Copper effective binding with 32-62 and 94-125 peptide fragments of histone H2B

In an attempt to investigate the role of histone H2B in Cu(II) induced toxicity and carcinogenesis, we synthesized the terminally blocked peptides H2B(32-62) (SRKESYSVYVYKVLKQVH(48)PDTGISSKAMGIM) and Η2Β(94-125) (IQTAVRLLLPGELAKH(110)AVSEGTKAVTKYTSS), mimicking the N-terminal histone-fold domain and C-terminal tail of histone H2B, respectively and studied their interaction with Cu(II) ions by means of potentiometric titrations and spectroscopic techniques (UV-visible, CD and EPR). Both peptides, H2B(32-62) and H2B(94-125), interacted efficiently with Cu(II) ions, forming several species from pH 4 to 11, with His(48) and His(110) serving as anchors for metal binding. In H2B(32-62), the effective Cu(II) binding is emphasized by the formation of a soluble Cu(II)-H2B(32-62) complex, unlike the unbound peptide that precipitated over pH 7.9. At physiological pH, both peptides form tetragonal 3N species with a {N(Im), 2N(-)} coordination mode. At this pH, H2B(32-62) presented the formation of coordination isomers, differentiated by the presence in one of them, of an axial coordination of the carboxylate group of Asp(50). Copper binding with both H2B(32-62) and H2B(94-125) may induce a conformational change in the peptides' original structure. At physiological conditions, this effect may interfere with nucleosome's structure and dynamics, including the ubiquitination of Lys(120) which is linked to gene silencing.