Quantitative, standardized assays for determining the concentrations of bovine lactoperoxidase, human salivary peroxidase, and human myeloperoxidase

Because of the important biological functions of peroxidases, there is growing interest in the measurement of their concentrations in various secretions. At present, there is no standard method which allows for comparisons in reported activities. This report describes procedures which can be used to measure peroxidase enzyme concentrations by commonly employed assays. Regression equations have been determined which can be used to calculate concentrations of bovine lactoperoxidase (LPO), human salivary peroxidase (SPO), and human myeloperoxidase (MPO) from activities measured with the following donors: pyrogallol, guaiacol, 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzylthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), and thiocyanate (SCN-). The peroxidation rates of these donors depend upon the concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) used in the individual assays and thus, for accurate, reproducible results, these concentrations must be carefully controlled. The SCN- normally present in human saliva will reduce observed reaction rates by simple competition kinetics in the ABTS, guaiacol and pyrogallol assays and will increase the rates observed when Cl- is used as a donor in NBS assay for MPO. Therefore, SCN- must be removed from saliva samples prior to peroxidase activity determination by all assays except the thionitrobenzoic acid (NBS) assay. LPO cannot be used as a standard for either SPO or MPO because the specific activities of LPO, SPO, and MPO are significantly different.     

Expression and characterization of bovine lactoperoxidase by recombinant baculovirus

Lactoperoxidase (LPO) is a heme-containing oxidation-reduction enzyme present in milk. In this study, the gene encoding bovine lactoperoxidase (bLPO) was inserted into a baculovirus transfer vector, and a recombinant virus expressing bLPO was isolated. A bLPO-related recombinant baculovirus-expressed protein of 78 kDa was detected using anti-bLPO antibodies. After digestion with N-glycosidase F, the molecular weight of the recombinant bLPO (rbLPO) decreased. In addition, rbLPO reacted with lectin, indicating that the protein was glycosylated. The rbLPO activity and heme content in the culture supernatants increased upon addition of delta-aminolevulinic acid, which is a heme precursor. Differences in the delta-aminolevulinic acid-dependent circular dichroism spectrum and rbLPO pepsin hydrolysis were observed. These results suggest that the secondary structure and structural stability of rbLPO depends on the heme environment. Our data suggest that this bLPO expression system is useful for studying structure, catalytic mechanisms, and biological function.     

PCR cloning and baculovirus expression of human lactoperoxidase and myeloperoxidase

Lactoperoxidase (LPO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) have been identified previously in human milk. These peroxidases have antimicrobial activity and presumably contribute to the protective functions of milk. In this study, we amplified genes encoding LPO and MPO from human mammary gland cDNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These genes were expressed in a baculovirus-insect cell system. Peroxidase activity was observed in the culture supernatant of Tricoplusia ni cells infected with the recombinant viruses and the levels increased upon addition of delta-aminolevulinic acid. Purified recombinant human LPO and MPO, both with a molecular mass of about 80 kDa, showed properties similar to bovine LPO and human MPO, respectively, in terms of absorption spectrum, sensitivity to dapsone, specificity for chloride ions, and reactivity with anti-bovine LPO or anti-MPO antibodies. Our data suggest that this expression system is useful for studying the catalytic mechanism and biological significance of these human peroxidases.     

Organic pyrophosphates as substrates for human alkaline phosphatases

1. Purified human liver and small-intestinal alkaline orthophosphatases release inorganic phosphate at appreciable rates from a variety of organic pyrophosphate substrates. 2. The pyrophosphatase action is inhibited by Mg²⁺ ions at concentrations that activate the hydrolysis of orthophosphate substrates by these enzymes. 3. The results of mixed-substrate experiments, denaturation studies with heat or urea and starch-gel electrophoresis suggest that both orthophosphatase and pyrophosphatase activities are, in each preparation, properties of a single enzyme. 4. Intestinal phosphatase shows greater pyrophosphatase activity relative to orthophosphatase than the liver enzyme.     

Expression and characterization of bovine lactoperoxidase by recombinant vaccinia virus

Lactoperoxidase (LPO) is a 78 kDa heme-containing oxidation–reduction enzyme present in milk, found in physiological fluids of mammals. LPO has an antimicrobial activity, and presumably contribute to the protective functions of milk against infectious diseases. In this study, recombinant vaccinia virus expressing bovine LPO (vv/bLPO) was constructed. In rabbit kidney (RK13) cells infected with vv/bLPO, recombinant bLPO was detected in both cell extracts and culture supernatants. Tunicamycin treatment decreased the molecular weight of recombinant bLPO, indicating that recombinant bLPO contains a N-linked glycosylation site. The replication of recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing bovine lactoferrin (vv/bLF) at a multiplicity of infection (moi) of 5 plaque-forming units (PFU)/cell was inhibited by antiviral activity of recombinant bLF, suggesting that vv/bLF has an antiviral effect against vaccinia virus. On the other hand, the replication of vv/bLPO at a moi of 5 PFU/cell was not inhibited by antiviral activity of recombinant bLPO, indicating that this recombinant virus could be used as a suitable viral vector. These results indicate that a combination of bLPO and vaccinia virus vector may be useful for medical and veterinary applications in vivo.     

