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The βγ-crystallin superfamily of eye lens proteins comprises a class of structurally related members with a wide variety of different functions. Common features of these proteins are 1. the Greek-key motif of antiparallel β-sheets, called the crystallin fold, and 2. the high intrinsic long-term stability. Spherulin 3a (S3a), a dormant protein from the spherules of  Physarum polycephalum , is the only known single-domain protein within the βγ-crystallin family. Based on sequence homology and ‘domain swapping’, it has been proposed to represent an evolutionary ancestor of present-day eye lens crystallins. Since S3a is highly expressed in spherulating plasmodia of  P. polycephalum  under a variety of stress conditions, it can be assumed that the protein may serve as a compatible solute in the cytosol of the slime mold. In order to investigate the stability and other physicochemical properties of a single-domain all-β protein, we isolated natural S3a. For the large-scale purification, the recombinant protein was cloned and expressed in  Escherichia coli . The detailed spectral and biochemical analysis proved the recombinant protein to be authentic. In its native form, S3a is dimeric. Due to its exposed cysteine residues (Cys4), in the absence of reducing agents intermolecular disulfide cross-linking leads to the formation of higher oligomers. In order to preserve the native quaternary structure without aggregation artifacts in denaturation/renaturation experiments, the Cys4→Ser mutant (S3a C4S) was produced. Both the wild-type protein and its mutant are indistinguishable in their physicochemical properties. At pH 3–4, both proteins form a stable compact intermediate (A-state). Concentration-dependent thermal and chemical denaturation showed that the equilibrium unfolding of S3a obeys the simple two-state model with no significant occurrence of folding intermediates.

Homo-Dimeric Spherulin 3a: A Single-Domain Member of the bg-Crystallin Superfamily