Porcine liver aminopeptidase. Further characterization of its sulfhydryl groups

Porcine liver aminopeptidase was inactivated by various sulfhydryl-reactive reagents, whose inactivation rates were in the order: p-chloromercuribenzoate(PCMB) greater than HgCl2 greater than 2,2'-dithiodipyridine greater than 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)(DTNB). The processes of inactivation by these reagents did not follow pseudo-first-order kinetics, and prolonged incubation did not alter the level of maximum inactivation. The substrates provided no protection against the inactivation by DTNB, and the numbers of sulfhydryl groups titrated with the reagent were not influenced by the presence or absence of puromycin (a competitive inhibitor). The modification of sulfhydryl groups caused a slight increase in the Km value for the enzyme and a significant decrease of the Vmax value. There are two ionizable groups (pKe, 6.2; 7.8 and pKes, 6.0; 7.8) in the catalytic action of the enzyme. From the pKi vs. pH profile of inhibition with PCMB, the pK value of 7.8 does not correspond to the ionization of a sulfhydryl group. The thiol-modified enzyme was activated by cobalt ion, as was the native enzyme (Kawata, S., et al. (1982) J. Biochem. 92, 1093-1101). But in contrast with the native enzyme, the thiol-modified enzyme was activated about 2.5-fold and the maximum activation remained almost constant during prolonged incubation with cobalt ion. These results suggest that the sulfhydryl groups of the enzyme are located apart from the binding site of cobalt ion and do not participate directly in the catalytic process.     

Kinetic analysis of the slow ionization of glutathione by microsomal glutathione transferase MGST1

An important aspect of the catalytic mechanism of microsomal glutathione transferase (MGST1) is the activation of the thiol of bound glutathione (GSH). GSH binding to MGST1 as measured by thiolate anion formation, proton release, and Meisenheimer complex formation is a slow process that can be described by a rapid binding step (K(GSH)d = 47 +/- 7 mM) of the peptide followed by slow deprotonation (k2 = 0.42 +/- 0.03 s(-1). Release of the GSH thiolate anion is very slow (apparent first-order rate k(-2) = 0.0006 +/- 0.00002 s(-)(1)) and thus explains the overall tight binding of GSH. It has been known for some time that the turnover (kcat) of MGST1 does not correlate well with the chemical reactivity of the electrophilic substrate. The steady-state kinetic parameters determined for GSH and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) are consistent with thiolate anion formation (k2) being largely rate-determining in enzyme turnover (kcat = 0.26 +/- 0.07 s(-1). Thus, the chemical step of thiolate addition is not rate-limiting and can be studied as a burst of product formation on reaction of halo-nitroarene electrophiles with the E.GS- complex. The saturation behavior of the concentration dependence of the product burst with CDNB indicates that the reaction occurs in a two-step process that is characterized by rapid equilibrium binding ( = 0.53 +/- 0.08 mM) to the E.GS- complex and a relatively fast chemical reaction with the thiolate (k3 = 500 +/- 40 s(-1). In a series of substrate analogues, it is observed that log k3 is linearly related (rho value 3.5 +/- 0.3) to second substrate reactivity as described by Hammett sigma- values demonstrating a strong dependence on chemical reactivity that is similar to the nonenzymatic reaction (rho = 3.4). Microsomal glutathione transferase 1 displays the unusual property of being activated by sulfhydryl reagents. When the enzyme is activated by N-ethylmaleimide, the rate of thiolate anion formation is greatly enhanced, demonstrating for the first time the specific step that is activated. This result explains earlier observations that the enzyme is activated only with more reactive substrates. Taken together, the observations show that the kinetic mechanism of MGST1 can be described by slow GSH binding/thiolate formation followed by a chemical step that depends on the reactivity of the electrophilic substrate. As the chemical reactivity of the electrophile becomes lower the rate-determining step shifts from thiolate formation to the chemical reaction.     

