A molecular model for the active site of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase

Expression, purification, and characterization of recombinant S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase from the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus

S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase from Sulfolobus solfataricus was expressed in Escherichia coli by inserting the genomic fragment containing the gene encoding for S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase downstream the isopropyl-beta-d-thiogalactoside-inducible promoter of pTrc99A expression vector. An ATG positioned 25 bp upstream of the gene which is in frame with a stop codon was utilized as the initiation codon. This construct was used to transform E. coli RB791 and E. coli JM105 strains. The recombinant protein, purified by a fast and efficient two-step procedure (yield of 0.4 mg of enzyme per gram of cells), does not appear homogeneous on SDS-PAGE because of the presence of a protein contaminant corresponding to a "truncated" S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase subunit lacking the first 24 amino acid residues. The recombinant enzyme shows the same molecular mass, optimum temperature, and kinetic features of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase isolated from S. solfataricus but it is less thermostable. To construct a vector which presents a correct distance between the ribosome-binding site and the start codon of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase gene, a NcoI site was created at the translation initiation codon using site-directed mutagenesis. The expression of the homogeneous mutant S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase was achieved at high level (1.7 mg of mutant protein per gram of cells). The mutant S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase and the native one were indistinguishable in all physicochemical and kinetic properties including thermostability, indicating that the interactions involving the NH(2)-terminal sequence of the protein play a role in the thermal stability of S. solfataricus S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase.

Synthesis and antitrypanosomal activities of a series of 7-deaza-5'-noraristeromycin derivatives with variations in the cyclopentyl ring substituents

Previous work in our laboratories has suggested that (+)-5'-nor-7-deazaaristeromycin (compound 1) may represent a prototype structure for a series of compounds with significant antitrypanosomal activities. To test this possibility, a series of derivatives of compound 1 with changes in the cyclopentyl substituents (compounds 3 to 10) have been studied. Although some growth activity was obtained with the L-like compound 5, related compounds 3 and 7 had little or no activity below 100 microM. D-like compounds 4 and 6 showed some activity at or below 100 microM, but the most interesting finding was that both the D- and L-like compounds having a methyl substituent on the 4' position were most active.

Effect of limited proteolysis on the stability and enzymatic activity of human placental S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase

Human placental S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase was subjected to limited papain digestion. The multiple cleavage sites in the enzyme were identified to be Lys94-Ala95, Tyr100-Ala101, Glu243-Ile244, Met367-Ala368, Gln369-Ile370, and Gly382-Val383. Despite multiple cleavage sites in the backbone of the protein, the digested enzyme was able to maintain its quaternary structure and retain its full catalytic activity. The enzyme activity of the partially digested AdoHcy hydrolase was essentially identical to that of the native enzyme at several pH values. The thermal stabilities of the native and partially digested enzymes were only slightly different at all temperatures tested. The stability of both native and partially digested enzymes were examined in guanidine hydrochloride and equilibrium unfolding transitions were monitored by CD spectroscopy and tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy. The results of these experiments can be summarized as follows: (1) CD spectroscopic analysis showed that the overall secondary and tertiary structures of the partially digested enzyme are essentially identical with those of the native enzyme; and (2) tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopic analysis indicated that there are small differences in the environments of surface-exposed tryptophan residues between the partially digested enzyme and the native enzyme under unfolding conditions. The differences in the free energy of unfolding, delta(delta Gu) [delta Gu(native)-delta Gu(digested)], is approximately 1.3 kcal/mol. When NAD+ was removed from the partially digested enzyme, the secondary and tertiary structures of the apo form of the digested AdoHcy hydrolase were completely lost and the enzymatic activity could not be recovered by incubation with excess NAD+. These results suggest that AdoHcy hydrolase exists as a very compact enzyme with extensive intramolecular bonding, which contributes significantly to the overall global protein stabilization. Identification of the surface-exposed peptide bonds, which are susceptible to papain digestion, has provided some constraints on the spatial orientations of subunits of the enzyme. This information, in turn, has provided supplemental data for X-ray crystallographic studies currently ongoing in our laboratories.

Cloning and sequencing of the gene coding for S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase in the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus

The gene from the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (Ss), encoding the S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AdoHcyHD), has been cloned. Two degenerate oligodeoxyribonucleotide (oligo) probes, synthesized on the basis of amino acid (aa) sequence of cyanogen bromide-peptide fragments of the purified protein, were used to screen a genomic library of Ss cloned into the pGEM7Zf(+) vector. The AdoHcyHD gene (adohcyhd) comprises 1254 nucleotides (nt) and encodes a polypeptide of 417 aa with a deduced molecular mass of 46 kDa, in good agreement with the value directly measured for the purified enzyme. The identity of more than 32% of the deduced aa sequence was confirmed by Edman degradation of peptides. Putative regulatory elements which are in good agreement with the archaeal promoter consensus sequences were identified in the flanking regions. Comparison of the aa sequences of AdoHcyHD from different sources shows a remarkable degree of conservation. Surprisingly, several aa residues, thought important in substrate binding and catalysis, show non-conserved replacements in Ss AdoHcyHD.

