Role of the carbohydrate moiety of phospholipase B from Penicillium notatum in enzyme activity

Two types of phospholipase B from Penicillium notatum—the native enzyme and enzyme modified by endogenous protease (T. Okumura, S. Kimura, and K. Saito (1980) Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 617, 264–273)—were treated with endoglycosidase H (endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase H, Streptomyces griseus) to investigate the orientational change of the sugar chains associated with the lower activity of the modified enzyme. On measurement of release of sugar chains, by periodic acid-Schiff staining of endoglycosidase H-treated phospholipase B on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by direct sugar analysis of the isolated endoglycosidase H-treated phospholipase B, distinct curves were obtained for release of sugar chains from the native and modified enzymes with ultimately loss of about 30 and 55%, respectively, of the carbohydrate. Removal of sugar chains from the two enzymes resulted in similar increases in phospholipase B activity (phosphatidylcholine hydrolysis) and their phospholipase A₁ and A₂ activities in the presence of Triton X-100, but no change of lysophospholipase activity (lysophosphatidylcholine hydrolysis). The three former activities of the native and modified enzymes increased to almost 170 and 350%, respectively, of their initial values. However, little increase in phospholipase B activity was observed when the activity was assayed in the absence of Triton X-100, and none when it was assayed in the presence of sodium taurocholate. These findings suggest that the carbohydrate moiety of phospholipase B greatly influence the phospholipase B activity, especially in the presence of Triton X-100, and that the low phospholipase B activity of the modified enzyme is due to excess exposure of sugar chains on the surface of the molecule as a result of protease attack.     

Lysophosphatidylcholine----phosphatidylcholine converting activity of Penicillium notatum phospholipase B

Phospholipase B from a fungus Penicillium notatum, which was previously shown to possess phospholipase B activity as well as lysophospholipase activity, was found to have another activity to convert lysophospholipid to phospholipid, to an extent comparable to its phospholipase B activity. The enzyme did not incorporate free fatty acid into phospholipid in the presence of CoA and ATP. The results shown here coincide with data reported on yeast phospholipase B and may imply the functional and structural kinship between two related enzymes.     

Interaction of Penicillium notatum phospholipase B with divalent cations

The interaction between Penicillium notatum phospholipase B and divalent cations such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ was studied. When the purified enzyme, present at concentrations of submicrogram to microgram per ml, was incubated with submillimolar to millimolar concentrations of CaCl2 or MgCl2, the enzymatic activity was remarkably decreased (to no more than 30% of original activity, when the enzyme was incubated with 2 mM CaCl2 for 15 min). The inhibitory effect of divalent cations was reversible, since dialysis against a metal chelator, such as EDTA or EGTA, substantially restored the enzymatic activity. Atomic absorption analysis showed the purified enzyme molecule to be present in a complex with Ca2+ at a ratio approaching 1:1, and this Ca2+ binding was shown to be extremely tight, since repeated dialyses of the enzyme molecules against EDTA or EGTA could remove the divalent cations only in a gradual manner. During this process, the enzyme activity increased also gradually. The remnant fraction of tightly bound Ca2+ was released from the enzyme molecule after the denaturation of the enzyme by treatment with guanidine hydrochloride, and the apoenzyme recovered its substantial activity after removal of the denaturing agent by dialysis. On the other hand, the content of Mg2+ in the purified enzyme molecule was lower than that of Ca2+, and the association of Mg2+ with the enzyme was much weaker in comparison to that of Ca2+. Atomic absorption analysis of the enzyme exposed to exogenous Ca2+ showed a fast removal, by dialysis, of unbound and weakly bound divalent cation, followed by a gradual removal of endogenous Ca2+ and a concomitant increase of enzymatic activity, which are similar to data obtained for the purified enzyme. Results shown in this report suggest some regulatory roles of divalent cations, especially of Ca2+, in the enzymatic function of P. notatum phospholipse B.     

Primary structure of protein moiety of Penicillium notatum phospholipase B deduced from the cDNA.

Phospholipase B has not yet been well defined. The most important points about this enzyme are its relationships with lysophospholipase and phospholipase A1. As reported [Saito, K., Sugatani, J. & Okumura, T. (1991) Methods Enzymol. 197, 446-456], Penicillium notatum phospholipase B is a glycoprotein with a molecular mass of 95 kDa and intrinsic lysophospholipase and phospholipase B activities; however, by endogenous proteolytic modification, its phospholipase B activity is lost almost completely, whereas its lysophospholipase activity remains unchanged. A cDNA library of P. notatum was screened by hybridization with two synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes, which corresponds to two different pentapeptides of the enzyme. A hybridization-positive clone, pPLB18, was isolated and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The deduced amino acid sequence was quite different from that found previously. Therefore, we rescreened the cDNA library with a Sau3AI fragment derived from pPLB18 and isolated a new clone, pPLB15. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of pPLB15 and pPLB18 revealed that pPLB18 contained an insertion sequence of 53 bp. Consequently, the reading frame was open downstream for 603 amino acid residues. From the assigned sequence, it was deduced that the limited proteolysis occurred between Leu175 and Asp176; eight cysteine residues and 16 potential N-glycosylation sites were also found. No amino acid sequence similarity was found with other proteins, including other phospholipases.     

