摘要

A single Cys-residue (Cys(24)) was introduced into the 50-amino acid major coat protein of M13 bacteriophage as part of a two-site substitution (Y24C-V31A) within the effective transmembrane (TM) segment (Tyr(21) to Ile(39)) of the coat protein. Mutant Y24C-V31A was able to complete the phage life cycle and was shown to contain free sulfhydryls in the intact virus, as evidenced by susceptibility of Y24C-V31A phage to alkylation by Cys-specific C-14-iodoacetamide (C-14-IAN). In contrast, the protein solubilized in deoxycholate micelles was resistant to C-14-IAN modification and was virtually inert to a transition from a characteristic alpha-helical oligomeric state to an aggregated beta-sheet structure relative to WT and V31A coat proteins, as shown by circular dichroism spectroscopy and SDS-PAGE. Reduction of mainly dimeric Y24C-V31A protein using beta-mercaptoethanol (beta-ME) generated monomeric species and resulted in a loss of helical thermostability. The overall results indicated that solubilization of Y24C-V31A coat protein into micelles resulted in formation of thermostable disulfide-bridged helical dimers. The disulfide bridge is deduced to be positioned along the stripe of residues involved in hydrophobic packing of TM parallel helical dimers.

  • 出版日期1995-1-5

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