Parvalbumins constitute a class of calcium-binding
proteins characterized by the presence of several helix-loop-helix
(EF-hand) motifs. In a previous study (Revett SP, King
G, Shabanowitz J, Hunt DF, Hartman KL, Laue TM, Nelson
DJ, 1997, Protein Sci 7:2397–2408), we presented
the sequence of the major parvalbumin isoform from the
silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis) and presented
spectroscopic and structural information on the excised
“EF-hand” portion of the protein. In this study,
the X-ray crystal structure of the silver hake major parvalbumin
has been determined to high resolution, in the frozen state,
using the molecular replacement method with the carp parvalbumin
structure as a starting model. The crystals are orthorhombic,
space group C2221, with a = 75.7 Å,
b = 80.7 Å, and c = 42.1 Å.
Data were collected from a single crystal grown in 15%
glycerol, which served as a cryoprotectant for flash freezing
at −188 °C. The structure refined to a conventional
R-value of 21% (free R 25%) for observed
reflections in the range 8 to 1.65 Å [I
> 2σ(I)]. The refined model includes
an acetylated amino terminus, 108 residues (characteristic
of a β parvalbumin lineage), 2 calcium ions, and 114
water molecules per protein molecule. The resulting structure
was used in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations focused
primarily on the dynamics of the ligands coordinating the
Ca2+ ions in the CD and EF sites. MD simulations
were performed on both the fully Ca2+ loaded
protein and on a Ca2+ deficient variant, with
Ca2+ only in the CD site. There was substantial
agreement between the MD and X-ray results in addressing
the issue of mobility of key residues in the calcium-binding
sites, especially with regard to the side chain of Ser55
in the CD site and Asp92 in the EF site.