Structure-function relationships in immobilized chymotrypsin catalysis

Specific activities and the amounts of active immobilized enzyme were determined for several different preparations of alpha-chymotrypsin immobilized on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of free and immobilized enzyme with a spin label coupled to the active site was used to probe the effects of different immobilization conditions on the immobilized enzyme active site configuration. Specific activity of active enzyme decreased and rotational correlation time of the spin label increased with increasing immobilized enzyme loading. Enzyme immobilized using an intermediate six-carbon spacer arm exhibited greater specific activity and spin label mobility than directly coupled enzyme. The observed activity changes due to immobilization were completely consistent with corresponding active site structure alterations revealed by EPR spectroscopy.     

Structure-function relationships in immobilized chymotrypsin catalysis

Specific activities and the amounts of active immobilized enzyme were determined for several different preparations of alpha-chymotrypsin immobilized on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of free and immobilized enzyme with a spin label coupled to the active site was used to probe the effects of different immobilization conditions on the immobilized enzyme active site configuration. Specific activity of active enzyme decreased and rotational correlation time of the spin label increased with increasing immobilized enzyme loading. Enzyme immobilized using an intermediate six-carbon spacer arm exhibited greater specific activity and spin label mobility than directly coupled enzyme. The observed activity changes due to immobilization were completely consistent with corresponding active site structure alterations revealed by EPR spectroscopy.     

Immobilization of Bacillus subtilis oxalate decarboxylase on a Zn-IMAC resin

Oxalate decarboxylase, a bicupin enzyme coordinating two essential manganese ions per subunit, catalyzes the decomposition of oxalate into carbon dioxide and formate in the presence of oxygen. Current efforts to elucidate its catalytic mechanism are focused on EPR studies of the Mn. We report on a new immobilization strategy linking the enzyme's N-terminal His₆-tag to a Zn-loaded immobilized metal affinity resin. Activity is lowered somewhat due to the expected crowding effect. High-field EPR spectra of free and immobilized enzyme show that the resin affects the coordination environment of the active site Mn ions only minimally. The immobilized preparation was used to study the effect of varying pH on the same sample. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles lead to break down of the resin beads and some enzyme loss from the sample. However, the EPR signal increases due to higher packing efficiency on the sample column.     

Saturation-transfer electron paramagnetic resonance detection of anisotropic motion by sickle hemoglobin molecules in the polymer state

The motional behavior of spin-labeled deoxygenated sickle hemoglobin has been studied by using both 9- and 35-GHz saturation-transfer electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Using spectral subtraction techniques and saturation-transfer EPR parameter correlation plots, we find that the saturation-transfer EPR spectra for the sickle hemoglobin gel state at high temperature and high hemoglobin concentration cannot be described as a simple superposition of spectra from immobilized hemoglobin plus solution-state hemoglobin but instead suggest that the individual sickle hemoglobin molecules exhibit limited, anisotropic, rotational oscillation within the polymer fiber. The spectra also imply that the symmetry axis for sickle hemoglobin rotational oscillation is approximately coincident with the nitroxide z axis of the covalently attached spin-label. We suggest that this anisotropic rotational motion may be produced by one or two of the known intermolecular contact sites within the sickle hemoglobin fiber acting as strong intermolecular binding sites, and producing "motional alignment" within the fiber; determining the location of the strong binding site should be important in focusing the future development of antisickling agents.     

A tyrosine-derived free radical in apogalactose oxidase

Oxidation of apogalactose oxidase with ferricyanide leads to the formation of a stable free radical exhibiting distinctive optical absorption and EPR spectral features. The radical is associated with absorption in both near-UV and near-IR spectral regions, and its EPR spectrum is characteristic of an aromatic free radical with gav = 2.005. Reconstitution of both the apoenzyme and the free radical-containing form with copper substantially restores both the absorption spectra and the catalytic activity of the active enzyme, indicating that the preparation of the radical species does not significantly damage the protein. The absence of a free radical EPR signal in reconstituted and activated galactose oxidase containing nearly stoichiometric copper suggests the radical is an active site species relating to the free radical-coupled copper site previously proposed for this enzyme. Isotopic labeling experiments demonstrate that the radical derives from a tyrosine residue. The distinctive spectra associated with this radical indicate an environment which is different from that associated with the tyrosyl phenoxyl sites in other free radical enzymes.     

