The susceptibility towards proteolysis of intermediates during the renaturation of yeast phosphoglycerate mutase

The phosphoglycerate mutases

The phosphoglycerate mutase family is generally very well documented with respect to structure, evolution, and mode of action. However, a few individuals in the family remain relatively poorly characterized and will clearly require more detailed study. Furthermore, certain aspects of the detailed behavior of these enzymes are, as yet, incompletely understood and require further investigation. Cofactor-dependent monophosphoglycerate mutase and bisphosphoglycerate mutase are undoubtedly very closely related. Their amino acid sequences are strongly similar, they can form active heterodimers, and they catalyze the same three reactions, albeit at substantially different relative rates. Both enzymes catalyze a ping-pong type of reaction with a phosphohistidine intermediate. The presence of an additional phospho ligand at the active site of monophosphoglycerate mutase helps to explain why this enzyme is better at retaining the 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate intermediate and why it is thus more efficient (by a factor of about 10(3)) at catalyzing the interconversion of 3- and 2-phosphoglycerates. The reason why 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate is a better substrate for bisphosphoglycerate mutase than for monophosphoglycerate mutase (by a factor of about 30) is not yet apparent but presumably relates to the relative positioning of the two phospho-binding sites. Both enzymes are equally good as phosphatases when the reaction is activated by 2-phosphoglycollate. Available evidence indicates that these mutases are similar in many respects to the much smaller, cofactor-dependent monophosphoglycerate mutase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, but further information is required to define the relationship more precisely. Cofactor-independent monophosphoglycerate mutase belongs to a quite distinct branch of the phosphoglycerate mutase family. It is not known at present whether this branch is related divergently or convergently to the cofactor-dependent monophosphoglycerate mutase/bisphosphoglycerate mutase branch. Existing evidence can be argued both ways. For example, the kinetic evidence shows a ping-pong type of reaction and would be consistent with a phosphohistidine intermediate as encountered in the other mutases. Thus the cofactor-independent enzyme may also have arisen by gene duplication--but, in this case, yielding an enzyme of about twice the size, with slightly different residues at the active site and C-terminal tail. An alternative possibility, of course, is that the two branches of the phosphoglycerate mutase family are quite unrelated in a divergent sense and are little more similar structurally than is, for example, the catalytically similar enzyme phosphoglucomutase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Purification and pH stability characterization of a chymotrypsin inhibitor from Schizolobium parahyba seeds

Schizolobium parahyba chymotrypsin inhibitor (SPCI) was completely purified as a single polypeptide chain with two disulfide bonds, by TCA precipitation and ion exchange chromatography. This purification method is faster and more efficient than that previously reported: SPCI is stable from pH 2 to 12 at 25 degrees C, and is highly specific for chymotrypsin at pH 7-12. It weakly inhibits elastase and has no significant inhibitory effect against trypsin and alpha-amylase. SPCI is a thermostable protein and resists thermolysin digestion up to 70 degrees C.

Proteolysis as a measure of the free energy difference between cytochrome c and its derivatives

Limited cleavage of oxidized and reduced horse heart cytochrome c (Cyt c) and the azide complex of Cyt c by proteinase K at room temperature yields a single cut within the central loop (36-60 in the sequence). Using an assay that allows spectroscopic evaluation of the fraction of intact protein as a function of time, together with a simple kinetic model for proteolysis, fluctuation opening of the loop can be related to the free energy of the corresponding protein. This allows us to estimate quantitatively the free energy difference between the oxidized form of Cyt c and other states using proteolysis as a probe. The results we obtain indicate that oxidized Cyt c is 2.0 kcal mol(-1) less stable than the reduced form, and 0.07 kcal mol(-1) is more stable than the Cyt c: azide complex at 25 degrees C. These values agree in magnitude with results from hydrogen exchange and unfolding studies, suggesting that the stability of a protein can be directly related to its structural dynamics.

Dissociation of the tetrameric phosphoglycerate mutase from yeast by a mutation in the subunit contact region

Phosphoglycerate mutases from different sources exhibit a variety of quaternary structures (tetramer, dimer and monomer). To perturb the tetrameric structure of yeast phosphoglycerate mutase we have prepared a mutant enzyme in which Lys-168 in the subunit-contact region has been replaced by proline. The K168P mutant enzyme undergoes dissociation to dimers at low concentrations; thus on lowering the concentration from 200 micrograms/ml to 5 micrograms/ml the proportion of tetramer falls from 85% to 53%. The tetrameric structure of the wild-type enzyme remains intact over this range of concentrations. The mutant enzyme has similar kinetic properties to the wild-type enzyme, with kcat. being reduced by 26%. Far-u.v. c.d. studies show that there has been a small loss of helical structure in the mutant. Compared with wild-type enzyme, the K168P mutant enzyme is slightly less stable towards proteolysis by trypsin, but significantly less stable towards denaturation by guanidinium chloride, with the midpoint concentration of guanidinium chloride some 50% lower. After denaturation, the mutant enzyme could regain activity and quaternary structure when the guanidinium chloride concentration was lowered to 0.05 M. The properties of the mutant enzyme are discussed in terms of other dimeric phosphoglycerate and bisphosphoglycerate mutases which contain proline at position 168.

