Identification of functional involvement of tryptophan residues in phospholipase A2 from Naja naja atra (Taiwan cobra) snake venom

Membrane-bound conformation of Naja nigricollis toxin gamma affects its membrane-damaging activity

To address whether the conformational events associated with the absorption of Naja nigricollis toxin gamma on water-lipid interface plays a vital role in its membrane-damaging activity, the present study is carried out. Membrane-damaging activity of toxin gamma on 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC)/1, 2-dimyristoyl-phosphatidic acid (DMPA) vesicles was approximately 13-fold of that on 1, 2-dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/DMPA vesicles, while the binding affinity of toxin gamma for POPC/DMPA was twofold of that for DPPC/DMPA. Time-resolved fluorescence, acrylamide quenching and Fourier transform infrared spectra showed that POPC/DMPA-bound toxin gamma and DPPC/DMPA-bound toxin gamma did not adopt the same conformation. Moreover, geometrical arrangement of toxin gamma in contact with POPC/DMPA vesicles was different from that with DPPC/DMPA vesicles as evidenced by N-(fluorescein-5-thiocarbamoyl)-1,2-dihexadecanoyl-phosphatidylcholine fluorescence enhancement and cross-linking of membrane-bound toxin gamma. Taken together, our data show that different membrane packing densities arising from phospholipid acyl chain affect membrane-bound conformation of toxin gamma, thus changing its membrane-damaging activity.

Correlation between the phospholipids domains of the target cell membrane and the extent of Naja kaouthia PLA2-induced membrane damage: Evidence of distinct catalytic and cytotoxic sites in PLA2 molecules

Two phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) enzymes (NK-PLA(2)-A and NK-PLA(2)-B) were purified from the venom of the monocled cobra Naja kaouthia. The molecular weights of NK-PLA(2)-A and NK-PLA(2)-B, as estimated by mass spectrometry, were 13,619 and 13,303 Da respectively. Both phospholipases were highly thermostable, had maximum catalytic activity at basic pH, and showed preferential hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine. Intravenous injection of either PLA(2) up to a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight was non-toxic to mice and did not show neurotoxic symptoms. The N. kaouthia PLA(2)s displayed anticoagulant and cytotoxic activity, but poor hemolytic activity. Both the PLA(2)s were more toxic to Sf9 and Tn cells compared to VERO cells. NK-PLA(2) exhibited selective lysis of wild-type baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells compared to normal cells. Amino acid modification studies and heating experiments suggest that separate sites in the NK-PLA(2) molecules are responsible for their catalytic, anticoagulant and cytotoxic activities.

Neurotoxicity and other pharmacological activities of the snake venom phospholipase A2 OS2: the N-terminal region is more important than enzymatic activity

Several snake venom secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2s) including OS2 exert a variety of pharmacological effects ranging from central neurotoxicity to anti-HIV activity by mechanisms that are not yet fully understood. To conclusively address the role of enzymatic activity and map the key structural elements of OS2 responsible for its pharmacological properties, we have prepared single point OS2 mutants at the catalytic site and large chimeras between OS2 and OS1, a homologous but nontoxic sPLA2. Most importantly, we found that the enzymatic activity of the active site mutant H48Q is 500-fold lower than that of the wild-type protein, while central neurotoxicity is only 16-fold lower, providing convincing evidence that catalytic activity is at most a minor factor that determines central neurotoxicity. The chimera approach has identified the N-terminal region (residues 1-22) of OS2, but not the central one (residues 58-89), as crucial for both enzymatic activity and pharmacological effects. The C-terminal region of OS2 (residues 102-119) was found to be critical for enzymatic activity, but not for central neurotoxicity and anti-HIV activity, allowing us to further dissociate enzymatic activity and pharmacological effects. Finally, direct binding studies with the C-terminal chimera, which poorly binds to phospholipids while it is still neurotoxic, led to the identification of a subset of brain N-type receptors which may be directly involved in central neurotoxicity.

