ISSN:
0887-3585
Keywords:
dinuclear copper site
;
hemocyanin
;
oxygen binding
;
allosteric regulation
;
Chemistry
;
Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
The X-ray structure of an oxygenated hemocyanin molecule, subunit II of Limulus polyphemus hemocyanin, was determined at 2.4 Å resolution and refined to a crystallographic R-factor of 17.1%. The 73-kDa subunit crystallizes with the symmetry of the space group R32 with one subunit per asymmetric unit forming hexamers with 32 point group symmetry. Molecular oxygen is bound to a dinuclear copper center in the protein's second domain, symmetrically between and equidistant from the two copper atoms. The copper-copper distance in oxygenated Limulus hemocyanin is 3.6 ± 0.2 Å, which is surprisingly 1 Å less than that seen previously in deoxygenated Limulus polyphemus subunit II hemocyanin (Hazes et al., Protein Sci. 2:597, 1993). Away from the oxygen binding sites, the tertiary and quaternary structures of oxygenated and deoxygenated Limulus subunit II hemocyanins are quite similar. A major difference in tertiary structures is seen, however, when the Limulus structures are compared with deoxygenated Panulirus interruptus hemocyanin (Volbeda, A., Hol, W. G. J. J. Mol. Biol. 209:249, 1989) where the position of domain 1 is rotated by 8° with respect to domains 2 and 3. We postulate this rotation plays an important role in cooperativity and regulation of oxygen affinity in all arthropod hemocyanins. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Material:
4 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/prot.340190405
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