Myristoylation of most neuronal calcium sensor proteins, a group of EF-hand calcium-binding proteins mainly expressed in neuronal tissue, can have a strong impact on protein dynamics and functional properties. Intracellular oscillations of the free Ca2+ concentration can trigger conformational changes in Ca2+ sensors. The position and possible movements of the myristoyl group in the photoreceptor cell-specific Ca2+ sensor GCAP2 are not well-defined but appear to be different from those of the highly homologous cognate GCAP1. We designed and applied a new group of diaminoterephthalate-derived fluorescent probes to label GCAP2 at a covalently attached 12-azido-dodecanoic acid (a myristoyl substitute) and at cysteine residues in critical positions. Fluorescence emission of dye-labeled GCAP2 decreased when going from low (10–9 M) to high [Ca2+] (10–3 M), reaching a half-maximal effect of fluorescence emission at 0.44 ± 0.07 μM. The modified acyl group can therefore monitor changes in the protein conformation during binding and dissociation of Ca2+ in the physiological range of free [Ca2+]. However, fluorescence quenching studies showed that the dye-acyl chain was shielded from the quencher by an adjacent polypeptide region. Further probing three cysteine positions (C35, C111, and C131) by dye labeling revealed that all positions were also sensitive to a change in [Ca2+], but only one (C131) was sensitive to a change in [Mg2+]. We suggest a scenario during illumination of the photoreceptor cell in which Ca2+ dissociates first from low and medium affinity binding sites. These steps are sensed by dyes in cysteines at positions 35 and 111. Release of Ca2+ from high affinity sites is sensed by regions adjacent to the dye-labeled fatty acid and involves the critical conformational change leading to activating guanylate cyclase.
大多数神经
钙传感蛋白的肉豆蔻酰化,一组主要在神经组织中表达的EF-Hand
钙结合蛋白,能够对蛋白质的动态特性和功能属性产生强烈影响。细胞内自由Ca2+浓度的振荡可以触发
钙传感器的构象变化。光感受器细胞特异性
钙传感器GCAP2中肉豆蔻酰基的位置及其可能的运动尚不明确,但似乎与高度同源的GCAP1有所不同。我们设计并应用了一组新的取自二
氨基
对苯二甲酸的荧光探针,以在一个共价结合的12-
叠氮-
十二烷酸(肉豆蔻酰替代物)和关键位置的半胱
氨酸残基上标记GCAP2。当[Ca2+]从低(10–9 M)增加到高(10–3 M)时,
染料标记的GCAP2的荧光发射减少,在0.44 ± 0.07 μM时达到半最大荧光发射效果。因此,修饰的酰基可以监测在自由[Ca2+]生理范围内结合和解离Ca2+时蛋白质构象的变化。然而,荧光猝灭研究表明,
染料-酰基链被邻近的
多肽区域遮蔽,未受到猝灭剂的影响。通过
染料标记进一步探测三个半胱
氨酸位置(C35、C111和C131)显示,所有位置对[Ca2+]的变化都敏感,但仅有一个(C131)对[Mg2+]的变化敏感。我们建议在光照射光受体细胞时的一个情景,即Ca2+先从低亲和力和中亲和力结合位点解离。这些步骤通过在位置35和111的半胱
氨酸中的
染料被感知。来自高亲和力位点的Ca2+释放则由靠近
染料标记的
脂肪酸的区域感知,并涉及导致激活
鸟苷酸环化酶的关键构象变化。