Metal binding and interdomain thermodynamics of mammalian metallothionein-3: enthalpically favoured Cu+ supplants entropically favoured Zn2+ to form Cu4+ clusters under physiological conditions

Metallothioneins (MTs) are a ubiquitous class of small metal-binding proteins involved in metal homeostasis and detoxification. While known for their high affinity for d¹⁰ metal ions, there is a surprising dearth of thermodynamic data on metals binding to MTs. In this study, Zn²⁺ and Cu⁺ binding to mammalian metallothionein-3 (MT-3) were quantified at pH 7.4 by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Zn²⁺ binding was measured by chelation titrations of Zn₇MT-3, while Cu⁺ binding was measured by Zn²⁺ displacement from Zn₇MT-3 with competition from glutathione (GSH). Titrations in multiple buffers enabled a detailed analysis that yielded condition-independent values for the association constant (K) and the change in enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) for these metal ions binding to MT-3. Zn²⁺ was also chelated from the individual α and β domains of MT-3 to quantify the thermodynamics of inter-domain interactions in metal binding. Comparative titrations of Zn₇MT-2 with Cu⁺ revealed that both MT isoforms have similar Cu⁺ affinities and binding thermodynamics, indicating that ΔH and ΔS are determined primarily by the conserved Cys residues. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis and low temperature luminescence measurements of Cu-replete samples showed that both proteins form two Cu₄⁺–thiolate clusters when Cu⁺ displaces Zn²⁺ under physiological conditions. Comparison of the Zn²⁺ and Cu⁺ binding thermodynamics reveal that enthalpically-favoured Cu⁺, which forms Cu₄⁺–thiolate clusters, displaces the entropically-favoured Zn²⁺. These results provide a detailed thermodynamic analysis of d¹⁰ metal binding to these thiolate-rich proteins and quantitative support for, as well as molecular insight into, the role that MT-3 plays in the neuronal chemistry of copper.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are a ubiquitous class of small metal-binding proteins involved in metal homeostasis and detoxification.     

Substitution effects on the binding interactions of redox-active arylazothioformamide ligands and copper(I) salts

ABSTRACT

The straightforward synthesis of redox-active arylazothioformamide (ATF) ligands allows for electronic diversity as to measure the weak-binding interactions of transition metal salts in supramolecular coordination complexes. A small library of para-substituted ATFs was created with varied electronic components to evaluate how electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups alter binding association constants. Following full characterisation, including single-crystal X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis titration studies were performed using copper(I) salts to assess the Host:Guest binding. Simultaneously, substitutions were evaluated computationally by modelling the Gibbs’ Free Energy change of the rotational barriers from ligand crystal structures to the predicted metal coordinating species and the various complexes. The multi-model association calculations and experimental measurements interplay to help limit error propagations and reliably predict the more accurate binding models. Through a thorough investigation it was found that experimentally, each ligand supports a 2:1 binding model yet may employ unique binding mechanisms to achieve that model.