Download MendeleyCrystallographic and Computational Analysis of the Barrel Part of the Psbo Protein of Photosystem II -Carboxylate-Water Clusters as Putative Proton Transfer Relays and Structural Switches
Bommer, M., Bondar, A.N., Zouni, A., Dobbek, H., Dau, H.(2016) Biochemistry 55: 4626
- PubMed: 27454911
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.6b00441
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
5G38, 5G39, 5G3A - PubMed Abstract:
In all organisms that employ oxygenic photosynthesis, the membrane-extrinsic PsbO protein is a functionally important component of photosystem II. To study the previously proposed proton antenna function of carboxylate clusters at the protein-water interface, we combined crystallography and simulations of a truncated cyanobacterial (Thermosynechococcus elongatus) PsbO without peripheral loops. We expressed the PsbO β-barrel heterologously and determined crystal structures at resolutions of 1.15-1.5 Å at 100 K at various pH values and at 297 K and pH 6. (1) Approximately half of the 177 surface waters identified at 100 K are resolved at 297 K, suggesting significant occupancy of specific water sites at room temperature, and loss of resolvable occupancy for other sites. (2) Within a loop region specific to cyanobacterial PsbO, three residues and four waters coordinating a calcium ion are well ordered even at 297 K; the ligation differs for manganese. (3) The crystal structures show water-carboxylate clusters that could facilitate fast Grotthus-type proton transfer along the protein surface and/or store protons. (4) Two carboxylate side chains, which are part of a structural motif interrupting two β-strands and connecting PsbO to photosystem II, are within hydrogen bonding distance at pH 6 (100 K). Simulations indicate coupling between protein structure and carboxylate protonation. The crystal structure determined at 100 K and pH 10 indicates broken hydrogen bonding between the carboxylates and local structural change. At pH 6 and 297 K, both conformations were present in the crystal, suggesting conformational dynamics in the functionally relevant pH regime. Taken together, crystallography and molecular dynamics underline a possible mechanism for pH-dependent structural switching.
Organizational Affiliation:
Institut für Biologie, Strukturbiologie/Biochemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin , Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
