A low pKa cysteine at the active site of mouse methionine sulfoxide reductase A

Methionine sulfoxide reductase A is an essential enzyme in the antioxidant system which scavenges reactive oxygen species through cyclic oxidation and reduction of methionine and methionine sulfoxide. Recently it has also been shown to catalyze the reverse reaction, oxidizing methionine residues to methionine sulfoxide. A cysteine at the active site of the enzyme is essential for both reductase and oxidase activities. This cysteine has been reported to have a pK(a) of 9.5 in the absence of substrate, decreasing to 5.7 upon binding of substrate. Using three independent methods, we show that the pK(a) of the active site cysteine of mouse methionine sulfoxide reductase is 7.2 even in the absence of substrate. The primary mechanism by which the pK(a) is lowered is hydrogen bonding of the active site Cys-72 to protonated Glu-115. The low pK(a) renders the active site cysteine susceptible to oxidation to sulfenic acid by micromolar concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. This characteristic supports a role for methionine sulfoxide reductase in redox signaling.     

The oxidation produced by hydrogen peroxide on Ca-ATP-G-actin

We report here that in vitro exposure of monomeric actin to hydrogen peroxide leads to a conversion of 6 of the 16 methionine residues to methionine sulfoxide residues. Although the initial effect of H2O2 on actin is the oxidation of Cys374, we have found that Met44, Met47, Met176, Met190, Met269, and Met355 are the other sites of the oxidative modification. Met44 and Met47 are the methionyl sites first oxidized. The methionine residues that are oxidized are not simply related to their accessibility to the external medium and are found in all four subdomains of actin. The conformations of subdomain 1, a region critical for the functional binding of different actin-binding proteins, and subdomain 2, which plays important roles in the polymerization process and stabilization of the actin filament, are changed upon oxidation. The conformational changes are deduced from the increased exposure of hydrophobic residues, which correlates with methionine sulfoxide formation, from the perturbations in tryptophan fluorescence, and from the decreased susceptibility to limited proteolysis of oxidized actin.     

Oxidation of a methionine residue in subtilisin-type proteinases by the hydrogen peroxide/borate system--an active site-directed reaction

Subtilisin-type proteinases (thermitase, subtilisin Carlsberg, alkaline proteinase ZIMET 10911, proteinase K) are partially inactivated by hydrogen peroxide in the alkaline pH range only in the presence of boric acid or phenylboronic acid. A model is presented to describe the inactivation mechanism. Both boric acid and perboric acid existing in equilibrium in the presence of hydrogen peroxide bind competitively at the active site of the enzyme. The inactivation, which is known to be caused by sulfoxide formation from the methionine residue in the active site (Stauffer, C.E. and Etson, D. (1969) J. Biol. Chem. 244, 5333-5338), is due to the enzyme-bound perboric acid species. The dissociation constants for the boric acid-thermitase and perboric acid-thermitase complexes are 36 +/- 7 and 4 +/- 1 mM, respectively. The first-order rate constant of inactivation is k = 0.63 +/- 0.14 min-1. The same mechanism of inactivation holds true for phenylboronic acid in alkaline hydrogen peroxide solutions.     

Oxidation of a methionine residue in subtilisin-type proteinases by the hydrogen peroxide/borate system — an active site-directed reaction

Subtilisin-type proteinases (thermitase, subtilisin Carlsberg, alkaline proteinase ZIMET 10911, proteinase K) are partially inactivated by hydrogen peroxide in the alkaline pH range only in the presence of boric acid or phenylboronic acid. A model is presented to describe the inactivation mechanism. Both boric acid and perboric acid existing in equilibrium in the presence of hydrogen peroxide bind competitively at the active site of the enzyme. The inactivation, which is known to be caused by sulfoxide formation from the methionine residue in the active site (Stauffer C.E. and Etson D. (1969) J. Biol. Chem. 244, 5333–5338), is due to the enzyme-bound perboric acid species. The dissociation constants for the boric acid-thermitase and perboric acid-thermitase complexes are 36 ± 7 and 4 ± 1 mM, respectively. The first-order rate constant of inactivation is k = 0.63 ± 0.14 min⁻¹. The same mechanism of inactivation holds true for phenylboronic acid in alkaline hydrogen peroxide solutions.     

