The role of tyrosine 15 in erythropoietin action

The results of iodination inactivation of erythropoietin suggest that tyrosine 15 is required for biological activity. This was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. Substitution of tyrosine by alanine or isoleucine resulted in mutants with no biological activity, whereas substitution by phenylalanine yielded an active mutein. Protein footprinting using trypsin showed that the N-terminal residues 1 to 46 and the C-terminal residues 155 to 165 linked by the 7 to 161 disulfide bond, includes one active site of the hormone.     

In vitro assay for erythropoietin

An in vitro assay method for the quantitative estimation of erythropoietin has been developed. The principle of the method is based on the stimulation of LP catalyzed iodination of MIT by erythropoietin and the iodination reaction was found to be linearly proportional to the increasing concentration of erythropoietin of same potency or same concentration of increasing potency. This assay procedure could be utilized for clinical purposes for the estimation of erythropoietin content of biological samples, like urine, serum etc. This method is very simple, rapid, highly specific and sensitive enough to detect as little as 0.25 mU of erythropoietin.     

A new biochemical effect of erythropoietin

Erythropoietin stimulated lactoperoxidase (LP) or horseradishperoxidase (HRP) catalyzed iodination of tyrosine, the stimulation being more pronounced in case of LP. The diiodotyrosine (DIT) formation was stimulated more than MIT formation although the total quantity of DIT formed was less than MIT. Both sheep plasma erythropoietin and human urinary erythropoietin exhibited the above phenomenon and the stimulatory effects were directly propertional to their potencies. Preincubation of erythropoietin with neuraminidase abolished its stimulatory effect. Other glycoprotein hormones like thyrotropic hormone (TSH) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) did not stimulate the above system.     

Cross-linking preserves conformational changes induced in penicillinase by its substrates.

Exopenicillinase of Bacillus cereus 569/H was cross-linked with toluene 2,4-diisocyanate in the presence of cephalothin, cloxacillin or no substrate. The derivatives show significant differences in susceptibility to inactivation by heat, urea, iodination or proteolysis. Such differences can be predicted from the contrasting effects of these substrates on the conformation of the enzyme.     

Iodoglucagon. Preparation and characterization.

Iodinated derivatives of glucagon containing an average of 1 to 5 g-atoms of 127I per mol have been prepared by reacting the hormone with increasing amounts of iodine monochloride. Their iodoamino acid composition has been determined by ion-exchange chromatography and electrophoresis, following hydrolysis by pronase. Iodination of the two tyrosyl residues occurs first and is nearly complete after addition of a 4-fold molar excess of ICl. Iodination of the single histidyl residue is a later event and does not exceed an average of one atom per residue. Hydrolysis of iodoglucagon by trypsin and subsequent separation of the iodotyrosyl peptides shows that iodine is equally distributed between tyrosyl residues 10 and 13. Crude iodoglucagon containing an average of 1 g-atom of iodine per mol has been resolved into several components of differing iodine content and iodoamino acid composition by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Monoiodoglucagon isolated by this procedure shows a single band when analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Iodoglucagons containing an average of 1 to 4 g-atoms of iodine per mol are more potent than native glucagon in their ability to stimulate adenylate cyclase activity and to bind to glucagon receptors of liver cell membranes of the rat. The maximal increase in biological potency occurring upon iodination is about 5-fold with respect to adenylate cyclase activity, and 2-fold with respect to binding to receptors; tetra and triiodinated derivatives show, respectively, the highest potency. Similar effects occur whether inactivation by liver membranes is inhibited or not, indicating an enhancement in the intrinsic affinity of iodoglucagon for the receptors. Iodination beyong 4 g-atoms per mol slightly decreases the affinity of the hormone for adenylate cyclase and for the receptors. Iodination causes a 2-20 fold decrease in the ability of liver plasma membranes and of blood plasma to inactivate glucagon in vitro; these effects correlate with the degree of iodination. With liver microsomal membranes, a decrease in glucagon inactivation occurs only at iodine contents exceeding 4 g-atoms per mol, and lower degrees of iodination result in opposite effects. Monoiodination causes a 4-6-fold increase in the plasma concentration of glucagon within the first 18 min following a single intrvenous injection of the hormone to rats. More extensive iodination results, in addition, in a marked decrease in the rate of dissappearance of glucagon from the blood. The immunological reactivity of glucagon is little affected by monoidination, but strongly depressed by higher degrees of iodination...     

