Application of oligonucleoside methylphosphonates in the studies on phosphodiester hydrolysis by Serratia endonuclease.

The endonuclease from Serratia marcescens is a non-specific enzyme that cleaves single and double stranded RNA and DNA. It accepts a phosphorylated pentanucleotide as a minimal substrate which is cleaved in the presence of Mg2+ at the second phosphodiester linkage. The present study is aimed at understanding the role of electrostatic and hydrogen bond interactions in phosphodiester hydrolysis. Towards this objective, six pentadeoxyadenylates with single stereoregular methylphosphonate substitution within this minimal substrate (2a-4b) were synthesized following a protocol described here. These modified oligonucleotides were used as substrates for the Serratia nuclease. The enzyme interaction studies revealed that the enzyme failed to hydrolyze any of the methylphosphonate analogues suggesting the importance of negative charge and/or hydrogen bond acceptors in binding and cleavage of its substrate. Based on these results and available site-directed mutagenesis as well as structural data, a model for nucleic acid binding by Serratia nuclease is proposed.     

Recognition of single-stranded DNA by nuclease P1: High resolution crystal structures of complexes with substrate analogs

The reaction mechanism of nuclease P1 from Penicillium citrinum has been investigated using single-stranded dithiophosphorylated di-, tetra-, and hexanucleotides as substrate analogs. The complexes crystallize in tetragonal and orthorhombic space groups and have been solved by molecular replacement. The high resolution structures give a clear picture of base recognition by P1 nuclease at its two nucleotide-binding sites, especially the 1.8 Å structure of a P1-tetranucleotide complex which can be considered a P1-product complex. The observed binding modes are in agreement with a catalytic mechanism where the two closely spaced zinc ions activate the attacking water while the third, more exposed zinc ion stabilizes the leaving 03' oxyanion. Stacking as well as hydrogen bonding interactions with the base 5' to the cleaved phosphodiester bond are important elements of substrate binding and recognition. Modelling of a productive P1-substrate complex based on the solved structures suggests steric hindrance as the likely reason for the resistance of Rp-phosphorothioates and phosphorodithioates. Differences with the highly homologous nuclease S1 from Aspargillus oryzae are discussed. Proteins 32:414–424, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Molecular Mechanics Studies of Dinucleoside Methylphosphonates: Influence of Methylphosphonate and its Chirality on the Phosphodiester Conformation

Abstract

Molecular mechanics studies are performed on single stranded as well as base paired forms of dinucleoside methylphosphonates comprising different base sequences for both the Sand R-isomers of methylphosphonate (MP). S-MP produces noticeable distortions in the geometry, locally at the phosphate center, and this enables the stereochemical feasibility of compact g^? g^? phosphodiester. Besides, it tends to perturb the conformations around the P- 03′ and glycosyl bonds, causing minor variations in stacking interactions. In single stranded dinucleosides, the gain in adjacent base stacking interaction energies seems to be sufficient to overcome the barrier to P-03′ bond rotation arising due to S-MP…sugar interaction, and this results in transition to a compact phosphodiester (B_I-type) from an initial extended phosphodiester (B_II-type) conformation. Such a thing seems rather difficult in base pair constrained duplexes. Dinucleosides with R-MP behave analogous to normal phosphate duplexes as the methyl group is away from the sugar. It is found that dinucleoside methylphosphonates are energetically less favoured than the corresponding dinucleoside phosphates mainly due to the depletion of contributions from electrostatic attractive interactions involving the base and sugar with the methylphosphonate consequent to the nonionic nature of the latter. Neither S-MP nor R-MP seem to significantly alter the stereochemistry of duplex structure.     

Magnetic resonance studies of the binding of oligonucleotide substrates to mutants of staphylococcal nuclease

