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NMR Structure of the Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) Metallothionein MTA,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1006/jmbi.1999.2967Get rights and content

Abstract

The three-dimensional structure of [113Cd7]-metallothionein-A (MTA) of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus was determined by homonuclear 1H NMR experiments and heteronuclear [1H,113Cd]-correlation spectroscopy. MTA is composed of two globular domains, an N-terminal four-metal domain of the amino acid residues 1 to 36 and a Cd4Cys11 cluster, and a C-terminal three-metal domain including the amino acid residues 37 to 65 and a Cd3Cys9 cluster. The structure resembles the known mammalian and crustacean metallothioneins, but has a significantly different connectivity pattern of the Cys-metal co-ordination bonds and concomitantly contains novel local folds of some polypeptide backbone segments. These differences can be related to variations of the Cys sequence positions and thus emphasize the special role of the cysteine residues in defining the structure of metallothioneins, both on the level of the domain architecture and the topology of the metal-thiolate clusters.

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      The SpMTA cDNA was kindly provided by Prof. Kägi and subsequently cloned into the pGEX-4T1 BamHI/SalI restriction sites added by PCR amplification, using 5′-CCCGGATCCATGCCTGATGTCAAG-3′ as upstream primer and 5′-GCGCCCGTCGACCTAGCATGCACA-3′ as downstream primer. According to the reported SpMTA domain boundaries [15], cDNAs encoding for its separate moieties were obtained by PCR reactions that added BamHI/XhoI restriction sites with the following oligonucleotides: for the N-terminal fragment or α domain (encompassing residues 1–36 of the full polypeptide), 5′-CCCGGATCCATGCCTGATGTCAAG-3′ (upstream) and 5′-AAACTCGAGTCATCCACAGCAGGTTCCATCCTTG-3′ (downstream); and for the C-terminal fragment or β domain (residues 37–64 of the full polypeptide), 5′-ACACACGGATCCATATGCACAAACGCTGCATGC-3′ (upstream) and 5′-AAACCCCTCGAGCTAGCATGCACAGTTCCCCTC-3′ (downstream). The cDNA of the SpMTB isoform was obtained from the Sea Urchin Genome Project Library Collection, in the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and corresponded to the EST clone PMC_62379562 (seq ID NCBI 214576).

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    Abbreviations used: MT, metallothionein; MTA, MT isoform A of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus; MTAα, α-domain of MTA; MTAβ, β-domain of MTA; hMT-2, human MT isoform 2; MT-2α, α-domain of MT-2; MT-2β, β-domain of MT-2; MT-1, lobster or blue crab MT isoform 1; MT-1α, α-domain of MT-1; MT-1β, β-domain of MT-1; NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance; NOE, nuclear Overhauser effect; 2D, two-dimensional; NOESY, NOE spectroscopy; COSY, correlation spectroscopy; TOCSY, total correlation spectroscopy; ppm, parts per million; 3JHNα, vicinal spin-spin coupling constant between the backbone amide proton and the α-proton; 3Jαβ, vicinal spin-spin coupling constant between the α-proton and one of the β-protons; r.m.s.d., root-mean-square deviation

    ☆☆

    Edited by P. E. Wright

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    Present addresses: Dr Yunyuan Wang, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, College of Medicine, 440 Reynolds Medical Bldg., College Station, TX 77843-1114, USA; Dr Elaine A. Mackay, 1 Caswall Close, Foxley Field, Binfield, Berkshire RG42 4EF, UK

    f2

    Corresponding author

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