Characteristics of 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate hydrolysis by the (Na+ + K+)-ATPase

Development and validation of a robust and sensitive assay for the discovery of selective inhibitors for serine/threonine protein phosphatases PP1α (PPP1C) and PP5 (PPP5C)

Protein phosphatase types 1 α (PP1α/PPP1C) and 5 (PP5/PPP5C) are members of the PPP family of serine/threonine protein phosphatases. PP1 and PP5 share a common catalytic mechanism, and several natural compounds, including okadaic acid, microcystin, and cantharidin, act as strong inhibitors of both enzymes. However, to date there have been no reports of compounds that can selectively inhibit PP1 or PP5, and specific or highly selective inhibitors for either PP1 or PP5 are greatly desired by both the research and pharmaceutical communities. Here we describe the development and optimization of a sensitive and robust (representative PP5C assay data: Z'=0.93; representative PP1Cα assay data: Z'=0.90) fluorescent phosphatase assay that can be used to simultaneously screen chemical libraries and natural product extracts for the presence of catalytic inhibitors of PP1 and PP5.

Inactivation of Na,K-ATPase following Co(NH3)4ATP binding at a low affinity site in the protomeric enzyme unit

The Na(+)-dependent or E1 stages of the Na,K-ATPase reaction require a few micromolar ATP, but submillimolar concentrations are needed to accelerate the K(+)-dependent or E2 half of the cycle. Here we use Co(NH(3))(4)ATP as a tool to study ATP sites in Na,K-ATPase. The analogue inactivates the K(+) phosphatase activity (an E2 partial reaction) and the Na,K-ATPase activity in parallel, whereas ATP-[(3)H]ADP exchange (an E1 reaction) is affected less or not at all. Although the inactivation occurs as a consequence of low affinity Co(NH(3))(4)ATP binding (K(D) approximately 0.4-0.6 mm), we can also measure high affinity equilibrium binding of Co(NH(3))(4)[(3)H]ATP (K(D) = 0.1 micro m) to the native enzyme. Crucially, we find that covalent enzyme modification with fluorescein isothiocyanate (which blocks E1 reactions) causes little or no effect on the affinity of the binding step preceding Co(NH(3))(4)ATP inactivation and only a 20% decrease in maximal inactivation rate. This suggests that fluorescein isothiocyanate and Co(NH(3))(4)ATP bind within different enzyme pockets. The Co(NH(3))(4)ATP enzyme was solubilized with C(12)E(8) to a homogeneous population of alphabeta protomers, as verified by analytical ultracentrifugation; the solubilization did not increase the Na,K-ATPase activity of the Co(NH(3))(4)ATP enzyme with respect to parallel controls. This was contrary to the expectation for a hypothetical (alphabeta)(2) membrane dimer with a single ATP site per protomer, with or without fast dimer/protomer equilibrium in detergent solution. Besides, the solubilized alphabeta protomer could be directly inactivated by Co(NH(3))(4)ATP, to less than 10% of the control Na,K-ATPase activity. This suggests that the inactivation must follow Co(NH(3))(4)ATP binding at a low affinity site in every protomeric unit, thus still allowing ATP and ADP access to phosphorylation and high affinity ATP sites.

3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate as a fluorescent substrate for plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase

3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate hydrolysis, catalyzed by purified erythrocyte Ca2+-ATPase in the absence of Ca2+, was slow in the basal state, activated by phosphatidylserine and controlled proteolysis, but not by calmodulin. p-Nitrophenyl phosphate competitively inhibits hydrolysis in the absence of Ca2+, while ATP inhibits it with a complex kinetics showing a high and a low affinity site for ATP. Labeling with fluorescein isothiocyanate impairs the high affinity binding of ATP, but does not appreciably modify the binding of any of the pseudosubstrates. In the presence of calmodulin, an increase in the Ca2+ concentration produces a bell-shaped curve with a maximum at 50 microM Ca2+. At optimal Ca2+ concentration, hydrolysis of 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate proceeds in the presence of fluorescein isothiocyanate, is competitively inhibited by p-nitrophenyl phosphate and, in contrast to the result observed in the absence of Ca2+, it is activated by calmodulin. In marked contrast with other pseudosubstrates, hydrolysis of 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate supports Ca2+ transport. This highly specific activity can be used as a continuous fluorescent marker or as a tool to evaluate partial steps from the reaction cycle of plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPases.

