Compact Conformations of Human Protein Disulfide Isomerase

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) composed of four thioredoxin-like domains a, b, b', and a', is a key enzyme catalyzing oxidative protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum. Large scale molecular dynamics simulations starting from the crystal structures of human PDI (hPDI) in the oxidized and reduced states were performed. The results indicate that hPDI adopts more compact conformations in solution than in the crystal structures, which are stabilized primarily by inter-domain interactions, including the salt bridges between domains a and b' observed for the first time. A prominent feature of the compact conformations is that the two catalytic domains a and a' can locate close enough for intra-molecular electron transfer, which was confirmed by the characterization of an intermediate with a disulfide between the two domains. Mutations, which disrupt the inter-domain interactions, lead to decreased reductase activity of hPDI. Our molecular dynamics simulations and biochemical experiments reveal the intrinsic conformational dynamics of hPDI and its biological impact.