Substrate-decreased modification by diethyl pyrocarbonate of two histidines in isocitrate lyase from Escherichia coli

Evidence for a functionally important histidine residue in human tyrosine hydroxylase

Recombinant human tyrosine hydroxylase isozyme 1 (hTH1) shows a time- and concentration-dependent loss of catalytic activity when incubated with diethylpyrocarbonate (DEP) after reconstitution with Fe(II). The inactivation follows pseudo-first order kinetics with a second order rate constant of 300 M(-1) min(-1) at pH 6.8 and 20°C and is partially reversed by hydroxylamine. The difference absorption spectrum of the DEP-modified vs native enzyme shows a peak at 244 nm, characteristic of mono-N-carbethoxy-histidine. Up to five histidine residues are modified per enzyme subunit by a five-fold excess of the reagent, and two of them are protected from inactivation by the active site inhibitor dopamine. However, derivatization of only one residue appears to be responsible for the inactivation. Thus, no inactivation by DEP was found when the apoenzyme was preincubated with this reagent prior to its reconstitution with Fe(II), modifying four histidine residues.

The cold-inducible icl gene encoding thermolabile isocitrate lyase of a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia maris

The gene encoding isocitrate lyase (ICL; EC 4.1.3.1) of a psychrophilic bacterium, Colwellia maris, was cloned and sequenced. The ORF of the gene (icl) was 1584 bp long, and the predicted gene product consisted of 528 aa (molecular mass 58150 Da) and showed low homology with the corresponding enzymes from other organisms. The analyses of amino acid content and primary structure of the C. maris ICL suggested that it possessed many features of a cold-adapted enzyme. Primer extension and Northern blot analyses revealed that two species of the icl mRNAs with differential lengths of 5'-untranslated regions (TS1 and TS2) were present, of which the 5' end (TS1 and TS2 sites) were G and A, located at 130 and 39 bases upstream of the translation start codon, respectively. The levels of TS1 and TS2 mRNAs were increased by both acetate and low temperature. The induction of icl expression by low temperature took place in the C. maris cells grown on succinate as the carbon source but not acetate. Furthermore, a similar manner of inductions was also found in the levels of the translation and the enzyme activity in cell-free extract. These results suggest that the icl gene, encoding thermolabile isocitrate lyase, of C. maris is important for acetate utilization and cold adaptation.

Heparin-binding histidine and lysine residues of rat selenoprotein P

Selenoprotein P is a plasma protein that has oxidant defense properties. It binds to heparin at pH 7.0, but most of it becomes unbound as the pH is raised to 8.5. This unusual heparin binding behavior was investigated by chemical modification of the basic amino acids of the protein. Diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) treatment of the protein abolished its binding to heparin. DEPC and [(14)C]DEPC modification, coupled with amino acid sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry of peptides, identified several peptides in which histidine and lysine residues had been modified by DEPC. Two peptides from one region (residues 80-95) were identified by both methods. Moreover, the two peptides that constituted this sequence bound to heparin. Finally, when DEPC modification of the protein was carried out in the presence of heparin, these two peptides did not become modified by DEPC. Based on these results, the heparin-binding region of the protein sequence was identified as KHAHLKKQVSDHIAVY. Two other peptides (residues 178-189 and 194-234) that contain histidine-rich sequences met some but not all of the criteria of heparin-binding sites, and it is possible that they and the histidine-rich sequence between them bind to heparin under some conditions. The present results indicate that histidine is a constituent of the heparin-binding site of selenoprotein P. The presence of histidine, the pK(a) of which is 7.0, explains the release of selenoprotein P from heparin binding as pH rises above 7.0. It can be speculated that this property would lead to increased binding of selenoprotein P in tissue regions that have low pH.

Identification of reactive conserved histidines in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinases from Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae phospho enol pyruvate (PEP) carboxykinases are inactivated by diethylpyrocarbonate (DEP). Inactivation follows pseudo-first-order kinetics and exhibits a second order rate constant of 0.8 M-1 s-1 for the bacterial enzyme and of 3.3 M-1 s-1 for the yeast carboxykinase. A mixture of ADP + PEP + MnCl2 protects against inactivation by DEP, suggesting that residues within the active site are being modified. After digestion of the modified proteins with trypsin, the labeled peptides were isolated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and sequenced by Edman degradation. His-271 of E. coli carboxykinase and His-273 of the yeast enzyme were identified as the reactive amino-acid residues. The modified histidine residues occupy equivalent positions in these enzymes, and they are located in a highly conserved region of all ATP-dependent phospho enol pyruvate carboxykinases described so far.