Oxidation of methionine residues in coagulation factor VIIa

The oxidation of the activated form of recombinant coagulation factor VII (FVIIa) by hydrogen peroxide has been studied. The three predominant oxidation products observed at pH 7.5 have been characterized as methionine sulfoxide derivatives of the parent protein involving two of the four methionine residues of the protein, Met298 and Met306. We conclude that oxidation of FVIIa with hydrogen peroxide only affects methionine residues and selectively oxidizes those which are readily accessible to the solvent. The oxidation process has been studied in the pH range 3.5-9.5. The total rate of oxidation of FVIIa as well as the formation of the three oxidation products is consistent over the pH interval 7.5-9.5. However, under acidic conditions, significant variations have been observed indicating a conformational change of FVIIa. Oxidized FVIIa had the same amidolytic activity as the native protein. The binding to soluble tissue factor (TF) was weaker after oxidation as manifested by a threefold increase in dissociation constant and the amidolytic activity in complex with soluble TF was 80% compared to that of native FVIIa. In complex with lipid surface TF, the rate of factor X activation catalyzed by oxidized FVIIa was also reduced by approximately 20% compared to that of native FVIIa. However, native and oxidized FVIIa appeared to bind lipidated TF with indistinguishable affinities.     

Relationship between protein structure and methionine oxidation in recombinant human alpha 1-antitrypsin

alpha 1-Antitrypsin is a metastable and conformationally flexible protein that belongs to the serpin family of protease inhibitors. Although it is known that methionine oxidation in the protein's active site results in a loss of biological activity, there is little specific knowledge regarding the reactivity of each of the protein's methionine residues. In this study, we have used peptide mapping to study the oxidation kinetics of each of alpha 1-antitrypsin's methionines in alpha 1-AT((C232S)) as well as M351L and M358V mutants. These kinetic studies establish that Met1, Met226, Met242, Met351, and Met358 are reactive with hydrogen peroxide at neutral pH and that each reactive methionine is oxidized in a bimolecular, rather than coupled, mechanism. Analysis of Met226, Met351, and Met358 oxidation provides insights regarding the structure of alpha 1-antitrypsin's active site that allow us to relate conformation to experimentally observed reactivity. The relationship between solution pH and methionine oxidation was also examined to evaluate methionine reactivity under conditions that perturb the native structure. Methionine oxidation data show that at pH 5, global conformational changes occur that alter the oxidation susceptibility of each of alpha 1-antitrypsin's 10 methionine residues. Between pH 6 and 9, however, more localized conformational changes occur that affect primarily the reactivity of Met242. In sum, this work provides a detailed analysis of methionine oxidation in alpha 1-antitrypsin and offers new insights into the protein's solution structure.     

Functional characterization of the Aspergillus nidulans methionine sulfoxide reductases (msrA and msrB)

Proteins are subject to modification by reactive oxygen species (ROS), and oxidation of specific amino acid residues can impair their biological function, leading to an alteration in cellular homeostasis. Sulfur-containing amino acids as methionine are the most vulnerable to oxidation by ROS, resulting in the formation of methionine sulfoxide [Met(O)] residues. This modification can be repaired by methionine sulfoxide reductases (Msr). Two distinct classes of these enzymes, MsrA and MsrB, which selectively reduce the two methionine sulfoxide epimers, methionine-S-sulfoxide and methionine-R-sulfoxide, respectively, are found in virtually all organisms. Here, we describe the homologs of methionine sulfoxide reductases, msrA and msrB, in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Both single and double inactivation mutants were viable, but more sensitive to oxidative stress agents as hydrogen peroxide, paraquat, and ultraviolet light. These strains also accumulated more carbonylated proteins when exposed to hydrogen peroxide indicating that MsrA and MsrB are active players in the protection of the cellular proteins from oxidative stress damage.     

