Identification of calcium binding sites on calsequestrin 1 and their implications for polymerization

Mol Biosyst. 2013 Jul;9(7):1949-57. doi: 10.1039/c3mb25588c. Epub 2013 Apr 29.

Abstract

Biophysical studies have shown that each molecule of calsequestrin 1 (CASQ1) can bind about 70-80 Ca(2+) ions. However, the nature of Ca(2+)-binding sites has not yet been fully characterized. In this study, we employed in silico approaches to identify the Ca(2+) binding sites and to understand the molecular basis of CASQ1-Ca(2+) recognition. We built the protein model by extracting the atomic coordinates for the back-to-back dimeric unit from the recently solved hexameric CASQ1 structure (PDB id: ) and adding the missing C-terminal residues (aa350-364). Using this model we performed extensive 30 ns molecular dynamics simulations over a wide range of Ca(2+) concentrations ([Ca(2+)]). Our results show that the Ca(2+)-binding sites on CASQ1 differ both in affinity and geometry. The high affinity Ca(2+)-binding sites share a similar geometry and interestingly, the majority of them were found to be induced by increased [Ca(2+)]. We also found that the system shows maximal Ca(2+)-binding to the CAS (consecutive aspartate stretch at the C-terminus) before the rest of the CASQ1 surface becomes saturated. Simulated data show that the CASQ1 back-to-back stacking is progressively stabilized by the emergence of an increasing number of hydrophobic interactions with increasing [Ca(2+)]. Further, this study shows that the CAS domain assumes a compact structure with an increase in Ca(2+) binding, which suggests that the CAS domain might function as a Ca(2+)-sensor that may be a novel structural motif to sense metal. We propose the term "Dn-motif" for the CAS domain.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Binding Sites*
  • Calcium / chemistry*
  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Calsequestrin / chemistry*
  • Calsequestrin / metabolism
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Kinesis
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs
  • Protein Multimerization*
  • Protein Stability

Substances

  • Calsequestrin
  • Calcium