Combined pulsed electron double resonance EPR and molecular dynamics investigations of calmodulin suggest effect of crowding agents on protein structure

Calmodulin (CaM) is a highly dynamic Ca2+ binding protein that exhibits large conformational changes upon binding Ca2+ and target proteins. While it is accepted that CaM exists in an equilibrium of conformational states in the absence of target protein, the physiological relevance of an elongated helical linker region in the Ca2+-replete form has been highly debated. In this study we use PELDOR (pulsed electron-electron double resonance) EPR measurements of a doubly spin-labeled CaM variant to assess the conformational states of CaM in the apo-, Ca2+ bound and Ca2+ plus target peptide-bound states. Our findings are consistent with a 3-state conformational model of CaM, showing a semi-open apo-state, a highly extended Ca2+-replete state, and a compact target protein-bound state. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the presence of glycerol, and potentially other molecular crowding agents, has a profound effect on the relative stability of the different conformational states. Differing experimental conditions may explain the discrepancies in the literature regarding the observed conformational state(s) of CaM and our PELDOR measurements show good evidence for an extended conformation of Ca2+-replete CaM similar to the one observed in early X-ray crystal structures.