The conversion of serine at the active site of subtilisin to cysteine: a "chemical mutation"

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance evidence for the absence of a stable hydrogen bond between the active site aspartate and histidine residues of native subtilisins and for its presence in thiolsubtilisins

The very low field proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) found in aqueous solutions of serine proteases and their zymogens is characteristic of the hydrogen bond between the imidazolium and aspartate groups of the catalytic triad: Ser-His-Asp [Robillard, G., & Shulman, R. G. (1972) J. Mol. Biol. 71, 507--511]. According to 1H correlation NMR spectroscopic studies performed in 80/20 (v/v) H2O/2H2O, no such resonance is found in native subtilisins (even at -2 degrees C and pH 6.0), but it is present in thiolsubtilisins and in the phenylboronic acid derivatives of the serine enzymes. The resonance was not visible in the mercuric or carboxamidomethyl derivatives of the thiol enzymes or in the phenylboronic acid--serine enzyme complex if the serine enzyme was first acylated with phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride. The histidine at the catalytic site of thiolsubtilisin carries a positive charge between pH 5.6 and 8.4, in accord with previous data in favor of a mercaptide--imidazolium ion pair at the catalytic site. The charge distribution (- + -) at the active site of thiolsubtilisin and in the phenylboronic acid derivatives of the serine enzymes resembles that in the tetrahedral transition state formed between a serine enzyme and its substrate. Therefore, the stable hydrogen bond (found in the thiol enzyme and in the phenylboronic acid derivative of the serine enzyme) should be more important during catalysis than in the substrate-free enzyme.

On the inactivity of thiol-subtilisin

Based on computed proton affinities for several model systems, the energetics of proton transfer and the acidity of the catalytic triads Cys-His-Asn (papain). Cys-His-Asp (thiol-subtilisin) and Ser-His-Asp (subtilisin) are discussed. It is shown that in papain the ion-pair Cys--HisH+ exists owing to the intramolecular electric field, and that a similar situation is found in thiol-subtilisin. but not in subtilisin. Assuming similar reaction mechanisms for papain and thiol-subtilisin - i.e. proton transfer from HisH+ to the NH group of the scissile peptide bond - the inactivity of thil-subtilisin towards proteins is explained by the much greater basicity of His in the complex His-Asp- than in His-Asn. In order for this explanation to be consistent, it is tentatively concluded that the catalytic mechanism of the serine proteases is different from that of the cystein proteases, and involves direct transfer of the serine proton to the leaving group in the acylation step.

Fluorescence properties of native and chemically modified mesentericopeptidase

Studies on the fluorescence properties of native mesentericopeptidase as a function of the temperature and/or in the presence of either neutral or ionic fluorescence quenchers demonstrate that the intrinsic emission f this protein is dominated by a partially exposed tryptophyl residue, which is probably located in a site of high dielectric constant containing positively charged amino acid side chains. One largely exposed tryptophan contributes about 14% of the total emission, whereas one deeply buried tryptophan is virtually non-fluorescent. The conversion of the active site serine to cysteine and the insertion of either one phenylmethanesulfonyl or one dansyl substituent into the active site induce only subtle differences in the conformational properties with respect to the native protein; in particular, the mutual distances and orientation between the 13 tyrosyl and 3 tryptophyl residues are unaffected, as shown by singlet-singlet energy transfer experiments.

Biochemical significance of the hard and soft acids and bases principle

The hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB) principle, which states that hard acids bind preferentially to hard bases and soft acids to soft bases, may serve to assess specific chemico-biological interactions. As living systems are composed mainly of "hard" elements, molecular events taking place within the cell are dominated by "hard-hard interactions". On this premise, it becomes likely that extraneous "soft" agents are particularly injurious to life. In the HSAB context a selected number of variegated phenomena are briefly discussed qualitatively; these include biocidal actions, heavy metal poisoning, chemical carcinogenesis, some enzymic reactions, and nucleic acid complexations. Although the HSAB principle cannot be used as a tool for mechanistic explanations of biochemical processes, it may provide clues to likely target molecules and the loci of action.