Analysis of thiol-topography in Na,K-ATPase using labelling with different maleimide nitroxide derivatives.

Spin-label EPR spectroscopy of shark rectal gland Na,K-ATPase modified at cysteine residues with a variety of maleimide-nitroxide derivatives is used to characterize the different classes of sulphydryl groups. The spin-labelled derivatives vary with respect to charge and lipophilicity, and the chemical reactivity towards modification and inactivation of the Na,K-ATPase is dependent on these properties. Ascorbate is used to reduce the spin-labels in situ, and the kinetics of reduction of the protein-bound spin-labels are found also to depend on the nature of the maleimide-nitroxide derivative. The Na,K-ATPase is labelled either at Class I groups (with retention of enzymatic activity) or at Class II groups (where the enzymatic activity is lost). Although Class I groups are labelled more readily than are Class II groups they are only slightly more susceptible to reduction by ascorbate than the Class II groups, indicating no major difference in environment. The spectral difference observed between immobilized and mobile spin-labels with both Class I and Class II groups labelling is not reflected in widely different reduction kinetics for these two spectral components. Solubilization of the enzyme in an active form does not change the protein structure in terms of increased accessibility of the SH-groups to reduction by ascorbate. The results are discussed in terms of the location of the different SH-groups and the origins of the differences in mobility evident in the EPR spectra of the spin-labelled SH-groups.     

Deactivation kinetics of immobilized alpha-chymotrypsin subpopulations

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been applied in concert with measurements of catalytic activity and the quantity of active immobilized protein to study the deactivation in 50% n-propanol of alpha-chymotrypsin immobilized on CNBr-Sepharose 4B. These analyses focus on the behavior of two distinct active forms of immobilized enzyme, designated here A and B, identified in previous studies. Raw data provided by EPR spectroscopy clearly show that the relative quantities of active chymotrypsin-A and active chymotrypsin-B change as a result of exposure to alcohol, with the relative quantity of the B form increasing with time. These and additional results provide evidence that the distribution of A and B forms is a function of active enzyme loading but independent of the means used to obtain the loading. Different kinetic models in conjunction with experimental observations consistently indicate that the activity of enzyme form B, by far the more active enzyme form, does not change significantly during the initial 60 min of catalyst deactivation but then decreases appreciably.     

Immobilization of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase by non-covalent binding to specific antibodies and Fab-fragments coupled to Sepharose]

Rabbit antibodies to rat skeletal muscle glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, as well as monovalent Fab fragments of these antibodies were coupled to CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. Rat skeletal muscle glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was then immobilized on a matrix by non-covalent binding to specific antibodies. Immobilized enzyme retains approximately 90% catalytic activity of the soluble dehydrogenase; pH optimum of activity and the Km value observed are changed as compared to the enzyme in solution. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase immobilized on specific antibodies is shown to undergo adenine nucleotide-induced dissociation into dimers. The immobilized dimeric form of the enzyme thus obtained is catalytically active and capable of reassociating with the dimers of apoglyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase added in solution to the suspension of Sepharose.     

Labile conformation of type 2 Cu2+ centres in human ceruloplasmin.

1. The investigation of human ceruloplasmin by spectral methods (EPR and spectrophotometry) demonstrated that type 2 Cu2(+)-containing centres occur not in one, but in two stable forms, differing in EPR and optical spectra. The differential optical spectra of these forms were recorded and the differences in molar absorption coefficients determined. 2. By the EPR method, it was shown that both forms of these centres exist in the blood serum of control donors, as well as in the serum of patients. The relative content of these forms depends on the organism physiological state or on the presence of some pathological condition. 3. The ferroxidase activity of ceruloplasmin against hemoglobin was proved spectrophotometrically. The involvement of other serum proteins in this process cannot be ruled out. The conformational state of ceruloplasmin molecules plays an essential role in its oxidase activity.     

