Coordination chemical studies on metalloenzymes. II. Kinetic behavior of various types of chelating agents towards bovine carbonic anhydrase.

In order to investigate the kinetics and mechanism of the removal of zinc ions from bovine carbonic anhydrase [EC 4.2.1.1] (BCA), several chelating agents with various stability constants were used to remove zinc from BCA. The second-order rate constants (kaap) of zinc removal from BCA were found to be in the following order; 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid greater than 2-pyridinecarboxylic acid greater than 2,4-pyridinedicarboxylic acid greater than 2,3-pyridinedicarboxylic acid greater than or approximately 1,10-phenanthroline greater than or approximately 5-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline greater than 2,2'-bipyridine. With similar chelating agents the greater the stability constant, the faster was the rate of removal of zinc ions from BCA. With EDTA, trans-1,2-cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid, and nitrilotriacetic acid, the rate of zinc ion removal from the native enzyme was governed by the rate of spontaneous dissociation of zinc enzyme. The rate constants for the removal of zinc ions from BCA were governed by the affinity of the chelating agents for the metal ion and the conformation of the chelating agents. Based on these findings, reaction pathways for various chelating agents are proposed.     

Role of an intrachain disulfide bond in the conformation and stability of ovalbumin

Ovalbumin, which contains one intrachain disulfide bond and four cysteine sulfhydryls, was reduced with dithiothreitol under non-denaturing conditions, and its conformation and stability were compared with those of the disulfide-bonded form. The CD spectrum in the far-UV region revealed that the overall conformation of the reduced form is similar to that of the disulfide-bonded one. Likewise, the inaccessibility to trypsin and the non-reactivity of the four cysteine sulfhydryls, exhibited by the native disulfide-bonded ovalbumin, were still retained in the disulfide-reduced form. Thus, the reduced ovalbumin appeared to substantially take the native-like conformation. However, the near-UV CD spectrum slightly differed between the native and disulfide-reduced forms. Protein alkylation with a fluorescent dye and subsequent sequence analysis showed that the two sulfhydryls (Cys73 and Cys120) originating from the disulfide bond are highly reactive in the reduced form. Furthermore, upon proteolysis with subtilisin, the N-terminal side of Cys73 was cleaved in the reduced form, but not in the disulfide-bonded one. Upon heat denaturation, the transition temperature of the reduced form was lower, by 6.8 degrees C, than that of the disulfide-bonded one. Thus, we concluded that ovalbumin has a native-like conformation in its disulfide-reduced form, but that the local conformation of the reduced form fluctuates more than that of the disulfide-bonded one. Such local destabilization may be related to the decreased stability against heat denaturation.     

Identification of lysyl residues at the AMP-binding site of biodegradative threonine deaminase from Escherichia coli.

The biodegradative threonine deaminase from Escherichia coli is activated allosterically by AMP. To identify the residues interacting with the phosphate group of AMP at the binding site, we used the affinity labeling reagent, adenosine diphosphopyridoxal (AP2-PL). In the absence of AMP, the enzyme formed the Schiff base with AP2-PL and Scatchard plot analysis showed a biphasic pattern, the respective Kd values for the high- and low-affinity binding phases being 20 and 110 microM. The former value is comparable to the Kd value of the enzyme for AMP. In the presence of AMP, the Schiff base formation was greatly reduced. Although the maximal activating effect of adenosine diphosphopyridoxine, a non-reactive derivative of AP2-PL, was about 13% of that of AMP, the half-saturation concentration was almost the same. These findings suggest that AP2-PL specifically labeled the lysyl residue(s) at the AMP-binding site of the enzyme. To identify the labeled residue(s), we reduced the modified enzyme with sodium borohydride, then cleaved it with cyanogen bromide and Achromobacter lyticus protease I. Reverse-phase HPLC was used to isolate two labeled peptides from the digest. Their amino acid compositions and sequences showed that Lys-111 and Lys-113 were labeled. We conclude that these two lysyl residues are located around the phosphate group of AMP at the allosteric regulation site of the enzyme.     

Suppression by IL-2 of IgE production by B cells stimulated by IL-4.

IgE production was obtained from B cells of BALB/c or nude mice when these cells were cultured with IL-4 plus LPS. IL-2 added to these cultures at the start (day 0), 1 or 2 days later completely suppressed the production of IgE. The production of IgG1 was also inhibited, but only if IL-2 was added on day 0. The production of other isotypes (IgM, IgG2a, IgG2b) was only slightly decreased by addition of IL-2. No suppression of IgE or IgG1 production was observed if monoclonal anti-IL-2 was added, whereas anti-IFN-gamma had no effect on the suppression of the production of these isotypes. The expression of CD23 on the third day of culture on B cells stimulated with LPS and IL-4 was markedly decreased when IL-2 was added to the cultures on day 0. Addition of monoclonal anti-IL-2 suppressed all effects produced by IL-2, whereas addition of anti-IFN-gamma had no effect. These results show that the suppression by IL-2, at least for the first signaling processes, are different from the suppression produced by IFN-gamma.     

