Study of the redox properties of metallothionein in vitro by reacting with DsbA protein

Mammalian metallothionein (MT) contains 20 cysteine residues involved in the two metal clusters without a disulfide bond. The redox reaction of the Cys thiols was proposed to be associated with the metal distribution of MT. The E. coli DsbA protein is extremely active in facilitating thiol/disulfide exchange both in vivo and in vitro. To further investigate the redox properties of MT, reaction between MT and DsbA was carried out in vitro by fluorescence detection. Equilibrium characterization indicates that the reaction is stoichiometric (1:1) under certain conditions. Kinetic study gives a rate constant of the redox reaction of 4.42 × 10⁵ sec^–1 M^–1, which is 10³-fold larger than that of glutathione reacting with DsbA. Metal-free MT (apo-MT) shows a higher equilibrium reduction potential than MT, but exhibits an indistinguishable kinetic rate. Oxidation of MT by DsbA leads to metal release from the clusters. The characteristic fluorescence increase during reduction of DsbA may provide a sensitive probe for exploring the redox properties of some reductants of biological interest. The result also implies that oxidation of Cys thiols may influence the metal release or delivery from MT.     

大肠杆菌二硫键形成蛋白A（DsbA）研究进展

二硫键形成蛋白A（Disulfide bond formation protein A,DsbA）是存在于大肠杆菌周质胞腔内的一种参与新生蛋白质折叠过程中催化二硫键形成的折叠酶。综述了DsbA三维结构、进化过程、协助蛋白质体内外复性方面的研究进展。DsbA比硫氧还原蛋白具有更强的氧化性,其强氧化性来自于Cys³⁰残基异常低的pKa值和不稳定的氧化型结构,通过定点突变的研究表明了Cys³⁰残基是DsbA活性中心最关键的氨基酸残基之一。DsbA不论在体内与目标蛋白融合表达还是在体外以折叠酶形式添加,都能有效地催化蛋白质的折叠复性,同时DsbA还具有部分分子伴侣的活性。     

Legionella pneumophila utilizes a single‐player disulfide‐bond oxidoreductase system to manage disulfide bond formation and isomerization

Legionella pneumophila uses a single homodimeric disulfide bond (DSB) oxidoreductase DsbA2 to catalyze extracytoplasmic protein folding and to correct DSB errors through protein‐disulfide isomerase (PDI) activity. In Escherichia coli, these functions are separated to avoid futile cycling. In L. pneumophila, DsbA2 is maintained as a mixture of disulfides (S‐S) and free thiols (SH), but when expressed in E. coli, only the SH form is observed. We provide evidence to suggest that structural differences in DsbB oxidases (LpDsbB1 and LpDsbB2) and DsbD reductases (LpDsbD1 and LpDsbD2) (compared with E. coli) permit bifunctional activities without creating a futile cycle. LpdsbB1 and LpdsbB2 partially complemented an EcdsbB mutant while neither LpdsbD1 nor LpdsbD2 complemented an EcdsbD mutant unless DsbA2 was also expressed. When the dsb genes of E. coli were replaced with those of L. pneumophila, motility was restored and DsbA2 was present as a mixture of redox forms. A dominant‐negative approach to interfere with DsbA2 function in L. pneumophila determined that DSB oxidase activity was necessary for intracellular multiplication and assembly/function of the Dot/Icm Type IVb secretion system. Our studies show that a single‐player system may escape the futile cycle trap by limiting transfer of reducing equivalents from LpDsbDs to DsbA2.     

Secretion of Escherichia coli DsbA and DsbC proteins from Brevibacillus choshinensis: stimulation of human epidermal growth factor production

DsbA and DsbC, members of the thioredoxin super-family of redox proteins, which are expressed in the periplasmic space of Escherichia coli, were cloned into and successfully secreted from Brevibacillus choshinensis at 100 g ml^–1. Both proteins were active in exchanging disulfide bonds of bovine insulin in vitro. Furthermore, DsbA secreted by B. choshinensis promoted the conversion of non-native human epidermal growth factor to the native form.     