蛋白质氯胺-T双相碘标法的建立及其应用

常规的蛋白质碘标方法易引起被标细胞因子的失活,是受体配基竞争结合实验失败的原因之一.试用氯胺-T双相碘标法标记rhG-CSF和rhEPO,并应用受体配基竞争结合分析法测定NFS-60细胞G-CSF受体及BET-2细胞EPO受体的特性.结果显示所获 ¹²⁵I-EPO和 ¹²⁵I-G-CSF放射比活度均较高;发现BET-2细胞有高、低两种亲和力的EPO受体,NFS-60细胞只有一种高亲和力的G-CSF受体,所获结果与文献资料相一致.说明氯胺-T双相碘标法是细胞因子同位素碘标记的理想方法之一.     

Inactivation of plasminogen activator inhibitor by oxidants

The rapidly acting plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) purified from cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEs) was inactivated during iodination with chloramine T and other oxidizing iodination systems. Inactivation was observed in the absence of iodine, suggesting that the loss of activity resulted from the oxidizing conditions employed. In an attempt to further study the nature of this inactivation, the PAI was treated with chloramine T under conditions that specifically oxidize methionine and cysteine residues. Both PAI inhibitory activity and the ability of the PAI to form complexes with tissue-type PA were decreased in a dose-dependent manner by such treatment. The PAI was more sensitive to oxidative inactivation than urokinase, elastase, and alpha 1-protease inhibitor. Incubation of the chloramine T inactivated PAI with methionine sulfoxide peptide reductase in the presence of dithiothreitol (DTT) restored more than 90% of the PAI activity. The reductase is a DTT-dependent enzyme that specifically converts methionine sulfoxide to methionine. Little activity was restored by either the reductase or DTT alone. These results indicate that the oxidation of at least one critical methionine residue is responsible for the loss of PAI activity upon iodination. In this respect, the BAE PAI resembles alpha 1-protease inhibitor, a well-characterized elastase inhibitor that also is inactivated by oxidants. Both inhibitors are members of the serine protease inhibitor superfamily (Serpins), and both have a methionine residue in their reactive center.     

Iodination associated inactivation of beta-melanocyte stimulating hormone.

Contrary to other published reports, iodinated β-melanocyte stimulating hormone (β-MSH) is without biological activity as measured by frog skin bioassay, melanoma (mouse S-91) adenylate cyclase assay, or melanoma tyrosinase assay. Inactivation results in part from oxidation of the methionine residue by the chloramine T and sodium metabisulfite used in the iodination reaction. Replacement of the methionine of β-MSH with norleucine by solid phase synthesis results in an analogue which is more resistant, but not completely resistant, to inactivation. Thus, in order to obtain a biologically active radioligand for radioreceptor studies, further tailoring of the hormone and/or modification of the iodination procedure will be needed.     

In vitro bioassay of erythropoietic activity in serum using mouse spleen cells. The effect of heat inactivation on serum erythropoietin

Untreated human serum is known to be toxic to in vitro assays for erythropoietin, including the mouse spleen cell assay system (MSCA). This phenomenon had previously been shown to be mediated by complement-dependent IgM heteroantibodies and can be overcome by heating the serum at 56 degrees C for 30 minutes. Using the MSCA, we have found that the toxic effect of serum could also be removed by treatment with a precipitating antibody against the C3c component of complement. The effects of the two methods of complement inactivation on the measurement of stimulatory activity in serum have been compared. For normal serum, the results after heat inactivation and antibody treatment were similar. In contrast, serum from a patient with aplastic anemia gave a result equivalent to 327 mU erythropoietin/ml after heat treatment, but after antibody treatment equivalent to 1,520 mU erythropoietin/ml. Gel permeation chromatography of unheated, heated, and antibody-treated sera showed that heating markedly reduced the activity of the erythropoietin peak. Seventy percent of the activity of partially purified urinary erythropoietin was lost during heating in the presence of normal serum. In addition, heating caused the appearance of high molecular weight compounds that are stimulatory in the MSCA. The level of this activity appeared to be directly related to the stimulatory activity of the unheated serum.     

