36, 37).
In early stages of simulated annealing calculations, "floating" cysteines were used without any disulfide assignments. These early structures consistently showed that cysteines 5 and 9 were near each other, and four cysteines (Cys19, Cys21, Cys31, and Cys32) formed a cluster in the core of SMB. Either cysteine 25 or cysteine 39 was also near this cluster in most structures. In a concurrent study from this laboratory, two of the disulfide bonds of SMB were determined by biochemical methods and mass spectrometry.2 This work revealed one disulfide bridge as 59 and another as 2539. These findings were in agreement with the initial calculations, so the two experimentally determined disulfides were imposed to refine the structure of the SMB domain, and two possible alternatives were then pursued separately in the structure determination. These alternatives were: SMB with Cys19Cys31 and Cys21Cys32 disulfides or SMB with Cys19Cys32 and Cys21Cys31 disulfides. A third alternative pairing among the four cysteines is not feasible and was not considered because it would involve a disulfide bridge between adjacent cysteines 31 and 32. The disulfide bridge restraints were set for the two alternatives (38), and both were subjected to simulated annealing separately. Calculations with the second alternative involving disulfides 1932 and 2131 did not yield acceptable converged structures. Thus, the structure of SMB containing disulfides 59, 1931, 2132, and 2539 was determined and is described in this work.
Structure RefinementThe three-dimensional structure of SMB was determined by simulated annealing calculations using a total of 347 NMR-determined restraints (Table I). A large fraction of intra- and intermolecular NOEs were observed in the region spanning residues 1841 of SMB. It should be noted that NOEs involving any tentatively assigned residues (Supplemental Materials Table I) were not included in structure calculations. As described above, the best structures from initial calculations were selected and used as starting structures with imposed disulfide restraints (Cys5Cys9 and Cys25Cys39) for the final stages of the structure calculation. The 20 lowest energy structures were chosen from among an ensemble of 60 minimized structures. The Ramachandran plot showed that >90% of
and
angles were within the most favored and allowed regions, and less than 7% of the
and
angles from all 20 structures were within the disallowed region. Cluster analysis resulted in a r.m.s. deviation value for the backbone atoms of the 20 structures of 2.29 ± 0.62 Å when the region limited to residues 1841 was considered (Fig. 1a). The low r.m.s. deviation for this portion of the structure resulted because the majority of the observed NOEs were from the residues in this region, which also contains three of the four disulfide bridges that stabilize the compact structural core of the domain.
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protons of cysteines 5 and 9, combined with the ambiguity of the resonance assignments of cysteine 9, is consistent with these observations and suggests that the corresponding disulfide bridge is either somewhat flexible or located in a more mobile part of the molecule.
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-helix spanning residues 2630. Observation of successive dNN(i,i+1) NOEs (see Supplemental Materials Fig. 4), a single dNN(i,i+3) NOE, and up-field shifted H
resonances of residues 2630 (Fig. 2) also support the presence of a short
-helix in this region. A second region that has a loosely defined 310 helix spans residues 3638. The remainder of the molecule is comprised of loops, some of which appear to be flexible in solution. Rapidly exchanging amide protons and the lack of strong d
N(i,i+1) NOEs are consistent with the absence of
-sheet in the rest of the molecule. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange studies of the SMB domain showed that virtually all of the backbone amide and other exchangeable protons of the molecule were exchanged within a few minutes of exposure to D2O, indicating that the majority of the residues of SMB are exposed to solvent and signifying the absence of a hydrogen-bonded network of protons in the molecule. This observation is in accord with the determined solution structure of SMB, in which the N- and C-terminal segments are flexible with a small, solvent-accessible core that is stabilized by three disulfide bonds. | DISCUSSION |
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Although the assignments of the disulfide bridges are completely different between the recombinant SMB domain used in crystallography and the SMB domain prepared from plasma vitronectin, there are notable similarities between the two structures. Both structures show a single-turn
-helix involving residues 2630 (Fig. 3A). Superpositioning of the crystal structure and NMR structure in this region yields 1.09 Å r.m.s. deviation. Also, a single-turn 310 helix identified in the crystal structure is also observed in the solution structure, and superpositioning of this region (residues 3638) yields a r.m.s. deviation of 0.88 Å. Indeed, these are the only secondary structural elements in either of the structures, and the rest of the SMB domain shows no regular secondary structure elements from NMR or x-ray crystallography analysis. Although these two secondary structural features are nearly identical, their relative orientation in the two structures differs (Fig. 3A).
