Production and characterization of a monoclonal antibody to rat liver thiol: protein-disulfide oxidoreductase/glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase

Rat liver thiol:protein-disulfide oxidoreductase/glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase (glutathione:protein disulfide oxidoreductase, EC 1.8.4.2) was purified and found to give two bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A monoclonal antibody was produced against this enzyme preparation and found to remove all the insulin degrading activity of purified preparations of the enzyme. This monoclonal antibody was also found to react with the two different forms of the enzyme observed on gel electrophoresis. These results suggest that glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase can exist in more than one state.     

Evidence for lysosomal reduction of cystine residues.

Previously reported evidence for the existence of a thiol: protein disulphide oxidoreductase in rat liver lysosomes has been re-examined and ambiguous results obtained. However, incubation of purified rat liver lysosomes with ¹²⁵I-labelled insulin at pH 5.5 shows that cathepsin D and a thiol-dependent enzyme other than cathepsin B or L are important in its digestion. The latter enzyme is most probably a thiol: protein disulphide oxidoreductase.     

Glucagon activation of the thiol:protein disulfide oxidoreductase in isolated, rat, hepatic microsomes

The hepatic, microsomal, thiol:protein disulfide oxidoreductase catalyzes the glutathione (GSH) reduction of protein disulfides to sulfhydryl groups. In the presence of physiological concentrations of glucagon this activity increased from 2.3 to 6.4 fold in isolated microsomes. The stimulation had a P50 for glucagon of 7.8 X 10(-10) M which was only observed at microsomal protein concentrations of less than 100 micrograms/ml and in the presence of a GSH reducing system. This latter observation suggests that the stimulation may be inhibited by the presence of oxidized glutathione. These data support the hypothesis that glucagon may act in part by stimulating the reduction of protein disulfides by the thiol:protein disulfide oxidoreductase.     

A Mutation in Flavobacterium psychrophilum tlpB Inhibits Gliding Motility and Induces Biofilm Formation

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a psychrotrophic, fish-pathogenic bacterium belonging to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group. Tn4351-induced mutants deficient in gliding motility, growth on iron-depleted media, and extracellular proteolytic activity were isolated. Some of these mutants were affected in only one of these characteristics, whereas others had defects in two or more. FP523, a mutant deficient in all of these properties, was studied further. FP523 had a Tn4351 insertion in tlpB (thiol oxidoreductase-like protein gene), which encodes a 41.4-kDa protein whose sequence does not exhibit high levels of similar to the sequences of proteins having known functions. TlpB has two domains; the N-terminal domains has five transmembrane regions, whereas the C-terminal domains has the Cys-X-X-Cys motif and other conserved motifs characteristic of thiol:disulfide oxidoreductases. Quantitative analysis of the thiol groups of periplasmic proteins revealed that TlpB is required for reduction of these groups. The tlpB gene is part of the fpt (F. psychrophilum thiol oxidoreductase) operon that contains two other genes, tlpA and tpiA, which encode a thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase and a triosephosphate isomerase, respectively. FP523 exhibited enhanced biofilm formation and decreased virulence and cytotoxicity. Complementation with the tlpB loci restored the wild-type phenotype. Gliding motility and biofilm formation appear to be antagonistic properties, which are both affected by TlpB.     

Crystallization and initial crystallographic analysis of the disulfide bond isomerase DsbC in complex with the alpha domain of the electron transporter DsbD

The protein disulfide bond isomerase DsbC catalyzes the rearrangement of incorrect disulfide bonds during oxidative protein folding in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. The active site cysteines of DsbC are maintained in the active reduced form by the transmembrane electron transporter DsbD. DsbD obtains electrons from the cytoplasm, transports them across the inner membrane, and passes them onto periplasmic substrates, such as DsbC. The electron transport process involves several thiol disulfide exchange reactions between different classes of thiol oxidoreductase. We were able to trap the final electron transport reaction using active site mutants yielding a stable DsbC-DsbDalpha complex. This disulfide cross-linked complex was purified to homogeneity and crystallized. Dehydration of the tetragonal crystals changed the unit cell dimensions from a approximately b = 73 A, c = 267.5 A to a = b = 68.9 A, c = 230.3 A, reducing the cell volume by 23% and the solvent content from 55 to 41%. Crystal dehydration and cryo-cooling improved the diffraction quality of the crystals from 7 to 2.3 A resolution.     