Effect of the insulin iodination on the reactivity of the inter-chain disulphide bonds towards sodium sulphite

Insulin iodination interferes with the ability of the interchain S.S bonds to react with sulphite at pH7. In insulin samples containing more than 5 iodine atoms/monomer unit, only one S.S bond/molecule reacts. The effect must be related to the substitution of the iodine into the tyrosyl groups, which probably causes a conformational rearrangement resulting in a steric hindrance of one of the interchain S.S bonds. The effect is removed by increasing the pH or by adding urea (8m) to the reaction mixture. The unreactivity of the S.S bond and the biological inactivation occur at the same ;critical' iodination level, suggesting that a same primary alteration of the molecule is responsible for both the effects.     

Irreversible inactivation of lactoperoxidase in the course of iodide oxidation

In the course of lactoperoxidase-catalysed I- oxidation, which is a model for the initial step of thyroid hormone biosynthesis, irreversible enzyme inactivation can occur if free molecular iodine (I2) or other oxidized iodine species accumulate. Evidence is presented that the breakdown of the catalytic activity is the result of the iodination of the peroxidase-apoprotein. This kind of enzyme inactivation, which can be prevented by iodine acceptors' such as thyroglobulin or high concentrations of I-, may well play a role in the regulation of the synthesis of thyroid hormones in vivo.     

Further evidence for the participation of proteins S 3, S 14 and S 19 in tRNA binding to E. coli 30 S subunits

Previous studies have shown that iodination of 30 S subunits causes inactivation for both enzymatic fMet-tRNA and non-enzymatic phe-tRNA binding activities. This inactivation was shown to be due to the modification of three to five ribosomal proteins [1]. In this report the role of these proteins in tRNA binding activity has been further studied. Purified ribosomal proteins, isolated from modified subunits, are re-assembled into otherwise unmodified 30 S ribosomes and assayed for tRNA binding capacity. The presence of modified S 3, S 14 and S 19 (S 15) in the reconstituted particle results in substantial reduction of both fMet-tRNA and phe-tRNA binding activities. This reduction in tRNA binding activity does not appear to be due to an assembly defect.     

Impaired erythropoietin synthesis in chronic kidney disease is caused by alterations in extracellular matrix composition

Renal fibrosis and anaemia are two of the most relevant events in chronic kidney disease. Fibrosis is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins in the glomeruli and tubular interstitium. Anaemia is the consequence of a decrease in erythropoietin production in fibrotic kidneys. This work analyses the possibility that the accumulation of abnormal collagens in kidney interstitium could be one of the mechanisms responsible for erythropoietin decreased synthesis. In renal interstitial fibroblast grown on collagen I, erythropoietin mRNA expression and HIF‐2α protein decreased, whereas focal adhesion kinase protein (FAK) phosphorylation and proteasome activity increased, compared to cells grown on collagen IV. Proteasome inhibition or FAK inactivation in cells plated on collagen I restored erythropoietin and HIF‐2α expression. FAK inhibition also decreased the collagen I‐dependent proteasome activation. In a model of tubulointerstitial fibrosis induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction in mice, increased collagen I protein content and an almost complete disappearance of erythropoietin mRNA expression were observed in the ureteral ligated kidney with respect to the contralateral control. Interestingly, erythropoietin synthesis was recovered in obstructed mice treated with proteasome inhibitor. These data suggest that reduced kidney erythropoietin synthesis could be caused by the accumulation of abnormal extracellular matrix proteins.     

Myeloperoxidase-catalyzed iodination and coupling.