Modification of Lys-6 and Lys-65 Affects the Structural Stability of Taiwan Cobra Phospholipase A2

To assess whether chemical modification of phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) enzymes may affect their fine structure and consequently alter their enzymatic activity, the present study was carried out. Both Lys-6 and Lys-65 in the Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra) PLA(2) were selectively modified with trinitrobenzene sulfonate and pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP), respectively. Incorporation of either trinitrophenylated (TNP) or PLP groups on Lys-6 and Lys-65 caused a drop in PLA(2) activity, but the Ca(2+)-binding ability and global conformation of modified derivatives were not significantly different from that of native enzyme. A distinct enhancement of stability was observed with native PLA(2) when thermal unfolding was conducted in the presence of 20 mM Ca(2+). Conformational transition induced by guanidine hydrochloride was also attenuated by the addition of Ca(2+). Conversely, a marked decrease in the structural stability was noted with modified derivatives, and the enhancing effect of Ca(2+) pronouncedly decreased. Together with the finding that the incorporated TNP and PLP groups did not equally affect enzymatic activity and structural stability of PLA(2), our data suggest that an alteration in the fine structure owing to the incorporated groups should contribute to the observed decrease in PLA(2) activity.

On the Binding Preference of Human Groups IIA and X Phospholipases A2 for Membranes with Anionic Phospholipids

Mammals contain 9-10 secreted phospholipases A(2) (sPLA(2)s) that display widely different affinities for membranes, depending on the phospholipid composition. The much higher enzymatic activity of human group X sPLA(2) (hGX) compared with human group IIA sPLA(2) (hGIIA) on phosphatidylcholine (PC)-rich vesicles is due in large part to the higher affinity of the former enzyme for such vesicles; this result also holds when vesicles contain cholesterol and sphingomyelin. The inclusion of anionic phosphatidylserine in PC vesicles dramatically enhances interfacial binding and catalysis of hGIIA but not of hGX. This is the result of the large number of lysine and arginine residues scattered over the entire surface of hGIIA, which cause the enzyme to form a supramolecular aggregate with multiple vesicles. Thus, high affinity binding of hGIIA to anionic vesicles is a complex process and cannot be attributed to a few basic residues on its interfacial binding surface, as is also evident from mutagenesis studies. The main reason hGIIA binds poorly to PC-rich vesicles is that it lacks a tryptophan residue on its interfacial binding surface, a residue that contributes to the high affinity binding of hGX to PC-rich vesicles. Results show that the lag in the onset of hydrolysis of PC vesicles by hGIIA is due in part to the poor affinity of this enzyme for these vesicles. Binding affinity of hGIIA, hGX, and their mutants to PC-rich vesicles is well correlated to the ability of these enzymes to act on the PC-rich outer plasma membrane of mammalian cells.

Interfacial binding of secreted phospholipases A(2): more than electrostatics and a major role for tryptophan

Secreted phospholipases A(2) have similar catalytic sites, but vastly different interfacial binding surfaces that modulate their binding affinity for different kinds of phospholipid vesicles by several orders of magnitude. The structure/function principles that dictate both the differential interfacial binding and the physiological function of these enzymes are beginning to be unraveled.

The structural variations of epsilon-amino groups in phospholipase A2 enzymes from Naja naja atra and Bungarus multicinctus venoms

Comparative studies on Naja naja atra phospholipase A2 (NNA-PLA2), Bungarus multicinctus phospholipase A2 (BM-PLA2), and their Lys-modified derivatives were made to assess the differences in the fine structures around the conserved Lys residues of PLA2 enzymes. It has found that the accessibility of Lys residues of PLA2 enzymes toward modified reagent, trinitrobenzene sulfonate, were not the same. Moreover, the extent of decrease in pI values of PLA2 enzymes that resulted from trinitrophenylation of lysine residues was different between NNA-PLA2 and BM-PLA2. The Lys-6 of BM-PLA2 mostly contributed to the positively charged character of the enzyme molecule, whereas the contribution of Lys-6 of NNA-PLA2 to its molecular charge was not notably different from other Lys residues. A linear relationship was observed by plotting the mobilities of PLA2 enzymes and their TNP derivatives against their pI values. However, native and Lys-modified NNA-PLA2 were not aligned with those of BM-PLA2 in the same line. Apparently the gross conformation of PLA2 enzymes was not notably perturbed by the modification of Lys residues, but the fine structure of NNA-PLA2 was not the same as that of BM-PLA2. These results indicate that the positioning of side chains of the conserved Lys residues in the two PLA2 enzymes is essentially different, and suggest that the variations in the fine structures of homologous proteins could be effectively explored by chemical modification studies and electrophoretic analysis.

