An insight into structural plasticity and conformational transitions of transcriptional co-activator Sus1

RNA biogenesis and mRNA transport are an intricate process for every eukaryotic cell. SAGA, a transcriptional coactivator and TREX-2 are the two major complexes participate in this process. Sus1 is a transcription export factor and part of both the SAGA and the TREX-2 complex. The competitive exchange of Sus1 molecule between SAGA and TREX-2 complex modulates their function which is credited to structural plasticity of Sus1. Here, we portray the biophysical characterization of Sus1 from S. cerevisiae. The recombinant Sus1 is a α-helical structure which is stable at various pH conditions. We reported the α-helix to β-sheet transition at the low pH as well as at high pH. Sus1 showed 50% reduction in the fluorescence intensity at pH-2 as compared to native protein. The fluorescence studies demonstrated the unfolding of tertiary structure of the protein with variation in pH as compared to neutral pH. The same results were obtained in the ANS binding and acrylamide quenching studies. Similarly, the secondary structure of the Sus1 was found to be stable till 55% alcohol concentration while tertiary structure was stable up to 20% alcohol concentration. Further increase in the alcohol concentration destabilizes the secondary as well as tertiary structure. The 300 mM concentration of ammonium sulfate also stabilizes the secondary structure of the protein. The structural characterization of this protein is expected to unfold the process of the transportation of the mRNA with cooperation of different proteins.