Laue and monochromatic diffraction studies on catalysis in phosphorylase b crystals.

The conversion of substrate, heptenitol, to product, beta-1-C-methyl, alpha-D-glucose-1-phosphate (heptulose-2-P), in crystals of glycogen phosphorylase b has been studied by Laue and monochromatic diffraction methods. The phosphorolysis reaction in the crystal was started following liberation of phosphate from a caged phosphate compound, 3,5-dinitrophenyl phosphate (DNPP). The photolysis of DNPP, stimulated by flashes from a xenon flash lamp, was monitored in the crystal with a diode array spectrophotometer. In the Laue diffraction experiments, data to 2.8 A resolution were collected and the first time shot was obtained at 3 min from the start of reaction, and data collection comprised three 800-ms exposures. Careful data processing of Laue photographs for the large enzyme resulted in electron density maps of almost comparable quality to those produced by monochromatic methods. The difference maps obtained from the Laue measurements showed that very little catalysis had occurred 3 min and 1 h after release of phosphate, and a distinct peak consistent with the position expected for phosphate, in the attacking position was observed. Data collection times with monochromatic crystallographic methods on a home source took 16 h for data to 2.3 A resolution. Sufficient phosphate was released from the caged phosphate in the crystal from 5 flashes with a xenon flashlamp within 1 min for the reaction to go to completion within the time scale of the monochromatic data collection procedures. The heptulose-2-P product complex has been refined and the model agrees with that obtained previously with the major difference that the interchange of an aspartic acid (Asp 283) by an arginine (Arg 569) was not observed at the catalytic site. This change is part of the activation process of glycogen phosphorylase and may not have taken place in the current experiments because the caged compound binds weakly at the inhibitor site, restricting conformational change, and because activators of the enzymic reaction were not present in the crystal. In experiments with monochromatic radiation in which low phosphate concentrations were generated either by fewer photons or by diffusion of known phosphate concentrations, mixtures of substrate and product were observed. It was not possible through crystallographic refinement at 2.3 A resolution to establish the fractional occupancies of the enzyme-substrate and enzyme-product complexes, but the results did indicate that the reaction was proceeding slowly, consistent with approximate calculations for the likely rate of the reaction in the crystal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

非水相体系酶催化反应研究进展

非水相酶催化反应是酶催化反应中的一个重要方面。非水相溶剂通常可增加底物溶解度,减少水相中的副反应,加快生物催化的速率和效率,在药物及药物中间体和食品等方面具有较大的应用价值。以下探讨了非水相体系对酶活力及酶促反应速率的影响因素,并阐述酶的化学修饰、固定化及定点突变对酶活力的影响,进一步分析无溶剂系统、反胶束、超临界流体及离子液体的不同溶剂体系对酶反应速率及催化效率的影响。此外,还列举一些非水相酶催化反应的应用实例。     

Enzymatic activities of uridine and thymidine phosphorylase in normal and cancerous uterine cervical tissues

In this study, the preliminary analyses were conducted of enzymatic activities of uridine phosphorylase (UP) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) in normal tissues and cancer tissues of the uterine cervix. The study was performed on 27 patients of cervical cancer, treated first in our hospital. Normal cervical tissues obtained from 15 patients undergoing hysterectomy for benign diseases were used as controls. The supernatant of the homogenated cervical tissues and the stroma (5-FU and ribose-1-P or deoxyribose-1-P) were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography, and then the UP and TP activities calculated. TP activity was significantly greater than UP activity (P < 0.0001). Both UP and TP showed significantly greater activity in cancer tissues than in normal tissues (P < 0.0001). In the TP activity of the cancer tissues, there was no significant difference among the histological types, while the TP activity tended to be significantly higher in the cases with lymph node metastasis. These results showed that the TP-mediated route seemed important as the 5FU metabolic pathway in the uterine cervical tissues, and TP enzymatic activity might be associated with lymph node metastasis.     

纤维二糖磷酸化酶和纤维寡糖磷酸化酶的研究与应用

自然界中一些厌氧的纤维素降解菌能够产生纤维二糖磷酸化酶(Cellobiose Phosphorylase,CBP)和纤维寡糖磷酸化酶(Cellodextrin Phosphorylase,CDP)磷酸化裂解纤维二糖和纤维寡糖.CBP和CDP属于糖苷水解酶94家族(Glycoside Hydrolase Family 9...     

