Amino acid sequence of the retinal binding site of squid visual pigment

The retinylpeptides of visual pigments of two species of squid were identified in invertebrate visual pigments. Their primary structures were identical: H-Phe-Ala-Lys-Ala-Ser-Ala-Ile-His-Asn-pro-Hse(Met)-OH. The sequence was homologous to those of the corresponding region of other visual pigments, but the eighth amino acid, His, was found in squid visual pigments. In this experiment the retinylpeptides of eleven amino acid residues were isolated by monitoring the absorbance spectrum of the reduced retinal Schiff base without using radio-active [3H]retinal. This method is valid for the isolation and identification of retinylpeptides of other invertebrate visual pigments in which the chromophore is not exchangeable.     

Amino acid sequence at the allosteric site of sheep heart phosphofructokinase

Covalent modification of sheep heart phosphofructokinase with the affinity labeling reagent p-fluorosulfonyl[14C]benzoyl-5'-adenosine caused a loss of allosteric properties. This modification appears to occur at the binding site that is specific for the allosteric activators AMP, cAMP, and ADP (Mansour, T.E., and Colman, R.F. (1978) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 81, 1370-1376). In the current study, the site of modification has been demonstrated to be a lysine residue. A nonapeptide containing a covalently bound [14C]carboxybenzenesulfonyl group attached to alysine residue has been isolated following tryptic digestion. The amino acid sequence of the peptide is Asn-Phe-Ala-Thr-Lys-Met-Gly-Ala-Lys. The fifth residue in this sequence, lysine, contained the covalently bonded reagent.     

Amino acid sequence at the ATP-binding site of cGMP-dependent protein kinase

The amino acid sequence at the ATP-binding site on the cGMP-dependent protein kinase has been determined. For this determination the enzyme was labeled covalently by 5'-p-fluorosulfonyl[14C]benzoyladenosine and fragmented using cyanogen bromide or digested by trypsin after succinylation. The 14C-labeled peptides were purified by gel filtration and high performance liquid chromatography. The amino acid sequence around the site was found to be: -Val-Glu-Leu-Val-Gln-Leu-Lys-Ser-Glu-Glu-Ser-Lys-Thr-Phe-Ala-Met-*Lys-Ile-Leu-Lys--Lys-Arg-His-Ile-Val-Asp-Thr-Arg-Gln-Gln-Glu-His-Ile-Arg-Ser-Glu-Lys-, in which *Lys is the lysine residue that was modified by the affinity reagent. When this sequence was compared with that of the ATP-binding site of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, a high degree of structural homology was observed for this site in the two proteins.     

Amino acid sequence at the reactive site of human alpha 1-antichymotrypsin

The reactive site of human alpha 1-antichymotrypsin has been identified as encompassing a leucyl-seryl bond at the apparent P1 and P'1 positions. This has been determined by dissociation of complexes of the inhibitor with bovine alpha-chymotrypsin, followed by identification of new NH2-terminal sequences, as well as by proteolytic inactivation by porcine pancreatic elastase. The latter results in peptide bond cleavage between the apparent P5 and P4 positions of the inhibitor, yielding a fragment whose sequence overlaps with that obtained through complex dissociation. Some homology with the sequence obtained and that already reported for both antithrombin III and alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor can be noted.     

Amino acid sequence at the reactive site of rabbit alpha-1-antiproteinases

Rabbit alpha-1-antiproteinases S and F were treated with trypsin, chymotrypsin, Staphylococcus aureus protease V8, and thermolysin, and the liberated peptides encompassing the reactive region of the respective inhibitors were separated and sequenced. The reactive center of the F form was methionine, and the residues from P3 to P'1 (Ile-Pro-Met-Ser) were the same as those of human alpha-1-antiproteinase. The S form, on the other hand, was found to be a mixture of two distinct proteins (S-1 and S-2), and their reactive centers (P1-P'1) were Ser-Ser and Tyr-Ser, respectively. Seven out of 17 amino acids in the F form and 7 out of 16 in the S-1 form were the same as the corresponding residues of human alpha-1-antiproteinase, while 5 of 10 residues in the S-2 form were the same as those of the human inhibitor. Ten out of 16 residues were the same between the F and the S-1 forms, whereas the sequence P1 to P'3 of the S-2 form (Tyr-Ser-Met-Pro) was the same as the corresponding residues of mouse alpha-1-antiproteinase.     