Effects of mutations in genes for proteins involved in disulphide bond formation in the periplasm on the activities of anaerobically induced electron transfer chains in Escherichia coli K12

 The assembly of anaerobically induced electron transfer chains in Escherichia coli strains defective in periplasmic disulphide bond formation was investigated. Strains deficient in DsbA, DsbB or DipZ (DsbD) were unable to catalyse formate-dependent nitrite reduction (Nrf activity) or synthesize any of the known c-type cytochromes. The Nrf⁺ activity and cytochrome c content of mutants defective in DsbC, DsbE or DsbF were similar to those of the parental, wild-type strain. Neither DsbC expressed from a multicopy plasmid nor a second mutation in dipZ (dsbD) was able to compensate for a dsbA mutation by restoring nitrite reductase activity and cytochrome c synthesis. In contrast, only the dsbB and dipZ (dsbD) strains were defective in periplasmic nitrate reductase activity, suggesting that DsbB might fulfil an additional role in anaerobic electron transport. Mutants defective in dipZ (dsbD) were only slightly more sensitive to Cu⁺⁺ ions at concentrations above 5 mM than the parental strain, but strains defective in DsbA, DsbB, DsbC, DsbE or DsbF were unaffected. These results are consistent with our earlier proposals that DsbA, DsbB and DipZ (DsbD) are part of the same pathway for ensuring that haem groups are attached to the correct pairs of cysteine residues of apocytochromes c in the E. coli periplasm. However, neither DsbE nor DsbF are essential for the reduction of DipZ (DsbD). Received: 28 February 1996 / Accepted: 5 June 1996     

Efficient production of heat-labile enterotoxin mutant proteins by overexpression of dsbA in a degP-deficient Escherichia coli strain

Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) mutants containing Val⁶⁰→Gly or Ser¹¹⁴→Lys substitutions in the A subunit do not produce the A subunit efficiently in E. coli. These mutants accumulate mostly the B pentamer devoid of the A subunit in the periplasmic space. Here we show that overproduction of the periplasmic chaperone DsbA, which is involved in disulfide bond formation, in a strain deficient in the periplasmic protease DegP allows efficient production of the mutant LT molecules. Our results suggest that the formation of the oligomeric toxin is influenced by DsbA, which helps protein folding, and by DegP, which removes the folded intermediates that can be untoxic for the cell. Received: 30 October 1996 / Accepted: 8 January 1997     

Heterospecific cloning of Arabidopsis thaliana cDNAs by direct complementation of pyrimidine auxotrophic mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Cloning and sequence analysis of two cDNAs catalysing the second,fifth and sixth steps of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway

A one-step mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 lacking both glucose-1-phosphatase (Agp) and pH 2.5 acid phosphatase (AppA) activities in the periplasmic space was isolated. The mutation which mapped close to ch1B, at 87 min on the E. coli linkage map, also caused the loss of alkaline phosphatase (PhoA) activity, even when this activity was expressed from TnphoA fusions to genes encoding periplasmic or membrane proteins. A DNA fragment that complements the mutation was cloned and shown to carry the dsbA gene, which encodes a periplasmic disulphide bond-forming factor. The mutant had an ochre triplet in dsbA, truncating the protein at amino acid 70. Introduction of TnphoA fusions into a plasmid-borne dsbA gene resulted in DsbA-PhoA hybrid proteins that were all exported to the periplasmic space in both dsbA ⁺ and dsbA strains. They belong to three different classes, depending on the length of the DsbA fragment fused to PhoA. When PhoA was fused to an amino-terminal DsbA heptapeptide, the protein was only seen in the periplasm of a dsbA ⁺ strain, as in the case of wild-type PhoA. Hybrid proteins missing up to 29 amino acids at the carboxy-terminus of DsbA were stable and retained both the DsbA and PhoA activities. Those with shorter DsbA fragments that still carried the -Cys-ProHis-Cys-motif were rapidly degraded (no DsbA activity). The presence is discussed of a structural domain lying around amino acid 170 of DsbA and which is probably essential for its folding into a proteolytic-resistant and enzymatically active form.     

色氨酸类似物标记法研究DsbA蛋白的结构环境

用生物标记的方法将色氨酸类似物标记在DsbA蛋白中的色氨酸位置,分析标记蛋白质的谱学性质、色氨酸结构环境和潜在应用前景.5-OH-Trp标记的DsbA蛋白具有315 nm激发的荧光发射光谱;¹⁹F-NMR 能分辨5-F-Trp标记的DsbA蛋白的两个F-Trp残基(Trp76和Trp126),Trp76化学位移变化反映二硫键交换引起的结构转化.进一步将利用标记蛋白的独特荧光和¹⁹F-NMR性质,研究DsbA蛋白的氧化还原及与底物蛋白的结合作用.     