Probing calcium ion-induced conformational changes of Taiwan cobra phospholipase A2 by trinitrophenylation of lysine residues

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from Naja naja atra (Taiwan cobra) snake venom was subjected to lysine modification with trinitrobenzene sulfonate (TNBS). Three major derivatives, TNP-1, TNP-2, and TNP-3, were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) from the reaction mixtures in the absence of Ca2+. However, only TNP-2 and TNP-3 were isolated when trinitrophenylated reaction was carried out in the presence of Ca2+. TNP-1 and TNP-2 contained only one TNP group, on Lys-65 and Lys-6, respectively; and both Lys-6 and Lys-65 were modified in TNP-3. The extent of modification on Lys-6 and Lys-65 was calculated from the peak areas of TNP proteins in the HPLC profile. It was found that the susceptibility of Lys-6 toward TNBS markedly increased by the addition of Ca2+ when Ca2+ concentration was higher than 5 mM. With regard to the involvement of Lys-6 in the binding of substrate, the increase in the reactivity of Lys-6 may arise from a conformational change around Lys-6 for binding with substrate in the presence of Ca2+. Alternatively, the nonessentiality of Lys-65 for PLA2 activity was revealed by the finding that TNP-1 still retained 95% activity of native enzyme. Moreover, the reactivity of Lys-65 toward TNBS did not greatly change in either the absence or presence of Ca2+, suggesting that Ca2+ binding did not cause an appreciable change in the microenvironment around Lys-65. These results indicate that the differential reactivities of Lys-6 and Lys-65 toward TNBS as affected by the binding of Ca2+ are well consistent with their functional roles in the catalytic mechanism of PLA2, and suggest that the occurrence of conformational changes with PLA2 could be explored by chemical modification studies.

The essentiality of calcium ion in the enzymatic activity of Taiwan cobra phospholipase A2

In order to address the mechanism whereby Ca2+ wad crucial for the manifestation of the enzymatic activity of phospholipase A2 (PLA2), four divalent cations were used to assess their influences on the catalytic activity and the fine structures of Naja naja atra PLA2. It was found that substitution of Mg2+ or Sr2+ for Ca2+ in the substrate solution caused a decrease in the PLA2 activity to 77.5% or 54.5%, respectively, of that in the presence of Ca2+. However, no PLA2 activity was observed with the addition of Ba2+. With the exception of Mg2+, the nonpolarity of the 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate (ANS)-binding site of PLA2 markedly increased with the binding of cations to PLA2. In the meantime, the accessibilities of Lys-6 (65) and Tyr-3 (63) toward trinitrobenzene sulfonate and p-nitrobenzenesulfonyl fluoride were enhanced by the addition of Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+, but not by Mg2+. The order of the ability of cations to enhance the ANS fluorescence and the reactivity of Lys and Tyr residues toward modified reagents was Ba2+ > Sr2+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+, which was the same order as the increase in their atomic radii. These results, together with the observations that the ANS molecule binds at the active site of PLA2 and that Tyr-3, Lys-6, and Tyr-63 of PLA2 are involved in the binding with the substrate, suggest that the binding of Ca2+ to PLA2 induces conformational changes at the active site and substrate-binding site. However, the smaller atomic radius with Mg2+ or the bigger atomic radii with Sr2+ and Ba2+ might render the conformation improperly rearranged after their binding to PLA2 molecule.

