Bioconjugation of Proteins with a Paramagnetic NMR and Fluorescent Tag

Site‐specific labeling of proteins with lanthanide ions offers great opportunities for investigating the structure, function, and dynamics of proteins by virtue of the unique properties of lanthanides. Lanthanide‐tagged proteins can be studied by NMR, X‐ray, fluorescence, and EPR spectroscopy. However, the rigidity of a lanthanide tag in labeling of proteins plays a key role in the determination of protein structures and interactions. Pseudocontact shift (PCS) and paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) are valuable long‐range structure restraints in structural‐biology NMR spectroscopy. Generation of these paramagnetic restraints generally relies on site‐specific tagging of the target proteins with paramagnetic species. To avoid nonspecific interaction between the target protein and paramagnetic tag and achieve reliable paramagnetic effects, the rigidity, stability, and size of lanthanide tag is highly important in paramagnetic labeling of proteins. Here 4′‐mercapto‐2,2′: 6′,2′′‐terpyridine‐6,6′′‐dicarboxylic acid (4MTDA) is introduced as a a rigid paramagnetic and fluorescent tag which can be site‐specifically attached to a protein by formation of a disulfide bond. 4MTDA can be readily immobilized by coordination of the protein side chain to the lanthanide ion. Large PCSs and RDCs were observed for 4MTDA‐tagged proteins in complexes with paramagnetic lanthanide ions. At an excitation wavelength of 340 nm, the complex formed by protein–4MTDA and Tb³⁺ produces high fluorescence with the main emission at 545 nm. These interesting features of 4MTDA make it a very promising tag that can be exploited in NMR, fluorescence, and EPR spectroscopic studies on protein structure, interaction, and dynamics.     

A Chiral Lanthanide Tag for Stable and Rigid Attachment to Single Cysteine Residues in Proteins for NMR,EPR and Time-Resolved Luminescence Studies

A lanthanide-binding tag site-specifically attached to a protein presents a tool to probe the protein by multiple spectroscopic techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. Here a new stable chiral Ln^III tag, referred to as C12 , is presented for spontaneous and quantitative reaction with a cysteine residue to generate a stable thioether bond. The synthetic protocol of the tag is relatively straightforward, and the tag is stable for storage and shipping. It displays greatly enhanced reactivity towards selenocysteine, opening a route towards selective tagging of selenocysteine in proteins containing cysteine residues. Loaded with Tb^III or Tm^III ions, the C12 tag readily generates pseudocontact shifts (PCS) in protein NMR spectra. It produces a relatively rigid tether between lanthanide and protein, which is beneficial for interpretation of the PCSs by single magnetic susceptibility anisotropy tensors, and it is suitable for measuring distance distributions in double electron–electron resonance experiments. Upon reaction with cysteine or other thiol compounds, the Tb^III complex exhibits a 100-fold enhancement in luminescence quantum yield, affording a highly sensitive turn-on luminescence probe for time-resolved FRET assays and enzyme reaction monitoring.     

Rigid,Highly Reactive and Stable DOTA-like Tags Containing a Thiol-Specific Phenylsulfonyl Pyridine Moiety for Protein Modification and NMR Analysis**

Site specific installation of a paramagnetic ion with magnetic anisotropy in a biomolecule generates valuable structural restraints, such as pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) and residual dipolar couplings (RDCs). These paramagnetic effects can be used to characterize the structures, interactions and dynamics of biological macromolecules and their complexes. Two single-armed DOTA-like tags, BrPSPy-DO3M(S)A-Ln and BrPSPy-6M-DO3M(S)A-Ln, each containing a thiol-specific reacting group, that is, a phenylsulfonyl pyridine moiety, are demonstrated as rigid, reactive and stable paramagnetic tags for protein modification by formation of a reducing resistant thioether bond between the protein and the tag. The two tags present high reactivity with the solvent exposed thiol group in aqueous solution at room temperature. The introduction of Br at the meta-position in pyridine enhances the reactivity of 4-phenylsulfonyl pyridine towards the solvent exposed thiol group in a protein, whereas the ortho-methyl group in pyridine increases the rigidity of the tag in the protein conjugates. The high performance of these two tags has been demonstrated in different cysteine mutants of ubiquitin and GB1. The high reactivity and rigidity of these two tags can be added in the toolbox of paramagnetic tags suitable for the high-resolution NMR measurements of biological macromolecules and their complexes.     