Thermodynamics of the reconstitution of tuna cytochrome c from two peptide fragments

Two peptide fragments from tuna cytochrome c (cyt c), N-fragment (residues 1-44 containing the heme) and C-fragment (residues 45-103), combine to form a 1:1 fragment complex. This was clearly proved by ion-spray mass spectrometry. It was found from CD and NMR spectra that the structure of the fragment complex formed is similar to that of an intact cyt c, although each isolated fragment itself is unstructured. Binding constants and enthalpies upon the complex formation were directly observed by isothermal titration calorimetry. Thermodynamic parameters (deltaG(o)b, deltaHb, deltaS(o)b, and deltaC(b)p)) associated with the complex formation were determined at various pHs and temperatures. DeltaHb was found to be almost independent of pH values. The change in heat capacity accompanying the complex formation (deltaC(b)p) was directly determined from the temperature dependence of deltaHb. In addition, the change in heat capacity and enthalpy upon tuna cyt c unfolding were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Thermodynamic parameters for the unfolding/dissociation process of the fragment complex were compared with those for cyt c unfolding at pH 3.9 and 303 K. In a comparison of two unfolding processes, the heat capacity change of each was very close to the other, while both the unfolding enthalpy and entropy of the fragment complex were larger than those of tuna cyt c. These thermodynamic data suggest that the internal interactions between polar groups (hydrogen bonding) and nonpolar groups (van der Waals interactions) are preserved in the fragment complex as well as in the native state of cyt c.     

Studies on a phospholipase B from Penicillium notatum. Purification, properties, and mode of action.

1. Phospholipase B which hydrolyzes both the acyl ester bonds of diacylphospholipids (diacyl-hydrolase) and the acyl ester bond of monoacylphospholipids or lysophospholipids, [monoacyl-hydrolase or lysophospholipase, EC 3.1.1.5] was purified from Penicillium notatum about 2000-fold over the crude extract. The final preparation was homogeneous on disc electrophoresis. The apparent molecular weight, determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200, was about 116,000. The isoelectric point was pH 4.0. 2. The purified enzyme was a glycoprotein. The carbohydrate content was approximately 30%, consisting of mannose, glucose, and glucosamine. The amino acid composition was also determined. 3. The ratio of monoacyl-hydrolase to diacyl-hydrolase activities was influenced by the physical state of the substrate in the assay system. It was about 1 : 1 or 100 : 1 in the presence of absence of Triton X-100, respectively, and the latter value remained constant throughout the purification procedures. 4. Both enzyme activities had the same pH optimum, 4.0, and were heat-labile. None of the metals tested had any effect on either activity except for Fe2+ and Fe3+. Diisopropyl fluorophosphate at relatively high concentrations completely inhibited both enzyme activities. 5. The Michaelis-Menten constants (Km) of the enzyme for egg lecithin were about 1.5 and 25 mM in the absence and presence of Triton X-100, respectively. The Km value for dicaproyllecithin was 9.8 mM in the absence of Triton X-100. 6. Using a mixture of 1-[14C]stearoyl-lecithin and 2-[14C]oleoyl-lecithin in the presence of Triton X-100 as a substrate, it was found that the P. notatum phospholipase B attacked the acyl ester bonds sequentially, first the 2-acyl and then 1-acyl groups.     

Electrostatic interactions in the reconstitution of an SH2 domain from constituent peptide fragments

Fragment complementation has been used to delineate the essential recognition elements for stable folding in Src homology 2 (SH2) domains by using NMR spectroscopy, alanine scanning, and surface plasmon resonance. The unfolded 9-kD and 5-kD peptide fragments formed by limited proteolytic digestion of the N-terminal SH2 domain from the p85alpha subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase fold into an active native-like structure on interaction with one another. The corresponding 5-kD fragment of the homologous Src protein, however, was not capable of structurally complementing the p85 9-kD fragment, indicating that fragment complementation among these SH2 domains is sensitive to the sequence differences between the Src and p85 domains. Partial complementation and folding activity could be recovered with hybrid sequences of these SH2 domains. Complete alanine scanning of the 5-kD p85 fragment was used to identify the sequence recognition elements required for complex formation. The alanine substitutions in the p85 5-kD fragment that abolished binding affinity with the cognate 9-kD fragment correlate well with highly conserved residues among SH2 domains that are either integrally involved in core packing or found at the interface between fragments. Surprisingly, however, mutation of a nonconserved surface-exposed aspartic acid to alanine was found to have a significant effect on complementation. A single additional mutation of arginine to aspartic acid allowed for recovery of native structure and increased the thermal stability of the designed Src-p85 chimera by 18 degrees C. This modification appears to relieve an unfavorable surface electrostatic interaction, demonstrating the importance of surface charge interactions in protein stability.     