Chemical modification of notexin from Notechis scutatus scutatus (Australian tiger snake) venom with pyridoxal-5'-phosphate

Notexin from Notechis scutatus scutatus snake venom was subjected to Lys modification with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), and one major modified derivative was purified on a cation-exchanger SP-8HR column. The results of amino acid analysis and sequence determination revealed that only 2 Lys residues at positions 82 and 115 out of 11 Lys residues in notexin were modified. The incorporation of PLP into the protein was accompanied by the loss of 53% lethal toxicity, but the modified notexin showed an about 1.2-fold increase in enzymatic activity. However, the secondary structure of the toxin molecule did not significantly change after modification with PLP as revealed by the CD spectra, and the antigenicity of PLP derivative remained unchanged. The modified derivative retained its affinity for Ca2+, indicating that the modified Lys residues did not participate in Ca2+ binding. These results indicate that modification of Lys residues causes a differential effect on the enzymatic activity and lethal toxicity of notexin, and suggest that notexin might possess two functional sites, one responsible for the catalytic activity and the other associated with its lethal effect.

The functional involvement of Lys-38 in the heavy subunit of rat kidney gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase: chemical modification and mutagenesis studies

Rat kidney gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma GCS) was inactivated by reaction with trinitrobenzene sulfonate (TNBS), and the reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Inactivation kinetics revealed that only one of the amino acid residues modified by TNBS was essential for gamma GCS activity. The addition of 10 mM Mg2+ to the TNBS inactivation reaction resulted in a 16-fold increase in the rate of inactivation. Chromatographic analysis on the tryptic hydrolyzates of trinitrophenylated (TNP) derivatives showed that Lys-38 in the gamma GCS heavy subunit was significantly modified in the presence of Mg2+. In contrast to small changes in the catalytic properties observed by mutation of Lys-38 to Arg, the mutants K38N and K38E had a marked decrease in enzymatic activity and about twofold increase in Km for glutamate. These results suggest that the positively charged Lys-38 may be involved in the binding of glutamate to gamma GCS.

The essentiality of His-47 and the N-terminal region for the binding of 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate with Taiwan cobra phospholipase A2

The binding of the apolar fluorescent dye 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate (ANS) to Naja naja atra phospholipase A2 (PLA2) as well as the enhancement of ANS fluorescence of the PLA2-ANS complex decreased with increasing pH in a pH range from 3 to 9. These pH-dependent curves can be well interpreted as the perturbation of an ionizable group with pK value of 5.8, which was assigned as His-47 in the active site of PLA2. The ionizable group with pK 5.8 was no longer observed after methylation of His-47, supporting the idea that the pH dependence of ANS binding arose from an electrostatic interaction between His-47 and the bound ANS. Removal of the N-terminal octapeptide of PLA2 caused a precipitous drop in the capability of PLA2 for binding with ANS and enhancing ANS fluorescence, reflecting that the integrity of the N-terminal region was essential for maintaining the hydrophobic character of the ANS-binding site. However, the nonpolarity of the ANS-binding site in the N-terminus-removed derivative was still partially retained at low pH, but was completely lost at high pH. Evidently, the N-terminal region plays a more crucial role in ANS binding at high pH than at low pH. These results indicate that hydrophobic interaction as well as electrostatic interaction are involved in the binding of ANS to PLA2, and that the relative contributions of both interactions in ANS fluorescence enhancement may be different under different pH.

Purification and characterization of a novel phospholipase A2 from king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) venom

A novel phospholipase A2, designated as Oh-DE-2, was isolated from the venom of Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra) by successive chromatography on SP-Sephadex C-25, DE-52, and Q-Sepharose columns. Oh-DE-2 with pI 5.1 showed an apparent molecular weight of 14 kD as revealed by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration. The amino acid sequence was homologous with those of PLA2S from Elapidae venoms. Oh-DE-2 was effectively inactivated by p-bromophenacyl bromide, indicating that the conserved His-48 is essential for its enzymatic activity. However, modification of the conserved Trp-19 did not cause a precipitous drop in the enzymatic activity of Oh-DE-2 as observed with PLA2S from Naja naja atra and Bungarus multicinctus venoms. A quenching study showed that the microenvironment of Trp in Oh-DE-2 was inaccessible to acrylamide, iodide, or cesium, a finding which was different from those observed with PLA2S from N. naja atra and B. multicinctus venoms. These results might suggest that, unlike other PLA2 enzymes, Trp-19 in Oh-DE-2 is not directly involved in its enzymatic mechanisms.