Identification of disulfide bond isomerase substrates reveals bacterial virulence factors

Bacterial pathogens are exposed to toxic molecules inside the host and require efficient systems to form and maintain correct disulfide bonds for protein stability and function. The intracellular pathogen Francisella tularensis encodes a disulfide bond formation protein ortholog, DsbA, which previously was reported to be required for infection of macrophages and mice. However, the molecular mechanisms by which F. tularensis DsbA contributes to virulence are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that F. tularensis DsbA is a bifunctional protein that oxidizes and, more importantly, isomerizes complex disulfide connectivity in substrates. A single amino acid in the conserved cis‐proline loop of the DsbA thioredoxin domain was shown to modulate both isomerase activity and F. tularensis virulence. Trapping experiments in F. tularensis identified over 50 F. tularensis DsbA substrates, including outer membrane proteins, virulence factors, and many hypothetical proteins. Six of these hypothetical proteins were randomly selected and deleted, revealing two novel proteins, FTL_1548 and FTL_1709, which are required for F. tularensis virulence. We propose that the extreme virulence of F. tularensis is partially due to the bifunctional nature of DsbA, that many of the newly identified substrates are required for virulence, and that the development of future DsbA inhibitors could have broad anti‐bacterial implications.     

Dynamic nature of disulphide bond formation catalysts revealed by crystal structures of DsbB

In the Escherichia coli system catalysing oxidative protein folding, disulphide bonds are generated by the cooperation of DsbB and ubiquinone and transferred to substrate proteins through DsbA. The structures solved so far for different forms of DsbB lack the Cys104–Cys130 initial‐state disulphide that is directly donated to DsbA. Here, we report the 3.4 Å crystal structure of a DsbB–Fab complex, in which DsbB has this principal disulphide. Its comparison with the updated structure of the DsbB–DsbA complex as well as with the recently reported NMR structure of a DsbB variant having the rearranged Cys41–Cys130 disulphide illuminated conformational transitions of DsbB induced by the binding and release of DsbA. Mutational studies revealed that the membrane‐parallel short α‐helix of DsbB has a key function in physiological electron flow, presumably by controlling the positioning of the Cys130‐containing loop. These findings demonstrate that DsbB has developed the elaborate conformational dynamism to oxidize DsbA for continuous protein disulphide bond formation in the cell.     

Building bridges: disulphide bond formation in the cell

Disulphides are often vital for the folding and stability of proteins. Dedicated enzymatic systems have been discovered that catalyse the formation of disulphides in the periplasm of prokaryotes. These discoveries provide compelling evidence for the actual catalysis of protein folding in vivo. Disulphide bond formation in Escherichia coli is catalysed by at least three ‘Dsb’ proteins; DsbA, -B and -C. The DsbA protein has an extremely reactive, oxidizing disulphide which it simply donates directly to other proteins. DsbB is required for the reoxidation of DsbA. DsbC is active in disulphide rearrangements and appears to work synergistically with DsbA. The relative rarity of disulphides in cytoplasmic proteins appears to be dependent upon a disulphide-destruction machine. One pivotal cog in this machine is thioredoxin reductase.     

Enhancing functional expression of heterologous lipase in the periplasm of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Bold"> </Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">coli</Emphasis>

Functional expression of heterologous Pseudozyma antarctica lipase B (PalB) in the periplasm of Escherichia coli was explored using four fusion tags, i.e. DsbC, DsbA, maltose-binding protein (MBP), and FLAG in the sequence of increasing expression efficacy. Amongst these fusion tags, FLAG and MBP appear to be the most effective ones in terms of boosting enzyme activity and enhancing solubility of PalB, respectively. Overexpression of these PalB fusions often resulted in concomitant formation of insoluble inclusion bodies. Coexpression of a selection of periplasmic folding factors, including DegP (and its mutant variant of DegP_S210A), FkpA, DsbA, DsbC, and a cocktail of SurA, FkpA, DsbA, and DsbC, could improve the expression performance. Coexpression of DsbA appeared to be the most effective in reducing the formation of inclusion bodies for all the four PalB fusions, implying that functional expression of PalB could be limited by initial bridging of disulfide bonds. Culture performance was optimized by overexpressing FLAG-PalB with DsbA coexpression, resulting in a high volumetric PalB activity of 360 U/L.     