Myeloperoxidase (MPO), which displays considerable amino acid sequence homology with thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and lactoperoxidase (LPO), was tested for its ability to catalyze iodination of thyroglobulin and coupling of two diiodotyrosyl residues within thyroglobulin to form thyroxine. After 1 min of incubation in a system containing goiter thyroglobulin, I-, and H2O2, the pH optimum of MPO-catalyzed iodination was markedly acidic (approximately 4.0), compared to LPO (approximately 5.4) and TPO (approximately 6.6). The presence of 0.1 N Cl- or Br- shifted the pH optimum for MPO to about 5.4 but had little or no effect on TPO- or LPO-catalyzed iodination. At pH 5.4, 0.1 N Cl- and 0.1 N Br- had a marked stimulatory effect on MPO-catalyzed iodination. At pH 4.0, however, iodinating activity of MPO was almost completely inhibited by 0.1 N Cl- or Br-. Inhibition of chlorinating activity of MPO by Cl- at pH 4.0 has been previously described. When iodination of goiter thyroglobulin was performed with MPO plus the H2O2 generating system, glucose-glucose oxidase, at pH 7.0, the iodinating activity was markedly increased by 0.1 N Cl-. Under these conditions iodination and thyroxine formation were comparable to values observed with TPO. MPO and TPO were also compared for coupling activity in a system that measures coupling of diiodotyrosyl residues in thyroglobulin in the absence of iodination. MPO displayed very significant coupling activity, and, like TPO, this activity was stimulated by a low concentration of free diiodotyrosine (1 microM). The thioureylene drugs, propylthiouracil and methimazole, inhibited MPO-catalyzed iodination both reversibly and irreversibly, in a manner similar to that previously described for TPO-catalyzed iodination.     

A detailed examination of the iodination of beta-galactosidase: stoichiometric inactivation by nonspecific iodination

The incorporation of 125I, using lactoperoxidase, and the subsequent inactivation of beta-galactosidase in the period when incorporation and inactivation were stoichiometric were investigated in detail. The high pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) radioactive profiles of the tryptic peptides of samples taken in the stoichiometric period showed that, although two labelled peptides predominated, there were other labelled peptides. The predominating peptides were shown to be the mono- and di-iodinated forms of the peptide containing Tyr-253. This confirmed the result of an earlier study, but quantitation showed that this iodination accounted for only 15-18% of the total. To show that the other labelled peptides in the HPLC profiles were not merely oxidized or partially digested forms of the peptide containing Tyr-253, two experiments were carried out. In one of the experiments, two of the other labelled peptides were isolated and identified as iodinated forms of the peptide containing Tyr-285 (5-7% of the incorporation). In the other experiment, four additional labelled fractions from the HPLC eluate were treated further with trypsin. No further digestion was observed and thus these peptides did not result from incomplete digestion of the sequence containing Tyr-253. Overall, these results show that, although the incorporation of 125I was stoichiometric with inactivation, no single Tyr was responsible for the inactivation as was tentatively suggested previously. The competitive inhibitor isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was effective in reducing the rates of inactivation of the enzyme and incorporation of 125I, but the same peptides were labelled in the presence of IPTG as in its absence.     

Sites of iodination in recombinant human brain-derived neurotrophic factor and its effect on neurotrophic activity.

Recombinant human brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is now under extensive investigation because of its potential clinical applications. Radioactively labeled proteins are usually required to study receptor binding and pharmacokinetic properties of proteins. This study was undertaken to see if iodination affects the biological and conformational properties of a recombinant BDNF. BDNF was iodinated using a stoichiometric amount of nonradioactive cold NaI to minimize multiple iodinations. Of the four tyrosines present in BDNF--Tyr-52, Tyr-54, Tyr-63, and Tyr-86--only Tyr-63 and Tyr-86 were iodinated under the experimental conditions used. Iodination of Tyr-63 resulted in modification without alteration of the biological activity, whereas iodination of Tyr-86 resulted in a molecule with highly compromised biological activity. Similar inactivation was observed if both Tyr-63 and Tyr-86 were iodinated. These modified proteins exhibited conformation and dimerization apparently identical to those of the native protein, as demonstrated by analytical ultracentrifugation, gel filtration, light scattering, and circular dichroism. From these results, we concluded that Tyr-52 and Tyr-54 are not accessible to the reagent and are probably buried in the hydrophobic core, whereas Tyr-63 and Tyr-86 are exposed on the surface of the molecule; of the two exposed residues, only Tyr-86 contributes to the biological activity.     

