Crystal structure of Arabidopsis cyclophilin38 reveals a previously uncharacterized immunophilin fold and a possible autoinhibitory mechanism

Plant Cell. 2012 Jun;24(6):2666-74. doi: 10.1105/tpc.111.093781. Epub 2012 Jun 15.

Abstract

Cyclophilin38 (CYP38) is one of the highly divergent cyclophilins from Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we report the crystal structure of the At-CYP38 protein (residues 83 to 437 of 437 amino acids) at 2.39-Å resolution. The structure reveals two distinct domains: an N-terminal helical bundle and a C-terminal cyclophilin β-barrel, connected by an acidic loop. Two N-terminal β-strands become part of the C-terminal cyclophilin β-barrel, thereby making a previously undiscovered domain organization. This study shows that CYP38 does not possess peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity and identifies a possible interaction of CYP38 with the E-loop of chlorophyll protein47 (CP47), a component of photosystem II. The interaction of CYP38 with the E-loop of CP47 is mediated through its cyclophilin domain. The N-terminal helical domain is closely packed together with the putative C-terminal cyclophilin domain and establishes a strong intramolecular interaction, thereby preventing the access of the cyclophilin domain to other proteins. This was further verified by protein-protein interaction assays using the yeast two-hybrid system. Furthermore, the non-Leucine zipper N-terminal helical bundle contains several new elements for protein-protein interaction that may be of functional significance. Together, this study provides the structure of a plant cyclophilin and explains a possible mechanism for autoinhibition of its function through an intramolecular interaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis Proteins / chemistry*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Cyclophilins / chemistry*
  • Cyclophilins / genetics
  • Cyclophilins / metabolism*
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / metabolism
  • Models, Molecular
  • Photosystem II Protein Complex / metabolism
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes
  • Photosystem II Protein Complex
  • photosystem II, chlorophyll-binding protein, CP-47
  • Cyclophilins
  • cyclophilin 38, Arabidopsis

Associated data

  • PDB/3RFY