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DNA-minor-groove-binding ligands are potent antineoplastic molecules. The antibiotic distamycin A is the prototype of one class of these DNA-interfering molecules that have been largely used in vitro. The affinity of distamycin A for DNA is well known, and the structural details of the complexes with some B-DNA and G-quadruplex-forming DNA sequences have been already elucidated. Here, we show that distamycin A binds S100β, a protein involved in the regulation of several cellular processes. The reported affinity of distamycin A for the calcium(II)-loaded S100β reinforces the idea that some biological activities of the DNA-minor-groove-binding ligands arise from the binding to cellular proteins. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Human S100A14 is a member of the EF-hand calcium-binding protein family that has only recently been described in terms of its functional and pathological properties. The protein is overexpressed in a variety of tumor cells and it has been shown to trigger receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)-dependent signaling in cell cultures. The solution structure of homodimeric S100A14 in the apo state has been solved at physiological temperature. It is shown that the protein does not bind calcium(II) ions and exhibits a "semi-open" conformation that thus represents the physiological structure of the S100A14. The lack of two ligands in the canonical EF-hand calcium(II)-binding site explains the negligible affinity for calcium(II) in solution, and the exposed cysteines and histidine account for the observed precipitation in the presence of zinc(II) or copper(II) ions.

Targeting the receptor for the advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) signalling has a potential for the prevention and treatment of several pathologies. Extracellular activation of RAGE triggers the interactions of the RAGE cytoplasmic tail with intracellular protein partners. Here the cytoplasmic tail of RAGE has been investigated by NMR as part of the full-length protein, in the presence of a membrane-mimicking environment. The isolated cytoplasmic tail has also been studied for comparison. The NMR spectra of the whole receptor show that some but not all residues belonging to the C-terminal region of the cytoplasmic tail have a large flexibility, while the membrane proximal region seems to be rigidly connected to the trans-membrane domain and ectodomains. The analysis indicates that the behavior of the cytoplasmic tail is strongly affected by its being part of the whole receptor. These results provide new insight towards the understanding of signal transduction by RAGE.

Calmodulin (CaM) is a ubiquitous eukaryotic protein with two conformationally independent domains that can bind up to two calcium ions each. In the calcium-bound state, CaM is able to regulate a vast number of cellular activities by binding to a multiplicity of target proteins in different modes. Its versatility has been ascribed to its anomalously high flexibility. The calcium-free form (apoCaM), which is the resting state of CaM in cells, is also able to functionally bind a number of protein targets, but its dynamics has received less attention. At variance with the calcium-bound form, the crystal structure of apoCaM shows a compact organization of the two domains, but NMR measurements could not detect any contact between them, thus indicating the presence of mobility in solution. The mobility of apoCaM is here investigated through protein proton relaxation rate measurements performed with a high-sensitivity fast-field cycling relaxometer. Such measurements provide direct access to the spectral density function and show that 1), the reorientation time is in agreement with a closed form of the protein; but 2), the collective order parameter is much smaller than for other well folded compact proteins, indicating that a remarkably large side-chain mobility must be present.

The homodimeric structure of human S100A16 in the apo state has been obtained both in the solid state and in solution, resulting in good agreement between the structures with the exception of two loop regions. The homodimeric solution structure of human S100A16 was also calculated in the calcium(II)-bound form. Differently from most S100 proteins, the conformational rearrangement upon calcium binding is minor. This characteristic is likely to be related to the weak binding affinity of the protein for the calcium(II) ions. In turn, this is ascribed to the lack of the glutamate residue at the end of the S100-specific N-domain binding site, which in most S100 proteins provides two important side chain oxygen atoms as calcium(II) ligands. Furthermore, the presence of hydrophobic interactions stronger than for other S100 proteins, present in the closed form of S100A16 between the third and fourth helices, likely make the closed structure of the second EF-hand particularly stable, so even upon calcium(II) binding such a conformation is not disrupted.

For several drug leads obtained by tethering weak binding ligands, the dissociation constant is smaller than the product of those of the individual fragments by a factor named the linking coefficient, E. This favorable contribution is attributed to the entropic gain that is realized when two weak binding ligands are tethered. Here we show a case study where the linking coefficient is strikingly small (E = 2.1 x 10(-3) M(-1)) and its totally entropic nature is demonstrated.