Immobilization of proteins on magnetic nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles prepared from an alkaline solution of divalent and trivalent iron ions could covalently bind protein via the activation ofN-ethyl-N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC). Trypsin and avidin were taken as the model proteins for the formation of protein-nanoparticle conjugates. The immobilized yield of protein increased with molar ratio of EDC/nanoparticle. Higher concentrations of added protein could yield higher immobilized protein densities on the particles. In contrast to EDC, the yields of protein immobilization via the activation of cyanamide were relatively lower. Nanoparticles bound with avidin could attach a single-stranded DNA through the avidin-biotin interaction and hybridize with a DNA probe. The DNA hybridization was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy observations. Immobilized DNA on nanoparticles by this technique may have widespread applicability to the detection of specific nucleic acid sequence and targeting of DNA to particular cells.     

葡萄糖氧化酶的有机相共价固定化

将葡萄糖氧化酶(GOD)在最适pH条件下冻干后,以戊二醛活化的壳聚糖为载体,分别在传统水相和1,4-二氧六环、乙醚、乙醇三种不同的有机相中进行共价固定化。通过比较水相固定化酶和有机相固定化酶的酶比活力、酶学性质及酶动力学参数,考察酶在有机相中的刚性特质对酶在共价固定化过程中保持酶活力的影响。结果表明,戊二醛浓度为0.1%、加酶量为80 mg/1 g载体、含水1.6%的1,4-二氧六环有机相固定化GOD与水相共价固定化GOD相比,酶比活力提高2.9倍,有效酶活回收率提高3倍;在连续使用7次后,1,4-二氧六环有机相固定化GOD的酶活力仍为相应水相固定化酶的3倍。在酶动力学参数方面,不论是表观米氏常数,最大反应速度还是转换数,1,4-二氧六环有机相固定化的GOD(Kmapp=5.63 mmol/L,Vmax=1.70μmol/(min.mgGOD),Kcat=0.304 s-1)都优于水相共价固定化GOD(Kmapp=7.33 mmol/L,Vmax=1.02μmol/(min.mg GOD),Kcat=0.221 s-1)。因此,相比于传统水相,GOD在合适的有机相中进行共价固定化可以获得具有更高酶活力和更优催化性质的固定化酶。该发现可能为酶蛋白在共价固定化时因构象改变而丢失生物活性的问题提供解决途径。     

The Role of Histidine Residues in the Non-Enzyme Covalent Attachment of Glucose and Ascorbic Acid to Protein

Copper ions have been suggested to play a role in the non-covalent glycosylation (glycation) of proteins via transition metal-catalysed oxidations. We have further investigated “autoxidative glycosylation” by comparison of the behaviour of dog and bovine serum albumin with respect to the oxidative reactions of glucose and ascorbate. The proteins possess similar numbers of total amino residues available for glucose attachment but dog serum albumin contains fewer histidine groups and also lacks a high affinity copper-binding site. We find that the higher copper-binding capacity of bovine serum albumin is reflected in a lower rate of ascorbate oxidation as well as less protein oxidative damage than is the case for dog serum albumin. We also observe that modification of bovine serum albumin histidine groups by diethylpyrocarbonate enhances ascorbate-mediated protein fluorophore formation.     

Prevention of Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Lipid Peroxidation in Liver Microsomes from Dehydroepiandrosterone-Pretreated Rats

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a lipid soluble steroid, administered to rats (100 mg/kg b.wt) by a single intraperitoneal injection, increases to twice its normal level in the liver microsomes. Microsomes so enriched become resistant to lipid peroxidation induced by incubation with carbon tetrachloride in the presence of a NADPH-regenerating system: also the lipid peroxidation-dependent inactivation of glucose-6-phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transpetidase due to the haloalkane are prevented. Noteworthy, the liver microsomal drug-metabolizing enzymes and in particular the catalytic activity of cytochrome P₄₅₀IIE1, responsible for the CCl₄-activation, are not impaired by the supplementation with the steroid. Consistently, in DHEA-pretreated microsomes the protein covalent binding of the trichloromethyl radical (CCl₃°), is similar to that of not supplemented microsomes treated with CCl₄. It thus seems likely that DHEA protects liver microsomes from oxidative damage induced by carbon tetrachloride through its own antioxidant properties rather than inhibiting the metabolism of the toxin.     

Covalent attachment of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN) to enzymes: the current state of affairs.

The first identified covalent flavoprotein, a component of mammalian succinate dehydrogenase, was reported 42 years ago. Since that time, more than 20 covalent flavoenzymes have been described, each possessing one of five modes of FAD or FMN linkage to protein. Despite the early identification of covalent flavoproteins, the mechanisms of covalent bond formation and the roles of the covalent links are only recently being appreciated. The main focus of this review is, therefore, one of mechanism and function, in addition to surveying the types of linkage observed and the methods employed for their identification. Case studies are presented for a variety of covalent flavoenzymes, from which general findings are beginning to emerge.     