Amino acid sequence at the citrate allosteric site of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase

Previously, this laboratory has demonstrated [Colombo, G., & Kemp, R. G. (1976) Biochemistry 15, 1774-1780] that under appropriate conditions the citrate inhibitory binding site of rabbit skeletal muscle phosphofructokinase can be covalently modified by using pyridoxal phosphate and sodium borohydride. In the current study, phosphofructokinase was modified by [3H]pyridoxal phosphate and sodium borohydride with or without the addition of citrate to protect the ligand binding site. The modified proteins were digested with trypsin, and the peptides were separated by high-pressure liquid chromatography. A comparison of the tryptic chromatographic profiles showed that while the label was broadly distributed among nine peaks in the elution profile of the enzyme modified in the presence of the protective ligand, a single peptide contained 70% of the total radioactivity of the enzyme modified in the absence of citrate. This peptide was presumed to contain at least part of the citrate inhibitory site of the enzyme. The sequence of the peptide was determined and shown to match with positions 528-536 of phosphofructokinase with the modified residue being Lys-529. A comparison of the sequence with that of procaryotic phosphofructokinase indicated that a homologous residue in the enzyme from Bacillus stearothermophilis is critical to an allosteric site. A second peptide that was the most abundant labeled peptide in the digest of the enzyme modified in the presence of citrate was found to be identical with the second most abundant peptide of the digest from the unprotected enzyme. This peptide corresponded to residues 681-692 with the lysine at position 684 being the site of phosphopyridoxylation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The sites on the regulatory component of adenylate cyclase which are ADP-ribosylated by cholera toxin

In rat liver membranes cholera toxin ADP-ribosylated two polypeptides (M_r 42000 and 47000) in the regulatory component of adenylate cyclase. L-arginine methyl ester specifically inhibited both the activation of adenylate cyclase and ADP-ribosylation by cholera toxin, suggesting that cholera toxin modified arginine, or arginine-like, residues. A hydrolysis-resistant analogue of GTP (β, γ-imidoguanosine 5′-triphosphate, p(NH)ppG) bound to the regulatory protein in an essentially irreversible manner. Pretreatment with the analogue failed to inhibit the labelling of polypeptides by cholera toxin showing that the sites for ADP-ribosylation were different from those at which guanyl nucleotides were bound.     

Amino acid sequence at the phosphorylated site of rat liver pyruvate kinase

One dominating peptic phosphopeptide, Asx-Thr-Lys-Gly-Pro-Glx-Ile-Glx-Thr-Gly-Val-Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-(³²P)SerP-Val-Ala-Glx-Leu, was obtained from rat liver pyruvate kinase (type L) phosphorylated by cyclic 3′,5′-AMP-stimulated protein kinase from the same tissue. The sequence around the phosphorylated serine residue is similar to that of a corresponding but smaller peptic phosphopeptide previously isolated from pig liver (type L) pyruvate kinase, Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-(³²P)SerP-Leu.     

Amino acid sequence at the active site of beta-glucosidase A from bitter almonds.

beta-Glucosidase A from bitter almonds was inhibited by the substrate analogue 6-bromo-3,4,5-trihydroxycyclo[2-3H]hex-1-ene oxide. Incorporation of 2 mol inhibitor/mol of dimeric enzyme resulted in total loss of activity. From tryptic digests of the labeled enzyme two radioactive peptides were isolated and their sequence determined (binding site of inhibitor underlined): peptide I, containing approx. 60% of the label: Ile-Thr-Glx-Glx-Gly-Val--Phe-Gly-Asp-Ser-Glx-(Ala, Asx2, Pro)-Lys and peptide II with approx. 30% of the label: Gly-Thr-Glx-Asp. The specifity of the reaction of beta-glucosidases (beta-D-glucoside glucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.21) with substrate-related epoxides indicates that the aspartic acid labeled in peptide I participates in the catalytic process of beta-glucoside hydrolysis. The labeling of a second site is interpreted in terms of two, mutually exclusive, binding modes of the inhibitor.     