Structural stability of Bacillus thuringiensis delta-endotoxin homolog-scanning mutants determined by susceptibility to proteases

Forty homolog-scanning (double-reciprocal-crossover) mutant proteins of two Bacillus thuringiensis delta-endotoxin genes (cryIAa and cryIAc) were examined for potential structural alterations by a series of proteolytic assays. Three groups of mutants could be identified. Group 1, consisting of 13 mutants, showed no delta-endotoxin present during overexpression conditions in Escherichia coli (48 h at 37 degrees C, with a ptac promoter). These mutants produced full-sized delta-endotoxin detectable by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with Coomassie blue staining or Western immunoanalysis after 24 h of growth but not after 48 h, suggesting sensitivity to intracellular proteases. Group 2 consisted of 13 mutants that produced stable delta-endotoxins that were completely digested by 2% bovine trypsin. In contrast, native delta-endotoxin produces a 65,000-Da trypsin-resistant peptide, which is the active toxin. Group 3 mutants expressed delta-endotoxin and trypsin-stable toxins, similar to the wild type. In this study, 12 group 3 mutant toxins were compared with wild type toxins by thermolysin digestion at a range of temperatures. The two wild-type toxins exhibited significant differences in thermolysin digestion midpoints. Among the group 3 mutants, most possessed significantly different protein stabilities relative to their parental toxins. Two of the group 3 mutants were observed to have exchanged the thermolysin sensitivity properties of the parental toxins.

Development of a mutagenesis, expression and purification system for yeast phosphoglycerate mutase. Investigation of the role of active-site His181

A system has been developed to allow the convenient production, expression and purification of site-directed mutants of the enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This enzyme is well characterised; both the amino acid sequence and crystal structure have been determined and a reaction mechanism has been proposed. However, the molecular basis for catalysis remains poorly understood, with only circumstantial evidence for the roles of most of the active site residues other than His8, which is phosphorylated during the reaction cycle. A vector/host expression system has been designed which allows recombinant forms of phosphoglycerate mutase to be efficiently expressed in yeast with no background wild-type activity. A simple one-column purification protocol typically yields 30 mg pure enzyme/1 l of culture. The active-site residue, His181, which is thought to be involved in proton transfer during the catalytic cycle, has been mutated to an alanine. The resultant mutant has been purified and characterised. Kinetic analysis shows a large decrease (1.6 x 10(4)) in the catalytic efficiency, and an 11-fold increase in the Km for the cofactor 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate. These observations are consistent with an integral role for His181 in the reaction mechanism of phosphoglycerate mutase, probably as a general acid or base.

The slow-refolding step of phosphoglycerate kinase as monitored by pulse proteolysis

The kinetics of refolding of yeast phosphoglycerate kinase were studied by following the variation in circular dichroism at 218 nm, the recovery of enzyme activity, and the susceptibility to proteolysis by trypsin and V8-protease. A very rapid phase followed by a slower one was detected by circular dichroism, which revealed the formation of secondary structures. The slower phase, with a macroscopic rate constant of 0.35 min-1, was also detected by the susceptibility of the enzyme to both proteases. It was shown that cleavage sites located in the hinge region, in a part of the C-domain and, to a lesser extent, in a region of the N-domain, which are accessible in the intermediate state, became inaccessible during the slow-refolding step of the molecule. These results demonstrate, on the one hand, the role of domains as folding intermediates, and, on the other hand, the locking of the domain structure and the domain pairing that occurs during the slow-refolding step with a rate constant of 0.35 min-1. The return of the enzyme activity occurred in a slower last step upon conformational readjustments induced by domain interactions.

Denaturation and renaturation of the monomeric phosphoglycerate mutase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The denaturation by guanidinium chloride of the monomeric phosphoglycerate mutase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe was studied. The loss in activity broadly parallels the changes in protein structure detected by fluorescence and c.d. Renaturation can be brought about by dilution of the denaturing agent. These processes were compared with those in the enzymes from baker's yeast and rabbit muscle, which are tetrameric and dimeric respectively. The effects of the cofactor 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate on the structure and stability of the S. pombe enzyme were also investigated.