Chaperone mediated solubilization of 69-kDa recombinant maltodextrin glucosidase in Escherichia coli

Aims:  To investigate the factors affecting expression and solubilization of Escherichia coli maltodextrin glucosidase in E. coli .
Methods and Results:  Expression level and solubilization of the recombinant E. coli maltodextrin glucosidase was studied in E. coli at different temperatures, in presence of overexpressed GroEL, GroES and externally supplemented glycerol. Aggregation of maltodextrin glucosidase in the cytoplasm was partially prevented by the co-expression of GroEL and GroES, and using externally supplemented glycerol or lowering the culture temperature. Co-expression of GroEL and GroES or simultaneous presence of overexpressed GroEL, GroES and externally supplemented glycerol together resulted significant increase of the activity of maltodextrin glucosidase. The growth rate of E. coli was inhibited by the formation of inclusion bodies whereas the presence of overexpressed GroEL, GroES alone or together with glycerol enhanced the growth rate of E. coli substantially.
Conclusions:  The results indicated that lowering the temperature, use of GroEL, GroES and glycerol could be few controlling factors for the solubilization of recombinant aggregation-prone maltodextrin glucosidase in E. coli.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  Our study could help in developing the strategy for enhancing the production of soluble industrial enzymes and finding the therapeutic agents against protein misfolding diseases.     

Kinetic properties of tetrameric glycogen phosphorylase b in solution and in the crystalline state.

R-state monoclinic P2(1) crystals of phosphorylase have been shown to be catalytically active in the presence of an oligosaccharide primer and glucose-1-phosphate in 0.9 M ammonium sulfate, 10 mM beta-glycerophosphate, 0.5 mM EDTA, and 1 mM dithiothreitol, the medium in which the crystals are grown or equilibrated for crystallographic studies (Barford, D. & Johnson, L.N., 1989, Nature 360, 609-616; Barford, D., Hu, S.-H., & Johnson, L.N., 1991, J. Mol. Biol. 218, 233-260). Kinetic data suggest that the activity of crystalline tetrameric phosphorylase is similar to that determined in solution for the enzyme tetramer. However, large differences were found in the maximal velocities for both oligosaccharide or glucose-1-phosphate substrates between the soluble dimeric and crystalline tetrameric enzyme.     

Substrate specificity of Escherichia coli thymidine phosphorylase

Substrate specificity of Escherichia coli thymidine phosphorylase to thymidine derivatives modified at 5' -, 3' -, and 2' ,3' - positions of the sugar moiety was studied. Equilibrium and kinetic constants (K(m), K(I), k(cat)) of the phosphorolysis reaction have been determined for 20 thymidine analogs. The results are compared with X-ray and molecular dynamics data. The most important hydrogen bonds in the enzyme-substrate complex are revealed.     

嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶基因的克隆及原核表达载体的构建

通过PCR方法从产气肠杆菌、胡萝卜软腐欧文氏菌、大肠杆菌扩增嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶(PNPase)基因,然后将扩增的约720bp的基因片段克隆到pET-28b表达载体上,构建重组PNPase的表达载体。核苷酸及推导的氨基酸序列分析表明,该基因在三个菌株之间有很高的同源性。SDS-PAGE电泳结果显示出明显的特异性蛋白质条带,其分子量约为29.8kDa.该载体的构建为进一步研究核苷及其类似物的生物合成奠定基础。     

基因工程菌酶法合成抗癌新药6-甲基嘌呤-2'-脱氧核苷

6-甲基嘌呤-2'-脱氧核苷(MePdR)是一种新型抗癌药物,它作为药物前体应用于PNP自杀基因治疗系统可以选择性杀伤肿瘤细胞.本实验构建了一个高效表达大肠杆菌来源的嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶重组质粒,并利用基因工程菌以15mmol/L 6-甲基嘌呤和60mmol/L 2'-脱氧尿苷为底物合成6-甲基嘌呤-2'-脱氧核苷,在40mmol/L pH7.0的磷酸缓冲液中,2%菌体在55℃反应2h,转化率可达83.78%.用硅胶制备薄层提纯得到白色针状晶体,收率为76.4%.HPLC测定该产物纯度99.3%,核磁共振鉴定该产物为MePdR.     