3D Structure Determination of an Unstable Transient Enzyme Intermediate by Paramagnetic NMR Spectroscopy

Enzyme catalysis relies on conformational plasticity, but structural information on transient intermediates is difficult to obtain. We show that the three‐dimensional (3D) structure of an unstable, low‐abundance enzymatic intermediate can be determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The approach is demonstrated for Staphylococcus aureus sortase A (SrtA), which is an established drug target and biotechnological reagent. SrtA is a transpeptidase that converts an amide bond of a substrate peptide into a thioester. By measuring pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) generated by a site‐specific cysteine‐reactive paramagnetic tag that does not react with the active‐site residue Cys184, a sufficient number of restraints were collected to determine the 3D structure of the unstable thioester intermediate of SrtA that is present only as a minor species under non‐equilibrium conditions. The 3D structure reveals structural changes that protect the thioester intermediate against hydrolysis.     

Rapid measurement of pseudocontact shifts in metalloproteins by proton-detected solid-state NMR spectroscopy

Pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) arise in paramagnetic systems in which the susceptibility tensor is anisotropic. PCSs depend upon the distance from the paramagnetic center and the position relative to the susceptibility tensor, and they can be used as structural restraints in protein structure determination. We show that the use of (1)H-detected solid-state correlations provides facile and rapid detection and assignment of site-specific PCSs, including resolved (1)H PCSs, in a large metalloprotein, Co(2+)-substituted superoxide dismutase (Co(2+)-SOD). With only 3 mg of sample and a small set of experiments, several hundred PCSs were measured and assigned, and these PCSs were subsequently used in combination with (1)H-(1)H distance and dihedral angle restraints to determine the protein backbone geometry with a precision paralleling those of state-of-the-art liquid-state determinations of diamagnetic proteins, including a well-defined active site.     

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of a lanthanide chelating protein probe: CLaNP-5 yields predictable paramagnetic effects independent of environment

Immobilized lanthanide ions offer the opportunity to refine structures of proteins and the complexes they form by using restraints obtained from paramagnetic NMR experiments. We report the design, synthesis, and spectroscopic evaluation of the lanthanide chelator, Caged Lanthanide NMR Probe 5 (CLaNP-5) readily attachable to a protein surface via two cysteine residues. The probe causes tunable pseudocontact shifts, alignment, paramagnetic relaxation enhancement, and luminescence, by chelating it to the appropriate lanthanide ion. The observation of single shifts and the finding that the magnetic susceptibility tensors obtained from shifts and alignment analyses are highly similar strongly indicate that the probe is rigid with respect to the protein backbone. By placing the probe at various positions on a model protein it is demonstrated that the size and orientation of the magnetic susceptibility tensor of the probe are independent of the local protein environment. Consequently, the effects of the probe are readily predictable using a protein structure only. These findings designate CLaNP-5 as a protein probe to deliver unambiguous high quality structural restraints in studies on protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions.     

3‐Mercapto‐2,6‐Pyridinedicarboxylic Acid: A Small Lanthanide‐Binding Tag for Protein Studies by NMR Spectroscopy

Paramagnetic effects from lanthanide ions present powerful tools for protein studies by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy provided that the lanthanide can be site‐specifically and rigidly attached to the protein. A new, particularly small and rigid lanthanide‐binding tag, 3‐mercapto‐2,6‐pyridinedicarboxylic acid (3MDPA), was synthesized and attached to two different proteins via a disulfide bond. The complexes of the N‐terminal domain of the E. coli arginine repressor (ArgN) with seven different paramagnetic lanthanide ions and Co²⁺ were analyzed in detail by NMR spectroscopy. The magnetic susceptibility anisotropy (Δχ) tensors and metal position were determined from pseudocontact shifts. The 3MDPA tag generated very different Δχ tensor orientations compared to the previously studied 4‐mercaptomethyl‐DPA tag, making it a highly complementary and useful tool for protein NMR studies.     