The three-dimensional structure of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin at 1.8 A and an analysis of the structural consequences of peroxide inactivation

The three-dimensional structure of the subtilisin from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BAS) has been refined to 1.8 A using the amino acid sequence deduced from the DNA coding sequence. The structure is essentially the same as the previously reported structures of subtilisin BPN' (Wright, C.S., Alden, R.A., and Kraut, J. (1969) Nature 221, 235-242) and Novo (Drenth, J., Hol, W. G. J., Jansonius, J. N., and Koekoek, R. (1972) Eur. J. Biochem. 26, 177-181) determined in different crystal forms, at 2.5 and 2.8 A resolution, respectively. The largest differences in the three crystallographic models are seen in regions where the amino acid sequence used in the fit to the electron density maps of BPN' and Novo differs from the gene sequence of BAS (Wells, J. A., Ferrari, E., Henner, D. J., Estell, D. A., and Chen, E. Y. (1983) Nucleic Acids Res. 11, 7911-7925). The refined BAS model shows new features of cation binding, hydrogen bonding, and internal solvent structure. The refined BAS model has served as a basis for the analysis of stereochemical factors involved in the peroxide inactivation of the enzyme. Methionine 222, which is adjacent to the catalytic Ser221, is quantitatively oxidized to the sulfoxide by hydrogen peroxide as had been previously shown for the related Bacillus licheniformis enzyme (Stauffer, C. E., and Etson, D. (1969) J. Biol. Chem. 244, 5333-5338). In addition to this site of modification, we observe partial to full oxidation of two of the four remaining methionines. The oxidation of the methionines does not correlate well with their solvent accessibility calculated from the x-ray structure coordinates; in addition, only one of the two possible stereoisomers of methionine sulfoxide is formed. We also detect hydrogen peroxide-induced modification of the hydroxyl groups of two tyrosines. Modeling suggests that most of the observed effect of oxidation on the enzyme's catalytic efficiency can be attributed to unfavorable interactions at the oxyanion binding site between the sulfoxide group at 222 and the carbonyl oxygen of the scissile peptide bond of the bound substrate.     

Impact of Hydrogen Peroxide on the Activity, Structure, and Conformational Stability of the Oxidized Protein Repair Enzyme Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase A

The oxidized protein repair methionine sulfoxide reductase (Msr) system has been implicated in aging, in longevity, and in the protection against oxidative stress. This system is made of two different enzymes (MsrA and MsrB) that catalyze the reduction of the two diastereoisomers S- and R-methionine sulfoxide back to methionine within proteins, respectively. Due to its role in cellular protection against oxidative stress that is believed to originate from its reactive oxygen species scavenging ability in combination with exposed methionine at the surface of proteins, the susceptibility of MsrA to hydrogen-peroxide-mediated oxidative inactivation has been analyzed. This study is particularly relevant to the oxidized protein repair function of MsrA in both fighting against oxidized protein formation and being exposed to oxidative stress situations. The enzymatic properties of MsrA indeed rely on the activation of the catalytic cysteine to the thiolate anion form that is potentially susceptible to oxidation by hydrogen peroxide. The residual activity and the redox status of the catalytic cysteine were monitored before and after treatment. These experiments showed that the enzyme is only inactivated by high doses of hydrogen peroxide. Although no significant structural modification was detected by near- and far-UV circular dichroism, the conformational stability of oxidized MsrA was decreased as compared to that of native MsrA, making it more prone to degradation by the 20S proteasome. Decreased conformational stability of oxidized MsrA may therefore be considered as a key factor for determining its increased susceptibility to degradation by the proteasome, hence avoiding its intracellular accumulation upon oxidative stress.     

Glucuronidation of oxygenated benzo(a)pyrene derivatives by UDP-glucuronyl transferase of nuclear envelope

The variation of the spectra and its reactivity towards 2-methylpropanal, indole-3-acetic acid and malonaldehyde of solutions of horseradish peroxidase in dimethyl sulfoxide-water mixtures has been studied. A broad pattern of changes was observed in the CD spectra of peroxidase, especially in the 400 nm region. These variations influenced strongly the excited triplet acetone emission from the 2-methylpropanal system which is generated in the active site of the enzyme protected from external quenching. This means that presumably the active site is more uncovered in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide than the native form. Energy transfer parameters indicate that in fact there is a conformational effect produced by dimethyl sulfoxide in the horseradish peroxide active site. Dimethyl sulfoxide appears to be an important conformational probe in biochemistry.     

