Structure activity studies of the cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) reveal a critical role for its carboxy terminus

Ralf Mischke, André Gessner, Aphrodite Kapurniotu, Stefan Jüttner, Robert Kleemann, Herwig Brunner, Jürgen Bernhagen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

Carboxy-truncated mutants of human MIF (MIF(1-104) and MIF(1-109)) were used in structure activity studies. CD spectroscopy revealed an overall structural similarity between the mutants and MIF. Denaturant-induced unfolding demonstrated that the C-terminus contributed significantly to the conformational stability of MIF. This appears to be due to the formation of two C-terminal β-strands. The mutants were enzymatically active, exhibiting half of the enzymatic redox activity of MIF. However, immunological analysis showed that deletion of both 5 and 10 C-terminal residues resulted in loss of the macrophage activating properties of MIF, providing functional evidence that the C-terminus is important for immunological activity and trimer formation. A more detailed study of the C-terminus may assist in identifying the molecular basis for the immunological and enzymatic activities of MIF.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)226-232
Number of pages7
JournalFEBS Letters
Volume414
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Sep 1997
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cytokine
  • Macrophage migration inhibitor factor
  • Mutagenesis
  • Protein structure
  • Structure activity study

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