Thyroid hormonogenesis. Identification of a sequence containing iodophenyl donor site(s) in calf thyroglobulin

The formation of dehydroalanine in thyroglobulin is the result of the side chain elimination of an iodophenyl group during the thyroid hormone formation from two iodotyrosyl residues. This amino acid is easily converted to labeled alanine (upon reduction with [3H] borohydride) or changed to labeled aspartic acid (upon addition of Na14CN and subsequent acid hydrolysis). The cleavage of the protein by CNBr produced many stainable electrophoretic bands, but the autoradiography indicated the presence of a much smaller number of radioactive species. Although three major species raised attention, because they could be all jointly labeled and were present in all preparations, only a species of 15,900 Da was fully studied. It was isolated and its sequence partially determined by Edman degradation. It was established that this species corresponded to the thyroglobulin fragment between methionines 2,432 and 2,578. This peptide contains two hormonogenic sites (positions 2,555 and 2,569) which are either tyrosyl residues or hormone residues arising from them, and five additional tyrosines all potentially involved as donor sites in the hormonogenesis. Upon treatment with N-chlorosuccinimide, the fragment was split into three smaller peptides of about 2,900, 8,500, and 4,600 Da containing 1, 2, and 2 tyrosyl residues, respectively. Only the 8,500-Da subfragment contained [3H]Ala. This finding strongly suggests that at least some of the tyrosines involved as donor sites in thyroid hormonogenesis are within this peptide and possibly map at positions 2,469 and/or 2,522. Moreover, at minimum levels of iodination, when thyroglobulin contains the lowest number of hormone molecules, dehydroalanine is mostly found in the 15,900-Da peptide.     

Consensus sequences for early iodination and hormonogenesis in human thyroglobulin

Thyroglobulin from a human goiter, containing four atoms of iodine/molecule (660,000 daltons), was iodinated with Na 125I and KI in vitro to achieve a net addition of either 2 or 7.8 atoms of iodine/molecule. After fractionation by high performance liquid chromatography, iodinated tryptic peptides from S-cyanoethylated 125I-thyroglobulin were purified, sequenced, characterized by [125I]iodoamino acid distribution, and localized within thyroglobulins primary structure based upon the published cDNA sequence, (Malthiery, Y., and Lissitsky, S. (1987) Eur. J. Biochem. 165, 491-498). The addition of 2 atoms of iodine/molecule of thyroglobulin produced iodotyrosyls at five principal sites, with no 125I-hormone formation. The addition of 7.8 atoms iodinated the same sites more heavily, produced iodotyrosyls at 10 additional sites, and formed iodothyronines at 5 sites. After addition of 2 atoms of iodine, tyrosyl 24 and 11% of thyroglobulins 125I, while tyrosyl 2572 had 24%, but with 7.8 added atoms of iodine, tyrosyl 24 had more of the thyroglobulins [125I]iodothyronine (36 versus 26%). Since tyrosyls 149, 866, and 1466 were iodinated early but did not form the inner rings of iodothyronines, they are attractive candidates for donors of outer iodothyronyl rings. The sequences around the iodotyrosyls fall into three consensus groups, as follows: 1) Glu/Asp-Tyr, associated with synthesis of thyroxine (residues 24, 2572, and 1309), or iodotyrosine (residues 2586 and 991); 2) Ser/Thr-Tyr-Ser, associated with synthesis of iodothyronine (residue 2765) and iodotyrosine (1466 and 883); and 3) Glu-X-Tyr, 7 of the remaining 8 iodotyrosyls occur in this sequence, and we found iodine incorporation at each place this sequence appears in the thyroglobulin molecule. Iodine has been found at homologues of most of these sites in thyroglobulins of other species. We conclude that the primary structure of thyroglobulin, and particularly these consensus sequences, have a major role in the formation of thyroid hormones and their iodinated precursors.     

