Specific inhibition of ribonucleotide reductases by peptides corresponding to the C-terminal of their second subunit

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Cosentino ◽  
Pierre Lavallée ◽  
Sumanas Rakhit ◽  
Raymond Plante ◽  
Yvon Gaudette ◽  
...  

Previous studies have shown that herpes virus ribonucleotide reductase can be inhibited by a synthetic nonapeptide whose sequence is identical to the C-terminal of the small subunit of the enzyme. This peptide is able to interfere with normal subunit association that takes place through the C-terminal of the small subunit. In this report, we illustrate that inhibition of ribonucleotide reductases by peptides corresponding to the C-terminal of subunit R2 is also observed for the enzyme isolated from Escherichia coli, hamster, and human cells. The nonapeptide corresponding to the bacterial C-terminal sequence was found to inhibit E. coli enzyme with an IC50 of 400 μM, while this peptide had no effect on mammalian ribonucleotide reductase. A corresponding synthetic peptide derived from the C-terminal of the small subunit of the human enzyme inhibited both human and hamster ribonucleotide reductases with IC50 values of 160 and 120 μM, respectively. However, this peptide had no inhibitory activity against the bacterial enzyme. Equivalent peptides derived from herpes virus ribonucleotide reductase had no effect on either the bacterial or mammalian enzymes. Thus, subunit association at the C-terminal of the small subunit appears to be a common feature of ribonucleotide reductases. In addition, the inhibitory phenomenon observed with peptides corresponding to the C-terminal appears not only to be universal, but also specific to the primary sequence of the enzyme.Key words: ribonucleotide reductase, inhibition, human, bacteria.

2013 ◽  
Vol 288 (20) ◽  
pp. 13951-13959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Xiuxiang An ◽  
JoAnne Stubbe ◽  
Mingxia Huang

The small subunit (β2) of class Ia ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) houses a diferric tyrosyl cofactor (Fe2III-Y•) that initiates nucleotide reduction in the large subunit (α2) via a long range radical transfer (RT) pathway in the holo-(α2)m(β2)n complex. The C-terminal tails of β2 are predominantly responsible for interaction with α2, with a conserved tyrosine residue in the tail (Tyr356 in Escherichia coli NrdB) proposed to participate in cofactor assembly/maintenance and in RT. In the absence of structure of any holo-RNR, the role of the β tail in cluster assembly/maintenance and its predisposition within the holo-complex have remained unknown. In this study, we have taken advantage of the unusual heterodimeric nature of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNR small subunit (ββ′), of which only β contains a cofactor, to address both of these issues. We demonstrate that neither β-Tyr376 nor β′-Tyr323 (Tyr356 equivalent in NrdB) is required for cofactor assembly in vivo, in contrast to the previously proposed mechanism for E. coli cofactor maintenance and assembly in vitro. Furthermore, studies with reconstituted-ββ′ and an in vivo viability assay show that β-Tyr376 is essential for RT, whereas Tyr323 in β′ is not. Although the C-terminal tail of β′ is dispensable for cofactor formation and RT, it is essential for interactions with β and α to form the active holo-RNR. Together the results provide the first evidence of a directed orientation of the β and β′ C-terminal tails relative to α within the holoenzyme consistent with a docking model of the two subunits and argue against RT across the β β′ interface.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2783-2793
Author(s):  
S J Elledge ◽  
R W Davis

Ribonucleotide reductase catalyzes the first step in the pathway for the production of deoxyribonucleotides needed for DNA synthesis. The gene encoding the small subunit of ribonucleotide reductase was isolated from a Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic DNA expression library in lambda gt11 by a fortuitous cross-reaction with anti-RecA antibodies. The cross-reaction was due to an identity between the last four amino acids of each protein. The gene has been named RNR2 and is centromere linked on chromosome X. The nucleotide sequence was determined, and the deduced amino acid sequence, 399 amino acids, shows extensive homology with other eucaryotic ribonucleotide reductases. Transplason mutagenesis was used to disrupt the RNR2 gene. A novel assay using colony color sectoring was developed to demonstrate visually that RNR2 is essential for mitotic viability. RNR2 encodes a 1.5-kilobase mRNA whose levels increase 18-fold after treatment with the DNA-damaging agent 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide. CDC8 was also found to be inducible by DNA damage, but POL1 and URA3 were not inducible by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide. The expression of these genes defines a new mode of regulation for enzymes involved in DNA biosynthesis and sharpens our picture of the events leading to DNA repair in eucaryotic cells.


