Biotechnology Research Center and Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
The three-dimensional structure of oryzacystatin-I, a cysteine proteinase inhibitor of the rice, Oryza sativa L. japonica, has been determined in solution at pH 6.8 and 25 degrees C by (1)H and (15)N NMR spectroscopy. The main body (Glu13-Asp97) of oryzacystatin-I is well-defined and consists of an alpha-helix and a five-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet, while the N- and C-terminal regions (Ser2-Val12 and Ala98-Ala102) are less defined. The helix-sheet architechture of oryzacystatin-I is stabilized by a hydrophobic cluster formed between the alpha-helix and the beta-sheet and is considerably similar to that of monellin, a sweet-tasting protein from an African berry, as well as those of the animal cystatins studied, e.g., chicken egg white cystatin and human stefins A and B (also referred to as human cystatins A and B). Detailed structural comparison indicates that oryzacystatin-I is more similar to chicken cystatin, which belongs to the type-2 animal cystatins, than to human stefins A and B, which belong to the type-1 animal cystatins, despite different loop length.