The single
-helix is found within a fairly large loop defined by the disulfide pair, Cys25Cys39. This structure is in many ways reminiscent of a subclass of cystine knot structures classified as cystine-stabilized
-helices (CSH motifs (40, 41)), although there are differences in the sequence positions of individual cysteines in the SMB domain relative to the helix compared with prototypical CSH motifs. Such structures are known to function in binding extracellular ligands (41). Despite different disulfide bonding in the core, the plasma-derived and recombinant versions of SMB fold with a single helix analogous to the CSH motif. In the large family of CSH domains, it is observed that a variety of disulfide-bonding patterns can be tolerated within the core of the domain, providing a structural scaffold that orients the
-helix on the surface (41). Thus, the curious retention of PAI-1 binding among this set of clearly different folds for the SMB domain is consistent with the demonstrated malleability of cystine knot structures to accommodate cysteine substitutions, yet retain activity (4145). Even though the recombinant forms of the SMB domain do not have the correct cystine bonds found in circulating vitronectin, PAI-1 binding appears to be maintained because the various disulfide cross-linked frameworks support the formation of the sole
-helix in this domain.
The single conserved
-helix houses two of the residues, Tyr27 and Tyr28, which were identified from site-directed mutagenesis studies (17) to participate in binding to PAI-1, with two others (Asp22 and Leu24) present in a turn that immediately precedes this helix. Fig. 3B shows the relative positioning in the NMR and crystal structures of these and other side chains that have been implicated as important for PAI-1 binding to vitronectin. As shown in the figure, five residues previously identified to participate in PAI-1 binding (Thr10, Glu23, Leu24, Tyr27, and Tyr28) occupy the same positions. Differences are observed for the relative orientation of Gly12, Phe13, Asp22, and Asp34 in the two structures. As shown in more detail in the space-filling representation of the SMB domain presented in Fig. 4A, these residues appear to form a PAI-1-binding surface that encompasses two contiguous regions; the first region includes Gly12, Phe13, and Thr10, and the second contains Asp22, Glu23, Leu24, Tyr27, and Tyr28. The first set of residues lies within the N-terminal region containing the Cys5Cys9 disulfide, whereas the second group is found in the vicinity of the
-helix. As discussed above, this helix lies within the more structured SMB core that is stabilized by the other three disulfides (Cys19Cys31, Cys21Cys32, and Cys25Cys39). Thr10 and Phe13 are positioned further apart in the x-ray structure (Fig. 3B), and Gly12 is not found within the binding surface identified in the co-crystal. Asp34 is remote from the PAI-1-binding interface in both the NMR and crystal structures.
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-carbons) from the SMB domain to PAI-1 in the overlaid structure suggest that the region from Thr10 to Phe13 in the SMB domain contacts Phe109, Met110, and Leu116 in PAI-1, three residues proposed to interact with vitronectin (8). Likewise, the region in the vicinity of the
-helix encompassing Asp22 to Tyr28 interacts with Gln125 in PAI-1, another residue that is critical for binding vitronectin (8). Extensive interactions from the second group of residues (near the helix within the stable core of the SMB domain) also are observed with helix F in PAI-1. Taken together, these results agree with mutagenesis work, combined with protection of PAI-1 against chemical inactivation, that has localized the vitronectin-binding site in PAI-1 to the region spanning helix F,
-strand 2A, and helix E in PAI-1 (4648).
From this analysis, it appears that vitronectin stabilizes PAI-1 via this interface in the SMB domain, which binds across the E and F helices of PAI-1, preventing the movement of strands 1 and 2 of the main
-sheet in PAI-1 that occurs in the relaxation of PAI-1 to a latent form (20). As described above, this
-helix in the SMB domain is highly homologous between the two structures (Fig. 3A), although the remainder of the structure, including the 310 helix region, does not overlap. Theoretically, it is possible that changes in the fold of the domain occur upon binding to PAI-1, and these could account for some of the differences in the structure of the domain comparing results from NMR and crystallography. However, the overlaid structures do not support such changes because the interface for PAI-1 binding appears to be fully formed and extensive in the NMR structure without PAI-1 present.
