Structural consequences of cutting a binding loop: two circularly permuted variants of streptavidin.

Circular permutation of streptavidin was carried out in order to investigate the role of a main-chain amide in stabilizing the high-affinity complex of the protein and biotin. Mutant proteins CP49/48 and CP50/49 were constructed to place new N-termini at residues 49 and 50 in a flexible loop involved in stabilizing the biotin complex. Crystal structures of the two mutants show that half of each loop closes over the binding site, as observed in wild-type streptavidin, while the other half adopts the open conformation found in the unliganded state.

Structural studies of hydrogen bonds in the high-affinity streptavidin-biotin complex: mutations of amino acids interacting with the ureido oxygen of biotin.

An elaborate hydrogen-bonding network contributes to the tight binding of biotin to streptavidin. The specific energetic contributions of hydrogen bonds to the biotin ureido oxygen have previously been investigated by mapping the equilibrium and activation thermodynamic signatures of N23A, N23E, S27A, Y43A and Y43F site-directed mutants [Klumb et al. (1998), Biochemistry, 37, 7657-7663].