Identification of S100b protein as copper-binding protein and its suppression of copper-induced cell damage

We have isolated from bovine brain a protein with a high capacity to inhibit the copper ion-catalyzed oxidation of L-ascorbate and identified it as S100b protein, an EF-hand calcium-binding protein, by sequencing its proteolytic peptides. Copper binding studies showed that this protein has four copper binding sites per dimeric protein molecule with a dissociation constant of 0.46 mu M and that in the presence of L-ascorbate, copper ions bind to a total of six binding sites with a great increase in affinity. Furthermore, we examined whether S100b protein can prevent copper-induced cell damage. Bovine S100b protein was found to suppress dose-dependently the hemolysis of mouse erythrocytes induced by CuCl2. We transformed Escherichia coli cells with pGEX-5X-3 vector containing a cDNA for rat S100b protein, so that this protein could be expressed as a fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase. The transformed cells were demonstrated to be markedly resistant to a treatment with CuCl2 plus H2O2 as compared with the control cells expressing glutathione S-transferase alone. These results indicate that S100b protein does suppress oxidative cell damage by sequestering copper ions.