Iodinated phospholipids and the iodination of proteins of dog thyroid gland in vitro

Slices of dog thyroid gland were incubated with liposomes consisting of (125)I-labelled phosphatidylcholine (the iodine was covalently linked to unsaturated fatty acyl chains). The (125)I label of (125)I-labelled liposomes was incorporated into thyroid protein and/or thyroglobulin at a higher rate than was the (131)I label of either Na(131)I or (131)I(2). The iodine was shown to be protein-bound by the co-migration of the labelled iodine with protein under conditions where free iodine, iodide and lipid-bound iodine were removed from protein. The uptake of iodine from the iodinated phospholipid was probably due to phospholipid exchange between the iodinated liposomes and the thyroid cell membrane, since (a) (14)C-labelled phospholipid was metabolized to (14)CO(2) and (b) many lipids in the tissue slice became (14)C-labelled. A very strong inhibition of iodide ;uptake' from Na(131)I, caused by thiosulphate, produced only a minor inhibition of the incorporation of (125)I from (125)I-labelled liposomes into thyroid protein and/or thyroglobulin. This implies that free iodide may not necessarily be formed from the iodinated phospholipids before their entrance or utilization in the cell. Synthetic polytyrosine polypeptide suspensions showed some iodination by (131)I-labelled liposomes. In tissues with low tyrosine contents, such as liver and kidney, only a trace uptake was observed. Salivary gland showed some uptake. Endoplasmic reticulum of thyroid gland showed a higher iodine uptake than that of the corresponding plasma membranes. These experiments, together with the demonstration of the diet-dependent presence of iodinated phospholipids in dog thyroid, leads us to suggest that iodination of the membrane phospholipids of thyroid cells may be directly or indirectly involved at some stage in the synthesis of thyroglobulin, or exists as a scavenger mechanism, to re-utilize and/or recover released iodine from unstable compounds inside the thyroid cell.     

A rat liver system that catalyses a pyridoxal phosphate-independent αβ-elimination

1. A method is described for the trace iodination of immunoglobulins and other serum proteins by a system consisting of lactoperoxidase, hydrogen peroxide and iodide. 2. gammaG immunoglobulin that had been labelled to a specific radioactivity of 5muc/mug. by use of carrier-free [(125)I]iodide gave no evidence of denaturation when analysed by electrophoresis and density-gradient ultracentrifugation. 3. Tryptic hydrolysis and peptide ;mapping' of a completely characterized peptide radioiodinated by this method showed that the [(125)I]iodide was bound to tyrosyl residues. 4. Proteins differ in their susceptibility to iodination by this method. Human gammaG immunoglobulin, for example, is iodinated more than ten times as readily as is human alpha(2)-macroglobulin under the same conditions. 5. Lactoperoxidase catalyses the iodination of proteins much more readily than does horseradish peroxidase.     

In vitro synthesis of thyroxine in a low molecular weight polypeptide fragment from human thyroglobulin

A peptide fragment of Mr 16 K was purified from the cyanogen bromide digest of human thyroglobulin either normally iodinated in vivo (0.21 % I) or highly iodinated in vitro (1.40 % I). This peptide segment represents in the native molecule a zone in which tyrosine residues are not or poorly accessible to iodination and consequently do not produce thyroxine. In contrast, after isolation from thyroglobulin and iodination in vitro, the peptide is capable of synthesizing thyroxine with a high efficiency. It is concluded that the peptide described which probably represents a potential hormone forming site in the whole thyroglobulin molecule should constitute a valuable model to study the mechanism of thyroxine formation in vitro.     

Amino Acid Sequence of Cyanogen Bromide Fragment CB I from Ala Chain of Ricin D

The amino acid sequence of the cyanogen bromide (CNBr) fragment CB I from the Ala chain of ricin D, the largest of three CNBr fragments, was established by manual Edman degradation of the peptides obtained by tryptic, chymotryptic or peptic digestion of fragment CB I. The total number of amino acid residues of fragment CB I accounted for 140 (54%) out of 260 residues in the Ala chain of ricin D.     

Lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination of surface membrane lipids

Lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination of intact cells, is known to label predominantly, if not exclusively, the exposed tyrosine residues of cell surface proteins. The present study demonstrates that during this iodination process surface membrane lipids are also iodinated through an enzyme-dependent step. Phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol-phosphatidylcholine liposomes and confluent secondary cultures of chick embryo cells were iodinated by the lactoperoxidase-glucose oxidase-glucose [¹²⁵I] procedure. Liposomes were efficiently labeled. In the cells, 20–30% of the radioactivity was found in proteins and 20–30% in the lipids. Both neutral and polar lipids were found to bind [¹²⁵I] covalently. Controls in which lactoperoxidase was omitted showed < 6% of the radioactivity found in liposomes or cells labeled with the enzyme.     

Amino acid sequence of the VH region of a human myeloma immunoglobulin (IgG New).

The amino acid sequence of the heavy-chain variable region of the human immunoglobulin. New has been determined. Since the amino terminus of the heavy chain was blocked, the sequence of residues 1-69 was established by digesting the appropriate CNBr fragment separately with trypsin, chymotrypsin, and thermolysin and sequencing the resulting peptides. The region from residues 70 to 120 was present in another CNBr fragment which was submitted directly to automatic Edman degradation. The result of this experiment extended the sequence to residue 100. The primary structure of the remaining portion of the VH region was determined by automatic Edman degradation of a lysine-blocked tryptic peptide derived from this region which included residues 98-214. The sequence of the VH region of New corresponds most closely to VH sequences of proteins in the VH II subgroup. This primary structure makes it possible to construct a model from the high-resolution electron-density map of protein New.     

About insulin iodination: I. Monoidoination of insulin by horseradish peroxidase

Beef insulin has been iodinated according to an enzymic method. Labeled molecules have been separated quantitatively from the unlabeled ones on Ampholines. Results supplied by qualitative and quantitative studies of the distribution of iodine in the different tyrosyl residues showed that insulin was essentially iodinated on the tyrosyl residue A₁₉.     

Process of iodination of thyroglobulin and its maturation. I. Properties and distribution of thyroglobulin labeled with radioiodine in pig thyroid slices.

Pig thyroid slices were incubated with Na131I and the 17--19S 131I-labeled thyroglobulin isolated was subjected to dissociation with 0.3 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate SDS) on sucrose density gradient centrifugation and to iodoamino acid analysis. During the incubation, initially dissociable thyroglobulin was gradually altered to 0.3 mM SDS-resistant species with increasing incorporation of iodine. Microsome-bound, poorly iodinated thyroglobulin and preformed thyroglobulin were chemically iodinated and then subjected to analysis of dissociability and iodoamino acid contents with newly incorporated iodine. The results indicated that the behavior of the former thyroglobulin resembled that of 131I-thyroglobulin obtained from the slices. Then, thyroid slices were incubated for 3 min with Na131I and 3H-leucine with or without 10-min chase incubation. The sucrose density gradient centrifugation patterns of 131I and 3H-radioactivity of cytoplasmic extracts indicated that 131I-thyroglobulin is contained in particulates, especially in vesicles with low density(d=1.12) and that some of them are released into the soluble fraction within 10 min. The vesicles contained peroxidase and NADH-cytochrome c reductase, and are probably exocytotic vesicles in the apical area of cytoplasm of follicular cells. No positive evidence was obtained that plasma membranes participate in the iodination of thyroglobulin under the present experimental conditions. These results suggest that, in the incubation of thyroid slices, iodine atoms are preferentially incorporated into newly synthesized, less iodinated thyroglobulin, rather than preformed thyroglobulin, and that the iodination occurs, at least to a certain degree, in apical vesicles before the thyroglobulin is secreted into the colloid lumen.     