The nature of the multiple forms of bovine thiol:protein disulfide oxidoreductase

Preparations of thiol"protein disulfide oxidoreductase from bovine liver were shown to be homogeneous by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, sedimentation equilibrium centrifugation and NH2-terminal analysis (Carmichael et al., 1977). When the enzyme was subjected to prolonged storage at -20 degrees, freeze-thawing, or heating at 60 degrees, at least one new protein species was observed using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The new protein results from dimerization of the enzyme. The dmier consisted of two monomers held together by an intermolecular disulfide bond. The formation of this dimer can be reversed and partially prevented by thiols.     

Regulation of hormonal and secretory granule membrane disulfides by adenohypophysial gluthion: disulfide oxidoreductase

An NADPH-dependent glutathione: disulfide oxidoreductase (thiol-transferase) has been identified in and partially purified (12.3-fold) from adenohypophysial cytosol. The enzyme is specific for NADPH and reduced glutatione, but the disulfide substrates include a wide size range (glutathione, cystine, RNase, oxytocin, vasopressin, monomeric and oligomeric growth hormone and prolactin). It also utilizes secretory granule membrane proteins. Substrate specificity studies (including utilization of cystine and failure to utilize insulin) and physico-chemical properties (M.W. 180,000) distinguish this enzyme from other glutathione: disulfide oxidoreductases. This thioltransferase may play a regulatory role in the hormone secretory process by control of the thiol: disulfide oxidation state of disulfide-bonded oligomers or of granule membrane proteins.     

Carnitine medium/long chain acyltransferase of microsomes seems to be the previously cloned ∼54 kDa protein of unknown function

A microsomal protein having N-terminal amino acid sequence SDVLELTDEN, was initially described as a phosphatidyl inositol-specific phospholipase C when its cDNA was cloned (Bennettet al., Nature, 334, 268, 1988). Later, this protein, with an estimated molecular mass of 54 to 60 kDa, was shown to lack the phospholipase activity and instead a protein disulfide oxidoreductase and a thiol protease activities were ascribed to it. Following evidences indicated that the protein in question is the carnitine medium/long chain acyltransferase (CPT) of microsomes that was recently purified as a 54 kDa protein (Murthy and Bieber, Protein Exp. Purif. 3, 75, 1992). First, the N-terminal amino acids of the microsomal CPT showed 100% homology to the sequence described above. Second, during purification of this CPT, the oxidoreductase and the thiol protease activities of the microsomes became separated from the CPT and these other activities were not found in the 900 fold enriched CPT preparations. Third, an antibody to this protein did not immunoprecipitate oxidoreductase of the solubilized microsomal extract but precipitated the CPT. This same protein has been studied by others as the ERp61 (endoplasmic reticulum protein), GRP58 (glucose regulated protein), and HIP-70 (hormone induced protein) but its function was not identified.     

Extensive destruction of newly synthesized casein in mammary explants in organ culture

A new GSSG-dependent thiol:disulphide oxidoreductase was extensively purified from rat liver cytosol. The enzymic protein shows molecular weight 40 000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, and 43 000 as determined by thin-layer gel filtration on Bio-Gel P-100. The pI is 8.1. This enzyme converts rat liver xanthine dehydrogenase into an oxidase, in the presence of oxidized glutathione. Other disulphide compounds are either inactive or far less active than oxidized glutathione in the enzymic oxidation of rat liver xanthine dehydrogenase. The enzyme also catalyses the reduction of the disulphide bond of ricin and acts as a thioltransferase and as a GSH:insulin transhydrogenase. The enzymic activity was measured in various organs of newborn and adult rats.     

Tissue Distribution of ERp61 and Association of Its Increased Expression with IgG Production in Hybridoma Cells

A protein of molecular weight 60 kDa was purified from the culture medium of a murine colon carcinoma cell line, colon26, and its partial amino-acid sequence determined. Extremely high homology was found with the deduced sequence from cDNA of rat ERp61, earlier found to be an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein with redox activity and a similar structure to protein disulfide isomerase (PDI). Western blotting analysis showed that colon26 cells secrete a significant amount of ERp61 into culture medium, although most remains intracellular. The thiol:protein disulfide oxidoreductase activity of the purified mouse ERp61 was demonstrated by insulin-reduction assay. The ER location of the protein in fibroblasts was immunocytochemically confirmed by double staining for ERp61 and another ER-resident protein, PDI or Hsp47. Immunohistochemical studies of murine tissues showed a ubiquitous distribution of ERp61 in a wide variety of cell types. However, it was particularly abundant in plasma cells, mucus-secreting cells in various tissues, neuroendocrine cells including neurons, and follicular epithelia of thyroid gland that actively synthesize and secrete proteins containing cysteine residues. Furthermore, a high correlation was observed between intracellular amounts of ERp61 and immunoglobulin production by hybridoma cells. These results indicate that ERp61 may be involved in disulfide bond formation for such proteins.     

The thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase DsbB mediates the oxidizing effects of the toxic metalloid tellurite (TeO32-) on the plasma membrane redox system of the facultative phototroph Rhodobacter capsulatus

The highly toxic oxyanion tellurite (TeO3(2-)) is a well known pro-oxidant in mammalian and bacterial cells. This work examines the effects of tellurite on the redox state of the electron transport chain of the facultative phototroph Rhodobacter capsulatus, in relation to the role of the thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase DsbB. Under steady-state respiration, the addition of tellurite (2.5 mM) to membrane fragments generated an extrareduction of the cytochrome pool (c- and b-type hemes); further, in plasma membranes exposed to tellurite (0.25 to 2.5 mM) and subjected to a series of flashes of light, the rate of the QH2:cytochrome c (Cyt c) oxidoreductase activity was enhanced. The effect of tellurite was blocked by the antibiotics antimycin A and/or myxothiazol, specific inhibitors of the QH2:Cyt c oxidoreductase, and, most interestingly, the membrane-associated thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase DsbB was required to mediate the redox unbalance produced by the oxyanion. Indeed, this phenomenon was absent from R. capsulatus MD22, a DsbB-deficient mutant, whereas the tellurite effect was present in membranes from MD22/pDsbB(WT), in which the mutant gene was complemented to regain the wild-type DsbB phenotype. These findings were taken as evidence that the membrane-bound thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase DsbB acts as an "electron conduit" between the hydrophilic metalloid and the lipid-embedded Q pool, so that in habitats contaminated with subinhibitory amounts of Te(IV), the metalloid is likely to function as a disposal for the excess reducing power at the Q-pool level of facultative phototrophic bacteria.     

A mutation in Flavobacterium psychrophilum tlpB inhibits gliding motility and induces biofilm formation

Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a psychrotrophic, fish-pathogenic bacterium belonging to the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group. Tn4351-induced mutants deficient in gliding motility, growth on iron-depleted media, and extracellular proteolytic activity were isolated. Some of these mutants were affected in only one of these characteristics, whereas others had defects in two or more. FP523, a mutant deficient in all of these properties, was studied further. FP523 had a Tn4351 insertion in tlpB (thiol oxidoreductase-like protein gene), which encodes a 41.4-kDa protein whose sequence does not exhibit high levels of similar to the sequences of proteins having known functions. TlpB has two domains; the N-terminal domains has five transmembrane regions, whereas the C-terminal domains has the Cys-X-X-Cys motif and other conserved motifs characteristic of thiol:disulfide oxidoreductases. Quantitative analysis of the thiol groups of periplasmic proteins revealed that TlpB is required for reduction of these groups. The tlpB gene is part of the fpt (F. psychrophilum thiol oxidoreductase) operon that contains two other genes, tlpA and tpiA, which encode a thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase and a triosephosphate isomerase, respectively. FP523 exhibited enhanced biofilm formation and decreased virulence and cytotoxicity. Complementation with the tlpB loci restored the wild-type phenotype. Gliding motility and biofilm formation appear to be antagonistic properties, which are both affected by TlpB.     

Kinetics and specificity of homogeneous protein disulphide-isomerase in protein disulphide isomerization and in thiol-protein-disulphide oxidoreduction.

The protein disulphide-bond isomerization activity of highly active homogeneous protein disulphide-isomerase (measured by re-activation of 'scrambled' ribonuclease) is enhanced by EDTA and by phosphate buffers. As shown for previous less-active preparations, the enzyme has a narrow pH optimum around pH 7.8 and requires the presence of either a dithiol or a thiol. The dithiol dithiothreitol is effective at concentrations 100-fold lower than the monothiols reduced glutathione and cysteamine. The enzyme follows Michaelis-Menten kinetics with respect to these substrates; Km values are 4,620 and 380 microM respectively. The enzyme shows apparent inhibition by high concentrations of thiol or dithiol compounds (greater than 10 X Km), but the effect is mainly on the extent of reaction, not the initial rate. This is interpreted as indicating the formation of significant amounts of reduced ribonuclease in these more reducing conditions. The purified enzyme will also catalyse net reduction of insulin disulphide bonds by reduced glutathione (i.e. it has thiol:protein-disulphide oxidoreductase or glutathione:insulin transhydrogenase activity), but this requires considerably higher concentrations of enzyme and reduced glutathione than does the disulphide-isomerization activity. The Km for reduced glutathione in this reaction is an order of magnitude greater than that for the disulphide-isomerization activity, and the turnover number is considerably lower than that of other enzymes that can catalyse thiol-disulphide oxidoreduction. Conventional two-substrate steady-state analysis of the thiol:protein-disulphide oxidoreductase activity indicates that it follows a ternary-complex mechanism. The protein disulphide-isomerase and thiol:protein-disulphide oxidoreductase activities co-purify quantitatively through the final stages of purification, implying that a single protein species is responsible for both activities. It is concluded that previous preparations, from various sources, that have been referred to as protein disulphide-isomerase, disulphide-interchange enzyme, thiol:protein-disulphide oxidoreductase or glutathione:insulin transhydrogenase are identical or homologous proteins. The assay, nomenclature and physiological role of this enzyme are discussed.     