1999 ◽  
Vol 80 (10) ◽  
pp. 2713-2718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunming Sun ◽  
Joe Conner

Herpesvirus ribonucleotide reductases, essential for the de novo synthesis of viral DNA, are composed of two non-identical subunits, termed R1 and R2. The U28 ORF from human herpesvirus-7 has been classified, by sequence comparisons, as a homologue of the R1 subunit from ribonucleotide reductase but no R2 ORF is present. Detailed analysis of the U28 amino acid sequence indicated that a number of essential R1 catalytic residues are absent. Cloning and expression of the U28 protein in E. coli and its subsequent characterization in subunit interaction and enzyme activity assays confirmed that it is not a functional equivalent of a herpesvirus R1. In the absence of the R2 gene, we propose that the R1 ORF has evolved a distinct, as yet unidentified, function not only in human herpesvirus-7 but also in other human betaherpesviruses.


2000 ◽  
Vol 347 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-104
Author(s):  
Yunming SUN ◽  
Joe CONNER

We report on the separate PCR cloning and subsequent expression and purification of the large (R1) and small (R2) subunits from equine herpes virus type 4 (EHV-4) ribonucleotide reductase. The EHV-4 R1 and R2 subunits reconstituted an active enzyme and their abilities to complement the R1 and R2 subunits from the closely related herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) ribonucleotide reductase, with the use of subunit interaction and enzyme activity assays, were analysed. Both EHV-4 R1/HSV-1 R2 and HSV-1 R1/EHV-4 R2 were able to assemble heterosubunit complexes but, surprisingly, neither of these complexes was fully active in enzyme activity assays; the EHV-4 R1/HSV-1 R2 and HSV-1 R1/EHV-4 R2 enzymes had 50% and 5% of their respective wild-type activities. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to alter two non-conserved residues located within the highly conserved and functionally important C-termini of the EHV-4 and HSV-1 R1 proteins. Mutation of Pro-737 to Lys and Lys-1084 to Pro in EHV-4 and HSV-1 R1 respectively had no effects on subunit assembly. Mutation of Pro-737 to Lys in EHV-4 R1 decreased enzyme activity by 50%; replacement of Lys-1084 by Pro in HSV-1 R1 had no effect on enzyme activity. Both alterations failed to restore full enzyme activities to the heterosubunit enzymes. Therefore probably neither of these amino acids has a direct role in catalysis. However, mutation of the highly conserved Tyr-1111 to Phe in HSV-1 R1 inactivated enzyme activity without affecting subunit interaction.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2783-2793 ◽  
Author(s):  
S J Elledge ◽  
R W Davis

Ribonucleotide reductase catalyzes the first step in the pathway for the production of deoxyribonucleotides needed for DNA synthesis. The gene encoding the small subunit of ribonucleotide reductase was isolated from a Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic DNA expression library in lambda gt11 by a fortuitous cross-reaction with anti-RecA antibodies. The cross-reaction was due to an identity between the last four amino acids of each protein. The gene has been named RNR2 and is centromere linked on chromosome X. The nucleotide sequence was determined, and the deduced amino acid sequence, 399 amino acids, shows extensive homology with other eucaryotic ribonucleotide reductases. Transplason mutagenesis was used to disrupt the RNR2 gene. A novel assay using colony color sectoring was developed to demonstrate visually that RNR2 is essential for mitotic viability. RNR2 encodes a 1.5-kilobase mRNA whose levels increase 18-fold after treatment with the DNA-damaging agent 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide. CDC8 was also found to be inducible by DNA damage, but POL1 and URA3 were not inducible by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide. The expression of these genes defines a new mode of regulation for enzymes involved in DNA biosynthesis and sharpens our picture of the events leading to DNA repair in eucaryotic cells.


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