Reconstitution of tetanus neurotoxin from two antigenically active polypeptide fragments.

Whole tetanus toxin indistinguishable from the undissociated toxin (molecular weight 160,000), in terms of molecular weight, electrophoretic behavior, antigenicity, and toxicity, was reconstituted. This was achieved by removal of urea and dithiothreitol (DTT) by dialysis from a mixture of freshly purified fragment α (molecular weight 53,000) and fragment β (molecular weight 107,000) in buffer containing 2 M urea and 1 mM DTT. The highest yield (almost 100%) of reconstituted toxin was obtained when the two isolated fragments were mixed in a molar ratio of 1:1. No toxin was reconstituted from either one of two fragments alone.     

Fragmentary form of thermostable leucine dehydrogenase of Bacillus stearothermophilus: its construction and reconstitution of active fragmentary enzyme

X-ray crystallographic studies revealed that various amino acid dehydrogenases fold into two domains in each subunit, a substrate-binding domain and an NAD(P)(+)-binding domain (Baker, P. J., Turnbull, A. P., Sedelnikova, S. E., Stillman, T. J., and Rice, D. W. (1995) Structure 3, 693-705). To elucidate the function and folding process of these two domains, we have genetically constructed a fragmentary form of thermostable leucine dehydrogenase of Bacillus stearothermophilus consisting of an N-terminal polypeptide fragment corresponding to the substrate-binding domain including an N-terminus, and a C-terminal fragment corresponding to the NAD(+)-binding domain. The two peptide fragments were expressed in separate host cells and purified. When both fragments were mixed, the leucine dehydrogenase activity with a specific activity of 1.4% of that of the wild-type enzyme appeared. This suggests that both peptide fragments mutually recognize each other, associate and fold correctly to be catalytically active, although the activity is low. However, the fragmentary form of enzyme produced catalyzed the oxidative deamination of l-leucine, l-isoleucine, and l-valine with broad substrate specificity compared to that of the wild-type enzyme. The fragmentary enzyme retained more than 75% of the initial activity after heating at 50 degrees C for 60 min. The fragmentary enzyme was more stable on heating than separate peptide fragments. These results suggest that the two domains of leucine dehydrogenase probably fold independently, and the two peptide fragments interact and associate with each other to form a functional active site.     

Comparative study of tyrosinases from different sources: relationship between halide inhibition and the enzyme active site

The inhibition of tyrosinases from frog epidermis (Rana esculenta ridibunda), mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and Harding-Passey mouse melanoma by halides is compared. In all cases, the inhibition is pH dependent, increasing when the pH decreases. The order of inhibition is I- greater than Br- greater than Cl- much greater than F- for frog epidermis tyrosinase, F- greater than I- greater than Cl- greater than Br- for mushroom tyrosinase and F- greater than Cl- much greater than Br- greater than I- for the mouse melanoma enzyme. These results are discussed in terms of the active site accessibility to exogenous ligands. The activation energies of the enzyme-catalysed L-dopa oxidation were also calculated, being the values 6.86, 17.01 and 20.25 kcal/mol for frog epidermis, mushroom and Harding-Passey mouse melanoma, respectively. A relationship between these values and the evolutionary adaptation of these enzymes is proposed.     

Co-refolding of two peptide fragments derived from Agrobacterium tumefaciens beta-glucosidase with catalytic activity

Four sites of the non-homologous region (coding amino acid residues of 347, 421, 466 and 533) of a gene were randomly selected for splitting to investigate the function of β-glucosidase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens in the co-refolding of peptides into the catalytically active enzyme. As a result of gene splitting, four N- and C-terminal domain peptides were obtained as insoluble inclusion bodies. No catalytic activity was observed when these fragments refolded individually. However, a considerable amount of activity was restored when the two fragments derived from N- and C- terminal peptides were co-refolded together. The deletion of amino acid residues in the non-homologous region resulted in a complete loss of enzyme activity, which suggests that truncation of amino acids in this region strongly affects the co-refolding ability of the enzyme to maintain activity.