Molecular characterisation of adenosylhomocysteinase from Trichomonas vaginalis

The enzyme S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) has been identified as a potential target for chemotherapy in protozoan parasites including Trichomonas vaginalis. To investigate this area of trichomonad metabolism in more detail, we have isolated and characterised a gene which encodes this activity from the WAA38 strain of this parasite. The gene was isolated by probing a Bg/II genomic mini-library with a fragment of the gene generated by thermal cycling using degenerate oligonucleotide primers. A 5.9-kb Bg/II clone was isolated and has been partially sequenced to reveal a 1458-bp open reading frame which encodes a 486-residue polypeptide (computed molecular mass of 53.4 kDa). The deduced amino acid sequence showed a high degree of sequence similarity to the hydrolases from other species, but was most similar to the enzyme from photosynthetic organisms. The trichomonal sahh gene also contains two "insertion sequences', one of which appears to be unique to this parasite while the second has previously been found only in photosynthetic organisms and in Plasmodium falciparum. Characterisation of the sahh mRNA from T. vaginalis confirmed that both of these insertion sequences (encoding 9 and 37 amino acid residues, respectively) are expressed in the protein product. The sahh mRNA is similar to those characterised from other protozoa in having a short, 12-bp untranslated 5'-leader sequence but the leader sequence does not conform well with the consensus sequence of the other mRNAs. Finally, Southern blots and sequence differences between genomic and cDNA clones indicate that there are multiple copies of the sahh gene in T. vaginalis.

Photoaffinity labeling of human placental S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase with [2-3H]8-azido-adenosine

The potential photoaffinity probe 8-azido-adenosine (8-N3-Ado) was shown to serve as a substrate for the 3'-oxidative activity of human S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase (Aiyar, V. N., and Hershfield, M. S. (1985) Biochem. J. 232, 643-650). In this study, we have determined the equilibrium binding properties of 8-N3-Ado with AdoHcy hydrolase (NAD+ form) and identified the specific amino acid residues that are covalently modified. After irradiation of the reaction mixture of [2-3H]8-N3-Ado and AdoHcy hydrolase (NAD+ form) and followed by tryptic digestion, peptides specifically photolabeled by [2-3H]3'-keto-8-N3-Ado were effectively separated from peptides nonspecifically labeled with [2-3H]8-N3-Ado using boronate affinity chromatography. After purification by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography, two photolabeled peptides were isolated and identified as Val175-Lys186 and Val319-Arg327, in which Ala177 and Ile321 were associated with radioactivity. The specificity of the photoaffinity labeling with [2-3H]3'-keto-8-N3-Ado was demonstrated by the observation that these photolabeled peptides were not isolated when [2-3H]8-N3-Ado was incubated with apo AdoHcy hydrolase and irradiated. The two photolabeled peptides are assumed to be parts of the adenine-binding domain for substrates. They are both within well conserved regions of AdoHcy hydrolases. The peptide Val175-Lys186 is located very close to Cys195 and Glu197. Ser198, both of which were indicated to be located in the active site of the enzyme by chemical modification and limited proteolysis methods. The peptide Val319-Arg327 is adjacent to Leu330, which is proposed by a computer graphics model to interact with the C-6-NH2 group of Ado.

(E)-5',6'-didehydro-6'-deoxy-6'-fluorohomoadenosine: a substrate that measures the hydrolytic activity of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase

(E)-5',6'-Didehydro-6'-deoxy-6'-fluorohomoadenosine (EDDFHA), which is a poor substrate for the oxidative activity of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase and thus a poor mechanism-based inhibitor was shown to be a good substrate for the hydrolytic activity of this enzyme. Incubation of EDDFHA with AdoHcy hydrolase (NAD+ form) produces a large molar excess of hydrolytic products [e.g., fluoride ion, adenine (Ade) derived from chemical degradation of homoadenosine 6'-carboxaldehyde (HACA), and 6'-deoxy-6'-fluoro-5'-hydroxyhomoadenosine (DFHHA)] accompanied by a slow irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. The enzyme inactivation was shown to be time-dependent, biphasic, and concomitant with the reduction of the enzyme-bound NAD+ (E.NAD+) to E-NADH. The reaction of EDDFHA with AdoHcy hydrolase was shown to proceed by three pathways: pathway a, water attack at the 6'-position of EDDFHA and elimination of fluoride ion results in the formation of HACA, which degrades chemically to form Ade; pathway b, water attack at the 5'-position of EDDFHA results in the formation of DFHHA; and pathway c, oxidation of EDDFHA results in formation of the NADH form of the enzyme (inactive) and 3'keto-EDDFHA, which could react with water at either the C5' or C6' positions. The partition ratios among the three pathways were determined to be k3':k6':k5' = 1:29:79 with one lethal event (enzyme inactivation) occurring every 108 nonlethal turnovers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)