By a combination of NMR docking and model building, the substrate binding site on staphylococcal nuclease was found to accommodate a trinucleotide and to consist of three subsites, each interacting with a single nucleotidyl unit of DNA. Binding of the essential Ca²⁺ activator and substrate cleavage occur between subsites 1 and 2. Hence, catalytically productive binding would span subsites 1 and 2 while nonproductive binding would span subsites 2 and 3. Lys-49 is near subsite 1, and Lys-84 and Tyr-115 interact with substrates at sub site 3 [Weber, D. J., Gittis, A. G., Mullen, G. P., Abeygunawardana, C., Lattman, E. E., Mildvan, A. S. Proteins 13:275–287, 1992]. The proposed locations of these subsites were independently tested by the effects of the K49A, K84A, and Y115A mutations of staphylococcal nuclease on the binding of Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺, and the dinucleotide and trinucleotide substrates, 5′-pdTdA, dTdA, and dTdAdG. These three mutants have previously been shown to be fully active and to have CD and 2D NMR spectra very similar to those of the wild-type enzyme (Chuang, W.-J., Weber, D. J., Gittis, A. G., Mildvan, A. S. Proteins 17:36–48, 1993). All three mutant enzymes and their pdTdA and dTdA complexes (but not their dTdAdG complex) bind Mn²⁺ and Ca²⁺ more weakly than the wild-type enzyme by factors ranging from 2 to 11. The presence of a terminal phosphate as in 5′-pdTdA raises the affinity of the substrate for staphylococcal nuclease and its three mutants by two orders of magnitude and for the corresponding enzyme–metal complexes by three to four orders of magnitude, suggesting that the terminal phosphate is coordinated by the enzyme-bound divalent cation. Such complexation would result in the nonproductive binding of 5′-pdTdA at subsites 2 and 3. Accordingly, the K84A and Y115A mutations significantly weaken the binding of 5′-pdTdA and its metal to staphylococcal nuclease by factors of 2.2 to 37.8, while the K49A mutation has much smaller or no effect. Such nonproductive binding explains the low activity of staphylococcal nuclease with small substrates, especially those With a terminal phosphate. Similarly, the K84A and Y115A mutations weaken the binding of dTdA and its metal complexes to the enzyme by factors of 3.4 to 13.1 while the K49A mutation has smaller effects indicating significant nonproductive binding of dTdA. The trinucleotide dTdAdG binds more tightly to wild-type and mutant staphylococcal nuclease and to its metal complexes than does the dinucleotide dTdA by factors of 2.4 to 12.2, reflecting the occupancy of an additional subsite. Predominantly productive binding of dTdAdG is indicated by the 1.7? to 8.3?fold lower affinities of the K49A, K84A, and Y115A mutants for the trinucleotide and its metal complexes. The largest effects on dTdAdG binding are seen with the Y115A mutation presumably reflecting the dual role of Tyr-115 both in donating a hydrogen bond to a phosphodiester oxygen between subsites 2 and 3 and in stacking onto the guanine base at subsite 3. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A novel repair enzyme: UVRABC excision nuclease of Escherichia coli cuts a DNA strand on both sides of the damaged region

The uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC proteins of Escherichia coli were purified from strains that greatly overproduce these proteins. Using the purified proteins, the UVRABC nuclease was reconstituted in vitro. The reconstituted enzyme acted specifically on DNA damaged with UV, cis-platinum, and psoralen plus near UV. When UV-irradiated DNA was used as substrate, the enzyme made two cuts on the damaged DNA strand, one on each side of the damaged region. The enzyme hydrolyzed the eighth phosphodiester bond on the 5′ side of pyrimidine dimers. On the 3′ side of pyrimidine dimers, the UVRABC nuclease cut the fourth or the fifth phosphodiester bond 3′ to pyrimidine dimers. The oligonucleotide with the damaged bases that is generated by these two cuts was released during treatment with the enzyme. We have also obtained evidence suggesting that the enzyme acts by the same mechanism on PydC photoproducts which are thought to be of primary importance in UV-induced mutagenesis.     

An Effective Enzyme Interacting with Poly (dT-dA)· Poly (dT-dA): A Dynamic Enhancer-Repressor Action

Abstract

The Green function technique is used to study the open hydrogen bond probability of poly(dT-dA)·poly(dT-dA) when an effective enzyme is attached to the helix. The DNA interstrand hydrogen bond mean motion and probability of fluctuating to an open state depends on the internal vibrational frequency of the enzyme. An enzyme with internal frequency of 80 cm ^?1 reduces hydrogen bond motion and the resulting probability of hydrogen bond fluctuational opening. An enzyme with internal frequency of 72 cm ^?1 increases hydrogen bond motion and the probability of hydrogen bond breaking.     

The Synthesis of 2′-C-Functionalised Nucleosides for Incorporation into Catalytic RNA

Abstract

Five 2′-C-functionalized nucleosides (1–5) have been prepared and incorporated into dinucleoside monophosphates. The effect of the functionality on the stability of the adjacent phosphodiester bond toward hydrolysis by nuclease enzymes and extremes of pH has been assessed.     

