Probing the Conformational and Functional Consequences of Disulfide Bond Engineering in Growth Hormone by Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry Coupled to Electron Transfer Dissociation

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Signe T Seger
  • Jens Breinholt
  • Johan H Faber
  • Mette D Andersen
  • Charlotte Wiberg
  • Christine B Schjødt
  • Rand, Kasper Dyrberg

Human growth hormone (hGH), and its receptor interaction, is essential for cell growth. To stabilize a flexible loop between helices 3 and 4, while retaining affinity for the hGH receptor, we have engineered a new hGH variant (Q84C/Y143C). Here, we employ hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to map the impact of the new disulfide bond on the conformational dynamics of this new hGH variant. Compared to wild type hGH, the variant exhibits reduced loop dynamics, indicating a stabilizing effect of the introduced disulfide bond. Furthermore, the disulfide bond exhibits longer ranging effects, stabilizing a short α-helix quite distant from the mutation sites, but also rendering a part of the α-helical hGH core slightly more dynamic. In the regions where the hGH variant exhibits a different deuterium uptake than the wild type protein, electron transfer dissociation (ETD) fragmentation has been used to pinpoint the residues responsible for the observed differences (HDX-ETD). Finally, by use of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements, we show that the new disulfide bond does not compromise receptor affinity. Our work highlight the analytical potential of HDX-ETD combined with functional assays to guide protein engineering.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAnalytical Chemistry
Volume87
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)5973-80
Number of pages8
ISSN0003-2700
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jun 2015

ID: 142475309