Subfamily 37 of the glycoside hydrolase family GH13 was recently established on the basis of the discovery of a novel α-amylase, designated AmyP, from a marine metagenomic library. AmyP exhibits raw-starch-degrading activity and consists of an N-terminal catalytic domain and a C-terminal starch-binding domain. To understand this newest subfamily, we determined the crystal structure of the catalytic domain of AmyP, named AmyPΔSBD, complexed with maltose, and the crystal structure of the E221Q mutant AmyPΔSBD complexed with maltotriose. Glu221 is one of the three conserved catalytic residues, and AmyP is inactivated by the E221Q mutation. Domain B of AmyPΔSBD forms a loop that protrudes from domain A, stabilizes the conformation of the active site and increases the thermostability of the enzyme. A new calcium ion is situated adjacent to the -3 subsite binding loop and may be responsible for the increased thermostability of the enzyme after the addition of calcium. Moreover, Tyr36 participates in both stacking and hydrogen bonding interactions with the sugar motif at subsite -3. This work provides the first insights into the structure of α-amylases belonging to subfamily 37 of GH13 and may contribute to the rational design of α-amylase mutants with enhanced performance in biotechnological applications.

AmyP is an α-amylase which shows preferential degradation to soluble starch. In this substrate preference its Starch Binding Domain (SBD), which was recently assigned to a new Carbohydrate Binding Module (CBM) family 69, plays an important role. In the present study, the SBD of AmyP (AmyP-SBD) was recombinantly expressed, purified, and structurally characterized. Using Circular Dichroism (CD), intrinsic fluorescence, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the structures of AmyP-SBD in the absence and presence of substrate analogue β-cyclodextrin were measured. The results intriguingly showed that free form AmyP-SBD is partially unfolded, like a compact molten globule, and could be induced by the ligand to fold into a relatively rigid state. Further structure determination for folded AmyP-SBD revealed a topology distinctive from those of SBDs from other CBM families. Our data indicate AmyP-SBD is a structurally novel SBD, and this may be helpful for understanding the properties of AmyP-SBD and CBM69 and elucidation of functioning mechanism of AmyP.

Starch binding domains (SBDs) are important for the functions of glycoside hydrolysis enzymes such as α-amylases, they have great application potential in biotechnology and industries. AmyP is a newly identified α-amylase belonging to a new subfamily 37 of glycoside hydrolysis enzyme family 13. AmyP shows preferential degradation to soluble starch, in which its C-terminal starch binding domain, AmyP-SBD, plays an important role. AmyP-SBD shares very low sequence similarity with other biochemically characterized SBDs and was assigned to a new carbohydrate binding module family CBM69. Intriguingly, AmyP-SBD is unfolded in free form, and substrate analogue β-cyclodextrin may induce it to fold into a relatively rigid state. Structure determination for AmyP-SBD will be helpful for understanding its unique properties. Here, we report the backbone and side-chain H,C and N resonance assignments of folded AmyP-SBD, as a basis for structure determination and further studies.

Merozoite surface protein 2 (MSP2), one of the most abundant proteins on the merozoite surface of Plasmodium falciparum, is recognized to be important for the parasite's invasion into the host cell and is thus a promising malaria vaccine candidate. However, mediated mainly by its conserved N-terminal 25 residues (MSP21-25), MSP2 readily forms amyloid fibril-like aggregates under physiological conditions in vitro, which impairs its potential as a vaccine component. In addition, there is evidence that MSP2 exists in aggregated forms on the merozoite surface in vivo. To elucidate the aggregation mechanism of MSP21-25 and thereby understand the behavior of MSP2 in vivo and find ways to avoid the aggregation of relevant vaccine in vitro, we investigated the effects of agitation, pH, salts, 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid (ANS), trimethylamine N-oxide dihydrate (TMAO), urea, and sub-micellar sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the aggregation kinetics of MSP21-25 using thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence. The results showed that MSP21-25 aggregation was accelerated by agitation, while repressed by acidic pHs. The salts promoted the aggregation in an anion nature-dependent pattern. Hydrophobic surface-binding agent ANS and detergent urea repressed MSP21-25 aggregation, in contrast to hydrophobic interaction strengthener TMAO, which enhanced the aggregation. Notably, sub-micellar SDS, contrary to its micellar form, promoted MSP21-25 aggregation significantly. Our data indicated that hydrophobic interactions are the predominant driving force of the nucleation of MSP21-25 aggregation, while the elongation is controlled mainly by electrostatic interactions. A kinetic model of MSP21-25 aggregation and its implication were also discussed.

Ubiquitin-like proteins play important roles in diverse biological processes. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Pup (prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein), a functional homologue of eukaryotic ubiquitin, interacts with the proteasome ATPase subunit Mpa to recognize and unfold substrates, and then translocate them into the proteasome core for degradation. Previous studies revealed that, Pup, an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), adopts a helical structure upon binding to the N-terminal coiled-coil domain of Mpa, at its disordered C-terminal region. In the present study, using circular dichroism (CD), surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), we show that membrane mimetic and acidic conditions also induce Pup to adopt helical conformations. Moreover, at low pH, Pup, via both of its N- and C-terminal regions, binds to Mpa on sites from the N-terminal region in addition to the C-terminal region of the coiled-coil domain. Our results imply Pup may play undiscovered roles in some biological processes e.g. those involve in membrane.