霍乱弧菌ToxS蛋白间的互作增强ToxR蛋白诱导毒力基因的表达

【目的】阐明霍乱弧菌ToxR蛋白功能调控的分子机制。【方法】利用巯基捕获(thiol-trapping)的方法分析DsbA蛋白对ToxR周质空间结构域半胱氨酸残基的氧化作用;采用定点突变的方法构建ToxR半胱氨酸突变株(ToxR_(C236/293S));利用荧光素酶基因作为报告基因分析ToxR野生型(ToxR_(wt))和半胱氨酸突变体(ToxR_(C236/293S))诱导下游基因表达的活性;通过细菌双杂交系统分析ToxR_(wt)和ToxR_(C236/293S)蛋白之间、ToxR与ToxS之间以及ToxS之间的相互作用。【结果】ToxR周质空间结构域半胱氨酸残基确实可以被DsbA蛋白氧化,且当ToxR与ToxS共表达时,ToxR诱导ctxAB转录表达的活性显著增强,且在dsbA基因缺失突变株中ToxR诱导ctxAB转录表达的活性更高;成功构建株霍乱弧菌ToxR半胱氨酸突变株(ToxR_(C236/293S)),在没有ToxS存在的条件下,ToxR_(C236/293S)诱导毒力基因表达的活性与ToxRwt相当;细菌双杂交系统分析发现当ToxR与ToxS共转录表达时,ToxS极大增强ToxR蛋白之间的互作;在dsbA基因缺失突变株中,ToxS之间的相互作用显著增强。【结论】ToxR蛋白本身的氧还状态对其诱导毒力基因表达的活性没有影响;ToxS通过增强ToxR形成二聚体的能力从而增强其诱导毒力基因的表达,而DsbA对ToxS蛋白之间的相互作用具有抑制作用,DsbA通过影响ToxS的蛋白互作从而影响ToxR蛋白的功能。本文为进一步阐明霍乱弧菌毒力基因表达调控的分子机制提供重要的理论依据。     

Differential effect of dsbA and dsbC mutations on extracellular enzyme secretion in Erwinia chrysanthemi

An Erwinia chrysanthemi gene able to complement an Escherichia coli dsbA mutation has been cloned and sequenced. This gene codes for a periplasmic protein with disulphide isomerase activity that has 69% identity and 94% similarity with the E. coli DsbA protein. An E. chrysanthemi dsbA-uidA fusion mutant has been constructed. dsbA expression seems to be constitutive. This mutant has multiple phenotypes resulting from the absence of disulphide bond formation in periplasmic and secreted proteins. Pectate lyases and the cellulase EGZ are rapidly degraded in the periplasm of the dsbA mutant. E. chrysanthemi synthesizes another periplasmic protein with disulphide isomerase activity, namely DsbC. The dsbC gene introduced on a multicopy plasmid in a dsbA mutant was only partially able to restore EGZ secretion, indicating that even if DsbA and DsbC possess disulphide oxydoreductase activity, they are not completely interchangeable. Moreover, pectate lyases expressed in an E. coli dsbA mutant were very instable but their stability was unaffected in a dsbC mutant. These results indicate that DsbA and DsbC could have different substrate specificities.     

Crystal Structure of DsbA from Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Its Functional Implications for CueP in Gram-Positive Bacteria

In Gram-negative bacteria in the periplasmic space, the dimeric thioredoxin-fold protein DsbC isomerizes and reduces incorrect disulfide bonds of unfolded proteins, while the monomeric thioredoxin-fold protein DsbA introduces disulfide bonds in folding proteins. In the Gram-negative bacteria Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, the reduced form of CueP scavenges the production of hydroxyl radicals in the copper-mediated Fenton reaction, and DsbC is responsible for keeping CueP in the reduced, active form. Some DsbA proteins fulfill the functions of DsbCs, which are not present in Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we identified a DsbA homologous protein (CdDsbA) in the Corynebacterium diphtheriae genome and determined its crystal structure in the reduced condition at 1.5 Å resolution. CdDsbA consists of a monomeric thioredoxin-like fold with an inserted helical domain and unique N-terminal extended region. We confirmed that CdDsbA has disulfide bond isomerase/reductase activity, and we present evidence that the N-terminal extended region is not required for this activity and folding of the core DsbA-like domain. Furthermore, we found that CdDsbA could reduce CueP from C. diphtheriae.     

Overexpression of protein disulfide isomerase DsbA enhanced detoxification of organophosphates and enhanced detectability in the environment following degradation of pesticide residues

In many cases the expressed protein is insoluble and accumulates in so-called inclusion bodies. Several strategies have been developed to improve the solubility of the expressed protein. Disulfide isomerase DsbA could effectively assist proteins folding,both in vivo coexpressed with the target protein,and in vitro replenished as foldases.Moreover,DsbA also has the chaperone-like activity in the assistant refolding of genetically engineered inclusion bodies.Coexpression of DsbA with the target protein could lead to higher levels of soluble protein. In this work, a significantly improved, recombinant Escherichia coli has been developed to degrade the toxic organophosphorus compound, methyl parathion, to non-toxic materials by coexpression of disulfide isomerase DsbA and Methyl Parathion Hydrolase (MPH)-GFP fusion protein. Whole cells expressing DsbA had significant enhancement of MPH activity compared to DsbA-free system and could be easily detected.     