Kinetic analysis of the catalytic domain of human cdc25B

The Cdc25 cell cycle regulator is a member of the dual-specificity class of protein-tyrosine phosphatases that hydrolyze phosphotyrosine- and phosphothreonine-containing substrates. To study the mechanism of Cdc25B, we have overexpressed and purified the catalytic domain of human Cdc25B (Xu, X., and Burke, S. P. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 5118-5124). In the present work, we have analyzed the kinetic properties of the Cdc25B catalytic domain using the artificial substrate 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate (OMFP). Steady-state kinetic analysis indicated that the kcat/Km for OMFP hydrolysis is almost 3 orders of magnitude greater than that for p-nitrophenyl phosphate hydrolysis. Like other dual-specificity phosphatases, Cdc25 exhibits a two-step catalytic mechanism, characterized by formation and breakdown of a phosphoenzyme intermediate. Pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of OMFP hydrolysis indicated that formation of the phosphoenzyme intermediate is approximately 20 times faster than subsequent phosphoenzyme breakdown. The resulting burst pattern of product formation allowed us to derive rate constants for enzyme phosphorylation (26 s-1) and dephosphorylation (1.5 s-1) as well as the dissociation constant for OMFP (0.3 mM). Calculations suggest that OMFP binds with higher affinity and reacts faster with Cdc25B than does p-nitrophenyl phosphate. OMFP is a highly efficient substrate for the dual-specificity protein-tyrosine phosphatases VHR and rVH6, but not for two protein-tyrosine phosphatases, PTP1 and YOP. The ability to observe distinct phases of the reaction mechanism during OMFP hydrolysis will facilitate future analysis of critical catalytic residues in Cdc25 and other dual-specificity phosphatases.

Characterization of K(+)-dependent and K(+)-independent p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity of synaptosomes

These experiments examined effects of several ligands on the K+ p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity of the (Na+,K+)-ATPase in membranes of a rat brain cortex synaptosomal preparation. K(+)-independent hydrolysis of this substrate by the synaptosomal preparation was studied in parallel; the rate of hydrolysis in the absence of K+ was approximately 75% less than that observed when K+ was included in the incubation medium. The response to the H+ concentrations was different: K(+)-independent activity showed a pH optimum around 6.5-7.0, while the K(+)-dependent activity was relatively low at this pH range. Ouabain (0.1 mM) inhibited K(+)-dependent activity 50%; a concentration 10 times higher did not produce any appreciable effect on the K(+)-independent activity. Na+ did not affect K(+)-independent activity at all, while the same ligand concentration inhibited sharply the K(+)-dependent activity; this inhibition was not competitive with the substrate, p-nitrophenyl phosphate. K(+)-dependent activity was stimulated by Mg2+ with low affinity (millimolar range), and 3 mM Mg2+ produced a slight stimulation of the activity in absence of K+, which could be interpreted as Mg2+ occupying the K+ sites. Ca2+ had no appreciable effect on the activity in the absence of K+. However, in the presence of K+ a sharp inhibition was found with all Ca2+ concentrations studied. ATP (0.5 mM) did not affect the K(+)-independent activity, but this nucleotide behaved as a competitive inhibitor to p-nitrophenylphosphate. Pi inhibited activity in the presence of K+, competitively to the substrate, so it could be considered as the second product of the reaction sequence.