A dipicolinic acid tag for rigid lanthanide tagging of proteins and paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy

A new lanthanide tag was designed for site-specific labeling of proteins with paramagnetic lanthanide ions. The tag, 4-mercaptomethyl-dipicolinic acid, binds lanthanide ions with nanomolar affinity, is readily attached to proteins via a disulfide bond, and avoids the problems of diastereomer formation associated with most of the conventional lanthanide tags. The high lanthanide affinity of the tag opens the possibility to measure residual dipolar couplings in a single sample containing a mixture of paramagnetic and diamagnetic lanthanides. Using the DNA-binding domain of the E. coli arginine repressor as an example, it is demonstrated that the tag allows immobilization of the lanthanide ion in close proximity of the protein by additional coordination of the lanthanide by a carboxyl group of the protein. The close proximity of the lanthanide ion promotes accurate determinations of magnetic susceptibility anisotropy tensors. In addition, the small size of the tag makes it highly suitable for studies of intermolecular interactions.     

Solid-state NMR crystallography through paramagnetic restraints

Pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) measured by solid-state NMR spectroscopy (SS-NMR) on microcrystalline powders of a paramagnetic metalloprotein permit NMR crystallography. Along with other restraints for SS-NMR experiments, the protein molecular structure as well as the correct crystal packing are obtained.     

A caged lanthanide complex as a paramagnetic shift agent for protein NMR

A lanthanide complex, named CLaNP (caged lanthanide NMR probe) has been developed for the characterisation of proteins by paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy. The probe consists of a lanthanide chelated by a derivative of DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) with two thiol reactive functional groups. The CLaNP molecule is attached to a protein by two engineered, surface-exposed, Cys residues in a bidentate manner. This drastically limits the dynamics of the metal relative to the protein and enables measurements of pseudocontact shifts. NMR spectroscopy experiments on a diamagnetic control and the crystal structure of the probe-protein complex demonstrate that the protein structure is not affected by probe attachment. The probe is able to induce pseudocontact shifts to at least 40 A from the metal and causes residual dipolar couplings due to alignment at a high magnetic field. The molecule exists in several isomeric forms with different paramagnetic tensors; this provides a fast way to obtain long-range distance restraints.     

Multiple Paramagnetic Effects through a Tagged Reporter Protein

Paramagnetic effects provide unique information about the structure and dynamics of biomolecules. We developed a method in which the lanthanoid tag is not directly attached to the protein of interest, but instead to a “reporter” protein, which binds and then transmits paramagnetic information to the target. The designed method allows access to a large number of paramagnetic restraints and residual dipolar couplings produced from independent molecular alignments in high‐molecular‐weight proteins with unknown 3D structure     

Protein alignment by a coexpressed lanthanide-binding tag for the measurement of residual dipolar couplings

A protein fusion construct of human ubiquitin with an N-terminal lanthanide binding tag (LBT) enables observation of long-range orientational restraints in solution NMR from residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) due to paramagnetic alignment of the protein. The paramagnetic lanthanide ions Tb3+, Dy3+, and Tm3+ are shown to bind to the LBT and induce different alignment tensors, in agreement with theory. RDCs, measured relative to the diamagnetic Lu3+, range from -7.6 to 5.5 Hz for Tb3+ and -6.6 to 6.1 Hz for Dy3+, while an opposite alignment tensor is observed for Tm3+ (4.5 to -2.9 Hz) at 800 MHz. Experimental RDCs are in excellent agreement with those predicted on the basis of the X-ray structure of the protein.     