基因工程菌酶法合成抗癌新药6-甲基嘌呤-2′-脱氧核苷

6-甲基嘌呤-2′-脱氧核苷(MePdR)是一种新型抗癌药物,它作为药物前体应用于PNP自杀基因治疗系统可以选择性杀伤肿瘤细胞。本实验构建了一个高效表达大肠杆菌来源的嘌呤核苷磷酸化酶重组质粒,并利用基因工程菌以15mmol/L 6-甲基嘌呤和60mmol/L 2′-脱氧尿苷为底物合成6-甲基嘌呤-2′-脱氧核苷,在40mmol/L pH7.0的磷酸缓冲液中,2%菌体在55℃反应2h,转化率可达83.78%。用硅胶制备薄层提纯得到白色针状晶体,收率为76.4%。HPLC测定该产物纯度99.3%,核磁共振鉴定该产物为MePdR。     

X-ray studies on ternary complexes of maltodextrin phosphorylase

We report crystal structures of ternary complexes of maltodextrin phosphorylase with natural oligosaccharide and phosphate mimicking anions: nitrate, sulphate and vanadate. Electron density maps obtained from crystals grown in presence of Al(NO₃)₃ show a nitrate ion instead of the expected in the catalytic site. The trigonal is coplanar with the Arg569 guanidinium group and mimics three of the four oxygen atoms of phosphate. The ternary complex with sulphate shows a partial occupancy of the anionic site. The low affinity of the sulphate ion, observed when the α-glucosyl substrate is present in the catalytic channel, is ascribed to restricted space for the anion. Even lower occupancy is observed for the larger vanadate anion. The Malp/G5/ structure shows the partial occupancy of the oligosaccharide and the dislocation of the 380’s loop. This has been attributed to the formation of oligosaccharide vanadate derivatives (confirmed by capillary electrophoresis) that reduces their effective concentration. The difficulty to trap a ternary complex mimicking the ground state has been correlated to the apparent lower affinity that natural substrates show regarding the intermediates of the enzymatic reaction.     

Validation of the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase by structural and kinetic studies

The catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) is revised using site-directed mutagenesis, kinetic studies and structure determinations.The experimental evidence on the role of the particular catalytic amino acid during catalysis has not been available. Therefore, the active site mutants Arg24Ala, Asp204Ala, Asp204Asn, Arg217Ala and Asp204Ala/Arg217Ala were prepared and their kinetics and thermodynamic studies were carried out. The activity tests with natural substrates and 7-methylguanosine confirmed the earlier hypothesis, that catalysis involves protonation of the purine base at position N7 by Asp204, which is triggered by Arg217.The crystal structures of the wild type in complexes with phosphate and sulphate, respectively, and of the Arg24Ala mutant in complex with phosphate/sulphate were determined. The structural data show that previously observed conformational change is a result of the phosphate binding and its interaction with Arg24.As E. coli PNP is a promising candidate for the tumour-directed gene therapy, our results may also help to design efficient mutants useful in gene therapy.     

Allosteric inhibition of glycogen phosphorylase a by the potential antidiabetic drug 3-isopropyl 4-(2-chlorophenyl)-1,4-dihydro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-pyridine-3,5,6-tricarbo xylate.

The effect of the potential antidiabetic drug (-)(S)-3-isopropyl 4-(2-chlorophenyl)-1,4-dihydro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-pyridine-3,5,6-tricarbox ylate (W1807) on the catalytic and structural properties of glycogen phosphorylase a has been studied. Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is an allosteric enzyme whose activity is primarily controlled by reversible phosphorylation of Ser14 of the dephosphorylated enzyme (GPb, less active, predominantly T-state) to form the phosphorylated enzyme (GPa, more active, predominantly R-state). Upon conversion of GPb to GPa, the N-terminal tail (residues 5-22), which carries the Ser14(P), changes its conformation into a distorted 3(10) helix and its contacts from intrasubunit to intersubunit. This alteration causes a series of tertiary and quaternary conformational changes that lead to activation of the enzyme through opening access to the catalytic site. As part of a screening process to identify compounds that might contribute to the regulation of glycogen metabolism in the noninsulin dependent diabetes diseased state, W1807 has been found as the most potent inhibitor of GPb (Ki = 1.6 nM) that binds at the allosteric site of T-state GPb and produces further conformational changes, characteristic of a T'-like state. Kinetics show W1807 is a potent competitive inhibitor of GPa (-AMP) (Ki = 10.8 nM) and of GPa (+1 mM AMP) (Ki = 19.4 microM) with respect to glucose 1-phosphate and acts in synergism with glucose. To elucidate the structural features that contribute to the binding, the structures of GPa in the T-state conformation in complex with glucose and in complex with both glucose and W1807 have been determined at 100 K to 2.0 A and 2.1 A resolution, and refined to crystallographic R-values of 0.179 (R(free) = 0.230) and 0.189 (R(free) = 0.263), respectively. W1807 binds tightly at the allosteric site and induces substantial conformational changes both in the vicinity of the allosteric site and the subunit interface. A disordering of the N-terminal tail occurs, while the loop of chain containing residues 192-196 and residues 43'-49' shift to accommodate the ligand. Structural comparisons show that the T-state GPa-glucose-W1807 structure is overall more similar to the T-state GPb-W1807 complex structure than to the GPa-glucose complex structure, indicating that W1807 is able to transform GPa to the T'-like state already observed with GPb. The structures provide a rational for the potency of the inhibitor and explain GPa allosteric inhibition of activity upon W1807 binding.     