Properties and utility of the peculiar mixed disulfide in the bacterial glutathione transferase B1-1

Bacterial glutathione transferases appear to represent an evolutionary link between the thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase and glutathione transferase superfamilies. In particular, the observation of a mixed disulfide in the active site of Proteus mirabilis glutathione transferase B1-1 is a feature that links the two families. This peculiar mixed disulfide between Cys10 and one GSH molecule has been studied by means of ESR spectroscopy, stopped-flow kinetic analysis, radiochemistry, and site-directed mutagenesis. This disulfide can be reduced by dithiothreitol but even a thousand molar excess of GSH is poorly effective due to an unfavorable equilibrium constant of the redox reaction (K(eq) = 2 x 10(-4)). Although Cys10 is partially buried in the crystal structure, in solution it reacts with several thiol reagents at a higher or comparable rate than that shown by the free cysteine. Kinetics of the reaction of Cys10 with 4,4'-dithiodipyridine at variable pH values is consistent with a pK(a) of 8.0 +/- 0.1 for this residue, a value about 1 unit lower than that of the free cysteine. The 4,4'-dithiodipyridine-modified enzyme reacts with GSH in a two-step mechanism involving a fast precomplex formation, followed by a slower chemical step. The natural Cys10-GSH mixed disulfide exchanges rapidly with free [3H]GSH in a futile redox cycle in which the bound GSH is continuously replaced by the external GSH. Our data suggest that the active site of the bacterial enzyme has intermediate properties between those of the recently evolved glutathione transferases and those of the thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase superfamily.     

Interaction of pantetheinase with sulfhydryl reagents and disulfides

The effect of many thiol reagents and disulfides on pantetheinase (E.C. 3.5.1.-; pantetheine hydrolase) was studied in the presence or absence of S-pantetheine-3-pyruvate as substrate. Iodoacetamide, iodoacetate, bromopyruvate and N-ethylmaleimide irreversibly inactivate the enzyme at very different rates. Inactivation constants, corrected for the different reactivity of halogeno derivatives with non-protein thiols, suggest the presence of an essential sulfhydryl group in the enzyme and a negatively charged environment near this group. p-Chloromercuribenzoate is the most effective inhibitor; 2-nitro-5-thiocyanobenzoate, o-iodosobenzoate and hydrogen peroxide give a biphasic inhibition pattern, indicating the existence of two sulfhydryl groups whose modification affects activity. Organic arsenicals decrease activity to about 50%. Neutral and positively charged disulfides are effective inhibitors. Substrate protects the enzyme from inactivation, except in the case of negatively charged disulfides, where the presence of substrate enhances the inhibitory effect. Titration with Ellman's reagent or 4,4'-dithiodipyridine under various experimental conditions demonstrated the existence of two sulfhydryls and three disulfides in the fully active enzyme. Pantetheinase may become inactive during purification with concomitant loss of one titrable sulfhydryl group.     

O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase: low pKa and high reactivity of cysteine 145

The active site cysteine of human O(6)-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (hAGT), Cys145, was shown to be highly reactive with model electrophiles unrelated to substrates, including 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene. The high reactivity suggested that the Cys145 thiolate anion might be stable at neutral pH. The pK(a) was estimated from plots of UV spectra (A(239)) and reactivity toward 4,4'-dithiopyridine vs pH. The estimated pK(a) for hAGT was 4-5, depending upon the method used, and near that of the extensively characterized papain Cys25. Rates of reaction with 4,4'-dithiopyridine were similar for the thiolate forms of hAGT, papain, glutathione, and the bacterial hAGT homologue Ogt (the pK(a) of the latter was 5.4). Bound Zn(2+) has previously been shown to be required for the catalytic activity of hAGT (Rasimas, J. J. et al. (2003) Biochemistry 42, 980-990). Zn(2+) was shown to be required for the low pK(a) of hAGT. The high reactivity of hAGT Cys145 is postulated to be important in normal catalytic function, in cross-linking reactions involving bis-electrophiles, and in inhibition of the DNA repair function of hAGT by electrophiles.     