Chemical modification of tryptophan residues in alpha-neurotoxins from Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra) venom

Two alpha-neurotoxins, Oh-4 and Oh-7, from the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) venom were subjected to Trp modification with 2-nitrophenylsulfenyl chloride (NPS-Cl). One major NPS derivative was isolated from the modified mixtures of Oh-4 and two from Oh-7 by HPLC. Amino acid analysis and sequence determination revealed that Trp-27 in Oh-4, and Trp-30 and Trp-26 and 30 in the two Oh-7 derivatives, were modified, respectively. Sulfenylation of Trp-27 in Oh-4 caused about 70% drop in lethal toxicity and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-binding activity. Modification of Trp-30 in Oh-7 resulted in the decrease of lethal toxicity by 36% and binding activity by 61%. The activities were further lost when the conserved Trp-26 in Oh-7 was modified. Sulfenylation of the Trp residues did not significantly affect the secondary structure of the toxins as revealed by the CD spectra. These results indicate that the Trp residues in these two long alpha-neurotoxins may be involved in the receptor binding.

Functional involvement of Lys-6 in the enzymatic activity of phospholipase A2 from Bungarus multicinctus (Taiwan banded krait) snake venom

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from Bungarus multicinctus snake venom was subjected to Lys modification with 4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzoate and trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid, and one major carboxydinitrophenylated (CDNP) PLA2 and two trinitrophenylated (TNP) derivatives (TNP-1 and TNP-2) were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography. The results of amino acid analysis and sequence determination revealed that CDNP-PLA2 and TNP-1 contained one modified Lys residue at position 6, and both Lys-6 and Lys-62 were modified in TNP-2. It seemed that the Lys-6 was more accessible to modified reagents than other Lys residues in PLA2. Modification of Lys-6 caused a 94% drop in enzymatic activity as observed with CDNP-PLA2 and TNP-1. Alternatively, the enzyme modified on both Lys-6 and Lys-62 retained little PLA2 activity. Either carboxydinitrophenylation or trinitrophenylation did not significantly affect the secondary structure of the enzyme molecule as revealed by the CD spectra, and Ca2+ binding and antigenicity of Lys-6-modified PLA2 were unaffected. Conversion of nitro groups to amino groups resulted in a partial restoration of enzymatic activity of CDNP-PLA2 to 32% of that of PLA2. It reflected that the positively charged side chain of Lys-6 might play an exclusive role in PLA2 activity. The TNP derivatives could be regenerated with hydrazine hydrochloride. The biological activity of the regenerated PLA2 is almost the same as that of native PLA2. These results suggest that the intact Lys-6 is essential for the enzymatic activity of PLA2, and that incorporation of a bulky CDNP or TNP group on Lys-6 might give rise to the distortion of the interaction between substrate and the enzyme molecule, and the active conformation of PLA2.

Energy transfer from tryptophan residues of proteins to 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate

The binding of the apolar fluorescent dye 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate (ANS) to bovine serum albumin (BSA), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), ovalbumin, lysozyme, cobrotoxin and N-acetyltryptophanamide was used to assess the factors affecting the efficiency of energy transfer from Trp residues to the ANS molecule. We found that the efficiency of energy transfer from Trp residues to ANS was associated with the ability of proteins to enhance the ANS fluorescence. At the same molar concentration of protein, BSA enhanced ANS fluorescence most among these proteins; its Trp fluorescence was drastically quenched by the addition of ANS. Fluorescence enhancement of ANS in PLA2-ANS complex increased upon addition of Ca2+ or change of the buffer to acidic pH, resulting in a higher efficiency of energy transfer from Trp residues to ANS. There was limited ANS fluorescence enhancement with ovalbumin, lysozyme, cobrotoxin, and N-acetyltryptophanamide and a less efficient quenching in Trp fluorescence. The capabilities of proteins for binding with ANS correlated with the decrease in their Trp fluorescence being quenching by ANS. However, the microenvironment surrounding Trp residues of proteins did not affect the energy transfer. Based on these results, the factors that affected the energy transfer from Trp residues to ANS are discussed.