Hormone-containing peptides from normal and goiter human thyroglobulins

A series of low iodine human thyroglobulin samples derived from colloid-rich goiter tissue was examined by HPLC mapping of tryptic digests and compared to normal human thyroglobulin. These samples ranged in iodine content from 2 to 8 gram-atoms of iodine (g.a. I) per mole and were not further iodinated in vitro. Peptides containing the principal hormonogenic sequence were detected using the long wavelength absorbance of the iodotyrosine derivatives at 325 nm. Two such peptides were isolated and sequenced. Their thyroxine content was confirmed by radioimmunoassay. The number of 325-nm-absorbing peaks was significantly lower in the normally iodinated human thyroglobulin than that observed the thyroglobulins of cattle and dog. This suggests a more restricted iodination in the human protein. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel patterns of the reduced and alkylated proteins showed significant molecular size heterogeneity in all of the samples. Polypeptide fragments ranged in molecular size from approximately 330 to 45 kDa in the goiter derived material and from approximately 330 to 15 kDa in the normal human material. This difference between the proteins is consistent with earlier observations that peptides less than 45 kDa appear concomitantly with hormone formation. These data confirm that the human thyroglobulin molecule is capable of forming at least limited amounts of thyroid hormone at iodine levels as low as 4 g.a. I per mole. The hormone detected in this study was located at residue 5 near the amino terminus of the thyroglobulin molecule.     

Binding of Lactose and Galactose to Native and Iodinated Ricin D

The binding of lactose and galactose to native and iodinated ricin D was investigated by equilibrium dialysis and ultraviolet difference spectroscopy. The results provided direct evidence that native ricin D has two independent saccharide binding sites with different affinities, of which the high-affinity (HA-) binding site is able to bind with both lactose and galactose while the low-affinity (LA-) binding site binds only with lactose. In contrast, the iodinated ricin D possesses only one binding site both for lactose and galactose with high affinity.

By UV-difference spectroscopic analysis we found that there is one tyrosyl residue at or near the HA-binding site in ricin D which may be involvled in binding with saccharide. This tyrosyl residue was not iodinated in the presence of lactose but was iodinated in the absence of lactose and was perturbed by an addition of lactose even after iodination.

From these results, it was inferred that the binding site abolished by the iodination is the LA-binding site and this may be due to the conformational alteration of the LA-binding site caused by the iodination of the tyrosyl residue(s) present near the LA-binding site.     

Structure-function relationship in thyroglobulin: amino acid sequence of two different thyroxine-containing peptides from porcine thyroglobulin.

From the cyanogen bromide (CNBr) treatment of porcine thyroglobulin a peptide of mol. wt. 15 000, CNBr-b1, was purified by gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. CNBr-b1 contained 50% of the thyroxine (T4) content of the protein. After digestion with trypsin and protease from Staphylococcus aureus V-8, thyroxine-containing peptides were purified and analyzed by microsequence analysis using the colored Edman's reagent dimethylaminoazobenzeneisothiocyanate . Two different sequences harboring T4 were identified: sequence 1, His-Asp-Asp-Asp-T4-Ala-Thr-(Glx,Gly)-Leu-Tyr-Phe-Ser-Ser-Arg, which contains 1 mol T4/mol peptide and sequence 2, Asp-(Tyr/MIT/DIT/T4)-Phe-Ile-Leu-X-Pro-Val-, which is a mixture of the same peptide at different levels of iodination and coupling. These sequences are likely to be representative of distinct hormonogenic sites, the former giving evidence of early iodinated tyrosine residues where preferential coupling into hormonal residues occurs especially at low iodine levels and the latter representing less reactive site(s) operative at higher iodine levels.     