Analysis of protein adduction kinetics by quantitative mass spectrometry: competing adduction reactions of glutathione-S-transferase P1-1 with electrophiles

Defining the mechanisms and consequences of protein adduction is crucial to understanding the toxicity of reactive electrophiles. Application of tandem mass spectrometry and data analysis algorithms enables detection and mapping of chemical adducts at the level of amino acid sequence. Nevertheless, detection of adducts does not indicate relative reactivity of different sites. Here, we describe a method to measure the kinetics of competing adduction reactions at different sites on the same protein. Adducts are formed by electrophiles at Cys14 and Cys47 on the metabolic enzyme glutathione-S-transferase P1-1 and modification is accompanied by a loss of enzymatic activity. Relative quantitation of protein adducts was done by tagging N-termini of peptide digests with isotopically labeled phenyl isocyanate and tracking the ratio of light-tagged peptide adducts to heavy-tagged reference samples in liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses using a multiple reaction monitoring method. This approach was used to measure rate constants for adduction at both positions with two different model electrophiles, N-iodoacetyl-N-biotinylhexylenediamine and 1-biotinamido-4-(4'-[maleimidoethyl-cyclohexane]-carboxamido)butane. The results indicate that Cys47 was approximately two- to three-fold more reactive toward both electrophiles than was Cys14. This result was consistent with the relative reactivity of these electrophiles in a complex proteome system and with previously reported trends in reactivity of these sites. Kinetic analyses of protein modification reactions provide a means of evaluating the selectivity of reactive mediators of chemical toxicity.     

Human glutathione transferase T2-2 discloses some evolutionary strategies for optimization of substrate binding to the active site of glutathione transferases

Rapid kinetic, spectroscopic, and potentiometric studies have been performed on human Theta class glutathione transferase T2-2 to dissect the mechanism of interaction of this enzyme with its natural substrate GSH. Theta class glutathione transferases are considered to be older than Alpha, Pi, and Mu classes in the evolutionary pathway. As in the more recently evolved GSTs, the activation of GSH in the human Theta enzyme proceeds by a forced deprotonation of the sulfhydryl group (pK(a) = 6.1). The thiol proton is released quantitatively in solution, but above pH 6.5, a protein residue acts as an internal base. Unlike Alpha, Mu, and Pi class isoenzymes, the GSH-binding mechanism occurs via a simple bimolecular reaction with k(on) and k(off) values at least hundred times lower (k(on) = (2.7 +/- 0.8) x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1), k(off) = 36 +/- 9 s(-1), at 37 degrees C). Replacement of Arg-107 by alanine, using site-directed mutagenesis, remarkably increases the pK(a) value of the bound GSH and modifies the substrate binding modality. Y107A mutant enzyme displays a mechanism and rate constants for GSH binding approaching those of Alpha, Mu, and Pi isoenzymes. Comparison of available crystallographic data for all these GSTs reveals an unexpected evolutionary trend in terms of flexibility, which provides a basis for understanding our experimental results.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel reagent containing dansyl group, which specifically alkylates sulfhydryl group: an example of application for protein chemistry

We have synthesized a novel reagent containing dansyl group, iodoacethyl dansylcadaverine (IADC), which specifically alkylates sulfhydryl groups. The carboxyl group of iodoacetic acid was activated with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and was condensed with amino group of dansylcadaverine. Purity and chemical structure of IADC was confirmed with mass spectrometry (MS) and NMR. IADC alkylated GSH but not GSSG, which was confirmed by MS. The reactivity of IADC with proteins was also investigated with Western blotting using anti-dansyl antibody. IADC reacted only with sulfhydryl-containing proteins. The specificity of the interaction of IADC with sulfhydryl groups in proteins was confirmed by adding excessive amount of a well-known sulfhydryl-specific reagent, 5, 5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), which led to a complete inhibition. To show the usefulness of IADC, the cysteines in glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) from chicken muscle were modified with this reagent, and GAPDH was then digested by lysyl endopeptidase. The peptides generated from digestion of IADC-incorporated GAPDH were applied to an anti-dansyl immunoaffinity column. The peptide fragments bound and eluted from the column were separated by HPLC, and the amino acid sequence of each peptide was analyzed, and peptide was identified as the one containing a Cys residue(s). These data showed that IADC is a useful reagent to specifically identify the positions of a Cys residue(s) in proteins.     