Methionine oxidation, alpha-synuclein and Parkinson's disease

The aggregation of normally soluble alpha-synuclein in the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra is a crucial step in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Oxidative stress is believed to be a contributing factor in this disorder. Because it lacks Trp and Cys residues, mild oxidation of alpha-synuclein in vitro with hydrogen peroxide selectively converts all four methionine residues to the corresponding sulfoxides. Both oxidized and non-oxidized alpha-synucleins have similar unfolded conformations; however, the fibrillation of alpha-synuclein at physiological pH is completely inhibited by methionine oxidation. The inhibition results from stabilization of soluble oligomers of Met-oxidized alpha-synuclein. Furthermore, the Met-oxidized protein also inhibits fibrillation of unmodified alpha-synuclein. The degree of inhibition of fibrillation by Met-oxidized alpha-synuclein is proportional to the number of oxidized methionines. However, the presence of metals can completely overcome the inhibition of fibrillation of the Met-oxidized alpha-synuclein. Since oligomers of aggregated alpha-synuclein may be cytotoxic, these findings indicate that both oxidative stress and environmental metal pollution could play an important role in the aggregation of alpha-synuclein, and hence possibly Parkinson's disease. In addition, if the level of Met-oxidized alpha-synuclein was under the control of methionine sulfoxide reductase (Msr), then this could also be factor in the disease.     

Comparing the effect on protein stability of methionine oxidation versus mutagenesis: steps toward engineering oxidative resistance in proteins.

The biological activity of some proteins is known to be sensitive to oxidative damage caused by a variety of oxidants. The model protein staphylococcal nuclease was used to explore the effect on protein structural stability of oxidizing methionine to the sulfoxide form. These effects were compared with the effects of substituting methionines with isoleucine and leucine, a potential strategy for stabilizing proteins against oxidative damage. Wild-type nuclease and various mutants were oxidized with hydrogen peroxide. Stabilities of both oxidized and unoxidized proteins were determined by guanidine hydrochloride denaturation. Oxidation destabilized the wild-type protein by over 4 kcal/mol. This large loss of stability supports the idea that in some cases loss of biological activity is linked to disruption of the protein native state. Comparison of mutant protein's stability losses upon oxidation showed that methionines 65 and 98 had a much greater destabilizing effect when oxidized than methionines 26 or 32. While substitution of methionine 98 carried as great an energetic penalty as oxidation, substitution at position 65 was less disruptive than oxidation. Thus a simple substitution mutagenesis strategy to protect a protein against oxidative destabilization is practical for some methionine residues.     

Proteolytic cleavage of methionyl transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase from Bacillus stearothermophilus: effects on activity and structure

Methionyl-tRNA synthetase from Bacillus stearothermophilus, a dimer of molecular weight 2 X 85K, is converted by limited subtilisin digestion into a fully active monomeric fragment of molecular weight 64K. The reversible methionine activation reaction of these enzymes was followed through the variation of the intensity of their trypotophan fluorescence. Equilibrium and stopped-flow experiments show that the rate and mechanism for adenylate formation supported by the monomeric derivative are undistinguishable from those of each adenylating site of the native dimeric enzyme. In contrast, the rate of tRNA aminoacylation is improved upon limited proteolysis of the native enzyme. This behavior can be related to the anticooperativity of the binding of tRNA molecules to native dimeric enzyme. Accordingly, at 25 degrees C, the dimer might behave as a half-of-the-sites enzyme with only one active tRNA site at a time, compared to two after limited proteolysis with consequent irreversible disociation into two 64K fragments. Another modified form of the enzyme is obtained through limited tryptic digestion. This derivative is completely devoid of activity although its molecular weight under nondenaturating conditions remains undistinguishable from that of the 64K fragment generated by subtilisin. Denaturation reveals that this tryptic derivative is composed of two subfragments with molecular weights of 33K and 29K, respectively. The same fragments may also be directly obtained through limited tryptic digestion of the subtilsic fragment. Interestingly, although trypsin treatment has abolished the activity of the enzyme, fluorescence studies demonstrate that the ATP and methionine binding sites have remained intact. It is shown that the effect of the internal cut made by trypsin into the active 64K fragment has been to considerably depress the "coupling" between the methionine and nucleotide binding sites. Finally, the rate of inactivation of the enzyme by trypsin is observed to be substantially decreased by in situ synthetized methionyl adenylate but not by tRNA. These properties and others are discussed in relation to the problem of its significance of repeating sequences and structural "domains" within the class of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.     

