Two conformationally vicinal thiols at the active site of Leishmania donovani adenosine kinase

Stress-Induced Protein S-Glutathionylation and S-Trypanothionylation in African Trypanosomes-A Quantitative Redox Proteome and Thiol Analysis

AIMS

Trypanosomatids have a unique trypanothione-based thiol redox metabolism. The parasite-specific dithiol is synthesized from glutathione and spermidine, with glutathionylspermidine as intermediate catalyzed by trypanothione synthetase. In this study, we address the oxidative stress response of African trypanosomes with special focus on putative protein S-thiolation.

RESULTS

Challenging bloodstream Trypanosoma brucei with diamide, H₂O₂ or hypochlorite results in distinct levels of reversible overall protein S-thiolation. Quantitative proteome analyses reveal 84 proteins oxidized in diamide-stressed parasites. Fourteen of them, including several essential thiol redox proteins and chaperones, are also enriched when glutathione/glutaredoxin serves as a reducing system indicating S-thiolation. In parasites exposed to H₂O₂, other sets of proteins are modified. Only three proteins are S-thiolated under all stress conditions studied in accordance with a highly specific response. H₂O₂ causes primarily the formation of free disulfides. In contrast, in diamide-treated cells, glutathione, glutathionylspermidine, and trypanothione are almost completely protein bound. Remarkably, the total level of trypanothione is decreased, whereas those of glutathione and glutathionylspermidine are increased, indicating partial hydrolysis of protein-bound trypanothione. Depletion of trypanothione synthetase exclusively induces protein S-glutathionylation. Total mass analyses of a recombinant peroxidase treated with T(SH)₂ and either diamide or hydrogen peroxide verify protein S-trypanothionylation as stable modification.

INNOVATION

Our data reveal for the first time that trypanosomes employ protein S-thiolation when exposed to exogenous and endogenous oxidative stresses and trypanothione, despite its dithiol character, forms protein-mixed disulfides.

CONCLUSION

The stress-specific responses shown here emphasize protein S-trypanothionylation and S-glutathionylation as reversible protection mechanism in these parasites. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 27, 517-533.

Reversible inhibition of CO2 fixation by ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase through the synergic effect of arsenite and a monothiol

The activity of the photosynthetic carbon-fixing enzyme, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), is partially inhibited by arsenite in the millimolar concentration range. However, micromolar arsenite can fully inhibit Rubisco in the presence of a potentiating monothiol such as cysteine, cysteamine, 2-mercaptoethanol or N-acetylcysteine, but not glutathione. Arsenite reacts specifically with the vicinal Cys172-Cys192 from the large subunit of Rubisco and with the monothiol to establish a ternary complex, which is suggested to be a trithioarsenical. The stability of the complex is strongly dependent on the nature of the monothiol. Enzyme activity is fully recovered through the disassembly of the complex after eliminating arsenite and/or the thiol from the medium. The synergic combination of arsenite and a monothiol acts also in vivo stopping carbon dioxide fixation in illuminated cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Again, this effect may be reverted by washing the cells. However, in vivo inhibition does not result from the blocking of Rubisco since mutant strains carrying Rubiscos with Cys172 and/or Cys192 substitutions (which are insensitive to arsenite in vitro) are also arrested. This suggests the existence of a specific sensor controlling carbon fixation that is even more sensitive than Rubisco to the arsenite-thiol synergism.

Mutational analysis of the active-site residues crucial for catalytic activity of adenosine kinase from Leishmania donovani

Leishmania donovani adenosine kinase (LdAdK) plays a pivotal role in scavenging of purines from the host. Exploiting interspecies homology and structural co-ordinates of the enzyme from other sources, we generated a model of LdAdK that led us to target several amino acid residues (namely Gly-62, Arg-69, Arg-131 and Asp-299). Replacement of Gly-62 with aspartate caused a drastic reduction in catalytic activity, with decreased affinity for either substrate. Asp-299 was found to be catalytically indispensable. Mutation of either Arg-131 or Arg-69 caused a significant reduction in kcat. R69A (Arg-69-->Ala) and R131A mutants exhibited unaltered K(m) for either substrate, whereas ATP K(m) for R69K increased 6-fold. Importance of both of the arginine residues was reaffirmed by the R69K/R131A double mutant, which exhibited approx. 0.5% residual activity with a large increase in ATP K(m). Phenylglyoxal, which inhibits the wild-type enzyme, also inactivated the arginine mutants to different extents. Adenosine protected both of the Arg-69 mutants, but not the R131A variant, from inactivation. Binding experiments revealed that the AMP-binding property of R69K or R69A and D299A mutants remained largely unaltered, but R131A and R69K/R131A mutants lost their AMP binding ability significantly. The G62D mutant did not bind AMP at all. Free energy calculations indicated that Arg-69 and Arg-131 are functionally independent. Thus, apart from the mandatory requirement of flexibility around the diglycyl (Gly-61-Gly-62) motif, our results identified Asp-299 and Arg-131 as key catalytic residues, with the former functioning as the proton abstractor from the 5'-OH of adenosine, while the latter acts as a bidentate electrophile to stabilize the negative charge on the leaving group during the phosphate transfer. Moreover, the positive charge distribution of Arg-69 probably helps in maintaining the flexibility of the alpha-3 helix needed for proper domain movement. These findings provide the first comprehensive biochemical evidence implicating the mechanistic roles of the functionally important residues of this chemotherapeutically exploitable enzyme.