Fluorescent and radiolabelling of pepsin-digested human glomerular basement membrane with a newly developed hydroxy-coumarin derivative (CASE)

The labelling of pepsin-digested human glomerular basement membrane (pHGBM) with a newly developed fluorescent iodine acceptor 7-hydroxy-coumarin-3-acetic acid N-hydroxysucciniimydyl ester (CASE) is described. The binding of a monoclonal antibody to pHGBM was assessed by radiobinding assays, and when directly iodinated pHGBM was used there was no apparent binding. When CASE was conjugated to pHGBM prior to iodination 11% binding was achieved. CASE acting as an iodine acceptor may be useful for proteins containing few or inaccessible tyrosine residues or which are destroyed by introduction of 125I. Since CASE is fluorescent, small amounts of material can be detected during isolation prior to iodination.     

Conformation of pepsin and pepsinogen: some aspects of the role of tyrosine residues and the 1-44 segment of pepsinogen on conformational stability

Conformational changes induced in pepsin and pepsinogen by iodination of tyrosine residues and the possible role of lysine residues on conformational stability of pepsinogen are investigated by circular dichroism (CD) studies in solution. At low degrees of iodination (6 I/molecule) the pepsin molecule denatured, with complete loss of β-structure at pH 5.5. Pepsinogen showed greater resistance to conformational change on iodination (10 I/molecule) and about 30% of its ordered structure is retained. In the aromatic region, the tyrosyl CD bands of iodinated pepsin decreased in intensity, indicating a change in the environment of tyrosine residues. A comparison with the CD spectra of expanded structures of pepsin in 6 m guanidine hydrochloride or alkaline solutions (pH 9.75) indicated retention of a significant amount of tertiary structure in iodinated pepsin. Changes in tertiary structures were marginal on iodination of pepsinogen. Less than 1% (residue moles) of poly-l-lysine, a known inhibitor, was found to destabilize the secondary and tertiary structure of pepsin at pH 6.75, although the lysine-rich 1–44 segment of pepsinogen tends to stabilize the conformation of the pepsin chain. This seems to suggest that the inhibitory effects of polylysine on pepsin occur by a mechanism different from that of the activity-limiting effect of the lysine-rich 1–44 segment of pepsinogen.     

Iodination of Xenopus laevis histone F2a1 in chromatin.

The reaction of calf thymus and Xenopus laevis histones with radioactive iodine has been studied under various conditions that affect chromatin structure. All histones from both species contain at least one tyrosine residue and, in a denaturing solvent, all the the histones react with iodine. Histone F2a1 has been studied in detail. Calf thymus F2a1 is known to contain four tyrosyls and all four react with iodine. In high voltage paper electrophoresis, the tyrosine-containing peptides from calf co-migrate with those from Xenopus F2a1, suggesting that the amino acid sequence is strongly conserved between these two species. Therefore, the published calf thymus F2a1 sequence has been used to order the Xenopus F2a1 peptides within the molecules. When gently isolated native chromatin is iodinated in a low ionic strength medium 60% of the radioactivity in F2a1 is in tyrosyl 88, 30% in tyrosyl 51, and tyrosyl 72 and 98 have almost no radioactivity. Reagents which remove the protein from the DNA (2 M NaCl) or partially disrupt protein tertiary structure (5 M urea) increase the reactivity of each of the four tyrosyls five- to tenfold, suggesting that all four are protected about equally by the overall folding of the chromatin. Isolated F2a1 iodinated in the presence of 10 M urea shows uniform labeling in each of the four peptides, suggesting that tyrosyl 72 and 98 are afforded some protection solely by protein-protein interactions. The stepwise removal of histones in increasing NaCl concentrations differentially increases the availability of each F2a1 tyrosyl. The preferential exposure of tyrosyl 88 coincides with the removal of the majority of F1 histones at 0.5 M NaCl while the gradual and stepwise increase in reactivity of tyrosyl 51, 72, and 98 correlates with the gradual removal of histones other than F1. Radioactive iodination of chromatin has been shown to be a sensitive probe for detecting changes in the association state (or conformation) of histone F2a1.     