Modeling of a mutation responsible for human 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase deficiency implicates histidine 233 as an active site residue

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) lyase is inactivated by diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC); activity can be fully restored by incubation with hydroxylamine. Protection against DEPC inactivation is afforded by a substrate analogue, suggesting an active site location for a DEPC target. Included in the inherited defects that map within the HMG-CoA lyase gene is a point mutation that results in an arginine substitution for histidine 233, one of only two invariant histidines. These observations prompted a functional test of the importance of His-233. The mutant lyases H233R, H233A, and H233D were overexpressed in Escherichia coli, isolated, and kinetically characterized. In H233D, DEPC targets one less histidine than was measured using wild-type lyase, supporting the assignment of wild-type lyase His-233 as one of the DEPC targets. Substitution of His-233 results in diminution of activity by approximately 4 orders of magnitude. Km values of the mutant lyases for both substrate HMG-CoA and activator divalent cation (Mg2+ or Mn2+) are comparable to the values measured for wild-type enzyme, indicating that these enzymes retain substantial structural integrity. This conclusion is reinforced by the observation that the affinity label, 2-butynoyl-CoA, stoichiometrically modifies the mutant lyases, indicating that they contain a full complement of active sites. In view of these data suggesting that the structures of these mutant lyases closely approximate that of the wild-type enzyme, their observed 10(4)-fold diminution in catalytic efficiency supports assignment to His-233 of a role in the chemistry of HMG-CoA cleavage.

Site-directed mutagenesis of cysteine-195 in isocitrate lyase from Escherichia coli ML308

Cysteine-195 was previously identified as a probable active site residue in isocitrate lyase (ICL) from Escherichia coli ML308 [Nimmo, Douglas, Kleanthous, Campbell and MacKintosh (1989) Biochem. J. 261, 431-435]. This residue was replaced with serine and alanine residues by site-directed mutagenesis. The mutated genes expressed proteins with low but finite ICL activity, which co-migrated with wild-type ICL on both SDS/ and native PAGE. The mutant proteins were purified and characterized. Fluorimetry and c.d. in both the near- and the far-u.v. regions showed no differences between the mutants and wild-type ICL, indicating that the conformations of the three enzymes were very similar. ICL C195A (Cys-195-->Ala) and C195S (Cys-195-->Ser) showed 8.4-fold and 3.6-fold increases in the Km for isocitrate, while their kcat. values showed 30- and 100-fold decreases respectively. The effect of pH on the kinetic properties of the wild-type and mutant ICLs was investigated. The results showed that the response of the mutant enzymes to pH was simpler than that of the wild-type. For the mutants, ionisation of a group with a pKa of approx. 7.8 affected the Km for isocitrate and kcat.. For the wild-type enzyme, these parameters were affected by the ionization of two or more groups, one of which is presumed to by cysteine-195. The results are consistent with the view that the previously identified group with a pKa of 7.1 whose ionization affects the reaction of ICL by iodoacetate is cysteine-195 itself.

The importance of four histidine residues in isocitrate lyase from Escherichia coli

By site-directed mutagenesis, substitutions were made for His-184 (H-184), H-197, H-266, and H-306 in Escherichia coli isocitrate lyase. Of these changes, only mutations of H-184 and H-197 appreciably reduced enzyme activity. Mutation of H-184 to Lys, Arg, or Leu resulted in an inactive isocitrate lyase, and mutation of H-184 to Gln resulted in an enzyme with 0.28% activity. Nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis demonstrated that isocitrate lyase containing the Lys, Arg, Gln, and Leu substitutions at H-184 was assembled poorly into the tetrameric subunit complex. Mutation of H-197 to Lys, Arg, Leu, and Gln resulted in an assembled enzyme with less than 0.25% wild-type activity. Five substitutions for H-266 (Asp, Glu, Val, Ser, and Lys), four substitutions for H-306 (Asp, Glu, Val, and Ser), and a variant in which both H-266 and H-306 were substituted for showed little or no effect on enzyme activity. All the H-197, H-266, and H-306 mutants supported the growth of isocitrate lyase-deficient E. coli JE10 on acetate as the sole carbon source; however, the H-184 mutants did not.

