New Factors Enhancing the Reactivity of Cysteines in Molten Globule-Like Structures

Protein cysteines often play crucial functional and structural roles, so they are emerging targets to design covalent thiol ligands that are able to modulate enzyme or protein functions. Some of these residues, especially those involved in enzyme mechanisms—including nucleophilic and reductive catalysis and thiol-disulfide exchange—display unusual hyper-reactivity; such a property is expected to result from a low pKa and from a great accessibility to a given reagent. New findings and previous evidence clearly indicate that pKa perturbations can only produce two–four-times increased reactivity at physiological pH values, far from the hundred and even thousand-times kinetic enhancements observed for some protein cysteines. The data from the molten globule-like structures of ribonuclease, lysozyme, bovine serum albumin and chymotrypsinogen identified new speeding agents, i.e., hydrophobic/electrostatic interactions and productive complex formations involving the protein and thiol reagent, which were able to confer exceptional reactivity to structural cysteines which were only intended to form disulfides. This study, for the first time, evaluates quantitatively the different contributions of pKa and other factors to the overall reactivity. These findings may help to clarify the mechanisms that allow a rapid disulfide formation during the oxidative folding of many proteins.

Steady-State Kinetics of Enzyme-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Echothiophate, a P–S Bonded Organophosphorus as Monitored by Spectrofluorimetry

Enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of echothiophate, a P–S bonded organophosphorus (OP) model, was spectrofluorimetrically monitored, using Calbiochem Probe IV as the thiol reagent. OP hydrolases were: the G117H mutant of human butyrylcholinesterase capable of hydrolyzing OPs, and a multiple mutant of Brevundimonas diminuta phosphotriesterase, GG1, designed to hydrolyze a large spectrum of OPs at high rate, including V agents. Molecular modeling of interaction between Probe IV and OP hydrolases (G117H butyrylcholinesterase, GG1, wild types of Brevundimonas diminuta and Sulfolobus solfataricus phosphotriesterases, and human paraoxonase-1) was performed. The high sensitivity of the method allowed steady-state kinetic analysis of echothiophate hydrolysis by highly purified G117H butyrylcholinesterase concentration as low as 0.85 nM. Hydrolysis was michaelian with Km = 0.20 ± 0.03 mM and kcat = 5.4 ± 1.6 min−1. The GG1 phosphotriesterase hydrolyzed echothiophate with a high efficiency (Km = 2.6 ± 0.2 mM; kcat = 53400 min−1). With a kcat/Km = (2.6 ± 1.6) × 107 M−1min−1, GG1 fulfills the required condition of potential catalytic bioscavengers. quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and molecular docking indicate that Probe IV does not interact significantly with the selected phosphotriesterases. Moreover, results on G117H mutant show that Probe IV does not inhibit butyrylcholinesterase. Therefore, Probe IV can be recommended for monitoring hydrolysis of P–S bonded OPs by thiol-free OP hydrolases.

Immobilization of maltase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae on thiosulfonate supports

In this study, two commercial supports (Eupergit? C and Purolite? A109) were chemically modified in order to introduce thiosulfonate groups, which could subsequently exclusively react with cysteine residues on enzyme surface. Thereafter, the immobilization of maltase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae onto obtained thiosulfonate-activated supports was performed, resulting in high expressed enzymatic activities (around 50%), while on the other hand, immobilization on unmodified supports yielded expressed activities less than 5%. Moreover, protein loadings up to 12.3 mg g-1 and immobilized activities up to 3580 IU g-1 were achieved by employment of theses thiosulfonate supports. Desorption experiments, performed on samples taken during immobilization, proved that immobilization on thiosulfonate supports encompass first step of fast adsorption on support and second slower step of the covalent bond formation between thiosulfonate groups and thiol groups of cysteine. More importantly, although enzyme coupling occurs via covalent bond formation, performed immobilization proved to be reversible, since it was shown that 95% of immobilized activity can be detached from support after treatment with thiol reagent (?-mercaptoethanol), thus support can be reused after enzyme inactivation.

Subtype-selective regulation of IP3 receptors by thimerosal via cysteine residues within the IP3-binding core and suppressor domain

