NMR structure of a KlbA intein precursor from Methanococcus jannaschii

作者：Johnson Margaret A; Southworth Maurice W; Herrmann Torsten; Brace Lear; Perler Francine B; Wuthrich Kurt^*

来源：Protein Science, 2007, 16(7): 1316-1328.

DOI：10.1110/ps.072816707

• protein splicing
• inteins
• NMR structure determination

Certain proteins of unicellular organisms are translated as precursor polypeptides containing inteins (intervening proteins), which are domains capable of performing protein splicing. These domains, in conjunction with a single residue following the intein, catalyze their own excision from the surrounding protein (extein) in a multistep reaction involving the cleavage of two intein-extein peptide bonds and the formation of a new peptide bond that ligates the two exteins to yield the mature protein. We report here the solution NMR structure of a 186-residue precursor of the KlbA intein from Methanococcus jannaschii, comprising the intein together with N- and C-extein segments of 7 and 11 residues, respectively. The intein is shown to adopt a single, well-defined globular domain, representing a HINT (Hedgehog/Intein)-type topology. Fourteen beta-strands are arranged in a complex fold that includes four beta-hairpins and an antiparallel beta-ribbon, and there is one alpha-helix, which is packed against the beta-ribbon, and one turn of 3(10)-helix in the loop between the beta-strands 8 and 9. The two extein segments show increased disorder, and form only minimal nonbonding contacts with the intein domain. Structure-based mutation experiments resulted in a proposal for functional roles of individual residues in the intein catalytic mechanism.

• 出版日期2007-7
• 单位New England Biolabs