SECONDARY STRUCTURE AND ZINC LIGATION OF HUMAN RECOMBINANT SHORT-FORM STROMELYSIN BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL HETERONUCLEAR NMR

Stromelysin-1, a member of the matrix metalloendoprotease family, is a zinc protease involved in the degradation of connective tissue in the extracellular matrix. As a step toward determining the structure of this protein, multidimensional heteronuclear NMR experiments have been applied to an inhibited truncated form of human stromelysin-1. Extensive H-1, C-13, and N-15 sequential assignments have been obtained with a combination of three- and four-dimensional experiments. On the basis of sequential and short-range NOEs and C-13alpha chemical shifts, two helices have been delineated, spanning residues Asp-111 to Val-127 and Leu-195 to Ser-206. A third helix spanning residues Asp-238 to Gly-247 is characterized by sequential NOEs and C-13alpha chemical shifts, but not short-range NOEs. The lack of the latter NOEs suggests that this helix is either distorted or mobile. Similarly, sequential and interstrand NOEs and C-13alpha chemical shifts characterize a four-stranded beta-sheet with three parallel strands (Arg-100 to Ile-101, Ile-142 to Ala-147, Asp-177 to Asp-181) and one antiparallel strand (Ala-165 to Tyr-168). Two zinc sites have been identifed in stromelysin [Salowe et al. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 4535-4540]. The NMR spectral properties, including chemical shift, pH dependence, and proton coupling of the imidazole nitrogens of six histidine residues (151, 166, 179, 201, 205, and 211), invariant in the matrix metalloendoprotease family, suggest that these residues are zinc ligands. NOE data indicate that these histidines form two clusters: one ligates the catalytic zinc (His-201, -205, and -211), and the other ligates a structural zinc (His-151, -166, and -179). Heteronuclear multiple quantum correlated spectra and specific labeling experiments indicate His-151, -179, -201, -205, and -211 are in the (N(delta)H)-H-1 tautomer and His-166 is in the (N(epsilon)H)-H-2 tautomer.