Pseudo‐Contact NMR Shifts over the Paramagnetic Metalloprotein CoMMP‐12 from First Principles

Long‐range pseudo‐contact NMR shifts (PCSs) provide important restraints for the structure refinement of proteins when a paramagnetic metal center is present, either naturally or introduced artificially. Here we show that ab initio quantum‐chemical methods and a modern version of the Kurland–McGarvey approach for paramagnetic NMR (pNMR) shifts in the presence of zero‐field splitting (ZFS) together provide accurate predictions of all PCSs in a metalloprotein (high‐spin cobalt‐substituted MMP‐12 as a test case). Computations of 314 ¹³C PCSs using g‐ and ZFS tensors based on multi‐reference methods provide a reliable bridge between EPR‐parameter‐ and susceptibility‐based pNMR formalisms. Due to the high sensitivity of PCSs to even small structural differences, local structures based either on X‐ray diffraction or on various DFT optimizations could be evaluated critically by comparing computed and experimental PCSs. Many DFT functionals provide insufficiently accurate structures. We also found the available 1RMZ PDB X‐ray structure to exhibit deficiencies related to binding of a hydroxamate inhibitor. This has led to a newly refined PDB structure for MMP‐12 (5LAB) that provides a more accurate coordination arrangement and PCSs.     

Convenient synthesis of multifunctional EDTA-based chiral metal chelates substituted with an S-mesylcysteine

We describe the synthetic route to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) derivatives that can be attached to surface-exposed thiol functional groups of cysteine residues in proteins, via a methylthiosulfonate moiety that is connected in a stereochemically unique way to the C-1 carbon atom of EDTA. Such compounds can be used to align proteins in solution without the need to add liquid crystalline media, and are, therefore, of great interest for the NMR spectroscopic analysis of biomolecules. The binding constant for the paramagnetic tag to lanthanide ions was determined by measuring luminescence. For the Tb(+3)-ligand complex, a K(b) value of 6.5 x 10(17) M(-1) was obtained. This value is in excellent agreement with literature values for the related EDTA compound. In addition, it could be shown that there is no significant reduction in the luminescence intensity upon addition of a 10(4) excess of Ca2+ ions, indicating that this paramagnetic tag is compatible with buffers containing high concentrations of divalent alkaline earth ions.     

Sequence-specific and stereospecific assignment of methyl groups using paramagnetic lanthanides

Pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) induced by a site-specifically bound paramagnetic lanthanide ion are shown to provide fast access to sequence-specific resonance assignments of methyl groups in proteins of known three-dimensional structure. Stereospecific assignments of Val and Leu methyls are obtained as well as resonance assignments of all other methyls, including Met epsilonCH3 groups. No prior assignments of the diamagnetic protein are required nor are experiments that transfer magnetization between the methyl groups and the protein backbone. Methyl Cz-exchange experiments were designed to provide convenient access to PCS measurements in situations where a paramagnetic lanthanide is in exchange with a diamagnetic lanthanide. In the absence of exchange, simultaneous 13C-HSQC assignments and PCS measurements are delivered by the newly developed program Possum. The approaches are demonstrated with the complex between the N-terminal domain of the subunit epsilon and the subunit theta of the Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III.     

Generation of Pseudocontact Shifts in Proteins with Lanthanides Using Small “Clickable” Nitrilotriacetic Acid and Iminodiacetic Acid Tags

Pseudocontact shifts (PCS) induced by paramagnetic lanthanide ions provide unique long‐range structural information in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, but the site‐specific attachment of lanthanide tags to proteins remains a challenge. Here we incorporated p‐azido‐phenylalanine (AzF) site‐specifically into the proteins ubiquitin and GB1, and ligated the AzF residue with alkyne derivatives of small nitrilotriacetic acid and iminodiacetic acid tags using the Cu^I‐catalysed “click” reaction. These tags form lanthanide complexes with no or only a small net charge and produced sizeable PCSs with paramagnetic lanthanide ions in all mutants tested. The PCSs were readily fitted by single magnetic susceptibility anisotropy tensors. Protein precipitation during the click reaction was greatly alleviated by the presence of 150 mM NaCl.     