Homology-model-guided site-specific mutagenesis reveals the mechanisms of substrate binding and product-regulation of adenosine kinase from Leishmania donovani

Despite designating catalytic roles of Asp299 and Arg131 during the transfer of gamma-phosphate from ATP to Ado (adenosine) [R. Datta, Das, Sen, Chakraborty, Adak, Mandal and A. K. Datta (2005) Biochem. J. 387, 591-600], the mechanisms that determine binding of substrate and cause product inhibition of adenosine kinase from Leishmania donovani remained unclear. In the present study, employing homology-model-guided site-specific protein mutagenesis, we show that Asp16 is indispensable, since its replacement with either valine or arginine resulted in a >200-fold increase in K(m) (Ado) with a 1000-fold decrease in k(cat)/K(m), implying its critical importance in Ado binding. Even glutamate replacement was not tolerated, indicating the essentiality of Asp16 in the maintenance of steric complementarity of the binding pocket. Use of 2'or 3'-deoxygenated Ado as substrates indicated that, although both the hydroxy groups play important roles in the formation of the enzyme-Ado complex, the binding energy (DeltaDeltaG(B)) contribution of the former was greater than the latter, suggesting possible formation of a bidentate hydrogen bond between Asp16 and the adenosyl ribose. Interestingly, AMP-inhibition and AMP-binding studies revealed that, unlike the R131A mutant, which showed abrogated AMP-binding and insensitivity towards AMP inhibition despite its unaltered K(m) (Ado), all the Asp16 mutants bound AMP efficiently and displayed AMP-sensitive catalytic activity, suggesting disparate mechanisms of binding of Ado and AMP. Molecular docking revealed that, although both Ado and AMP apparently occupied the same binding pocket, Ado binds in a manner that is subtly different from AMP binding, which relies heavily on hydrogen-bonding with Arg131 and thus creates an appropriate environment for competition with Ado. Hence, besides its role in catalysis, an additional novel function of the Arg131 residue as an effector of product-mediated enzyme regulation is proposed.

A Single-domain Cyclophilin from Leishmania donovaniReactivates Soluble Aggregates of Adenosine Kinase by Isomerase-independent Chaperone Function

Disaggregation and reactivation of aggregated proteins by chaperones is well established. However, little is known regarding such kind of function of single-domain small cyclophilins (CyPs). Here we demonstrate that, with increasing concentrations, fully active adenosine kinase (AdK) of Leishmania donovani tends to form soluble aggregates, resulting in inactivation. Using this inactive enzyme as the substrate, it is shown that a CyP from L. donovani (LdCyP) alone can cause complete disaggregation, leading to reactivation of the enzyme. The reactivating ability of LdCyP remains unaffected even in the presence of cyclosporin A and macromolecular crowding agents. The reactivation occurs noncatalytically and is reversible. A truncated LdCyP, devoid of 88 amino acids from the N terminus, is found to be required in near stoichiometric proportion to reactivate AdK, suggesting essentiality of the C-terminal region. Gel filtration and light-scattering experiments together with protein cross-linking studies revealed that both full-length LdCyP and the truncated form directly interact with AdK and convert oligomeric forms of the enzyme to monomeric state. Homology modeling studies suggest that the exposed hydrophobic residues of LdCyP, by interacting with solvent-accessible hydrophobic surface of AdK, pull apart its aggregated inactive oligomers to functional monomers. Clearly, the results are consistent with the interpretation that the higher efficiency of the truncated LdCyP is most likely due to increased exposure of the hydrophobic residues on its surface. These observations, besides establishing L. donovani AdK as one of the model enzymes to study aggregation-disaggregation of proteins, raise the possibility that single-domain small CyPs, under physiological conditions, may regulate the activity of aggregation-prone proteins by ensuring their disaggregation.

Molecular cloning and expression of adenosine kinase from Leishmania donovani: identification of unconventional P-loop motif

The unique catalytic characteristics of adenosine kinase (Adk) and its stage-specific differential activity pattern have made this enzyme a prospective target for chemotherapeutic manipulation in the purine-auxotrophic parasitic protozoan Leishmania donovani. However, nothing is known about the structure of the parasite Adk. We report here the cloning of its gene and the characterization of the gene product. The encoded protein, consisting of 345 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 37173 Da, shares limited but significant similarity with sugar kinases and inosine-guanosine kinase of microbial origin, supporting the notion that these enzymes might have the same ancestral origin. The identity of the parasite enzyme with the corresponding enzyme from two other sources so far described was only 40%. Furthermore, 5' RNA mapping studies indicated that the Adk gene transcript is matured post-transcriptionally with the trans-splicing of the mini-exon (spliced leader) occurring at nt -160 from the predicted translation initiation site. The biochemical properties of the recombinant enzyme were similar to those of the enzyme isolated from leishmanial cells. The intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of the enzyme was substrate-sensitive. On the basis of a multiple protein-alignment sequence comparison and ATP-induced fluorescence quenching in the presence or the absence of KI and acrylamide, the docking site for ATP has been provisionally identified and shown to have marked divergence from the consensus P-loop motif reported for ATP- or GTP-binding proteins from other sources.