Conversion of the active-site cysteine residue of papain into a dehydro-serine, a serine and a glycine residue

Photolysis of papain which had been inhibited with 2-bromo-2',4'-dimethoxyacetophenone regenerated papain, but also formed [deltaSer25]-papain (i.e. papain in which the active-site cysteine residue 25 was replaced by dehydroserine) via the intermediate dehydrocysteine analogue, [deltaCys25]-papain. Reduction with sodium borohydride gave [Ser25]papain. Both [Ser25]papain and [deltaSer25]-papain had binding properties similar to those of papain, but were devoid of enzymic activity. Their fluorescence properties were also investigated. Incubation of [deltaSer25]papain at pH 9.0 gave [Gly25]papain.

T antigen of BK papovavirus in infected and transformed cells

BK virus T antigen from BKV-transformed rat and hamster cells and from productively infected monkey cells has been examined by immunoprecipitation followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Forms of the antigen that migrate as proteins of 86,000 and 92,000 daltons have been identified. Both forms can be labeled by 32P.

Chemical conversion of aspartic acid 52, a catalytic residue in hen egg-white lysozyme, to homoserine

Hen egg-white lysozyme (EC 3.2.1.17) was specifically esterified at aspartic acid 52 by the affinity labeling reagent 2',3'-epoxypropyl beta-glycoside of di-(N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) [Eshdat et al. (1973) J. Biol. Chem.248, 5892]. The disulfide bonds of the affinity-labeled enzyme and the aspartic acid 52-ester bond were reduced with dithiothreitol and sodium borohydride, respectively, resulting in the removal of the affinity label. The reduced protein contained 0.9 mole of homoserine and 1 mole less of aspartic acid per mole of protein, as compared to the native enzyme. It was reoxidized by a mixture of reduced and oxidized glutathione to yield a modified protein that possessed one-tenth of the activity of native lysozyme (presumably due to a contamination by regenerated lysozyme formed as a result of hydrolysis of the aspartic acid 52-ester bond during the chemical treatment). The native enzyme, after reduction and reoxidation in the same manner, retained its amino-acid composition, full enzymatic activity, and fluorescence properties. The modified lysozyme, containing homoserine 52, showed the same fluorescence spectrum as the native enzyme. With both proteins, the fluorescence maximum shifted to the blue to a similar extent upon the addition of the saccharide inhibitors tri-(N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) and the cell-wall tetrasaccharide (GlcNAc-MurNAc)(2). The modified enzyme bound these two saccharides with nearly the same binding constants as those found for native lysozyme and for lysozyme that was reduced and reoxidized. Since the side chain of homoserine is similar in size to that of aspartic acid, it is concluded that the loss of enzymatic activity is the direct result of the chemical modification of the carboxyl side chain of aspartic acid 52, thus showing that this amino acid is essential for the catalytic action of the enzyme.

The nature of general base-general acid catalysis in serine proteases

The high reactivity of the serine residue at the active site of serine proteases is often attributed to the formation of a hydrogen bond between this serine and a histidine residue. In the case of the serine protease subtilisin, the catalytic serine residue can be specifically replaced by a cysteine residue and this modified enzyme is called thiol-subtilisin. By studying the D(2)O effect on acyl-enzyme formation with subtilisin and thiol-subtilisin, we present evidence that thiol-subtilisin but not subtilisin may contain a hydrogen bond. Based on the comparison of the catalytic activities of subtilisin and thiol-subtilisin, a rigid active site model for the serine proteases is proposed in which the histidine residue operates in a fixed steric position both as a general base and as a general acid, and this, rather than the formation of a hydrogen bond, accounts for the high nucleophilicity of the serine residue.

Evolution of structure and function of proteases

One of the striking features of the proteolytic enzymes as a group is the immense variety of biological functions served by enzymes employing one of a few basic mechanisms. For example, in the higher animals, enzymes for activation of zymogens (trypsin), for digestion of dietary proteins (trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase), for blood clotting (thrombin), for clot lysis (plasmin), and for sensing pain (kallikrein) all appear to use the same mechanism and to have evolved from the same ancestral gene by the process of gene duplication and subsequent divergent evolution. Equally striking is the variety of chemical solutions of the same functional problem, such as the peptide-bond cleavage by sulfhydryl proteases on the one hand and serine proteases on the other.