1JCA

Non-standard Design of Unstable Insulin Analogues with Enhanced Activity

Experimental Data Snapshot

  • Method: X-RAY DIFFRACTION
  • Resolution: 2.5 Å
  • R-Value Free: 0.241 
  • R-Value Work: 0.204 

wwPDB Validation 3D Report Full Report


This is version 1.2 of the entry. See complete history. 

Literature

Non-standard insulin design: structure-activity relationships at the periphery of the insulin receptor.

Weiss, M.A., Wan, Z., Zhao, M., Chu, Y.C., Nakagawa, S.H., Burke, G.T., Jia, W., Hellmich, R., Katsoyannis, P.G.

(2002) J.Mol.Biol. 315: 103-111

  • DOI: 10.1006/jmbi.2001.5224
  • Primary Citation of Related Structures:  

  • PubMed Abstract: 

    • The design of insulin analogues has emphasized stabilization or destabilization of structural elements according to established principles of protein folding. To this end, solvent-exposed side-chains extrinsic to the receptor-binding surface provide ...

    The design of insulin analogues has emphasized stabilization or destabilization of structural elements according to established principles of protein folding. To this end, solvent-exposed side-chains extrinsic to the receptor-binding surface provide convenient sites of modification. An example is provided by an unfavorable helical C-cap (Thr(A8)) whose substitution by favorable amino acids (His(A8) or Arg(A8)) has yielded analogues of improved stability. Remarkably, these analogues also exhibit enhanced activity, suggesting that activity may correlate with stability. Here, we test this hypothesis by substitution of diaminobutyric acid (Dab(A8)), like threonine an amino acid of low helical propensity. The crystal structure of Dab(A8)-insulin is similar to those of native insulin and the related analogue Lys(A8)-insulin. Although no more stable than native insulin, the non-standard analogue is twice as active. Stability and affinity can therefore be uncoupled. To investigate alternative mechanisms by which A8 substitutions enhance activity, multiple substitutions were introduced. Surprisingly, diverse aliphatic, aromatic and polar side-chains enhance receptor binding and biological activity. Because no relationship is observed between activity and helical propensity, we propose that local interactions between the A8 side-chain and an edge of the hormone-receptor interface modulate affinity. Dab(A8)-insulin illustrates the utility of non-standard amino acids in hypothesis-driven protein design.

    Related Citations: 
    • Diabetes-associated Mutations in a beta-Cell Transcription Factor Destabilize an Antiparallel "mini-zipper" in a Dimerization Interface
      Hua, Q.X.,Zhao, M.,Narayana, N.,Nakagawa, S.H.,Jia, W.,Weiss, M.A.
      (2000) Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA 97: 1999
    • A Proposed Interaction Model of Insulin Molecules with its Receptor
      Liang, D.C.,Chang, W.R.,Wan, Z.L.,Vijayan, N.M.
      (1994) BIOPHYS.CHEM. 50: 63
    • Mapping the Functional Surface of Insulin by Design: Structure and Function of Novel A-chain Analogue
      Hua, Q.X.,Hu, S.Q.,Frank, B.H.,Jia, W.,Chu, Y.C.,Wang, S.H.,Burke, G.T.,Katsoyannis, P.G.,Weiss, M.A.
      (1996) J.Mol.Biol. 264: 390
    • The Relationship Between Insulin Bioactivity and Structure in the NH2-terminal A-chain Helix
      Olsen, H.B.,Ludvigsen, S.,Kaarsholm, N.C.
      (1998) J.Mol.Biol. 284: 477

    Organizational Affiliation: 

    Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. weiss@biochemistry.cwru.edu




Macromolecules

Find similar proteins by: Sequence  |  Structure

Entity ID: 1
MoleculeChainsSequence LengthOrganismDetails
insulin a
A, C
21Homo sapiensMutation(s): 1 
Gene Names: INS
Find proteins for P01308 (Homo sapiens)
Go to Gene View: INS
Go to UniProtKB:  P01308
Entity ID: 2
MoleculeChainsSequence LengthOrganismDetails
insulin b
B, D
30Homo sapiensMutation(s): 0 
Gene Names: INS
Find proteins for P01308 (Homo sapiens)
Go to Gene View: INS
Go to UniProtKB:  P01308
Small Molecules
Ligands 1 Unique
IDChainsName / Formula / InChI Key2D Diagram3D Interactions
ZN
Query on ZN
Download SDF File 
Download CCD File 
B, D
ZINC ION
Zn
PTFCDOFLOPIGGS-UHFFFAOYSA-N
 Ligand Interaction
Experimental Data & Validation

Experimental Data

  • Method: X-RAY DIFFRACTION
  • Resolution: 2.5 Å
  • R-Value Free: 0.241 
  • R-Value Work: 0.204 
  • Space Group: H 3
Unit Cell:
Length (Å)Angle (°)
a = 80.652α = 90.00
b = 80.652β = 90.00
c = 37.936γ = 120.00
Software Package:
Software NamePurpose
X-PLORrefinement
SCALEPACKdata scaling
X-PLORmodel building
DENZOdata reduction
X-PLORphasing

Structure Validation

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Entry History 

Deposition Data

Revision History 

  • Version 1.0: 2001-06-20
    Type: Initial release
  • Version 1.1: 2008-04-27
    Type: Version format compliance
  • Version 1.2: 2011-07-13
    Type: Derived calculations, Version format compliance