Assignment Strategies for Large Proteins by Magic-Angle Spinning NMR: The 21-kDa Disulfide-Bond-Forming Enzyme DsbA

We present strategies for chemical shift assignments of large proteins by magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR, using the 21-kDa disulfide-bond-forming enzyme DsbA as prototype. Previous studies have demonstrated that complete de novo assignments are possible for proteins up to  ∼ 17 kDa, and partial assignments have been performed for several larger proteins. Here we show that combinations of isotopic labeling strategies, high field correlation spectroscopy, and three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) backbone correlation experiments yield highly confident assignments for more than 90% of backbone resonances in DsbA. Samples were prepared as nanocrystalline precipitates by a dialysis procedure, resulting in heterogeneous linewidths below 0.2 ppm. Thus, high magnetic fields, selective decoupling pulse sequences, and sparse isotopic labeling all improved spectral resolution. Assignments by amino acid type were facilitated by particular combinations of pulse sequences and isotopic labeling; for example, transferred echo double resonance experiments enhanced sensitivity for Pro and Gly residues; [2-¹³C]glycerol labeling clarified Val, Ile, and Leu assignments; in-phase anti-phase correlation spectra enabled interpretation of otherwise crowded Glx/Asx side-chain regions; and 3D NCACX experiments on [2-¹³C]glycerol samples provided unique sets of aromatic (Phe, Tyr, and Trp) correlations. Together with high-sensitivity CANCOCA 4D experiments and CANCOCX 3D experiments, unambiguous backbone walks could be performed throughout the majority of the sequence. At 189 residues, DsbA represents the largest monomeric unit for which essentially complete solid-state NMR assignments have so far been achieved. These results will facilitate studies of nanocrystalline DsbA structure and dynamics and will enable analysis of its 41-kDa covalent complex with the membrane protein DsbB, for which we demonstrate a high-resolution two-dimensional ¹³C-¹³C spectrum.     

Backbone and side chain 1H, 15N and 13C assignments for the oxidised and reduced forms of the oxidoreductase protein DsbA from Staphylococcus aureus

The function and dynamics of the thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase DsbA in the low-GC gram positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, are yet to be elucidated. Here we report 13C, 15N and 1H assignments for the oxidised and reduced forms of SaDsbA as a prelude to further studies on the enzyme.     

The Role of Oxidoreductases in Determining the Function of the Neisserial Lipid A Phosphoethanolamine Transferase Required for Resistance to Polymyxin

The decoration of the lipid A headgroups of the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) by the LOS phosphoethanolamine (PEA) transferase (LptA) in Neisseria spp. is central for resistance to polymyxin. The structure of the globular domain of LptA shows that the protein has five disulphide bonds, indicating that it is a potential substrate of the protein oxidation pathway in the bacterial periplasm. When neisserial LptA was expressed in Escherichia coli in the presence of the oxidoreductase, EcDsbA, polymyxin resistance increased 30-fold. LptA decorated one position of the E. coli lipid A headgroups with PEA. In the absence of the EcDsbA, LptA was degraded in E. coli. Neisseria spp. express three oxidoreductases, DsbA1, DsbA2 and DsbA3, each of which appear to donate disulphide bonds to different targets. Inactivation of each oxidoreductase in N. meningitidis enhanced sensitivity to polymyxin with combinatorial mutants displaying an additive increase in sensitivity to polymyxin, indicating that the oxidoreductases were required for multiple pathways leading to polymyxin resistance. Correlates were sought between polymyxin sensitivity, LptA stability or activity and the presence of each of the neisserial oxidoreductases. Only meningococcal mutants lacking DsbA3 had a measurable decrease in the amount of PEA decoration on lipid A headgroups implying that LptA stability was supported by the presence of DsbA3 but did not require DsbA1/2 even though these oxidoreductases could oxidise the protein. This is the first indication that DsbA3 acts as an oxidoreductase in vivo and that multiple oxidoreductases may be involved in oxidising the one target in N. meningitidis. In conclusion, LptA is stabilised by disulphide bonds within the protein. This effect was more pronounced when neisserial LptA was expressed in E. coli than in N. meningitidis and may reflect that other factors in the neisserial periplasm have a role in LptA stability.