Circular dichroism study of horse colipase interaction with bile salt

Computational study of colipase interaction with lipid droplets and bile salt micelles

Colipase is a key element in the lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of dietary lipids. Although devoid of enzymatic activity, colipase promotes the pancreatic lipase activity in physiological intestinal conditions by anchoring the enzyme at the surface of lipid droplets. Analysis of structures of NMR colipase models and simulations of their interactions with various lipid aggregates, lipid droplet, and bile salt micelle, were carried out to determine and to map the lipid binding sites on colipase. We show that the micelle and the oil droplet bind to the same side of colipase 3D structure, mainly the hydrophobic fingers. Moreover, it appears that, although colipase has a single direction of interaction with a lipid interface, it does not bind in a specific way but rather oscillates between different positions. Indeed, different NMR models of colipase insert different fragments of sequence in the interface, either simultaneously or independently. This supports the idea that colipase finger plasticity may be crucial to adapt the lipase activity to different lipid aggregates.

Interactions of bile salt micelles and colipase studied through intermolecular nOes

Colipase is a small protein (10 kDa), which acts as a protein cofactor for the pancreatic lipase. Various models of the activated ternary complex (lipase-colipase-bile salt micelles) have been proposed using detergent micelles, but no structural information has been established with bile salt micelles. We have investigated the organization of sodium taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC) micelles and their interactions with pig and horse colipases by homonuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The NMR data supply evidence that the folding of horse colipase is similar to that already described for pig colipase. Intermolecular nuclear Overhauser effects have shown that two conserved aromatic residues interact with NaTDC micelles.

Critical role of micelles in pancreatic lipase activation revealed by small angle neutron scattering

In the duodenum, pancreatic lipase (PL) develops its activity on triglycerides by binding to the bile-emulsified oil droplets in the presence of its protein cofactor pancreatic colipase (PC). The neutron crystal structure of a PC-PL-micelle complex (Hermoso, J., Pignol, D., Penel, S., Roth, M., Chapus, C., and Fontecilla-Camps, J. C. (1997) EMBO J. 16, 5531-5536) has suggested that the stabilization of the enzyme in its active conformation and its adsorption to the emulsified oil droplets are mediated by a preformed lipase-colipase-micelle complex. Here, we correlate the ability of different amphypathic compounds to activate PL, with their association with PC-PL in solution. The method of small angle neutron scattering with D(2)O/H(2)O contrast variation was used to characterize a solution containing PC-PL complex and taurodeoxycholate micelles. The resulting radius of gyration (56 A) and the match point of the solution indicate the formation of a ternary complex that is similar to the one observed in the neutron crystal structure. In addition, we show that either bile salts, lysophospholipids, or nonionic detergents that form micelles with radii of gyration ranging from 13 to 26 A are able to bind to the PC-PL complex, whereas smaller micelles or nonmicellar compounds are not. This further supports the notion of a micelle size-dependent affinity process for lipase activation in vivo.

The lipase/colipase complex is activated by a micelle: neutron crystallographic evidence

The catalytic activity of most lipases depends on the aggregation state of their substrates. It is supposed that lipase activation requires the unmasking and structuring of the enzyme's active site through conformational changes involving the presence of oil-in-water droplets. This phenomenon has been called interfacial activation. Here, we report the crystal structure of the pancreatic activated lipase/colipase/micelle complex as determined using the D2O/H2O contrast variation low resolution neutron diffraction method. We find that a disk-shaped micelle interacts extensively with the concave face of colipase (CL) and the distal tip of the C-terminal domain of lipase away from the active site of the enzyme. Such interaction appears to help stabilizing the lipase-CL interaction. Consequently, we conclude that lipase activation is not interfacial but occurs in the aqueous phase and it is mediated by CL and a micelle.

Conformational prediction studies on pancreatic colipase

Comparison of the primary structures of pancreatic colipases from man, pig, horse and rat shows a high degree of homology between proteins. Fifty-two out of the 95 residues of the polypeptide are identical. All colipases contain 10 half-cystines which are located at invariant positions. The secondary structure of colipases has been predicted from the sequence using the statistical method of Chou and Fasman and the method of Gibrat, Garnier and Robson based on information theory. Predictions indicate that colipases have a low content of alpha-helix and beta-strand structure. The two segments at positions 7-10 and 56-59, assumed to be part of the lipid binding domain, have predicted beta-sheet conformation and should be in close spatial vicinity to each other in the proteins. Four beta-turns are predicted in all colipases at positions 3-6, 46-49, 61-64, and 81-84. They might contribute, with the five disulfide bridges, to a tight packing of the protein molecule. Surface residues and major sequential antigenic determinants of mammalian colipases have been predicted using methods based either on hydrophilicity/hydropathy scales or amino acid mutability. From these studies, it appears that colipases exhibit large conformational homologies. In the absence of data on the tertiary structure of colipase, predictive methods, together with physico-chemical and immunological studies, provide valuable information on the conformation of the protein in relation to the topology of residues involved in the functional and antigenic sites.

