J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 264, Issue 31, 18309-18313, Nov, 1989
Tryptophan and 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate compete for binding to trp repressor
WY Chou, C Bieber and KS Matthews
Department of Biochemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77251.
Anilinonaphthalenesulfonate (ANS) and tryptophan compete for binding to the
trp repressor protein; thus, the fluorescence decrease associated with ANS
dissociation can be used as a fluorometric marker for tryptophan binding to
the protein. Using this approach, the tryptophan equilibrium dissociation
constant was measured at 25 degrees C to be 3.7 (+/- 1.2) X 10(-5) M, a
value which compares favorably with that obtained by other methods for
determining the affinity of this ligand. The presence of nonspecific DNA
had no effect on the binding affinity, whereas addition of trp operator DNA
yielded a 6-fold increase in affinity of tryptophan binding. The kinetics
of tryptophan binding to the aporepressor were monitored directly and by
ANS displacement at 4 degrees C. The association rate constant was
approximately 4 X 10(6) M- 1 s-1, and the dissociation rate constant was
approximately 60 s-1. The ratio of these values agrees with the binding
constant determined by equilibrium dialysis at this temperature. Using the
gel retardation method (Carey, J. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85,
975-979), the dissociation rate constant for the 40-base pair operator
fragment was estimated to be 2 X 10(-2) s-1, which combines with the
measured Kd of 0.3 nM to yield an association rate constant comparable to
other DNA binding proteins (approximately 10(8) M-1 s-1).