Bovine myeloperoxidase and lactoperoxidase each contain a high affinity site for calcium

Both bovine myeloperoxidase and lactoperoxidase contain one calcium per iron with no other metal present in significant amount. Calcium is bound with high affinity and is removed upon exposure to 6 M guanidine hydrochloride/EGTA which results in precipitation of protein. Computer amino acid sequence analyses of human myeloperoxidase reveal two plausible calcium binding sites. This is the first evidence for the presence of calcium in these peroxidases.     

The eosinophil peroxidase gene forms a cluster with the genes for myeloperoxidase and lactoperoxidase on human chromosome 17

Eosinophil peroxidase (EPX) is one of a family of mammalian peroxidases that includes myeloperoxidase (MPO), lactoperoxidase (LPO), and thyroid peroxidase (TPO). Here we show that the human EPX gene maps to chromosome 17q23.1, which localizes 34 kb from the LPO and MPO genes. Our results demonstrate that the EPX, LPO, and MPO genes form a cluster on human chromosome 17.     

Chromophoric cinnamic acid substrates as resonance Raman probes of the active site environment in native and unfolded alpha-chymotrypsin

Chromophoric [4-(dimethylamino)cinnamoyl]imidazole reacts with the serine protease alpha-chymotrypsin to form an acyl enzyme. At pHs below 4.0, the acyl enzyme turns over very slowly to yield the free acid. During this slow deacylation it is possible to obtain a very good resonance Raman spectrum of the acyl intermediate by using the 350.7-nm line of the krypton laser. The resonance Raman carbonyl frequency of the covalently bonded substrate and its wavelength at maximum intensity in the absorption spectrum of the acyl enzyme have been taken and used to monitor the active site environment. A comparison has been made of the absorption and Raman spectra of the acyl enzyme and those of the corresponding chromophoric methyl ester, aldehyde, and imidazole model compounds. A linear correlation is found between the wavelength of maximum absorption and the Raman frequency of the carbonyl group over a wide range of solvent conditions for each of the model compounds. By combining the Raman carbonyl frequency with the absorption maximum, we can determine that the bond order changes in the carbonyl bond of the bound substrate are not due to changes in the solvent, since the carbonyl frequency and the absorption maximum of the acyl enzyme do not fall on any of the linear correlations for the model compounds. The unusual spectroscopic properties of the bound substrate appear to be due to some specific enzyme-induced change in the substrate when it is bound at the active site. Thermal unfolding of the acyl enzymes changes both the carbonyl frequency of the acyl enzyme and its absorption maximum to completely different values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Production of nitric oxide by human salivary peroxidase and by bovine lactoperoxidase

Peroxidases catalyze the oxidation of nitrite to nitrate in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Two pathways may occur: one entailing the intermediate formation of NO(2) and the other implying the generation of peroxynitrite. The products of nitrite (NO(2) (-) ) oxidation by salivary peroxidase (SPO) and commercial bovine lactoperoxidase (LPO) are studied by utilizing an electrochemical assay that allows the direct, continuous monitoring of NO and/or NO(2) and by HPLC to assess nitrates at the end of the reaction. Dialyzed saliva and LPO, in the presence of H(2) O(2) , convert nitrite into nitrate and form some NO, with a molar ratio of 10(3) . In our experimental conditions, no NO(2) was detectable among the products of nitrite oxidation. SCN(-) inhibits NO formation and so does I(-) , although at higher concentrations. No effects are observed with Cl(-) or Br(-) . We conclude that SPO and LPO transform NO(2) (-) into nitrate-forming small amounts of NO in the presence of H(2) O(2) as an intermediate or a by-product, synthesized through the peroxynitrite pathway.     

Comparative analytical studies on recombinant and native human somatotropin

In polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing, somatotropin produced by recombinant DNA technology is as heterogeneous as highly purified native pituitary somatotropin. This heterogeneity is not attributable to different degrees of deamination of a single molecular species. In addition to the main protein of 22 kDa, the cloned products contain traces of interchain disulphide dimers of somatotropin. The quantitative amino acid analyses of the three cloned somatotropins investigated are neither identical nor do they correspond to the analysis of the native pituitary hormone. Moreover, there are discrepancies between the amino acid compositions of the hormones studied and the generally recognized amino acid analysis for human somatotropin.     