The SMB domain is key to many of the varied functions of vitronectin because it contains binding sites not only for PAI-1, but also for cell surface receptors, uPAR, and integrins. The orchestration of vitronectin binding to PAI-1 and these receptors modulates fibrinolysis and cell migration. The binding of PAI-1 appears to block interaction with uPAR (19). Alaninescanning mutagenesis (19) has shown that residues involved in uPAR binding virtually overlap with important PAI-1-binding residues in the region of the
-helix: Asp22, Glu23, Leu24, Tyr27, and Tyr28 (Fig. 3B). The binding site for integrins is the RGD sequence comprising residues 4547 in the SMB domain, shown in the van der Waals surface in Fig. 1C. This sequence lies within the C-terminal portion of the SMB domain, in a region that exhibits more flexibility than the core containing residues 1841 (Fig. 1). The RGD sequence was disordered in the co-crystal structure with PAI-1, so insight into the relative orientation of the RGD sequence and the PAI-1-binding site is provided for the first time from the solution structure. As shown in the space-filling model in Fig. 4B, the RGD sequence is clearly separate from the PAI-1-binding surfaces in this small domain.
The demonstrated flexibility of this region may be relevant to ongoing work needed to clarify conflicting results regarding PAI-1 effects on vitronectin activity in vitro and in vivo (4956). It is usually accepted that PAI-1 and integrin binding are mutually exclusive because of the proximity of the two binding sites within the compact SMB domain (20). To the extent that these two ligand-binding regions are located close to each other on the SMB domain, the solution structure supports this idea. However, the binding sites are clearly separate and will not necessarily be mutually exclusive in their binding functions. In this regard, we previously have observed that PAI-1 binds to vitronectin and promotes the assembly of higher-order complexes that become preferentially associated with the ECM, are internalized and degraded together in cell culture, and actually bind integrins more avidly (11). The relative disorder within this C-terminal region of the SMB domain housing the RGD sequence, combined with a closely spaced, but separate binding site for PAI-1, suggests that there may be scenarios that can accommodate simultaneous binding of PAI-1 and integrins. Indeed, the flexibility of this region may contribute to modulating affinity of PAI-1 for vitronectin, ultimately influencing the role of PAI-1 in regulating cellular adhesion and migration.
The role in adhesion and matrix organization is one of the most compelling areas of research on vitronectin. There is a close interplay between uPAR, integrins, vitronectin, and PAI-1 in regulating cell invasiveness. Multiple lines of evidence exist for association of uPAR with integrins to coordinate the effects of the two classes of receptors in mediating signaling and promoting cellular rearrangement and/or migration (5765). This new information defining the relative location of binding sites for PAI-1 and the two receptors within the SMB domain will be invaluable for considering mechanisms by which these receptors and the ECM communicate in a reciprocal manner, ultimately with the goal of developing new anti-tumor and anti-thrombotic agents.
| FOOTNOTES |
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The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains Supplementary Figs. 14 and Supplementary Table I.
The atomic coordinates and structure factors (code 1S4G
[PDB]
) have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank, Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (http://www.rcsb.org/). ![]()
Both authors contributed equally and are considered first authors on this work. ![]()
Supported by Postdoctoral Fellowship 0120344B from the American Heart Association, Southeast Regional Affiliate. ![]()
¶ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, M407 Walters Life Sciences Bldg., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. Tel.: 865-974-5148; Fax: 865-974-6306; E-mail: cynthia-peterson{at}utk.edu.
1 The abbreviations used are: ECM, extracellular matrix; PAI-1, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1; uPAR, urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor; SMB, somatomedin B; HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography; r.m.s., root mean square. ![]()
2 Horn, N. A., Hurst, G. B., Mayasundari, A., Whittemore, N. A., Serpersu, E. H., and Peterson, C. B. (2004) J. Biol. Chem., in press. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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