On the location of active serines of membrane acetylcholinesterase studied by the ESR method.

1. An attempt was made to find out the causes of the discrepancy between the ESR spectra of membrane acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) obtained by Morrisett and co-workers and those obtained by the present authors. 2. In order to see whether the discrepancy was due to the different spin-labeling procedures, the same membrane acetylcholinesterase preparations were spin-labeled with the same compound, using the two different spin-labeling procedures. The enzyme activity was determined with pH-static titration and the ESR spectra recorded. 3. It was found that after spin-labeling according to Morrisett and co-workers, there were from 10-100 times more spin-label molecules bound to the enzyme preparations than there were active serines in them. 4. Using the method of Morrisett and co-workers, the majority of spin-label molecules was found to be bound to sites outside the active serines whereas the spin-labeling procedures of the present authors proved to be selective for active serines; the discrepancy in ESR spectra is explained.     

NO binding and dynamics in reduced heme-copper oxidases aa3 from Paracoccus denitrificans and ba3 from Thermus thermophilus

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) has a high affinity for nitric oxide (NO), a property involved in the regulation of respiration. It has been shown that the recombination kinetics of photolyzed NO with reduced CcO from Paracoccus denitrificans on the picosecond time scale depend strongly on the NO/enzyme stoichiometry and inferred that more than one NO can be accommodated by the active site, already at mildly suprastoichiometric NO concentrations. We have largely extended these studies by monitoring rebinding dynamics from the picosecond to the microsecond time scale, by performing parallel steady-state low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterizations on samples prepared similarly as for the optical experiments and comparing them with molecular-modeling results. A comparative study was performed on CcO ba(3) from Thermus thermophilus, where two NO molecules cannot be copresent in the active site in the steady state because of its NO reductase activity. The kinetic results allow discrimination between different models of NO-dependent recombination and show that the overall NO escape probability out of the protein is high when only one NO is bound to CcO aa(3), whereas strong rebinding on the 15-ns time scale was observed for CcO ba(3). The EPR characterizations show similar results for aa(3) at substoichiometric NO/enzyme ratios and for ba(3), indicating formation of a 6-coordinate heme-NO complex. The presence of a second NO molecule in the aa(3) active site strongly modifies the heme-NO EPR spectrum and can be rationalized by a rotation of the Fe-N-O plane with respect to the histidine that coordinates the heme iron. This proposal is supported by molecular-modeling studies that indicate a approximately 63 degrees rotation of heme-bound NO upon binding of a second NO to the close-lying copper center CuB. It is argued that the second NO binds to CuB.     

Protein structure and bioluminescent spectra for firefly bioluminescence

Modern theory on general and specific effects of microenvironment on emission spectra was used for explanation of spectral differences for both natural and mutant forms of beetle luciferases, as well as for bioluminescence emitter oxyluciferin in model systems. For the analysis, both authors' and other published data were used. It was shown that active site mutations that resulted in spectral shifts of bioluminescence as a rule caused substantial decrease in the catalytic activity of the enzyme. At the same time, mutations in the conservative regions of the protein amino acid sequence that were in the periphery of the protein globe resulted in red shift of the bioluminescence spectra without affecting catalytic activity. Correlation was observed between the value of spectral shift and polarizability of the introduced amino acid residue: the higher the polarizability, the larger was the red shift of bioluminescence. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence for a mu-oxo-bridged binuclear iron cluster in the hydroxylase component of methane monooxygenase. M?ssbauer and EPR studies