Human pancreatic ribonuclease presents higher endonucleolytic activity than ribonuclease A

Analyzing the pattern of oligonucleotide formation induced by HP-RNase cleavage shows that the enzyme does not act randomly and follows a more endonucleolytic pattern when compared to RNase A. The enzyme prefers the binding and cleavage of longer substrate molecules, especially when the phosphodiester bond that is broken is 8-11 nucleotides away from at least one of the ends of the substrate molecule. This more endonucleolytic pattern is more appropriate for an enzyme with a regulatory role. Deleting two positive charges on the N-terminus (Arg4 and Lys6) modifies this pattern of external/internal phosphodiester bond cleavage preference, and produces a more exonucleolytic enzyme. These residues may reinforce the strength of a non-catalytic secondary phosphate binding (p₂) or, alternatively, constitute a new non-catalytic phosphate binding subsite (p₃).     

Serratia Protease

The substrate specificity of Serratia protease was determined using various synthetic substrates. The enzyme did not participate in the hydrolysis of di- and tri-peptides except benzoylglycylleucinamide which was split at a limited rate into hippuric acid and leucinamide. The enzyme action on larger peptides was also studied. The enzyme cleaved the gly-leu bond in eledoisin related peptide and the gly-phe bond in bradykinin. The enzyme split oxidized insulin B-chain at twelve different peptide bonds.     

Purification of a Nuclease from Penicillium citrinum

A nuclease was purified about 1500-fold with a recovery of 20% from an aqueous extract of culture of a pigmentless mutant VI–10–14 of Penicillium citrinum on wheat bran. The purified preparation was homogeneous on the basis of the criteria of ultracentrifugation and disc gel electrophoresis. The preparation was essentially free of 5′-nucleotidase, non-specific phosphomonoesterase, non-specific phosphodiesterase and 3′-monoester forming nuclease. The preparation hydrolyzed phosphodiester bonds in RNA and DNA to yield 5′-mononucleotides, and also the phosphomonoester bond in 2′- and 3′-AMP to yield nucleoside and inorganic phosphate. The enzyme activities toward these substrates were not separated and relative ratio of their specific activities remained constant throughout the purification, suggesting that a single enzyme was responsible for these activities.     

A critical role of water in the specific cleavage of the anticodon loop of some eukaryotic methionine initiator tRNAs

We have noticed that during a long storage and handling, the plant methionine initiator tRNA is spontaneously hydrolyzed within the anticodon loop at the C34-A35 phosphodiester bond. A literature search indicated that there is also the case for human initiator tRNA^Met but not for yeast tRNA^Met _i or E. coli tRNA^Met _f. All these tRNAs have an identical nucleotide sequence of the anticodon stems and loops with only one difference at position 33 within the loop. It means that cytosine 33 (C33) makes the anticodon loop of plant and human tRNA^Met _i susceptible to the specific cleavage reaction. Using crystallographic data of tRNA^Met _f of E. coli with U33, we modeled the anticodon loop of this tRNA with C33. We found that C33 within the anticodon loop creates a pocket that can accomodate a hydrogen bonded water molecule that acts as a general base and catalyzes a hydrolysis of C-A bond. We conclude that a single nucleotide change in the primary structure of tRNA^Met _i made changes in hydration pattern and readjustment in hydrogen bonding which lead to a cleavage of the phosphodiester bond.     

S1 nuclease: Immunoaffinity purification and evidence for the proximity of cysteine 25 to the substrate binding site

A simple procedure, involving heat treatment, gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 followed by chromatography on anti-S1 nuclease antibodies bound to Sepharose, was developed for purification of S1 nuclease to homogeneity with an overall yield of 72%. S1 nuclease was rapidly inactivated, at pH 6.0 and 37°C, in presence of o-phthalaldehyde. Kinetic analysis of o-phthalaldehyde mediated inactivation showed that the reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the loss of enzyme activity was due to the formation of a single isoindole derivative per molecule of the enzyme. Absorbance and fluorescence spectrophotometric data also gave similar results. The isoindole derivative formation, as a result of o-phthalaldehyde treatment is known to occur through crosslinking of the thiol group of cysteine and the ε-amino group of lysine, situated in close proximity in the native enzyme. Since, modification of only available cysteine residue (Cys 25) did not affect the catalytic activity of the enzyme, the o-phthalaldehyde mediated inactivation of S1 nuclease is due to the modification of lysine. Substrates of S1 nuclease, namely ssDNA, RNA and 3′ AMP, could protect the enzyme against o-phthalaldehyde mediated inactivation. Moreover, the modified enzyme (having very little catalytic activity) showed a significant decrease in its ability to bind 5′ AMP, a competitive inhibitor of S1 nuclease, suggesting that the modification has occurred at the substrate binding site. The above results point towards the presence of cysteine 25 in close proximity to the substrate binding site.     