Inhibition of cholesterol absorption and synthesis in rats by sesamin

The effects of sesamin, a lignan from sesame oil, on various aspects of cholesterol metabolism were examined in rats maintained on various dietary regimens. When given at a dietary level of 0.5% for 4 weeks, sesamin reduced the concentration of serum and liver cholesterol significantly irrespective of the presence or absence of cholesterol in the diet, except for one experiment in which the purified diet free of cholesterol was given. On feeding sesamin, there was a decrease in lymphatic absorption of cholesterol accompanying an increase in fecal excretion of neutral, but not acidic, steroids, particularly when the cholesterol-enriched diet was given. Sesamin inhibited micellar solubility of cholesterol, but not bile acids, whereas it neither bound taurocholate nor affected the absorption of fatty acids. Only a marginal proportion (ca. 0.15%) of sesamin administered intragastrically was recovered in the lymph. There was a significant reduction in the activity of liver microsomal 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase after feeding sesamin, although the activity of hepatic cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase, drug metabolizing enzymes, and alcohol dehydrogenase remained uninfluenced. Although the weight and phospholipid concentration of the liver increased unequivocally on feeding sesamin, the histological examination by microscopy showed no abnormality, and the activity of serum GOT and GPT remained unchanged. Since sesamin lowered both serum and liver cholesterol levels by inhibiting absorption and synthesis of cholesterol simultaneously, it deserves further study as a possible hypocholesterolemic agent of natural origin.     

Photoreversible antigen-antibody reactions

A monoclonal antibody (Z1H01) for an oligopeptide carrying an azobenzene group, was prepared under conditions where the azobenzene group is in the trans form. The antibody bound the hapten peptide effectively when the hapten peptide is in the trans form (K = 5 x 10(7) M-1), but the antibody released the hapten under irradiation with UV light where the hapten is in the cis form. The antibody bound the hapten again, when the hapten reverted to the trans form after irradiation with visible light.     

Modulation by NaCl of atrial natriuretic peptide receptor levels and cyclic GMP responsiveness to atrial natriuretic peptide of cultured vascular endothelial cells.

Type C atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) receptor levels in cultured vascular endothelial cells were found to be very sensitive to NaCl and shown to be inversely related to the magnitude of ANP-induced cGMP response of the cells. Endothelial cells from bovine carotid artery were subcultured in Eagle's minimum essential medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (MEM-FBS) and in MEM-FBS plus 25 and 50 mM NaCl. Determination, after several passages, of ANP receptor levels in these cells by 125I-ANP binding assay and affinity labeling revealed a marked reduction in the number of type C receptor in the NaCl-treated cells, whereas type A receptor density was not affected. RNase protection assay to estimate the levels of type C receptor mRNA indicated that the reduction occurred at a pre-translational level. In spite of the decrease in type C receptor number and no significant change in type A receptor (i.e. particulate guanylate cyclase) levels, cGMP response of the NaCl-treated cells to ANP was greatly exaggerated; this sensitization was also observed in membrane preparations. Simple masking of type C ANP receptor with C-ANF (des-[Gln18,Ser19,Gly20,Leu21,Gly22]ANP), a ring-deleted ANP analog, did not produce any sensitization of the cGMP response to ANP; therefore, the above phenomenon cannot simply be explained by the clearance function of the type C receptor. Although whether the type C receptor depletion is directly related to the sensitization of the type A receptor/cyclase is not known, the phenomenon reported and characterized here will serve as a useful basis for elucidating ANP receptor regulation and activation.     

Partially folded state of the disulfide-reduced form of human serum albumin as an intermediate for reversible denaturation.

The conformation of the fully disulfide-reduced state of human serum albumin was investigated by tryptophan fluorescence spectrum, CD analyses, and size-exclusion chromatography. Both the reduction of the native disulfide-bonded form under nondenaturing conditions and the refolding of the urea-denatured disulfide-reduced form under reduced conditions yielded almost exactly the same disulfide-reduced state with partially folded unique conformation that was clearly distinguished from either the native or fully denatured state. In addition, the interconversion between the urea-denatured reduced form and the partially folded reduced form was reversible with each other; by reoxidation, the partially folded reduced form was converted to the disulfide-bonded form. The conformation of disulfide-reduced serum albumin was highly variable depending on pH and ionic strength conditions. Thus, we concluded that the disulfide-reduced state with partially folded variable conformation is involved in the reversible interconversion between the denatured reduced form and the native disulfide-bonded form of human serum albumin.     

Existence of lipid vesicles containing platelet-activating factor in endothelial cell lysate

Platelet aggregation activity due to platelet-activating factor (PAF) was detected at high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight fractions after gel-filtration chromatography of cell lysate of endothelial cells. [³H]PAF added to the cell lysate was similarly distributed after chromatography. The radioactivity associated with HMW fraction was not reduced by digesting the lysate with trypsin, suggesting that PAF was not making complexes with proteins but was included in lipid vesicles in cell lysate. Further evidence showed that an unknown specific factor(s) was needed to form these PAF-containing lipid vesicles. Radioactivity was not found in HMW fraction when [³H]PAF was mixed with cell lysate of vascular smooth muscle cells. When monomeric PAF was added to endothelial cell lysate, the specific activity of aggregation decreased to the level exerted by endogenous PAF-containing lipid vesicles due to incorporation into lipid vesicles. PAF in the form of lipid vesicles was more stable in plasma than monomeric form.     

Local formation and degradation of endothelin-1 in guinea pig airway tissues

Endothelin(ET)-1 and big ET-1 caused potent and sustained constriction of isolated guinea pig bronchus. The response to ET-1 was enhanced by phosphoramidon in a simple dose-related manner (0.01-1000 microM), while the response to big ET-1 was enhanced at lower doses (0.01-0.1 microM) but was suppressed at higher doses (100-1000 microM) of phosphoramidon. Big ET-1, when given intravenously (i.v.) to anesthetized guinea pigs, increased both bronchopulmonary inflation pressure and mean arterial blood pressure (2.5, 5, 10 nmol/kg i.v.). The pressor response to big ET-1 was attenuated by phosphoramidon dose-relatedly, while the pulmonary response was modified in a complex fashion composed of delayed onset and prolonged duration of action. These results suggest that ET converting as well as degrading enzymes coexist in the airway tissue and both enzymes are sensitive to phosphoramidon, so that phosphoramidon acts bifunctionally to reduce and stimulate the airway responses to big ET-1.