The effect of iodination of particular tyrosine residues on the hormonal activity of insulin

Insulin dissolved in aqueous or methanolic buffer was iodinated to give preparations containing an average of between one and five iodine atoms per insulin monomer. The resultant preparations were fragmented in various ways and the ratio of tyrosine to monoiodotyrosine and di-iodotyrosine was determined in each fragment. This has allowed the distribution of iodine between the combined A-chain tyrosine residues and the individual B-chain tyrosine residues to be determined. The hormonal activity of each of these iodinated insulin preparations was measured from their effect on the production of (14)CO(2) from [1-(14)C]glucose by isolated adipose cells. The results were interpreted as meaning that the iodination of tyrosine residue A19 or B16 leads to the inactivation of insulin. Speculations are made about the nature of an interaction between insulin and a receptor site on the target tissue.     

Iodination of a tyrosyl residue in staphylococcal alpha-toxin.

Iodination of staphylococcal alpha-toxin by the lactoperoxidase method resulted in the maximal incorporation of about 2.5 atoms of iodine per molecule of alpha-toxin. The iodination primarily involved a single tyrosine residue as shown by analysis of both cyanogen bromide and tryptic peptides. Iodination at a level of 1.2 iodine atoms per alpha-toxin molecule led to a dramatic decrease in the hemolytic and lethal activities, although no decrease in the binding of iodinated toxin to rabbit erythrocytes was observed (Cassidy and Harshman (1976), Biochemistry, the following paper in this issue). Monoiodinated alpha-toxin was found to have 15% of the specific hemolytic activity of native alpha-toxin. Incubation of rabbit erythrocytes with iodinated alpha-toxin led to a significant protection from the hemolytic activity of native alpha-toxin added later. The results show the modification of a single unique tyrosyl residue in alpha-toxin permits the resolution of alpha-toxin's biological activities from its cell binding activity.     

Isolation and partial structural characterization of an equine fibrinogen CNBr fragment that exhibits immunologic cross-reactivity with an A alpha-chain cross-linking region of human fibrinogen

Immunochemical studies of equine fibrinogen were conducted to characterize the structural basis for the immunologic cross-reactivity observed between human and equine A alpha chains when employing an antiserum to the 26K, human cyanogen bromide (CNBr) fragment, A alpha 241-476 (CNBr VIII). A 38K, equine CNBr fragment that reacts with this antiserum was isolated from CNBr-digested equine fibrinogen by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. It was further purified by sequential hydrophobic chromatography on phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B, followed by reversed-phased (C-8) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). NH2-Terminal analysis of the purified fragment, designated EqA alpha CNBr, identified one major sequence whose first three residues, E-L-E, were identical with those of human CNBr VIII. Tryptic and staphylococcal protease digests of the equine fragment were resolved by reversed-phase HPLC (C-4, C-18), and the separated components were characterized by amino acid analysis and automated Edman degradation. A total of 34 tryptic and 20 staph protease peptides yielded sequence information that permitted the alignment of 271 equine residues with residues A alpha 241-517 from the COOH-terminal two-thirds of the human A alpha chain so that 63% of the possible matches were identical. Other features of interest included (1) an amino acid substitution in which the methionine residue at A alpha 476 in the human A alpha chain was replaced by a valine residue, thus accounting, in part, for the larger EqA alpha CNBr fragment obtained from the equine molecule, and (2) a region of striking homology in which 36 successive residues, corresponding to A alpha 428-464 in the human A alpha chain, were identical in both species. These findings, together with available structural data for the COOH-terminal portion of the rat and bovine A alpha chains, indicate that the region corresponding to (human) A alpha 240-517 represents a conserved portion of the fibrinogen molecule. This may, in turn, explain the difficulties encountered when trying to raise monoclonal antibodies to cross-linking regions that are contained within the COOH-terminal two-thirds of the human A alpha chain.     

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.