Structural and dynamic characterization of the urea denatured state of the immunoglobulin binding domain of streptococcal protein G by multidimensional heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy.

The structure and dynamics of the urea-denatured B1 immunoglobulin binding domain of streptococcal protein G (GB1) has been investigated by multidimensional heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. Complete 1H, 15N, and 13C assignments are obtained by means of sequential through-bond correlations. The nuclear Overhauser enhancement, chemical shift, and 3JHN alpha coupling constant data provide no evidence for the existence of any significant population of residual native or nonnative ordered structure. 15N relaxation measurements at 500 and 600 MHz, however, provide evidence for conformationally restricted motions in three regions of the polypeptide that correspond to the second beta-hairpin, the N-terminus of the alpha-helix, and the middle of the alpha-helix in the native protein. The time scale of these motions is longer than the apparent overall correlation time (approximately 3 ns) and could range from about 6 ns in the case of one model to between 4 microseconds and 2 ms in another; it is not possible to distinguish between these two cases with certainty because the dynamics are highly complex and hence the analysis of the time scale of this slower motion is highly model dependent. It is suggested that these three regions may correspond to nucleation sites for the folding of the GB1 domain. With the exception of the N- and C-termini, where end effects predominate, the amplitude of the subnanosecond motions, on the other hand, are fairly uniform and model independent, with an overall order parameter S2 ranging from 0.4 to 0.5.