Amino acid sequence of the active site of human pseudocholinesterase

The usualE ₁ ^u and atypicalE ₁ ^a human pseudocholinesterases (acylocholine acylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.8) were purified to homogeneity. The active-site serine residue was conjugated with diisopropyl fluorophosphate and digested with trypsin. The tryptic peptide containing the active site was isolated by gel filtration followed by two-dimensional paper chromatography and electrophoresis. The amino acid sequence of the active site peptide obtained from the usualE ₁ ^u enzyme was found to be Gly-Glu-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ser-Ala-Val-Ser-Leu. A remarkable structural homology exists between the human and the horse enzymes in their active sites. From the difference in electrophoretic mobility of the active-site peptides obtained from the usual and atypical enzymes, the probable structure of the atypical human enzyme was deduced as Gly-His-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ser-Ala-Val-Ser-Leu.     

Amino acid sequence of toxin III from Anemonia sulcata.

Toxin III, the smallest toxin component of the poison of the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata, is a polypeptide with 27 amino acids. Its structure is stabilized by three disulfide bridges. The amino acid sequence was determined by solid-phase Edman degradation of the aminoethylated derivative. The peptide was coupled to the carrier, porous glass, by thiourea bridges between the alpha-amino group of arginine-1 and the epsilon-amino group of lysine-26 and the isothiocyanate groups of the carrier. Another fraction of the polypeptide was bound by an acid-amide condensation of the C-terminal valine-27 with the aminopropyl group of the carrier. The sequence of toxin III has no regions homologous to the 47-residue toxin II. Comparison with the known partial sequence of toxin I, which contains 46 amino acids (Wunderer, G. & Eulitz, M., in preparation) also fails to reveal homologies.     

Location and amino acid sequence around the ADP-ribosylation site in the cholera toxin active subunit A1

Renatured, S-carboxymethylated subunit A₁ of cholera toxin possess the ADP-ribose transferase activity (Lai, et.al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1981, $\text{102}$, 1021). In the absence of acceptor self ADP-ribosylation of A₁ subunit was observed. Stoicheometric incorporation of ADP-ribose moiety was achieved in 20 min at room temperature in a 0.1 – 0.2M PO₄(Na) buffer, pH 6.6. On incubation of the complex with polyarginine, 75% of the enzyme-bound ADP-ribose moiety was transferred to the acceptor in 25 min. The ADP-ribosylated A₁ was stable at low pH, and on cleavage with BrCN, the ADP-ribose moiety was found associated with peptide Cn I, the COOH-terminal fragment of A₁ subunit. On further fragmentation with cathepsin D, a dodecapeptide containing ADP-ribose moiety was isolated whose structure was determined as: Asp-Glu-Glu-Leu-His-Arg-Gly-Tyr-Arg¹-Asp-Arg-Tyr. The Arg¹ in the peptide was indicated to be the site of ADP-ribosylation.     

Amino acid sequence of protein B23 phosphorylation site

A major phosphopeptide labeled in vivo, was identified in nucleolar protein B23 (Mr/pI = 37,000/5.1) after tryptic digestion. This peptide was purified by high performance liquid chromatography using reverse-phase (C8 and C18) columns. The phosphopeptide contains 20 amino acids including 1 phosphoserine, 7 glutamic acids, and 4 aspartic acids. The amino acid sequence is: His-Leu-Val-Ala-Val-Glu-Glu-Asp-Ala-Glu-Ser(P)-Glu-Asp-Glu-Asp- Glu-Glu-Asp-Val-Lys. This amino acid sequence is similar to that of nucleolar phosphoprotein C23 (8 consecutive amino acids were identical), and to the regulatory subunit (RII) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (7 consecutive amino acids were identical, which is phosphorylated by casein kinase II (Carmichael, D.F., Geahlen, R.L., Allen, S.M., and Krebs, E.G. (1982) J. Biol. Chem 257, 10440-10445). The regions near these phosphorylation sites are enriched with glutamic and aspartic acids, suggesting that this acidic amino acid cluster may be essential for kinase recognition.     

