Actin Affinities of Recombinant α-Tropomyosins That Residues 276 or 277 in the Carboxyl Terminal Region are Individually Substituted to a Cysteine Residue

화학적 변형 방식에 의한 트로포마이오신과 액틴의 상호작용을 규명하기 위하여 액틴결합에 중요한 역할을 하는 C-말단부위의 아미노산 잔기 276 또는 277을 단일 시스테인 잔기로 치환한 돌연변이 트로포마이오신을 제조하여 대장균에서 대량 발현시킨 후 액틴 결합력을 측정하였다. 잔기277을 시스테인 잔기로 치환시킨 TM24(QC) 및 TM29(HC)는 액틴 결합 성질을 잃어버렸을 뿐만 아니라 트로포닌 존재 하에서도 액틴결합력이 증가하지 않았다. 이 결과는 잔기 277이 트로포마이신 기능에 중요한 역할을 한다는 것을 제시한다. 반면 잔기 276을 시스테인 잔기로 치환한 TM22(CT) 및 TM23(CA)는 액틴과 비교적 잘 결합하였을 뿐만 아니라 트로포닌 존재 하에서 액틴결합력이 증가하였다. 따라서 TM23(CA)는 시스테인 잔기를 도입하여도 트로포마이오신의 기능을 유지하였으며 향후 화학적 변형 연구를 위한 도구로 중요하게 사용될 수 있을 것이다. It has been previously reported that the carboxyl terminal residues 276 and 277 of <TEX>α</TEX>-tropomyosin are important for actin affinity. In order to investigate actin affinities of these two residues of skeletal (HA) and smooth (QT) muscle <TEX>α</TEX>-tropomyosins, a series of mutant tropomyosins were constructed in which residues at either 276 or 277 were individually replaced with a cysteine residue for chemical modification. These mutants were overexpressed in E. coli as unacetylated and Ala-Ser (AS) dipeptide fusion forms. While actin affinities of unacetylated tropomyosins were considerably low, those of AS/TMs were remarkably higher than those of corresponding unacetylated tropomyosins. However, actin affinities of AS/TM24 (QC) and AS/TM29 (HC) were dramatically lower than those of other AS/TMs and were close to those of unacetylated tropomyosins. In addition, actin affinities of unacetylated TM24 (QC) and TM29 (HC) failed to be restored in the presence of troponin, unlike unacetylated TM10 (HA) and TM23 (CA). These results indicated that the presence of a cysteine residue at 277 caused a drastic decrease in actin affinity, and also that the residue 277 is important for actin affinity of <TEX>α</TEX>-tropomyosin. Since TM23 (CA) showed high actin affinity, it may serve as a valuable tool for chemical modification studies for investigating the interaction of the carboxyl terminal residues of <TEX>α</TEX>-tropomyosin with actin and/or troponin.