Differential response of cysteine residues in pig muscle phosphoglucose isomerase to seven sulfhydryl-modifying reagents

The three cysteine residues per subunit of pig muscle phosphoglucose isomerase show different reactivities toward various sulfhydryl reagents. The organomercurial, p-mercuribenzoate, can titrate two of the sulfhydryl groups under nondenaturing conditions. 2,2'-Dithiodipyridine, 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), iodoacetamide, methyl 2-pyridyl disulfide, and 2-(2'-pyridylmercapto)mercuri-4-nitrophenol all label only one sulfhydryl group under the same conditions, whereas iodoacetic acid does not react with any of the sulfhydryl groups except when the enzyme is fully denatured. It is concluded, therefore, that charge, rather than steric restraint, is the determining factor for the differences seen in the modification patterns of the enzyme by these reagents. When enzyme was first labeled with 2,2'-dithiodipyridine and subsequently with p-mercuribenzoate, it was found that the latter, in a secondary process, will stoichiometrically react with the anion released by the former after the initial reaction with cysteine. The differences in reactivity of the cysteine residues toward the referred-to reagents have been exploited to specifically modify each of the three individual cysteine residues of pig muscle phosphoglucose isomerase.     

On the mechanism of the chemical modification of the mitochondrial acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase by coenzyme A

The liver mitochondrial acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase (acetyl-CoA:acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.9), is involved in ketone body synthesis. The enzyme can be chemically modified and inactivated by CoASH and also by CoASH-disulfides provided glutathione is present. The unmodified enzyme shows in its denatured state 7.95 +/- 0.44 sulfhydryl groups per enzyme and in its native state 3.92 +/- 0.34 sulfhydryl groups which react with Ellmann's reagent. The modified enzyme reveals in its native state also 4.07 +/- 0.25 sulfhydryl groups per enzyme, but in its denatured state 9.10 +/- 0.51 sulfhydryl groups could be detected. Approximately four sulfhydryl groups per enzyme, unmodified or modified, can be alkylated by iodoacetamide. These results prove for each subunit the existence of two sulfhydryl groups and suggest the existence of two disulfide bridges. The CoASH modification, which should proceed at one of these disulfide groups, prevents subsequent acetylation of the enzyme and is drastically reduced in the iodoacetamide-alkylated enzyme. In the demodification of the modified enzyme, the CoASH is set free as a mixed disulfide with glutathione.     

The reactions of Escherichia coli citrate synthase with the sulfhydryl reagents 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) and 4,4'-dithiodipyridine.

Citrate synthase of Escherichia coli reacts rapidly with 1 equivalent of Ellman's reagent, 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), per subunit, losing completely its sensitivity to the allosteric inhibitor, NADH. When the enzyme is treated instead with 4,4'-dithiodipyridine (4,4'-PDS), all activity is lost. Certain evidence in this paper is consistent with the belief that the sulfhydryl group modified by DTNB, and that whose modification by 4,4'-PDS inactivates the enzyme, are the same. (i) Both reagents abolish NADH fluorescence enhancement by the enzyme. (ii) Saturating levels of NADH and some other adenylic acid derivatives inhibit the reactions with both reagents. (iii) When the enzyme is modified with one equivalent of DTNB or 4,4'-PDS, subsequent reactivity toward the other reagent is greatly decreased. (iv) Following modifications, the DTNB and 4,4'-PDS derivatives spontaneously lose thionitrobenzoate (TNB) or pyridine-4-thione (PT), respectively, in reactions which are thought to involve displacement of TNB or PT by a second enzyme sulfhydryl group, so that an enzyme disulfide is introduced. The introduction of the disulfide bond, if this is what occurs, does not lead to cross-linking of citrate synthase polypeptide chains, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nonreducing conditions. Certain evidence has also been found, however, that the sites of modification by DTNB and 4,4'-PDS are not the same. (i) DTNB modification desensitizes to NADH but does not inactivate, while 4,4'-PDS inactivates at least 99.9%. (ii) The presumed disulfide from elimination of TNB is also active, while that from PT modification is no more active than the original 4,4'-PDS modified product. (iii) Prior modification of the enzyme with DTNB affords no protection against later inactivation by 4,4'-PDS. The studies therefore indicate a close relationship between the DTNB desensitization and 4,4'-PDS inactivation, but they are unable to identify it exactly. Other properties of the DTNB reaction are also described, and a hypothesis is offered to explain quantitatively the finding that desensitization lags behind modification during the modification of citrate synthase by DTNB.     