Carbethoxylation of coordinated histidine by diethylpyrocarbonate

The metastable, reversible carbethoxylation of histidine in the cobalt(III) complexes (ethylene-diamine)(histidine)chlorocobalt(III) chloride, [Co(III)(en)ClHis]Cl, and (diethylenetriamine) (histidine)cobalt(III) dichloride, [Co(III)(dien)His]Cl2, following reaction with diethylpyrocarbonate, was observed using UV spectroscopy. These observations indicate that diethylpyrocarbonate can react with a coordinated imidazole ring. CD transitions associated with coordinated carbethoxyhistidine in [Co(III)(en)ClHis]Cl and [Co(III)(dien)His]Cl2 were also observed. The molar ellipticities of the CD bands observed for carbethoxy [Co(III)(en)ClHis]Cl or carbethoxy [Co(III) (dien)His]Cl2 are much larger than the molar ellipticities of the CD transition associated with carbethoxy N alpha-acetyl-L-histidine, indicating that loss of rotational freedom of the imidazole ring could be a major factor in the enhanced CD.

Site-directed mutagenesis of lysine 193 in Escherichia coli isocitrate lyase by use of unique restriction enzyme site elimination

By a newly developed double-stranded mutagenesis technique, histidine (H), glutamate (E), arginine (R) and leucine (L) have been substituted for the lysyl 193 residue (K-193) in isocitrate lyase from Escherichia coli. The substitutions for this residue, which is present in a highly conserved, cationic region, significantly affect both the Km for Ds-isocitrate and the apparent kcat of isocitrate lyase. Specifically, the conservative substitutions, K-193-->H (K193H) and K193R, reduce catalytic activity by ca. 50- and 14-fold, respectively, and the nonconservative changes, K193E and K193L, result in assembled tetrameric protein that is completely inactive. The K193H and K193R mutations also increase the Km of the enzyme by five- and twofold, respectively. These results indicate that the cationic and/or acid-base character of K193 is essential for isocitrate lyase activity. In addition to the noted effects on enzyme activity, the effects of the mutations on growth of JE10, an E. coli strain which does not express isocitrate lyase, were observed. Active isocitrate lyase is necessary for E. coli to grow on acetate as the sole carbon source. It was found that a mutation affecting the activity of isocitrate lyase similarly affects the growth of E. coli JE10 on acetate when the mutated plasmid is expressed in this organism. Specifically, the lag time before growth increases over sevenfold and almost twofold for E. coli JE10 expressing the K193H and K193R isocitrate lyase variants, respectively. In addition, the rate of growth decreases by almost 40-fold for E. coli JE10 cells expressing form K193H and ca. 2-fold for those expressing the K193R variants. Thus, the onset and rate of E. coli growth on acetate appears to depend on isocitrate lyase activity.

Identification of the histidine residue in Escherichia coli isocitrate lyase that reacts with diethylpyrocarbonate

Escherichia coli isocitrate lyase was inactivated by diethylpyrocarbonate in a pseudo-first-order process. The enzyme was completely inactivated by modification of a single histidine residue, but slower modification of further residues also occurred. The substrate, isocitrate, and products, glyoxylate and succinate, protected against inactivation by diethylpyrocarbonate but this was not simply due to binding at the active site. Treatment of the inactivated enzyme with hydroxylamine led to only partial recovery of activity. Diethylpyrocarbonate also reacted with sulphydryl groups in isocitrate lyase, as judged by titrations with Nbs2, but this reaction was not responsible for the failure of hydroxylamine to reactivate the enzyme fully. The reactivity of isocitrate lyase to diethylpyrocarbonate declined with pH, following a titration curve for a group of pKa 6.1. Isolation and sequencing of ethoxyformylated peptides showed that the major site of modification by diethylpyrocarbonate was histidine residue 306.

Chemical modification of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase by diethyl pyrocarbonate: evidence of histidine requirement for enzymatic activity

Glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase from Escherichia coli was inactivated by diethylpyrocarbonate at pH 7.3 and 4 degrees C with a second-order rate constant of 1220 M-1 min-1. The difference spectrum of inactivated vs native enzyme had a maximum absorption at 242 nm, which is characteristic of N-carbethoxyhistidine. No trough at around 280 nm due to O-carbethoxytyrosine was observed and the sulfhydryl content of the enzyme was unchanged. Studies with [14C]diethylpyrocarbonate provided evidence that derivatization of a single histidine residue of the amino-terminal glutamine-binding domain inactivated glucosamine-6P synthase. These results are consistent with the participation of an histidine residue in a catalytic triad, Cys/His/Asp, necessary to generate ammonia from glutamine.