Iodination of cell membranes: I. Optimal conditions for the iodination of exposed membrane components

Iodination of red blood cells under optimal conditions by the Phillips-Morrison method leads to the iodination of two surface proteins. Modification of these conditions leads to the labeling of additional membrane proteins; labeling of hemoglobin can also occur. These results lead to the conclusion that, depending on the conditions of iodination, proteins located at various depths of the membrane can be labeled. This information was used in establishing an assay for the optimal iodination conditions of HeLa cells. Such iodinated HeLa cells grow at the same rate as control HeLa cells; most of these iodinated surface proteins can be removed by subsequent treatment with pronase.     

Effects of Iodination on Cytoagglutination by and Toxicity of Ricinus communis Lectins

Iodinations of two Ricinus communis lectins, ricin D and hemagglutinin (CBH), with potassium iodide at pH 7.0 and 0°C led to inactivation of the cytoagglutinating activity on sarcoma 180 ascites tumor cells as well as the toxicity to HeLa cells of ricin D, whereas the cytoagglutinating activity of CBH was affected slightly. In the presence of lactose, which binds to ricin D, one tyrosyl residue in the B-chain of ricin D was protected from iodination and 40% of the cytoagglutinating activity was retained. This protection against iodination was not observed in the presence of glucose, which does not bind to ricin D. This suggested that the protected tyrosyl residue in the B-chain of ricin D may be situated at or near the saccharide binding site and directly involved in the binding to the saccharide moieties of the cellular receptors.

Adsorption of the iodinated ricin D to Sepharose 4B indicated that one of the two saccharide binding sites in ricin D is still intact and participates in the binding to saccharide: ricin D was altered from divalent to monovalent by the iodination.

We found from binding experiments with ¹²⁵I-labeled iodinated ricin D to HeLa cells, that the low toxicity of the iodinated ricin D may be attributed mainly to its decreased internalization into the cells and that the divalent binding of ricin D to the cellular receptors is important for this internalization.     

Validation of model virus removal and inactivation capacity of an erythropoietin purification process

Human erythropoietin (hEpo) production requires mammalian cells able to make complex post-translational modifications to guaranty its biological activity. As mammalian cell can be reservoir of pathogenic viruses and several animal origin components are usually used in the cultivation of mammalian cells, hEpo contamination with viruses is something of great concern. As consequence, this study investigated the viral removal and inactivation capacity of a recombinant-hEpo (rec-hEpo) purification process. Canine parvovirus, Human poliovirus type-2, Bovine viral diarrhea virus and Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 were used for measuring process viral removal and inactivation capacities. In conclusion, this study corroborated that the assessed rec-hEpo purification process has enough capacity (5.0–19.4 Logs) for removing and inactivating these model viruses and sodium hydroxide demonstrated to be a robust sanitization solution for chromatography columns (5.0 (PV-2)-6.7 (CPV) Logs).     

Intracellular and extracellular sites of iodination in dispersed hog thyroid cells.

Iodination and hormone synthesis has been studied in isolated hog thyroid cells in suspension. We characterized three iodination processes by use of pharmacological agents. (1) Intracellular iodination dependent on active iodide transport, which was inhibited by NaClO4 or ouabain, but not by catalase. This iodination was linear for 6h with no apparent Km for iodide of 1.5 muM, was stimulated by thyrotropin or N6O2'-dibutyryladenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate, yielded mostly iodinated thyroglobulin and was efficient for tetraiodothyronine synthesis. (2) Extracellular iodination, which was sensitive to catalase, but not to NaClO4 or ouabain. This iodination plateaued after 2h and the apparent Km was 16.5 muM. This process was insensitive to thyrotropin and dibutyryl cyclic AMP. The major products were iodoprotein other then thyroglobulin and iodolipid and the yield of tetraiodothyronine was low. (3) Intracellular iodination from passively diffused iodide, which was not sensitive to inhibitors. Other characteristics of passive intracellular iodination were intermediate between active intracellular iodination and extracellular iodination. The fact that the three processes are inhibited by similar concentrations of methimazole, and their apparent Km values, when corrected for the concentrating effect of iodide trapping, are all of the same order as the Km of purified thyroid peroxidases, suggest that although their locations are different, the enzymic systems involved are identical. These results show that, besides an extracellular site of iodination, dispersed thyroid cells process an intracellular site of iodination with biochemical characteristics of physiological relevance.