Direct linkage of EGF to its receptor: Characterization and biological relevance

A small portion of the ¹²⁵I-EGF that binds specifically to intact cells or isolated membranes from a variety of sources becomes directly and irreversibly linked to EGF receptors. This provides a simple technique for affinity labeling the EGF receptor. Membranes isolated from the human epidermoid carcinoma cell line A431, which posesses extraordinarily high numbers of EGF receptors, gave rise to three major direct linkage complexes of MW = 160,000, 145,000, and 115,000. The time course for formation of each is similar, showing that ¹²⁵I-EGF can form direct linkage complexes with several preexisting forms of the EGF receptor. The direct linkage of EGF to receptor is slow in comparison to ¹²⁵I-EGF binding, but both processes have similar susceptibilities to competition by unlabeled EGF. EGF was modified chemically with the amino site-specific reagent, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl biotin. The biotinyl-EGF had a reduced capacity to engage in direct linkage complex formation with no concomitant reduction in its ability to bind to EGF receptors. Since native and biotinyl EGF have identical abilities to stimulate the uptake of ³H-thymidine into DNA when incubated with cultured murine 3T3 cells, the direct linkage of EGF to its receptor does not appear to play an important role in EGF-stimulated mitogenesis.     

Cross-linkings between spectrin and band 3 in human erythrocyte membranes

A specific structural association between spectrin component 1 and band 3 in human erythrocyte membrane has been demonstrated by covalent cross-linkings, specific labeling, and the technique of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. A complex of 330,000 daltons, representing 1 + 3, was produced in mildly oxidized membranes at physiologic pH and isotonic conditions but not at hypotonic conditions (< 10 mM KCl or NaCl). The yield of this complex decreased dramatically as the monovalent cation concentration decreased from 90 mM to 30 mM. The presence of Mg⁺⁺ or Ca⁺⁺ (2 mM) at low ionic strength promoted 1 + 3 cross-linking in an amount similar to that produced at isotonic conditions. The specific segment of band 3 involved in the cross-linking was also investigated by means of chymotrypsin digestion of band 3 in the intact red cells. The results showed the cross-links between spectrin component 1 and the 55,000-dalton fragment of band 3 at physiologic pH and isotonic conditions. This is consistent with the idea that band 3 is anchored on or contacted with the submembrane meshwork at the cytoplasmic membrane surface.     

Methyltransferase CheR binds to its chemoreceptor substrates independent of their signaling conformation yet modifies them differentially

Methylation of specific chemoreceptor glutamyl residues by methyltransferase CheR mediates sensory adaptation and gradient sensing in bacterial chemotaxis. Enzyme action is a function of chemoreceptor signaling conformation: kinase‐off receptors are more readily methylated than kinase‐on, a feature central to adaptational and gradient‐sensing mechanisms. Differential enzyme action could reflect differential binding, catalysis or both. We investigated by measuring CheR binding to kinase‐off and kinase‐on forms of Escherichia coli aspartate receptor Tar deleted of its CheR‐tethering, carboxyl terminus pentapeptide. This allowed characterization of the low‐affinity binding of enzyme to the substrate receptor body, otherwise masked by high‐affinity interaction with pentapeptide. We quantified the low‐affinity protein–protein interactions by determining kinetic rate constants of association and dissociation using bio‐layer interferometry and from those values calculating equilibrium constants. Whether Tar signaling conformations were shifted by ligand occupancy or adaptational modification, there was little or no difference between the two signaling conformations in kinetic or equilibrium parameters of enzyme‐receptor binding. Thus, differential methyltransferase action does not reflect differential binding. Instead, the predominant determinants of binding must be common to different signaling conformations. Characterization of the dependence of association rate constants on Deybe length, a measure of the influence of electrostatics, implicated electrostatic interactions as a common binding determinant. Taken together, our observations indicate that differential action of methyltransferase on kinase‐off and kinase‐on chemoreceptors is not the result of differential binding and suggest it reflects differential catalytic propensity. Differential catalysis rather than binding could well be central to other enzymes distinguishing alternative conformations of protein substrates.     

A covalently bound inhibitor triggers EZH2 degradation through CHIP-mediated ubiquitination

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) has been characterized as a critical oncogene and a promising drug target in human malignant tumors. The current EZH2 inhibitors strongly suppress the enhanced enzymatic function of mutant EZH2 in some lymphomas. However, the recent identification of a PRC2- and methyltransferase-independent role of EZH2 indicates that a complete suppression of all oncogenic functions of EZH2 is needed. Here, we report a unique EZH2-targeting strategy by identifying a gambogenic acid (GNA) derivative as a novel agent that specifically and covalently bound to Cys668 within the EZH2-SET domain, triggering EZH2 degradation through COOH terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein (CHIP)-mediated ubiquitination. This class of inhibitors significantly suppressed H3K27Me3 and effectively reactivated polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2)-silenced tumor suppressor genes. Moreover, the novel inhibitors significantly suppressed tumor growth in an EZH2-dependent manner, and tumors bearing a non-GNA-interacting C668S-EZH2 mutation exhibited resistance to the inhibitors. Together, our results identify the inhibition of the signaling pathway that governs GNA-mediated destruction of EZH2 as a promising anti-cancer strategy.