Symmetry distortion in the human hemoglobin tetramer induced by asymmetric ligation

To investigate the conformational changes in human tetrameric (αβ)(2) hemoglobin upon binding of the first two ligands, we have measured the kinetics of reactions between 4,4'-dithiodipyridine and β93Cys sulfhydryl groups of four diliganded hemoglobins by using CO-bound Fe(II)-Ni(II) hybrids with and without β-β cross-linking. The data show that all the diliganded intermediates have high sulfhydryl reactivities, which are greater than or equal to that for the fully-liganded end state, especially when containing liganded α subunit(s). The results also reveal that both the asymmetrically (α1β1 and α1β2) diliganded species show similar high rates of sulfhydryl reactivity and biphasic kinetics, suggesting a new conformation but only slight functional distortion caused by asymmetric ligation.     

Highly reactive cysteine residues are part of the substrate binding site of mammalian dipeptidyl peptidases III

Dipeptidyl peptidase III (DPP III) is a cytosolic zinc-exopeptidase involved in the intracellular protein catabolism of eukaryotes. Although inhibition by thiol reagents is a general feature of DPP III originating from various species, the function of activity important sulfhydryl groups is still inadequately understood. The present study of the reactivity of these groups was undertaken in order to clarify their biological significance.The inactivation kinetics of human and rat DPP III by sulfhydryl reagent p-hydroxy-mercuribenzoate (pHMB) was monitored by determination of the enzyme's residual activity with fluorimetric detection.Inactivation of this human enzyme exhibited pseudo-first-order kinetics, suggesting that all reactive SH-groups have equivalent reactivity, and the second-order rate constant was calculated to be 3523+/-567M(-1)min(-1). Rat DPP III was hyperreactive to pHMB and showed biphasic kinetics indicating two classes of reactive SH-groups. The second-order rate constants of 3540M(-1)s(-1) for slower reacting sulfhydryl, and 21,855M(-1)s(-1) for faster reacting sulfhydryl were obtained from slopes of linear plots of pseudo-first-order constants versus reagent concentration. Peptide substrates protected both mammalian DPPs III from inactivation by pHMB. Physiological concentrations of biological thiols and H(2)O(2) inactivated the rat DPP III. Human enzyme was resistant to H(2)O(2) attack and less affected by reduced glutathione (GSH) than the rat homologue. A significantly lower DPP III level, determined by activity measurement and Western blotting, was found in the cytosols of highly oxygenated rat tissues.These results provide kinetic evidence that cysteine residues are involved in substrate binding of mammalian DPPs III.     