IP3R (IP3 [inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate] receptors) and ryanodine receptors are the most widely expressed intracellular Ca2+ channels and both are regulated by thiol reagents. In DT40 cells stably expressing single subtypes of mammalian IP3R, low concentrations of thimerosal (also known as thiomersal), which oxidizes thiols to form a thiomercurylethyl complex, increased the sensitivity of IP3-evoked Ca2+ release via IP3R1 and IP3R2, but inhibited IP3R3. Activation of IP3R is initiated by IP3 binding to the IBC (IP3-binding core; residues 224–604) and proceeds via re-arrangement of an interface between the IBC and SD (suppressor domain; residues 1–223). Thimerosal (100 μM) stimulated IP3 binding to the isolated NT (N-terminal; residues 1–604) of IP3R1 and IP3R2, but not to that of IP3R3. Binding of a competitive antagonist (heparin) or partial agonist (dimeric-IP3) to NT1 was unaffected by thiomersal, suggesting that the effect of thimerosal is specifically related to IP3R activation. IP3 binding to NT1 in which all cysteine residues were replaced by alanine was insensitive to thimerosal, so too were NT1 in which cysteine residues were replaced in either the SD or IBC. This demonstrates that thimerosal interacts directly with cysteine in both the SD and IBC. Chimaeric proteins in which the SD of the IP3R was replaced by the structurally related A domain of a ryanodine receptor were functional, but thimerosal inhibited both IP3 binding to the chimaeric NT and IP3-evoked Ca2+ release from the chimaeric IP3R. This is the first systematic analysis of the effects of a thiol reagent on each IP3R subtype. We conclude that thimerosal selectively sensitizes IP3R1 and IP3R2 to IP3 by modifying cysteine residues within both the SD and IBC and thereby stabilizing an active conformation of the receptor.

Overexpression of TrxA::BjMT2 (Thioredoxin::Metallothionein Type 2 from Brassica juncea) Fusion Protein in Escherichia coli and In Vitro Cleavage by TEV Protease

BjMT2 cDNA clone gene isolated from Brassica juncea was constructed in pETM-20 and expressed in E.coli as a TrxA::BjMT2 fusion protein. After affinity chromatography and cleavage from the TrxA domain, pure BjMT2 protein was obtained which strongly reacted with the thiol reagent monobromobimane. The amino acid sequence determined by mass spectrograph revealed the polypeptide contains 80 amino acids and is full of 8 and 6 cysteines with CC, CXC and C-XX-C motifs clustered near -N and -C terminus, respectively.

Evaluation of the membrane-spanning domain of ClC-2

The ClC family of chloride channels and transporters includes several members in which mutations have been associated with human disease. An understanding of the structure–function relationships of these proteins is essential for defining the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogenesis. To date, the X-ray crystal structures of prokaryotic ClC transporter proteins have been used to model the membrane domains of eukaryotic ClC channel-forming proteins. Clearly, the fidelity of these models must be evaluated empirically. In the present study, biochemical tools were used to define the membrane domain boundaries of the eukaryotic protein, ClC-2, a chloride channel mutated in cases of idiopathic epilepsy. The membrane domain boundaries of purified ClC-2 and accessible cysteine residues were determined after its functional reconstitution into proteoliposomes, labelling using a thiol reagent and proteolytic digestion. Subsequently, the lipid-embedded and soluble fragments generated by trypsin-mediated proteolysis were studied by MS and coverage of approx. 71% of the full-length protein was determined. Analysis of these results revealed that the membrane-delimited boundaries of the N- and C-termini of ClC-2 and the position of several extramembrane loops determined by these methods are largely similar to those predicted on the basis of the prokaryotic protein [ecClC (Escherichia coli ClC)] structures. These studies provide direct biochemical evidence supporting the relevance of the prokaryotic ClC protein structures towards understanding the structure of mammalian ClC channel-forming proteins.

Complete Topographical Distribution of Both thein Vivoandin VitroPhosphorylation Sites of Bone Sialoprotein and Their Biological Implications

Bone sialoprotein (BSP) is a multifunctional, highly phosphorylated, and glycosylated protein with key roles in biomineralization and tissue remodeling. This work identifies the complete topographical distribution and precise location of both thein vitroandin vivophosphorylation sites of bovine BSP by a combination of state-of-the-art techniques and approaches. In vitrophosphorylation of native and deglycosylated BSPs by casein kinase II identified seven phosphorylation sites by solid-phase N-terminal peptide sequencing that were within peptides 12–22 (LEDS(P)EENGVFK), 42–62 (FAVQSSSDSS(P)EENGNGDS(P)S(P)EE), 80–91 (EDS(P)DENEDEES(P)E), and 135–145 (EDES(P)DEEEEEE). Thein vivophosphorylation regions and sites were identified by use of a novel thiol reagent, 1-S-mono[14C]carboxymethyldithiothreitol. This approach identified all of the phosphopeptides defined byin vitrophosphorylation, but two additional phosphopeptides were defined at residues, 250–264 (DNGYEIYES(P)ENGDPR), and 282–289 (GYDS(P)YDGQ). Furthermore, use of native BSP and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry identified several of the above peptides, including an additional phosphopeptide at residues 125–130 (AGAT(P)GK) that was not defined in either of thein vitroandin vivostudies described above. Overall, 7in vitroand 11in vivophosphorylation sites were identified unequivocally, with natural variation in the quantitative extent of phosphorylation at eachin vivophosphorylation site.