Contacts between the 5' nuclease of DNA polymerase I and its DNA substrate

The 5' nuclease of DNA polymerase I (Pol I) of Escherichia coli is a member of an important class of prokaryotic and eukaryotic nucleases, involved in DNA replication and repair, with specificity for the junction between single-stranded and duplex DNA. We have investigated the interaction of the 5' nuclease domain with DNA substrates from the standpoint of both the protein and the DNA. Phosphate ethylation interference showed that the nuclease binds to the nucleotides immediately surrounding the cleavage site and also contacts the complementary strand one-half turn away, indicating that contacts are made to one face only of the duplex portion of the DNA substrate. Phosphodiester contacts were investigated further using DNA substrates carrying unique methylphosphonate substitutions, together with mutations in the 5' nuclease. These experiments suggested that two highly conserved basic residues, Lys(78) and Arg(81), are close to the phosphodiester immediately 5' to the cleavage site, while a third highly conserved residue, Arg(20), may interact with the phosphodiester 3' to the cleavage site. Our results provide strong support for a DNA binding model proposed for the related exonuclease from bacteriophage T5, in which the conserved basic residues mentioned above define the two ends of a helical arch that forms part of the single-stranded DNA-binding region. The nine highly conserved carboxylates in the active site region appear to play a relatively minor role in substrate binding, although they are crucial for catalysis. In addition to binding the DNA backbone around the cleavage point, the 5' nuclease also has a binding site for one or two frayed bases at the 3' end of an upstream primer strand. In agreement with work in related systems, 5' nuclease cleavage is blocked by duplex DNA in the 5' tail, but the enzyme is quite tolerant of abasic DNA or polarity reversal within the 5' tail.     

Generation of a catalytic sequence-specific hybrid DNase

Hybrid nucleases consisting of an oligonucleotide fused to a unique site on the relatively nonspecific phosphodiesterase staphylococcal nuclease have been shown to sequence specifically cleave DNA. We have introduced mutations into the binding pocket of the nuclease which lower the kcat/Km of the enzyme. Hybrid nucleases generated from these mutants sequence selectively hydrolyze single-stranded DNA in a catalytic fashion, and under a much wider range of conditions than was previously possible. One such hybrid nuclease (Y113A, K116C) was able to site selectively cleave single-stranded M13mp7 DNA (7214 nt), primarily at one phosphodiester bond. Another hybrid nuclease (Y113A, L37A, K116C) catalyzed the hydrolysis of a 78-nt DNA substrate with a kcat of 1.2 min-1 and a Km of 120 nM. The effects of variations in the length and sequence of the oligonucleotide binding region were examined, as were changes in the length of the tether between the oligonucleotide and the enzyme. Cleavage specificity was also assayed as a function of substrate DNA primary and secondary structure and added poly(dA).     

X-Ray Analysis of the Magnesium-containing Endonuclease from Serratia marcescens

The three-dimensional crystal structure of the DNA/RNA nonspecific endonuclease from Serratia marcescenswas refined at the resolution of 1.07 Å to Rfactor of 12.4% and R _freefactor of 15.3% using the anisotropic approximation. The structure includes 3924 non-hydrogen atoms, 715 protein-bound water molecules, and a Mg²⁺ion in each binding site of each subunit of the nuclease homodimeric globular molecule. The 3D topological model of the enzyme was revealed, the inner symmetry of the monomers in its N-and C-termini was found, and the local environment of the magnesium cofactor in the nuclease active site was defined. Mg²⁺ion was found to be bound to the Asn119 residue and surrounded by five associated water molecules that form an octahedral configuration. The coordination distances for the water molecules and the O¹atom of Asn119 were shown to be within the range of 2.01–2.11 Å. The thermal factors for the magnesium ion in subunits are 7.08 and 4.60 Ų, and the average thermal factors for the surrounding water molecules are 11.14 and 10.30 Ų, respectively. The region of the nuclease subunit interactions was localized, and the alternative side chain conformations were defined for 51 amino acid residues of the nuclease dimer.     

NMI Linkage Modification Increases Potency and Stability of H-RAS Antisense Oligonucleotides

Abstract

Phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides (PS-ASOs) have proven to be useful first generation antisense tools for in vitro and in vivo uses and now show great promise as human therapeutic agents. However, there are two characteristics of PS-ASOs that make it desirable to continue to attempt to improve their biophysical characteristics through chemical modification. First, PS-ASOs have been reported, at very high concentrations, to have some nonspecific activities, both in vitro and in vivo, usually attributed to their protein binding properties. Second, while significantly more stable than their phosphodiester analogues, the in vivo stability of phosphorothioate oligonucleotides can still be improved. This instability is primarily due to 3′ exonucleases, 5′ exonucleases, and to a lesser degree, endonucleases. There is a strong rationale for exploring backbone modifications that can reduce the P=S content and maintain or increase nuclease resistance of antisense oligonucleotides. One such modification, methylene(methyl)imino (MMI), allows for complete substitution of the phosphate backbone while maintaining high affinity for the target RNA and enhanced nuclease resistance.^1,2 This modification is incorporated into the oligonucleotide as MMI-dimers.     