Modifications of cysteine residues in the solution and membrane-associated conformations of phosphatidylinositol transfer protein have differential effects on lipid transfer activity

The alpha isoforms of mammalian phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (PITP) contain four conserved Cys residues. In this investigation, a series of thiol-modifying reagents, both alkylating and mixed disulfide-forming, was employed to define the accessibility of these residues and to evaluate their role in protein-mediated intermembrane phospholipid transport. Isolation and analysis of chemically modified peptides and site-directed mutagenesis of each Cys residue to Ala were also performed. Soluble, membrane-associated, and denatured preparations of wild-type and mutant rat PITPs were studied. Under denaturing conditions, all four Cys residues could be detected spectrophotometrically by chemical reaction with 4,4'-dipyridyl disulfide or 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate). In the native protein, two of the four Cys residues were sensitive to some but not all thiol-modifying reagents, with discrimination based on the charge and hydrophobicity of the reagent and the conformation of the protein. With the soluble conformation of PITP, achieved in the absence of phospholipid vesicles, the surface-exposed Cys(188) was chemically modified without consequence to lipid transfer activity. Cys(188) exhibited an apparent pK(a) of 7.6. The buried Cys(95), which constitutes part of the phospholipid substrate binding site, was covalently modified upon transient association of PITP with a membrane surface. The Cys-to-Ala mutations showed that neither Cys(95) nor Cys(188) was essential for lipid transfer activity. However, chemical modification of Cys(95) resulted in the loss of lipid transfer activity. These results demonstrate that the Cys residues of PITP can be assigned to several different classes of chemical reactivity. Of particular interest is Cys(95), whose sulfhydryl group becomes exposed to modification in the membrane-associated conformation of PITP. Furthermore, the inhibition of PITP activity by thiol-modifying reagents is a result of steric hindrance of phospholipid substrate binding.     

NADPH dependent activation of microsomal glutathione transferase 1

Microsomal glutathione transferase 1 (MGST1) can become activated up to 30-fold by several mechanisms in vitro (e.g. covalent modification by reactive electrophiles such as N-ethylmaleimide (NEM)). Activation has also been observed in vivo during oxidative stress. It has been noted that an NADPH generating system (g.s.) can activate MGST1 (up to 2-fold) in microsomal incubations, but the mechanism was unclear. We show here that NADPH g.s treatment impaired N-ethylmaleimide activation, indicating a shared target (identified as cysteine-49 in the latter case). Furthermore, NADPH activation was prevented by sulfhydryl compounds (glutathione and dithiothreitol). A well established candidate for activation would be oxidative stress, however we could exclude that oxidation mediated by cytochrome P450 2E1 (or flavine monooxygenase) was responsible for activation under a defined set of experimental conditions since superoxide or hydrogen peroxide alone did not activate the enzyme (in microsomes prepared by our routine procedure). Actually, the ability of MGST1 to become activated by hydrogen peroxide is critically dependent on the microsome preparation method (which influences hydrogen peroxide decomposition rate as shown here), explaining variable results in the literature. NADPH g.s. dependent activation of MGST1 could instead be explained, at least partly, by a direct effect observed also with purified enzyme (up to 1.4-fold activation). This activation was inhibited by sulfhydryl compounds and thus displays the same characteristics as that of the microsomal system. Whereas NADPH, and also ATP, activated purified MGST1, several nucleotide analogues did not, demonstrating specificity. It is thus an intriguing possibility that MGST1 function could be modulated by ligands (as well as reactive oxygen species) during oxidative stress when sulfhydryls are depleted.     

Selective modification of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase with sulfhydryl-specific fluorescent probes

The catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase contains only two cysteine residues, and the side chains of both Cys 199 and Cys 343 are accessible. Modification of the catalytic subunit by a variety of sulfhydryl-specific reagents leads to the loss of enzymatic activity. The differential reactivity of the two sulfhydryl groups at pH 6.5 has been utilized to selectively modify each cysteine with the following fluorescent probes: 3,6,7-trimethyl-4-(bromomethyl)-1,5-diazabicyclo[3.3.0]octa-3,6-diene- 2,8-dione, N-(iodoacetyl)-N'-(5-sulfo-1-naphthyl)ethylenediamine, and 4-[N-[(iodoacetoxy)ethyl]-N-methyl-amino]-7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole. The most reactive cysteine is Cys 199, and exclusive modification of this residue was achieved with each reagent at pH 6.5. Modification of Cys 343 required reversible blocking of Cys 199 with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) followed by reaction of Cys 343 with the fluorescent probe at pH 8.3. Treatment of this modified catalytic subunit with reducing reagent restored catalytic activity by unblocking Cys 199. In contrast, catalytic subunit that was selectively labeled at Cys 199 by the fluorescent probes was catalytically inactive. Even though Cys 199 is presumably close to the interaction site between the regulatory subunit and the catalytic subunit, all of the modified C-subunits retained the capacity to aggregate with the type II regulatory subunit in the absence of cAMP, and the resulting holoenzymes were dissociated in the presence of cAMP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Mechanism of the conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase to xanthine oxidase: identification of the two cysteine disulfide bonds and crystal structure of a non-convertible rat liver xanthine dehydrogenase mutant