Coumarin as a structural component of substrates and probes for serine and cysteine proteases

Coumarins represent well-established structures to introduce fluorescence into tool compounds for biochemical investigations. They are valued for their small size, chemical stability and accessibility as well as their tunable photochemical properties. As components of fluorophore/quencher pairs or FRET donor/acceptor pairs, coumarins have frequently been applied in substrate mapping approaches for serine and cysteine proteases. This review also focuses on the incorporation of coumarins into the side chain of amino acids and the exploitation of the resulting fluorescent amino acids for the positional profiling of protease substrates. The protease-inhibiting properties of certain coumarin derivatives and the utilization of coumarin moieties to assemble activity-based probes for serine and cysteine proteases are discussed as well.     

Estrogen esters as substrates for human paraoxonases

Mammalian paraoxonases (PONs 1, 2 and 3) are a highly conserved family of esterases, with uncertain physiological functions and natural substrates. Here we characterize the ability of purified recombinant human PONs to hydrolyze estrogen esters, a class of compounds previously not known to be PON substrates. PONs hydrolyzed estrogen mono- and diesters at position 3 of the steroid A-ring. Diesters were better substrates for the PONs and were very efficiently hydrolyzed, particularly by PON3. Esters at position 17 were not cleaved by the PONs unless an adjacent double bound was present. Purified human serum butyryl cholinesterase also hydrolyzed estrogen esters, however it preferably hydrolyzed the mono-esters. The ability of the PONs' to effectively hydrolyze a variety of estrogen esters provides further insight into the structure of their active sites and suggests that natural compounds with aromatic ester groups might be relevant substrates for the PONs.     

Catechol(amine)s as probes of lactoperoxidase catalytic site structure: spectroscopic and modeling studies

 Binding affinities to lactoperoxidase (LPO) of a homologous series of substituted catechol(amine)s [such as catechol, 4-methylcatechol, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)propionic acid; dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline;l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine] were studied by UV-visible spectroscopy and docking simulations. Dissociation constant (K _d) values were calculated by direct fitting of the experimental data and fall in a range of 3–95 mM. Thermodynamic parameters are comparable with those reported for the interaction of LPO with p-substituted phenols, suggesting a similar general mode of binding. Furthermore, the relative contributions to binding energy, described by the unimolecular constant K _u, show that interaction between protein and ligands originates from a relatively large number of groups. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations, in agreement with experimental evidence, predict that the substrate is localized into the access channel in the vicinity of heme distal pocket. This channel is characterized by a hydrophobic patch (six Phe residues) and by a charged contribution (two Glu and one His residues). All of the substrates, except caffeic acid, may approach the protein active site. Positively charged Arg372 acts as a gate above the heme distal pocket and seems to address substrate orientation in relation to the side-chain terminal group. Received: 4 June 1998 / Accepted: 1 October 1998     

Synthetic peptides as substrates for processing enzymes in the bovine pituitary

Synthetic peptides, based on sequences of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) cleaved in both the bovine anterior and intermediate pituitaries (-Phe-Pro-Leu-Gly-Phe-Lys-Arg-Glu-Leu-Thr-Gly-) and only in the intermediate lobe (-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-Gly-Lys-Lys-Arg-Arg-Pro-Val-), were used as substrates for the enzymes that process POMC to active hormones in the anterior and intermediate lobes of the pituitary. Cleavage of these peptides at the dibasic pair of residues, the expected cleavage site, was observed with a lysate from bovine pituitary secretory granules. Cleavage occurred optimally at a pH between 4 and 5 and was inhibited with sulfhydryl reagents, pepstatin, and leupeptin. Little specificity for the nature of the basic residues at the cleavage site was observed. An additional cleavage, following glutamic acid residues, was also seen.     

Fluorinated and deoxygenated substrates as probes of transition-state structure in glycogen phosphorylase

A series of deoxyfluoro- and deoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl phosphates have been tested as substrates of rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase b. All are found to be utilized by the enzyme, but at substantially reduced rates. Values of Vm/Km for these analogues range from 10(2) to 10(5) times lower than that for the parent substrate. The large rate reductions are suggested to arise from a combination of intrinsic electronic effects and poorer binding of these substrates at the transition state. The data provide substantial evidence for an oxocarbonium-ion-like transition state. They also provide estimates of the strengths of hydrogen bonds to individual sugar hydroxyls at the transition state of the reaction. Further, comparison of such data with those obtained for glucose analogues binding as inhibitors to T-state phosphorylase suggests that these two glucose subsites are essentially identical; thus, the glucose pocket remains intact during the conformational transition associated with activation of the enzyme.     

Design and synthesis of chromogenic thiopeptolide substrates as MetAPs active site probes

Twenty one chromogenic thiopeptolide substrates were designed and synthesized as the active site probes and analyzed with each S1 site of mutant residues and enzymes of wild-type MetAP1s. The preliminary enzymatic experiments indicate that cysteine 70 or 202, at either Escherichia coli or human MetAP1, played a crucial role in the methionine hydrolysis.