Methionine oxidation in human growth hormone and human chorionic somatomammotropin. Effects on receptor binding and biological activities

The oxidation of the methionine residues of human growth hormone (hGH) and human chorionic somatomammotropin (hCS) to methionine sulfoxide by hydrogen peroxide has been studied. The kinetics of oxidation of individual methionine residues has been measured by reverse-phase high pressure liquid chromatography tryptic peptide mapping. Met-170 is completely resistant to oxidation in both hormones. The other 3 methionine residues in hCS (Met-64, Met-96, and Met-179) have markedly different reaction rates. Oxidation of the methionine residues does not appear to cause gross conformational changes in either hGH or hCS, as judged by CD and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Oxidation of Met-14 and Met-125 in hGH has little effect on affinity of the hormone for lactogenic receptors or on its potency in the Nb2 rat lymphoma in vitro bioassay for lactogenic hormones. The oxidation of Met-64 and/or Met-179 in hCS reduces profoundly both its affinity for lactogenic receptors and its in vitro biological potency. It is inferred by induction that residues 64 and/or 179 are critical for the binding of both hGH and hCS to lactogenic receptors and the expression of lactogenic biological activity.     

Binding of exogenously added carbon monoxide at the active site of the iron-only hydrogenase (CpI) from Clostridium pasteurianum.

A site for the binding of exogenously added carbon monoxide has been identified at the active site of the Fe-only hydrogenase (CpI) from Clostridium pasteurianum. The binding and inhibition of carbon monoxide have been exploited in biochemical and spectroscopic studies to gain mechanistic insights. In the present study, we have taken advantage of the ability to generate an irreversibly carbon monoxide bound state of CpI. The crystallization and structural characterization of CpI inhibited in the presence of carbon monoxide indicates the addition of a single molecule of carbon monoxide. The ability to generate crystals of the carbon monoxide bound state of the hydrogenase that are isomorphous to those of the native enzyme has allowed for a direct comparison of the crystallographic data and an unambiguous identification of the site of carbon monoxide binding at the active site of CpI. Carbon monoxide binds to an Fe atom of the 2Fe subcluster at the site of a terminally bound water molecule in the as crystallized native state of CpI that has been previously suggested to be a potential site of reversible hydrogen oxidation. Binding of carbon monoxide at this site results in an active site that is coordinately saturated with strong ligands (S, CO, and CN), providing a rational potential mechanism for inhibition of reversible hydrogen oxidation at the active site of CpI.     

Overexpression of mitochondrial methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 protects leukemia cells from oxidative stress-induced cell death and protein damage

According to the mitochondrial theory of aging, mitochondrial dysfunction increases intracellular reactive oxidative species production, leading to the oxidation of macromolecules and ultimately to cell death. In this study, we investigated the role of the mitochondrial methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 in the protection against oxidative stress. We report, for the first time, that overexpression of methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 in mitochondria of acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia MOLT-4 cell line, in which methionine sulfoxide reductase A is missing, markedly protects against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress by scavenging reactive oxygen species. The addition of hydrogen peroxide provoked a time-gradual increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species, leading to a loss in mitochondrial membrane potential and to protein carbonyl accumulation, whereas in methionine sulfoxide reductase B2-overexpressing cells, intracellular reactive oxygen species and protein oxidation remained low with the mitochondrial membrane potential highly maintained. Moreover, in these cells, delayed apoptosis was shown by a decrease in the cleavage of the apoptotic marker poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 and by the lower percentage of Annexin-V-positive cells in the late and early apoptotic stages. We also provide evidence for the protective mechanism of methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 against protein oxidative damages. Our results emphasize that upon oxidative stress, the overexpression of methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 leads to the preservation of mitochondrial integrity by decreasing the intracellular reactive oxygen species build-up through its scavenging role, hence contributing to cell survival and protein maintenance.     