Mutational tests of the NMR-docked structure of the staphylococcal nuclease–metal–3′,5′-pdTp complex

In the X-ray structure of the staphylococcal nuclease–Ca²⁺ ?3′,5′-pdTp complex, the conformation of the inhibitor 3′,5′-pdTp is distroteed Lys-70* and Lys-71* from an adjacent molecule of staphylococcal nuclease (Loll, P.J., Lattman, E.E. Proteins 5 : 183-201, 1989). In order to correct this crystal packing problem, the solution conformation of enzyme-bound 3′,5′-pdTp in the staphylococcal nuclease–metal–pdTp Complex determined by NMR methods was docked into the X-ray structure of the enzyme [Weber, D. J., Serpersu, E. H., Gittis, A. G., Lattman, E. E., Mildvan, A. S. (preceding paper)]. In the NMR-docked structure, the 5′-phophate of 3′,5′-pdTp overlaps with that in the X-ray Structure. However the 3′-phosphate accepts a hydrogen bond from Lys-49 (2.89Å) rather than from Lys-84 (8.63 Å), and N3 of thymine donates a hydrogen bond to the OH of Tyr-115 (3.16 Å) which does not occur in the X-ray structure (5.28 Å). These interactions have been tested by binding studies of 3′,5′-pdTp, Ca²⁺, and Mn²⁺ to the K49A, K84A, and Y115A mutants of staphylococcal nuclease using water proton relaxation rate and EPR methods. Each mutant was fully active and structurally intact, as found by CD and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, but bound Ca²⁺ 9.1- to 9.9-fold more weakly than the wild-type enzyme. While thye K84A mutation did not significantly weaken 3′,5′-pdTp binding to the enzyme (1.5 ± 0.7 fold), the K49A mutation weakened 3′,5′-pdTp binding to the enzyme by the factor of 4.4 ± 1.8-fold. Similarly, the Y115A mutation weakened 3′,5′-pdTp binding to the enzyme 3.6 ± 1.6-fold. Comparable weakening effects of these mutations were found on the binding of Ca²⁺-3′,5′-pdTp. These results are more readily explained by the NMR-docked structure of staphylococcal nuclease-metal-3′,5′-pdTp than by the X-ray structure. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A Comparative Structure–Function Analysis and Molecular Mechanism of Action of Endonucleases from Serratia marcescens and Physarum polycephalum

Structural and functional characteristics were compared for wild-type nuclease from Serratia marcescens, which belongs to the family of DNA/RNA nonspecific endonucleases, its mutational forms, and the nuclease I-PpoI from Physarum polycephalum, which is a representative of the Cys-His box-containing subgroup of the superfamily of extremely specific intron-encoded homing DNases. Despite the lack of sequence homology and the overall different topology of the Serratia marcescens and I-PpoI nucleases, their active sites have a remarkable structural similarity. Both of them have a unique magnesium atom in the active site, which is a part of the coordinatively bonded water–magnesium complex involved in their catalytic acts. In the enzyme–substrate complexes, the Mg²⁺ ion is chelated by an Asp residue, coordinates two oxygen atoms of DNA, and stabilizes the transition state of the phosphate anion and 3"-OH group of the leaving nucleotide. A new mechanism of the phosphodiester bond cleavage, which is common for the Serratia marcescens and I-PpoI nucleases and differs from the known functioning mechanism of the restriction and homing endonucleases, was proposed. It presumes a His residue as a general base for the activation of a non-cluster water molecule at the nucleophilic in line displacement of the 3"-leaving group. A strained metalloenzyme–substrate complex is formed during hydrolysis and relaxes to the initial state after the reaction.     

Hydrostatic and osmotic pressure study of the RNA hydration

The tertiary structure of nucleic acids results from an equilibrium between electrostatic interactions of phosphates, stacking interactions of bases, hydrogen bonds between polar atoms and water molecules. Water interactions with ribonucleic acid play a key role in its structure formation, stabilization and dynamics. We used high hydrostatic pressure and osmotic pressure to analyze changes in RNA hydration. We analyzed the lead catalyzed hydrolysis of tRNA^Phe from S. cerevisiae as well as hydrolytic activity of leadzyme. Pb(II) induced hydrolysis of the single phosphodiester bond in tRNA^Phe is accompanied by release of 98 water molecules, while other molecule, leadzyme releases 86.