M?ssbauer and EPR studies of a highly active hydroxylase component of methane monooxygenase isolated from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b are reported. The M?ssbauer spectra of the oxidized (as isolated) hydroxylase show iron in a diamagnetic cluster containing an even number of Fe3+ sites. The parameters are consistent with an antiferromagnetically coupled binuclear cluster similar to those of hemerythrin and purple acid phosphatases. Upon partial reduction of the hydroxylase, an S = 1/2 EPR spectrum with g values at 1.94, 1.86, and 1.75 (gav = 1.85) is observed. Such spectra are characteristic of oxo-bridged iron dimers in the mixed valent Fe(II).Fe(III) state. Further reduction leads to the appearance of a novel EPR resonance at g = 15. Comparison with an inorganic model compound for mu-oxo-bridged binuclear iron suggests that the g = 15 signal is characteristic of the doubly reduced state of the cluster in the protein. In this state, the M?ssbauer spectra exhibit two quadrupole doublets typical of high spin Fe2+, consistent with the Fe(II).Fe(II) form of the cluster. The spectral features of the iron center of the hydroxylase in three oxidation states are all similar to those reported for mu-oxo (or mu-hydroxo)-bridged binuclear iron clusters. Since no known monooxygenase contains such a cluster, a new oxygenase mechanism is suggested. Three different preparative methods yielded hydroxylases spanning a 9-fold range in specific activity, yet the same cluster concentration and spectral characteristics were observed. Thus, other parameters than those measured here have a major influence on the activity.     

Ligand interactions with galactose oxidase: mechanistic insights.

Interactions between galactose oxidase and small molecules have been explored using a combination of optical absorption, circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies to detect complex formation and characterize the products. Anions bind directly to the cupric center in both active and inactive galactose oxidase, converting to complexes with optical and EPR spectra that are distinctly different from those of the starting aquo enzyme. Azide binding is coupled to stoichiometric proton uptake by the enzyme, reflecting the generation of a strong base (pKa > 9) in the active site anion adduct. At low temperature, the aquo enzyme converts to a form that exhibits the characteristic optical and EPR spectra of an anion complex, apparently reflecting deprotonation of the coordinated water. Anion binding results in a loss of the optical transition arising from coordinated tyrosine, implying displacement of the axial tyrosine ligand on forming the adduct. Nitric oxide binds to galactose oxidase, forming a specific complex exhibiting an unusual EPR spectrum with all g values below 2. The absence of Cu splitting in this spectrum and the observation that the cupric EPR signal from the active site metal ion is not significantly decreased in the complex suggest a nonmetal interaction site for NO in galactose oxidase. These results have been interpreted in terms of a mechanistic scheme where substrate binding displaces a tyrosinate ligand from the active site cupric ion, generating a base that may serve to deprotonate the coordinated hydroxyl group of the substrate, activating it for oxidation. The protein-NO interactions may probe a nonmetal O2 binding site in this enzyme.     

Catalytic properties and active-site structural features of immobilized horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase

Alcohol dehydrogenase from horse liver was immobilized by covalent attachment to CNBr-Sepharose and by adsorption to octyl-Sepharose CL-4B, a hydrophobic analog of Sepharose. In each case, rate constants for the binding and release of coenzyme and for the oxidation of substrates were measured based on the concentration of accessible active-site zinc atoms determined by titration with a paramagnetic inhibitor. All rate constants were substantially reduced upon immobilization; however, the rate constant of immobilized enzyme for ethanol oxidation was independent of the immobilization method, whereas the rate constant for cyclohexanol oxidation was lower for enzyme immobilized to octyl-Sepharose. Consequently, the substrate specificity of the two immobilized enzyme samples differed by an order of magnitude. Moreover, EPR spectroscopy studies and computer graphic analyses of spin labels occupying three defined regions of the active-site domain indicated that the active-site conformation adjacent to the catalytic zinc atom was similar in the two samples while the conformation slightly further from the zinc atom was different. This result may explain why the two immobilized enzyme preparations exhibited the same rate constant toward a small substrate (ethanol) yet different rate constants toward a larger substrate (cyclohexanol), whose rate constant is expected to be sensitive to a larger portion of the active site.     