Paramagnetic DOSY: An Accurate Tool for the Analysis of the Supramolecular Interactions between Lanthanide Complexes and Proteins

Diffusion ordered NMR is implemented to determine accurately the mobility of paramagnetic tris‐dipicolinate lanthanide complexes that are versatile probes of protein structure. It is shown that diffusion coefficient ratios can be measured with an accuracy of 1 % using a standard BPPLED pulse sequence, which allows for observing significant, though weak, variations when different species are interacting with the paramagnetic compound. We demonstrate that this approach is complementary to classical chemical shift titration experiments, and that it can be applied successfully to probe the supramolecular dynamic interactions between lanthanide complexes and small molecules on the one hand, or to determine rapidly their affinity for a targeted protein.     

Solution Structure of a Lanthanide-binding DNA Aptamer Determined Using High Quality pseudocontact shift restraints

In this contribution we report the high-resolution NMR structure of a recently identified lanthanide-binding aptamer (LnA). We demonstrate that the rigid lanthanide binding by LnA allows for the measurement of anisotropic paramagnetic NMR restraints which to date remain largely inaccessible for nucleic acids. One type of such restraints - pseudocontact shifts (PCS) induced by four different paramagnetic lanthanides - was extensively used throughout the current structure determination study and the measured PCS turned out to be exceptionally well reproduced by the final aptamer structure. This finding opens the perspective for a broader application of paramagnetic effects in NMR studies of nucleic acids through the transplantation of the binding site found in LnA into other DNA/RNA systems.     

Binding of low molecular weight inhibitors promotes large conformational changes in the dengue virus NS2B-NS3 protease: fold analysis by pseudocontact shifts

The two-component dengue virus NS2B-NS3 protease (DEN NS2B-NS3pro) is an established drug target, but inhibitor design is hampered by the lack of a crystal structure of the protease in its fully active form. In solution and without inhibitors, the functionally important C-terminal segment of the NS2B cofactor is dissociated from DEN NS3pro ("open state"), necessitating a large structural change to produce the "closed state" thought to underpin activity. We analyzed the fold of DEN NS2B-NS3pro in solution with and without bound inhibitor by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Multiple paramagnetic lanthanide tags were attached to different sites to generate pseudocontact shifts (PCS). In the face of severe spectral overlap and broadening of many signals by conformational exchange, methods for assignment of (15)N-HSQC cross-peaks included selective mutation, combinatorial isotope labeling, and comparison of experimental PCSs and PCSs back-calculated for a structural model of the closed conformation built by using the structure of the related West Nile virus (WNV) protease as a template. The PCSs show that, in the presence of a positively charged low-molecular weight inhibitor, the enzyme assumes a closed state that is very similar to the closed state previously observed for the WNV protease. Therefore, a model of the protease built on the closed conformation of the WNV protease is a better template for rational drug design than available crystal structures, at least for positively charged inhibitors. To assess the open state, we created a binding site for a Gd(3+) complex and measured paramagnetic relaxation enhancements. The results show that the specific open conformation displayed in the crystal of DEN NS2B-NS3pro is barely populated in solution. The techniques used open an avenue to the fold analysis of proteins that yield poor NMR spectra, as PCSs from multiple sites in combination with model building generate powerful information even from incompletely assigned (15)N-HSQC spectra.     

Thiol-ene reaction: a versatile tool in site-specific labelling of proteins with chemically inert tags for paramagnetic NMR

Site-specific tagging of proteins with paramagnetic lanthanides generates valuable long-range structure restraints for structural biology by NMR spectroscopy. We show that the thiol-ene addition reaction offers a powerful tool for tagging proteins in a chemically stable manner with very small lanthanide tags.