Redox proteomics of protein-bound methionine oxidation

We here present a new method to measure the degree of protein-bound methionine sulfoxide formation at a proteome-wide scale. In human Jurkat cells that were stressed with hydrogen peroxide, over 2000 oxidation-sensitive methionines in more than 1600 different proteins were mapped and their extent of oxidation was quantified. Meta-analysis of the sequences surrounding the oxidized methionine residues revealed a high preference for neighboring polar residues. Using synthetic methionine sulfoxide containing peptides designed according to the observed sequence preferences in the oxidized Jurkat proteome, we discovered that the substrate specificity of the cellular methionine sulfoxide reductases is a major determinant for the steady-state of methionine oxidation. This was supported by a structural modeling of the MsrA catalytic center. Finally, we applied our method onto a serum proteome from a mouse sepsis model and identified 35 in vivo methionine oxidation events in 27 different proteins.     

Methionine sulfoxide and proteolytic cleavage contribute to the inactivation of cathepsin G by hypochlorous acid: an oxidative mechanism for regulation of serine proteinases by myeloperoxidase

Using myeloperoxidase and hydrogen peroxide, activated neutrophils produce high local concentrations of hypochlorous acid (HOCl). They also secrete cathepsin G, a serine protease implicated in cytokine release, receptor activation, and degradation of tissue proteins. Isolated cathepsin G was inactivated by HOCl but not by hydrogen peroxide in vitro. We found that activated neutrophils lost cathepsin G activity by a pathway requiring myeloperoxidase, suggesting that oxidants generated by myeloperoxidase might regulate cathepsin G activity in vivo. Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of oxidized cathepsin G revealed that loss of a peptide containing Asp108, which lies in the active site, associated quantitatively with loss of enzymatic activity. Catalytic domain peptides containing Asp108 were lost from the oxidized protein in concert with the conversion of Met110 to the sulfoxide. Release of this peptide was blocked by pretreating cathepsin G with phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, strongly implying that oxidation introduced proteolytic cleavage sites into cathepsin G. Model system studies demonstrated that methionine oxidation can direct the regiospecific proteolysis of peptides by cathepsin G. Thus, oxidation of Met110 may contribute to cathepsin G inactivation by at least two distinct mechanisms. One involves direct oxidation of the thioether residue adjacent to the aspartic acid in the catalytic domain. The other involves the generation of new sites that are susceptible to proteolysis by cathepsin G. These observations raise the possibility that oxidants derived from neutrophils restrain pericellular proteolysis by inactivating cathepsin G. They also suggest that methionine oxidation could render cathepsin G susceptible to autolytic cleavage. Myeloperoxidase may thus play a previously unsuspected role in regulating tissue injury by serine proteases during inflammation.     

Effect of oxidation on the properties of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II

Purified apolipoprotein A-I has been separated by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) into multiple peaks and these peaks have been characterized. One peak, apoA-Ib had a relatively longer retention time on HPLC but its retention time could be shortened by treatment by hydrogen peroxide. CNBr cleavage studies indicated that the differences in apoA-Ib and in its oxidation product, apoA-Ia, were due to the different oxidation states of methionine. This phenomenon was also observed in apoA-II, where methionine oxidation produced two more forms of this apolipoprotein in addition to the native form. These isomers were found to have different secondary structures and affinities for lipid. Model peptide analogs of the amphipathic helix with the same sequence but with methionine and methionine sulfoxide at the nonpolar face of the amphipathic helix were synthesized and studied. It was found that the lipid affinities of these synthetic peptide isomers were very different. They also differed in their secondary structures as studied by circular dichroism (CD). We propose that methionine oxidation introduces hydrophilic residues at the nonpolar face of the amphipathic helical domains of these apolipoproteins and, therefore, alters their secondary structure and lipid affinity.     

Oxidation of Free Methionine and Methionine Residues in Protein Involved in the Browning Reaction of Phenolic Compounds

The oxidation of methionine to its sulfoxide, as a possible cause of decrease in the biological value of red clover during drying with aeration, was examined using various model systems, in the presence or absence of polyphenol oxidase. The effects of catalase were also examined. Results indicated hydrogen peroxide as a possible intermediate that directly oxidizes methionine. The methionine oxidation can be one of the causes of the decrease in biological value of red clover during drying, beside the known damage of lysine in the same process.