Immobilized active monomers of D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from rabbit skeletal muscles and their coenzyme-binding properties

Experimental conditions favouring the dissociation of tetrameric rabbit muscle D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase into active monomers were elaborated. The urea-induced dissociation of the tetramer was shown to be a stepwise process (in 2 M urea only dimers are formed; an increase in urea concentration up to 3 M causes the splitting of the dimers into monomers). The specific activity of immobilized monomers in the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate oxidation reaction does not differ from that of the parent immobilized tetrameric form. The tetrameric enzyme molecule binds the coenzyme with a negative cooperativity (the first two NAD+ molecules bind with KD below 0.1 microM; for the third and fourth molecules the dissociation constant was determined to be equal to 5.5 +/- 1.5 microM (50 mM medinal buffer, 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 8.2). The cooperativity of NAD+ binding is preserved in the immobilized preparation of tetrameric dehydrogenase. The immobilized monomers bind NAD+ with KD of 1.6 +/- 1.0 microM. The experimental results are consistent with the hypothesis according to which the association of catalytically active subunits into a tetramer changes their coenzyme-binding properties in such a way that the first two NAD+ molecules bind more firmly to a tetramer than to a monomer, whereas the third and the fourth NAD+ molecules bind less firmly.     

Isopycnic-centrifugation studies in caesium chloride and in caesium sulphate on dermatan sulphate proteoglycans from bovine sclera

1. Frog epidermis tyrosinase was coupled to Sepharose activated with low concentrations of CNBr. The tetrameric form of the enzyme was linked to the matrix via its subunits. Dissociation of the bound active enzyme with guanidinium chloride yielded an active immobilized dimeric derivative. 2. Immobilized dimeric derivative was able to interact with soluble subunits formed transiently during renaturation. An 85% recovery of the native dopa oxidase specific activity was achieved after hybridization. 3. Fluorescence spectra of different immobilized derivatives suggested that tryptophan residues were involved in the interactions between tyrosinase subunits. 4. It is suggested that the activation of the subunits of tyrosinase involves a conformational change towards a more unfolded state, which favours a reassociation to the dimeric active state.     

Succinate and phenylsuccinate as modifiers of sulfhydryl groups of inner mitochondrial membrane protein. Study by EPR

Paramagnetic labels specific for sulfhydryl (SH) groups have been used to study the conformational changes of the inner mitochondrial membrane. The EPR spectra of the SH-groups spin-labeled with maleimide or iodoacetamide show the existence of two populations of sulfhydryl groups, differing in their mobility (one weakly, the other strongly immobilized). The incubation with succinate or phenylsuccinate decreased the binding of these labels of the weakly immobilized sites while the number of total SH groups was the same before and after the incubation. These results suggest that succinate or phenylsuccinate induce a reversible change in protein conformation or in protein arrangement within the inner mitochondrial membrane. This change is concomitant to the protein movement between inner membrane and perimembranal space induced by either of these two molecules.     

Spectral characteristics of the mechanism of oxidase activity of ceruloplasmin

The absorbance and EPR spectra of type 1 and 2 copper-binding centres which are present in ceruloplasmin (Cp) molecule were shown to disappear upon the reduction of the enzyme by ascorbate under anaerobic conditions. The fluorescence band attributed to type 3 Cu was altered concomitantly. The electron-accepting nitroxyl radical added to reduced Cp restored the absorbance, EPR and fluorescence spectra of the oxidase. Only type 1 and 3 copper ions, as judged by spectral changes, can be reduced by ascorbate and then reoxidized by the nitroxyl radical in the azide-treated Cp. The spectral properties of Cp provided by copper ions of different types change simultaneously and concordantly upon oxidation/reduction. This seems to be caused by cooperative interaction of these ions involved in the electron transfer from the donating substrate to the accepting molecule of the nitroxyl radical (in model studies of oxidase reaction) or oxygen (under natural conditions). The copper ions in the active centre of Cp constitute an intramolecular electron transport chain, which may, at least in vitro, function without one of its links.