Formation of highly stable multinuclear AgnSn clusters in zinc fingers disrupts their structure and function

Katarzyna Kluska; Manuel D Peris-Díaz; Dawid Płonka; Alexander Moysa; Michał Dadlez; Aurélien Deniaud; Wojciech Bal; Artur Krężel

doi:10.1039/c9cc09418k

Formation of highly stable multinuclear Ag_nS_n clusters in zinc fingers disrupts their structure and function

Chem Commun (Camb). 2020 Jan 28;56(9):1329-1332. doi: 10.1039/c9cc09418k. Epub 2020 Jan 8.

Authors

Katarzyna Kluska¹, Manuel D Peris-Díaz¹, Dawid Płonka², Alexander Moysa², Michał Dadlez², Aurélien Deniaud³, Wojciech Bal², Artur Krężel¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, Joliot-Curie 14a, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland. artur.krezel@uwr.edu.pl.
² Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5a, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland. wbal@ibb.waw.pl.
³ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, IRIG, Laboratoire de Chimie et Biologie des Métaux, F-38000 Grenoble, France.

PMID: 31912071
DOI: 10.1039/c9cc09418k

Abstract

Silver (Ag(i)) binding to consensus zinc fingers (ZFs) causes Zn(ii) release inducing a gradual disruption of the hydrophobic core, followed by an overall conformational change and formation of highly stable Ag_nS_n clusters. A compact eight-membered Ag₄S₄ structure formed by a CCCC ZF is the first cluster example reported for a single biological molecule. Ag(i)-induced conformational changes of ZFs can, as a consequence, affect transcriptional regulation and other cellular processes.