The isolated, twenty-three-residue-long, N-terminal region of the glutamine synthetase inactivating factor binds to its target

July 28, 2017

Title

The isolated, twenty-three-residue-long, N-terminal region of the glutamine synthetase inactivating factor binds to its target

Author

José L. Neira, Francisco J. Florencio, M. Isabel Muro-Pastor

Year

2017

Journal

Biophysical Chemistry

Abstract

Glutamine synthetase (GS) catalyzes the ATP-dependent formation of glutamine from glutamate and ammonia. The activity of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 GS type I is regulated by protein-protein interactions with a 65-residue-long protein (IF7). IF7 binds initially to GS through residues at its N terminus. In this work, we studied the conformational preferences of the N-terminal region of IF7 (IF7pep, residues Ala7-Ala29), its binding to GS and its functional properties. Isolated IF7pep populated a nascent helix in aqueous solution. IF7pep was bound to GS with an affinity constant of 0.4 μM, and a 1:1 stoichiometry. IF7pep did not inactivate GS, suggesting that there were other IF7 regions important to carry out the inactivating function. Binding of IF7pep to GS was electrostatically-driven and it did not follow a kinetic two-state model.

Instrument

J-815

Keywords

Circular dichroism, Secondary structure, Chemical stability, Ligand binding, Thermal stability, Protein denaturation, Biochemistry