Metabolic function of glycogen phosphorylase and trehalose phosphorylase in fruit-body formation ofFlammulina velutipes

Glycogen phosphorylase in the vegetative mycelium ofFlammulina velutipes converts glycogen to α-glucose 1-phosphate (G1P) in the colony during fruit-body development. Glycogen may contribute to the synthesis of trehalose as the starting material in the vegetative mycelium during the fruiting process of the colony, and the trehalose produced is translocated into the fruit-bodies as the main carbohydrate substrate for their development. Trehalose phosphorylase activity in the vegetative mycelium was at a relatively high level until fruit-body initiation, suggesting the turnover of this disaccharide during the vegetative stage of the colony development. Trehalose phosphorylase activity in the stipes showed a peak level at the early phase of fruit-body development, suggesting the continuing phosphorolysis of trehalose by this enzyme. The stipes also showed a high specific activity of phosphoglucomutase at a sufficient level to facilitate the conversion of G1P to α-glucose 6-phosphate (G6P). In the pilei a large amount of G1P remained until the growth of the fruit-bodies ceased. Trehalase activities in the stipes and pilei were at a very low level, and this enzyme may not contribute to the catabolism of trehalose in the fruit-body development.     

Amino acid anthranilamide derivatives as a new class of glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors

A series of amino acid anthranilamide derivatives identified from a high-throughput screening campaign as novel, potent, and glucose-sensitive inhibitors of human liver glycogen phosphorylase a are described. A solid-phase synthesis using Wang resin was also developed which provided efficient access to a variety of analogues, and resulted in the identification of key structure–activity relationships, and the discovery of a potent exemplar (IC₅₀ = 80 nM). The SAR scope, synthetic strategy, and in vitro results for this series are presented herein.     

Crystal structure of Escherichia coli PNPase: central channel residues are involved in processive RNA degradation

Bacterial polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) plays a major role in mRNA turnover by the degradation of RNA from the 3′- to 5′-ends. Here, we determined the crystal structures of the wild-type and a C-terminal KH/S1 domain-truncated mutant (ΔKH/S1) of Escherichia coli PNPase at resolutions of 2.6 Å and 2.8 Å, respectively. The six RNase PH domains of the trimeric PNPase assemble into a ring-like structure containing a central channel. The truncated mutant ΔKH/S1 bound and cleaved RNA less efficiently with an eightfold reduced binding affinity. Thermal melting and acid-induced trimer dissociation studies, analyzed by circular dichroism and dynamic light scattering, further showed that ΔKH/S1 formed a less stable trimer than the full-length PNPase. The crystal structure of ΔKH/S1 is more expanded, containing a slightly wider central channel than that of the wild-type PNPase, suggesting that the KH/S1 domain helps PNPase to assemble into a more compact trimer, and it regulates the channel size allosterically. Moreover, site-directed mutagenesis of several arginine residues in the channel neck regions produced defective PNPases that either bound and cleaved RNA less efficiently or generated longer cleaved oligonucleotide products, indicating that these arginines were involved in RNA binding and processive degradation. Taking these results together, we conclude that the constricted central channel and the basic-charged residues in the channel necks of PNPase play crucial roles in trapping RNA for processive exonucleolytic degradation.