ADP-ribosylation of transducin by pertussis toxin

Transducin, the guanyl nucleotide-binding regulatory protein of retinal rod outer segments that couples the photon receptor, rhodopsin, with the light-activated cGMP phosphodiesterase, can be resolved into two functional components, T alpha and T beta gamma. T alpha (39 kDa), which is [32P]ADP-ribosylated by pertussis toxin and [32P]NAD in rod outer segments and in purified transducin, was also labeled by the toxin after separation from T beta gamma (36 kDa and approximately 10 kDa); neither component of T beta gamma was a pertussis toxin substrate. Labeling of T alpha was enhanced by T beta gamma and was maximal at approximately 1:1 molar ratio of T alpha : T beta gamma. Limited proteolysis by trypsin of T alpha in the presence of guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) resulted in the sequential appearance of proteins of 38 and 32 kDa. The amino terminus of both 38- and 32-kDa proteins was leucine, whereas that of T alpha could not be identified and was assumed to be blocked. The 32-kDa peptide was not a pertussis toxin substrate. Labeling of the 38-kDa protein was poor and was not enhanced by T beta gamma. Trypsin treatment of [32P]ADP-ribosyl-T alpha produced a labeled 37-38-kDa doublet followed by appearance of radioactivity at the dye front. It appears, therefore, that, although the 38-kDa protein was poor toxin substrate, it contained the ADP-ribosylation site. Without rhodopsin, labeling of T alpha (in the presence of T beta gamma) was unaffected by Gpp(NH)p, guanosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S), GTP, GDP, and guanosine 5'-O-(thiodiphosphate) (GDP beta S) but was increased by ATP. When photolyzed rhodopsin and T beta gamma were present, Gpp(NH)p and GTP gamma S decreased [32P]ADP-ribosylation by pertussis toxin. Thus, pertussis toxin-catalyzed [32P]ADP-ribosylation of T alpha was affected by nucleotides, rhodopsin and light in addition to T beta gamma. The amino terminus of T alpha, while it does not contain the pertussis toxin ADP-ribosylation site, appeared critical to its reactivity.     

Amino acid sequence of the active site of Acanthamoeba myosin II

We have used the substrate [5,6-3H]UTP for direct photoaffinity labeling of the active site of the heavy chain of myosin II from Acanthamoeba castellanii. The only labeled peptide in a total tryptic digest had the sequence of Thr-Glu-Asn-Thr-Me2Lys-Lys (where Me2Lys represents dimethyllysine) with the substrate covalently bound to the Glu residue. This sequence differs at only one position from the sequence of residues 184-189 of nematode myosin heavy chain (Me2Lys----Lys), a post-translational modification, and at two additional positions from residues 185-190 of rabbit skeletal muscle myosin (Glu----Val and Lys----Arg). The partial sequence of a larger labeled peptide derived from total chymotryptic digestion was compatible with and extended this sequence. A 20-residue sequence that contains the active site, tryptic hexapeptide is otherwise identical in Acanthamoeba and rabbit skeletal muscle myosins and has only one more difference in nematode myosin. Because UTP is a substrate for myosin II and a "zero-length" probe, we believe that it identifies amino acid residues that are very close to the substrate during the catalytic cycle.     

Amino acid sequence at the site on protein phosphatase inhibitor-2, phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase-3

The primary structure surrounding the residue on Inhibitor-2 phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase-3 has been determined. The sequence is: Lys-Ile-Asp-Glu-Pro-Ser-Thr(P)-Pro-Tyr-His-Ser. This finding will facilitate studies of the effects of hormones on the phosphorylation state of Inhibitor-2 in vivo.     

Amino acid sequence of a sea anemone toxin from Parasicyonis actinostoloides

Amino-acid sequence of a toxin from sea anemone, Parasicyonis actinostoloides, is determined. The toxin consists of 31 amino acid residues and is cross-linked with four disulphide bridges. The sequence has some similarity to that of toxin III and no similarity to those of toxin I and toxin II both from sea anemone, Anemonia sulcata, or to that of Anthopleurin A from Anthopleura xanthogrammica.     

Amino acid sequence at the major phosphorylation site on bovine kidney branched-chain 2-oxoacid dehydrogenase complex

The N-terminal part of native one-chain tissue plasminogen activator from melanoma cells is not homogeneous. The protein chain starts at two different positions, in all probability representing a processing difference in the N-terminus. Both 'long' L-chains and 3-residue shorter S-chains are present in the preparations. In addition, results compatible with a positional Ser/Gly microheterogeneity were obtained at a single position (position L-4 which is equal to S-1). The N-terminal tripeptide difference seems to be coupled to the possible microheterogeneity: L-chains contain Ser in this position, while S-chains appear to contain predominantly Gly.