Complementation of DsbA deficiency with secreted thioredoxin variants reveals the crucial role of an efficient dithiol oxidant for catalyzed protein folding in the bacterial periplasm.

The thiol/disulfide oxidoreductase DsbA is the strongest oxidant of the thioredoxin superfamily and is required for efficient disulfide bond formation in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. To determine the importance of the redox potential of the final oxidant in periplasmic protein folding, we have investigated the ability of the most reducing thiol/disulfide oxidoreductase, E.coli thioredoxin, of complementing DsbA deficiency when secreted to the periplasm. In addition, we secreted thioredoxin variants with increased redox potentials as well as the catalytic a-domain of human protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) to the periplasm. While secreted wild-type thioredoxin and the most reducing thioredoxin variant could not replace DsbA, all more oxidizing thioredoxin variants as well as the PDI a-domain could complement DsbA deficiency in a DsbB-dependent manner. There is an excellent agreement between the activity of the secreted thioredoxin variants in vivo and their ability to oxidize polypeptides fast and quantitatively in vitro. We conclude that the redox potential of the direct oxidant of folding proteins and in particular its reactivity towards reduced polypeptides are crucial for efficient oxidative protein folding in the bacterial periplasm.     

The sulfhydryl groups of the thiol-dependent cytolytic toxin from Bacillus alvei evidence for one essential sulfhydryl group

Alveolysin, an extracellular protein toxin (M_r ? 63,000) excreted by Bacillus alvei and purified to homogeneity was shown to contain four cysteine residues. All thiol groups of the hemolytically active toxin preparation were free as found by direct titration by 5,5′-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) and confirmed by the absence of disulfide bond. Toxin alkylation with tosyl lysine chloromethyl ketone resulted in the complete loss of hemolytic activity and the disappearance of only one thiol group with no modification of histidine residues. These results support the conclusion that one essential thiol group is implicated in the membrane-disrupting activity of alveolysin.     

Preferential binding of an unfolded protein to DsbA.

The oxidoreductase DsbA from the periplasm of escherichia coli introduces disulfide bonds into proteins at an extremely high rate. During oxidation, a mixed disulfide is formed between DsbA and the folding protein chain, and this covalent intermediate reacts very rapidly either to form the oxidized protein or to revert back to oxidized DsbA. To investigate its properties, a stable form of the intermediate was produced by reacting the C33A variant of DsbA with a variant of RNase T1. We find that in this stable mixed disulfide the conformational stability of the substrate protein is decreased by 5 kJ/mol, whereas the conformational stability of DsbA is increased by 5 kJ/mol. This reciprocal effect suggests strongly that DsbA interacts with the unfolded substrate protein not only by the covalent disulfide bond, but also by preferential non-covalent interactions. The existence of a polypeptide binding site explains why DsbA oxidizes protein substrates much more rapidly than small thiol compounds. Such a very fast reaction is probably important for protein folding in the periplasm, because the accessibility of the thiol groups for DsbA can decrease rapidly when newly exported polypeptide chains begin to fold.     

Purification and characterization of thiol proteinase inhibitor from rat liver

A thiol proteinase inhibitor was purified from rat liver by essentially the same procedure as reported previously (Kominami, E., Wakamatsu, N., and Katunuma, N. (1981) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 99, 568-575), but without heat treatment. The purified inhibitor appears homogeneous on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with and without sodium dodecyl sulfate and displayed no multiple forms. The inhibitor has Mr = 12,500 and contains 50.5% of polar amino acid residues, 9.3% aromatic amino acids, and no tryptophan. The presence of 2 half-cystines/molecule and the absence of free thiol groups indicate that the inhibitor possesses one disulfide bridges. The inhibitor inhibits cathepsin H by forming an enzyme-inhibitor complex in a molar ratio of 1:1. It inhibits most thiol proteinases such as cathepsin H, L, B, and C, papain, and ficin, but not calcium-activated neutral proteinase or serine proteinases or carboxyl proteinases. The inhibitor was found in various rat tissues. Immunological diffusion analysis with anti-liver thiol proteinase inhibitor serum indicated that the rat liver inhibitor is immunologically identical with the inhibitors from other rat tissues. On subcellular fractionation of rat liver, the thiol proteinase inhibitor was recovered in the cytosol fraction.     

