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Title: Shining light on cysteine modification: connecting protein conformational dynamics to catalysis and regulation

Journal Article · · Journal of Synchrotron Radiation (Online)
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]
  1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Univ. of California, San Francisco, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)

We report that cysteine is a rare but functionally important amino acid that is often subject to covalent modification. Cysteine oxidation plays an important role in many human disease processes, and basal levels of cysteine oxidation are required for proper cellular function. Because reactive cysteine residues are typically ionized to the thiolate anion (Cys-S-), their formation of a covalent bond alters the electrostatic and steric environment of the active site. X-ray-induced photo-oxidation to sulfenic acids (Cys-SOH) can recapitulate some aspects of the changes that occur under physiological conditions. Here we propose how site-specific cysteine photo-oxidation can be used to interrogate ensuing changes in protein structure and dynamics at atomic resolution. Although this powerful approach can connect cysteine covalent modification to global protein conformational changes and function, careful biochemical validation must accompany all such studies to exclude misleading artifacts. Lastly, new types of X-ray crystallography experiments and powerful computational methods are creating new opportunities to connect conformational dynamics to catalysis for the large class of systems that use covalently modified cysteine residues for catalysis or regulation.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1546912
Journal Information:
Journal of Synchrotron Radiation (Online), Vol. 26, Issue 4; ISSN 1600-5775
Publisher:
International Union of CrystallographyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

X-ray radiation damage to biological samples: recent progress journal July 2019