[HTML][HTML] Amide hydrogens reveal a temperature-dependent structural transition that enhances site-II Ca2+-binding affinity in a C-domain mutant of cardiac troponin C

T Veltri, GAP de Oliveira, EA Bienkiewicz, FL Palhano… - Scientific reports, 2017 - nature.com
Scientific reports, 2017nature.com
The hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-associated mutant D145E, in cardiac troponin C (cTnC) C-
domain, causes generalised instability at multiple sites in the isolated protein. As a result,
structure and function of the mutant are more susceptible to higher temperatures. Above 25°
C there are large, progressive increases in N-domain Ca2+-binding affinity for D145E but
only small changes for the wild-type protein. NMR-derived backbone amide temperature
coefficients for many residues show a sharp transition above 30–40° C, indicating a …
Abstract
The hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-associated mutant D145E, in cardiac troponin C (cTnC) C-domain, causes generalised instability at multiple sites in the isolated protein. As a result, structure and function of the mutant are more susceptible to higher temperatures. Above 25 °C there are large, progressive increases in N-domain Ca2+-binding affinity for D145E but only small changes for the wild-type protein. NMR-derived backbone amide temperature coefficients for many residues show a sharp transition above 30–40 °C, indicating a temperature-dependent conformational change that is most prominent around the mutated EF-hand IV, as well as throughout the C-domain. Smaller, isolated changes occur in the N-domain. Cardiac skinned fibres reconstituted with D145E are more sensitive to Ca2+ than fibres reconstituted with wild-type, and this defect is amplified near body-temperature. We speculate that the D145E mutation destabilises the native conformation of EF-hand IV, leading to a transient unfolding and dissociation of helix H that becomes more prominent at higher temperatures. This creates exposed hydrophobic surfaces that may be capable of binding unnaturally to a variety of targets, possibly including the N-domain of cTnC when it is in its open Ca2+-saturated state. This would constitute a potential route for propagating signals from one end of TnC to the other.
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