Mammalian xanthine dehydrogenase can be converted to xanthine oxidase by modification of cysteine residues or by proteolysis of the enzyme polypeptide chain. Here we present evidence that the Cys(535) and Cys(992) residues of rat liver enzyme are indeed involved in the rapid conversion from the dehydrogenase to the oxidase. The purified mutants C535A and/or C992R were significantly resistant to conversion by incubation with 4,4'-dithiodipyridine, whereas the recombinant wild-type enzyme converted readily to the oxidase type, indicating that these residues are responsible for the rapid conversion. The C535A/C992R mutant, however, converted very slowly during prolonged incubation with 4,4'-dithiodipyridine, and this slow conversion was blocked by the addition of NADH, suggesting that another cysteine couple located near the NAD(+) binding site is responsible for the slower conversion. On the other hand, the C535A/C992R/C1316S and C535A/C992R/C1324S mutants were completely resistant to conversion, even on prolonged incubation with 4,4'-dithiodipyridine, indicating that Cys(1316) and Cys(1324) are responsible for the slow conversion. The crystal structure of the C535A/C992R/C1324S mutant was determined in its demolybdo form, confirming its dehydrogenase conformation.     

Reaction between sheep liver mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase and various thiol-modifying reagents.

Sheep liver mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase reacts with 2,2'-dithiodipyridine and 4,4'-dithiodipyridine in a two-step process: an initial rapid labelling reaction is followed by slow displacement of the thiopyridone moiety. With the 4,4'-isomer the first step results in an activated form of the enzyme, which then loses activity simultaneously with loss of the label (as has been shown to occur with the cytoplasmic enzyme). With 2,2'-dithiodipyridine, however, neither of the two steps of the reaction has any effect on the enzymic activity, showing that the mitochondrial enzyme possesses two cysteine residues that must be more accessible or reactive (to this reagent at least) than the postulated catalytically essential residue. The symmetrical reagent 5,5'-dithiobis-(1-methyltetrazole) activates mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase approximately 4-fold, whereas the smaller related compound methyl l-methyltetrazol-5-yl disulphide is a potent inactivator. These results support the involvement of mixed methyl disulphides in causing unpleasant physiological responses to ethanol after the ingestion of certain antibiotics.     

A highly acidic tyrosine 9 and a normally titrating tyrosine 212 contribute to the catalytic mechanism of human glutathione transferase A4-4

Human glutathione transferase A4-4 is an enzyme catalyzing the detoxication of intracellularly produced electrophiles such as 4-hydroxynonenal and other alkenal products of lipid peroxidation. Two tyrosines in the active site of the enzyme have been studied with help of UV difference spectroscopy and site-directed mutagenesis. The titration curve of GST A4-4 shows a pK(a) of 6.7 attributable to tyrosine 9, which in the Y212F mutant was shifted to pK(a) 7.1. In both cases the pK(a) was independent of the absence or presence of GSH. Thus, the active-site tyrosine 9 of this isoenzyme is more than one unit more acidic than the corresponding tyrosine of other Alpha class glutathione transferases. The tyrosines remaining in the Y9F mutant titrate like free tyrosine with pK(a) values > or = 10. A mechanism involving a tyrosine-9-bound water molecule acting as a proton shuttle is proposed for the Michael additions catalyzed by GST A4-4.