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      The atomic structure of protein-protein recognition sites.

      1 , ,
      Journal of molecular biology
      Elsevier BV

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          Abstract

          The non-covalent assembly of proteins that fold separately is central to many biological processes, and differs from the permanent macromolecular assembly of protein subunits in oligomeric proteins. We performed an analysis of the atomic structure of the recognition sites seen in 75 protein-protein complexes of known three-dimensional structure: 24 protease-inhibitor, 19 antibody-antigen and 32 other complexes, including nine enzyme-inhibitor and 11 that are involved in signal transduction.The size of the recognition site is related to the conformational changes that occur upon association. Of the 75 complexes, 52 have "standard-size" interfaces in which the total area buried by the components in the recognition site is 1600 (+/-400) A2. In these complexes, association involves only small changes of conformation. Twenty complexes have "large" interfaces burying 2000 to 4660 A2, and large conformational changes are seen to occur in those cases where we can compare the structure of complexed and free components. The average interface has approximately the same non-polar character as the protein surface as a whole, and carries somewhat fewer charged groups. However, some interfaces are significantly more polar and others more non-polar than the average. Of the atoms that lose accessibility upon association, half make contacts across the interface and one-third become fully inaccessible to the solvent. In the latter case, the Voronoi volume was calculated and compared with that of atoms buried inside proteins. The ratio of the two volumes was 1.01 (+/-0.03) in all but 11 complexes, which shows that atoms buried at protein-protein interfaces are close-packed like the protein interior. This conclusion could be extended to the majority of interface atoms by including solvent positions determined in high-resolution X-ray structures in the calculation of Voronoi volumes. Thus, water molecules contribute to the close-packing of atoms that insure complementarity between the two protein surfaces, as well as providing polar interactions between the two proteins.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          J Mol Biol
          Journal of molecular biology
          Elsevier BV
          0022-2836
          0022-2836
          Feb 05 1999
          : 285
          : 5
          Affiliations
          [1 ] MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB1 1JX, England.
          Article
          S0022283698924391
          10.1006/jmbi.1998.2439
          9925793
          3c9742de-1145-4958-8aba-72a2b612ed49
          Copyright 1999 Academic Press.
          History

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