Differential effects of substrates on three transport modes of the Na+/K(+)-ATPase

With a purified Na+/K(+)-ATPase preparation reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles, Na+/K+, Na+/Na+, and uncoupled Na+ transport were studied using three nucleotides and five substrates of the K(+)-phosphatase reaction that this enzyme also catalyzes. For Na+/K+ exchange, CTP was half as effective as ATP and GTP one-twentieth; of the phosphatase substrates only carbamyl phosphate and 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate produced significant transport and at merely 1% of the rate with ATP. For Na+/Na+ exchange, comparable rates of transport were produced by ATP, CTP, carbamyl phosphate and acetyl phosphate, although the actual rate of transport with ATP was only 2.4% of that for Na+/K+ exchange; slower rates occurred with GTP (69%), 3-O-methylfluorescein phosphate (51%), and nitrophenyl phosphate (33%). Only umbelliferone phosphate was ineffective. For uncoupled Na+ transport results similar to those for Na+/Na+ exchange were obtained, but the actual rate of transport was still slower, 1.4% of that for Na+/K+ exchange. Thus, not only nucleotides but a variety of phosphatase substrates (which are phosphoric acid mixed anhydrides) can phosphorylate the enzyme at the high-affinity substrate site to form the E1P intermediate of the reaction sequence. Oligomycin inhibited Na+/K+ exchange with ATP by half, but with carbamyl phosphate not at all; with CTP the inhibition was intermediate, one-fourth. By contrast, oligomycin inhibited Na+/Na+ exchange by one-fifth with all three substrates. A quantitative, steady-state kinetic model accounts for the relative magnitudes of Na+/K+ and Na+/Na+ exchanges with ATP, CTP, and carbamyl phosphate as substrates, as well as the extents of inhibition by oligomycin. The model requires that even when Na+ substitutes for K+ a slow step in the reaction sequence is the E2 to E1 conformational transition.

Modification of ligand binding to the Na+/K+-activated ATPase

Interactions between the ligands Mg2+, K+, and substrate and the Na+/K+-activated ATPase were examined in terms of a rapid-equilibrium, random-order, terreactant kinetic scheme for the K+-nitrophenyl phosphatase reaction that is catalyzed by this enzyme. At 37 degrees C and pH 7.5 the derived values for the dissociation constants from the free enzyme were 0.2, 0.08, and 1.4 mM for Mg2+, K+, and substrate, respectively. For Mg2+ interactions, the presence of 20% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) increased the calculated affinity 25-fold; higher concentrations increased affinity still further. Neither reducing the temperature to 20 degrees C nor altering the pH from 6.5 to 8.3 appreciably changed the affinity for Mg2+ in the absence or presence of Me2SO. The Mg2+ sites are thus characterized by an absence of functional groups ionizable in the pH range 6.5-8.3, with binding driven by entropy changes, and with Me2SO, probably through solvation effects on the protein, increasing affinity for Mg2+ close to that for Ca2+ and Mn2+. By contrast, for K+ interactions, the presence of 20% Me2SO increased the calculated affinity only by half; moreover, reducing the temperature to 20 degrees C and the pH to 6.5 both increased affinity and diminished the response to Me2SO. The K+ sites are thus characterized by a marked sensitivity to pH and temperature, presumably through alterations in enzyme conformational equilibria that in turn are modifiable by Me2SO. Inhibition by higher concentrations of Mg2+, which varies inversely with the K+ concentration, was decreased by Me2SO. Finally, for substrate interactions, the presence of 20% Me2SO increased the calculated affinity 4-fold, and, as for Mg2+-binding, neither reducing the temperature nor varying the pH over the range 6.5-8.3 appreciably altered the affinity in the absence or presence of Me2SO. Thus, the substrate sites, like the Mg2+ sites, are characterized by an absence of functional groups ionizable in this range, with binding driven by entropy changes, and with Me2SO increasing affinity for substrate, in this case probably through favoring the partitioning of substrate from the medium into the hydrophobic active site.