The role of aromatic side chain residues in micelle binding by pancreatic colipase. Fluorescence studies of the porcine and equine proteins

Fluorescence techniques have been employed to study the interaction of porcine and equine colipase with pure taurodeoxycholate and mixed micelles. Nitrotyrosine-55 of porcine colipase is obtained by modification with tetranitromethane (low excess, in the presence of taurodeoxycholate) of the protein followed by gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. Verification of the residue modified was obtained by h.p.l.c. peptide purification and sequence analysis. Reduction and quantitative reaction with dansyl chloride yields a fluorescent derivative that is twice as active in conjunction with lipase as is native colipase and that exhibits a strong emission band at 550 nm. Addition of micellar concentrations of taurodeoxycholate causes a 4.3-fold increase in the emission maximum as well as a 70 nm blue shift to 480 nm. Inclusion of oleic acid to form a mixed micelle reduces these spectral effects. Scatchard analysis of the data yield a Kd of 6.8 X 10(-4) M and a single colipase-binding site for taurodeoxycholate micelles. The data, by analogy to a phospholipase system, are consistent with a direct insertion of dansyl-NH-tyrosine-55 into the micelle. The presence of a single tryptophan residue (Trp-52) in equine colipase provides an intrinsic fluorescent probe for studying protein-micelle interaction. The emission maximum of horse colipase at 345 nm indicates a solvent-accessible tryptophan residue which becomes less so on binding of micelles. A blue shift of 8 nm and a 2-fold increase in amplitude is indicative of a more hydrophobic environment for tryptophan induced by taurodeoxycholate micelles. There is also a decrease in KSV for acrylamide quenching in the presence of micelles, which further supports a loss of solvent accessibility. The most dramatic pH effects are observed with KI quenching, and may indicate the presence of negative charges near Trp-52.

The primary sequence of human pancreatic colipase

The amino acid sequence of an activated colipase purified from human pancreas was determined. The protein consists of a single polypeptide chain of 86 amino acids (human colipase86) and has a molecular weight of 9289. The sequence was determined by automated Edman degradation of the reduced and S-carboxymethylated protein and of two CNBr peptides. Sequence determination of porcine procolipase II was also performed, which showed that in the original sequence determination apparently two residues were missed. These residues were determined to be a leucine at position 37 and a serine in position 50. For comparison with porcine and equine procolipases, the residues composing human colipase are numbered from 6 to 91. No human procolipase has been isolated so far. The colipases from man, pig, horse and chicken show a high degree of homology: human colipase differs from the other proteins by substitutions of 19 (porcine), 24 (equine A) and 21 (equine B) residues, respectively.

Nitration of the tyrosine residues of porcine pancreatic colipase with tetranitromethane, and properties of the nitrated derivatives

The nitration of the long form (N-terminal valine) of porcine pancreatic colipase with tetranitromethane was investigated under a variety of conditions. Fractionation of the nitrated monomers on DE-cellulose led to well-defined derivatives containing one, two and three nitrotyrosines per mol. Automated Edman degradation of the nitrated peptides, especially that of the staphylococcal proteinase peptide (49-64) showed that Tyr-54 was nitrated very fast under all conditions. This residue was the only one to be nitrated in water. Partial nitration of Tyr-59 was induced by bile salt micelles, while both Tyr-59 and Tyr-58 reacted extensively in the presence of lysophosphatidylcholine micelles (in which tetranitromethane is concentrated 150-fold compared to water) or of a liquid tetranitromethane-water interface. The strong negative Cotton effect at 410 nm which has already been observed using unfractionated preparations of nitrated colipase (Behnke W.D. (1982) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 708, 118-123) is linked with the nitration of Tyr-59 and it is markedly reduced by taurodeoxycholate micelles, suggesting a conformational change induced by the micelles in the tyrosine region. Moreover, the pKa of the nitrotyrosine residues in nitrated colipase is the same as that of free nitrotyrosine (pKa = 6.8) and it is shifted to 7.6 in the presence of taurodeoxycholate micelles. Micelles protected colipase against polymerization during nitration. These data suggest that Tyr-58 and Tyr-59 are part of the interface recognition site of colipase. The participation of Tyr-55 in binding is not excluded. The upwards nitrotyrosine pKa shift in the colipase micelle complex may explain why nitrated colipase can reactivate lipase in a triacylglycerol-taurodeoxycholate system at pH 7.5.

Limited trypsinolysis of porcine and equine colipases. Spectroscopic and kinetic studies

Porcine and equine colipases have been submitted to mild tryptic digestion. Proteolysis occurs at the Arg5-Gly6 bond with the loss of the N-terminal pentapeptide. Studies of native and trypsin-treated colipases by circular dichroism and laser chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization indicate that proteolysis induces conformational changes in the region of the tyrosine cluster. Experiments in the presence of phospholipid provide further evidence showing that these residues are in or close to the region of the protein interacting with aggregated lipids. Kinetic studies of the reaction of bile salt-inhibited lipase with emulsified triolein in the absence and in the presence of lecithin show that tryptic hydrolysis of the protein cofactor increases its affinity for the enzyme in the presence of lipid substrate. In both cases, it was found that the apparent dissociation constant of the lipase-colipase complex is decreased by one order of magnitude. Our results confirm that the biological activity of the lipase cofactor is enhanced by specific tryptic cleavage in the amino terminal region of the polypeptide and support the suggestion by Borgström et al. (Borgström, B., Wieloch, T., Erlanson-Albertsson (1981) FEBS. Lett. 108, 407-410) that the secreted form of colipase is a precursor.