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Tetracycline (Tc) repressor (TetR) undergoes an allosteric transition upon interaction with the antibiotic, Tc, that abrogates its ability to specifically bind its operator DNA. In this work, by performing equilibrium protein unfolding experiments on wild-type TetR and mutants displaying altered allosteric responses, we have delineated a model to explain TetR allostery. In the absence of Tc, we show that the DNA-binding domains of this homodimeric protein are relatively flexible and unfold independently of the Tc binding/dimerization (TBD) domains. Once Tc is bound, however, the unfolding of the DNA binding domains becomes coupled to the TBD domains, leading to a large increase in DNA-binding domain stability. Noninducible TetR mutants display considerably less interdomain folding cooperativity upon binding to Tc. We conclude that the thermodynamic coupling of the TetR domains caused by Tc binding and the resulting rigidification of the DNA-binding domains into a conformation that is incompatible with DNA binding are the fundamental factors leading to the allosteric response in TetR. This allosteric mechanism can account for properties of the whole TetR family of repressors and may explain the functioning and evolution of other allosteric systems. Our model contrasts with the prevalent view that TetR populates two distinct conformations and that Tc causes a switch between these defined conformations.

The induction of folding cooperativity by ligand binding drives the allosteric response of tetracycline repressor