Download MendeleyThe N-Terminal Domain of Betab2-Crystallin Resembles the Putative Ancestral Homodimer.
Clout, N.J., Basak, A., Wieligmann, K., Bateman, O.A., Jaenicke, R., Slingsby, C.(2000) J Mol Biol 304: 253
- PubMed: 11090271
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jmbi.2000.4197
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
1E7N - PubMed Abstract:
betagamma-crystallins from the eye lens are proteins consisting of two similar domains joined by a short linker. All three-dimensional structures of native proteins solved so far reveal similar pseudo-2-fold pairing of the domains reflecting their presumed ancient origin from a single-domain homodimer. However, studies of engineered single domains of members of the betagamma-crystallin superfamily have not revealed a prototype ancestral solution homodimer. Here we report the 2.35 A X-ray structure of the homodimer of the N-terminal domain of rat betaB2-crystallin (betaB2-N). The two identical domains pair in a symmetrical manner very similar to that observed in native betagamma-crystallins, where N and C-terminal domains (which share approximately 35% sequence identity) are related by a pseudo-2-fold axis. betaB2-N thus resembles the ancestral prototype of the betagamma-crystallin superfamily as it self-associates in solution to form a dimer with an essentially identical domain interface as that between the N and C domains in betagamma-crystallins, but without the benefit of a covalent linker. The structure provides further evidence for the role of two-domain pairing in stabilising the protomer fold. These results support the view that the betagamma-crystallin superfamily has evolved by a series of gene duplication and fusion events from a single-domain ancestor capable of forming homodimers.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