Human liver acid phosphatases: Cysteine residues of the low-molecular-weight enzyme

The stoichiometry and the reactivity of the sulfhydryl groups of a human liver acid phosphatase have been studied. The smallest (M_r = 14,400) of the three molecular-weight forms of acid phosphatase from human liver, recently purified and characterized in our laboratory, was treated with various sulfhydryl group-specific reagents: p-hydroxymercuribenzoate, p-hydroxymercuriphenylsulfonate, fluorescein mercuriacetate, methyl methanethiosulfonate, p-nitrophenoxycarbonyl methyl disulfide, and thiosulfate. A total loss of enzymatic activity was obtained in each case. By spectrophotometric titration with 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) and p-hydroxymercuriphenylsulfonate it was shown that there are six free sulfhydryls per protein molecule, consistent with the amino acid analysis of this enzyme. The same number was deduced as a result of inactivation studies carried out with p-hydroxymercuribenzoate and p-hydroxymercuriphenylsulfonate. A total loss of activity was obtained at reagent to enzyme ratios of 6:1 in both cases. Similar results were obtained upon inactivation by p-nitrophenoxycarbonyl methyl disulfide, where the enzyme was found to possess only 10% residual activity at an inhibitor-to-enzyme ratio of 6:1. With fluorescein mercuriacetate as an inactivator, total loss of activity was found at a 2.5 times molar excess of this reagent over protein. Both the stoichiometry of inactivation and fluorescence titration experiments suggest that fluorescein mercuriacetate can function as a bifunctional sulfhydryl group reagent. The activity of a totally inactivated enzyme preparation obtained following reaction with excess of p-nitrophenoxycarbonyl methyl disulfide or with methyl methanethiolsulfonate could be almost completely restored upon treatment with dithiothreitol. These data are consistent with the interpretation that in each enzyme molecule, there are six free sulfhydryl groups of almost equal reactivity, at least one of which is essential for enzymatic activity.     

Molecular Mechanisms of Glutaredoxin Enzymes: Versatile Hubs for Thiol–Disulfide Exchange between Protein Thiols and Glutathione

The tripeptide glutathione (GSH) and its oxidized form glutathione disulfide (GSSG) constitute a key redox couple in cells. In particular, they partner protein thiols in reversible thiol–disulfide exchange reactions that act as switches in cell signaling and redox homeostasis. Disruption of these processes may impair cellular redox signal transduction and induce redox misbalances that are linked directly to aging processes and to a range of pathological conditions including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. Glutaredoxins are a class of GSH-dependent oxidoreductase enzymes that specifically catalyze reversible thiol–disulfide exchange reactions between protein thiols and the abundant thiol pool GSSG/GSH. They protect protein thiols from irreversible oxidation, regulate their activities under a variety of cellular conditions and are key players in cell signaling and redox homeostasis. On the other hand, they may also function as metal-binding proteins with a possible role in the cellular homeostasis and metabolism of essential metals copper and iron. However, the molecular basis and underlying mechanisms of glutaredoxin action remain elusive in many situations. This review focuses specifically on these aspects in the context of recent developments that illuminate some of these uncertainties.     

Oxidative Activity of Yeast Ero1p on Protein Disulfide Isomerase and Related Oxidoreductases of the Endoplasmic Reticulum

The sulfhydryl oxidase Ero1 oxidizes protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), which in turn catalyzes disulfide formation in proteins folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The extent to which other members of the PDI family are oxidized by Ero1 and thus contribute to net disulfide formation in the ER has been an open question. The yeast ER contains four PDI family proteins with at least one potential redox-active cysteine pair. We monitored the direct oxidation of each redox-active site in these proteins by yeast Ero1p in vitro. In this study, we found that the Pdi1p amino-terminal domain was oxidized most rapidly compared with the other oxidoreductase active sites tested, including the Pdi1p carboxyl-terminal domain. This observation is consistent with experiments conducted in yeast cells. In particular, the amino-terminal domain of Pdi1p preferentially formed mixed disulfides with Ero1p in vivo, and we observed synthetic lethality between a temperature-sensitive Ero1p variant and mutant Pdi1p lacking the amino-terminal active-site disulfide. Thus, the amino-terminal domain of yeast Pdi1p is on a preferred pathway for oxidizing the ER thiol pool. Overall, our results provide a rank order for the tendency of yeast ER oxidoreductases to acquire disulfides from Ero1p.