Properties of rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase modified with 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole

Residues in P-glycoprotein catalytic sites that react with the inhibitor 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole

7-Chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) is a specific covalent inhibitor of P-glycoprotein ATPase activity (M. K. Al-Shawi, and A. E. Senior, 1993, J. Biol. Chem. 268, 4197-4206). Complete inhibition occurs at a reaction stoichiometry of 1 mol NBD/mol P-glycoprotein, and the reagent has proved valuable in understanding catalytic mechanisms, particularly in relation to catalytic site cooperativity (A. E. Senior, and S. Bhagat, 1998, Biochemistry 37, 831-836). The actual location of reaction in the amino acid sequence has not yet been determined. Using a combined mutagenesis and biochemical approach we establish here that the initial reaction of NBD-Cl is with Cys within the Walker A consensus sequence of the N- or C-terminal nucleotide site (Cys-431 or Cys-1074 of human P-glycoprotein). Reaction with either Cys yields full inhibition. It was further found that inhibition consists of dithiothreitol (DTT)-reversible and DTT-irreversible components. The former predominates at low pH and the latter at higher pH. This demonstrates that, at higher pH, intramolecular transfer of NBD from Cys to Lys occurs, probably to the proximate Walker A Lys (Lys-433 or Lys-1076 of human P-glycoprotein). After transfer of NBD to Lys, P-glycoprotein ATPase remains fully inhibited.

Interactions between citrate and nucleoside triphosphates in binding to phosphofructokinase

Interrelationships between the binding by rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase of citrate, ATP, GTP, and adenyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP) were investigated. To allow measurements at 25 degrees C, pyruvate kinase and phosphoenolpyruvate were included in the dialysis media to rephosphorylate ADP formed by the weak ATPase action of phosphofructokinase. Binding of citrate was enhanced by GTP nearly as much as by ATP, although GTP does not inhibit the catalytic activity of the enzyme. The results are consistent with the interpretation that binding of GTP, and, by analogy, ATP, at the catalytic site enhances the binding of citrate. AMP-PNP also enhanced citrate binding. Both ATP and GTP appear to bind at three sites per enzyme subunit, with the apparent third site binding relatively weakly. The estimated dissociation constants for the first two sites, about 33 microM for both for ATP compared with 3 and 280 microM for GTP, are consistent with kinetic results that imply lack of effective competition by GTP for the inhibitory site. When a compound binds at two or more sites on a macromolecule, the position and shape of the binding curve are sensitive to the geometric mean of the binding constants but quite insensitive to the magnitudes of the individual constants; thus, binding affinities cannot be estimated with confidence in such cases.

Selective arylation of cysteine-237 of rabbit muscle aldolase with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan

At pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C, NBF-Cl (4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan) reacts rapidly with rabbit muscle aldolase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-lyase, EC 4.1.2.13) to yield a product with an absorption maximum at 402 nm, which is shifted to 422 nm upon acid denaturation. The reaction involves arylation of a single cysteine residue per subunit of tetrameric aldolase, as shown by the molar absorptivity of NBF-aldolase and by titration of sulfhydryl groups of the enzyme with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), DTNB. The site of arylation appears to be Cys-237, which is the cysteine residue that reacts most rapidly with DTNB. The site of arylation appears to be Cys-237, which is the cysteine residue that reacts most rapidly with DTNB, and which is not essential for aldolase activity. Arylation of the enzyme is 13-20-times more rapid than that of model compounds. The relatively high rate of arylation is not due to medium effects, to an anomalously low pKa of Cys-237, or to the presence of a binding site for NBF-Cl, and is tentatively assigned to acid-base catalysis by other functional groups in the vicinity of the reactive sulfhydryl group. The NBF-Cl reaction provides the most efficient means of titrating Cys-237 residues in rabbit muscle aldolase.

Fluorescent labeling of the carbohydrate moieties of human chorionic gonadotropin and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein

A method for covalent attachment of a fluorescent molecule to the carbohydrate moieties of glycoproteins is described. The glycoproteins were oxidized with periodate under mild conditions selective for sialic acid (Van Lenten, L. and Ashwell, G. (1971) J. Biol. Chem. 246, 1889--1894). The resulting aldehydes were condensed with either dansylhydrazine, dansylethylenediamine, or fluoresceinamine followed by reduction with NaCNBH3 and NaBH4. Conjugates prepared with dansylhydrazine were found to be insufficiently stable for spectroscopic analysis, whereas the primary amines produced stable conjugates whose fluorescence polarization (P) was constant for several hours at 37 degrees C. The degree of labeling correlated roughly with the sialic acid contents of the vaious glycoproteins. Very little covalent incorporation was observed with albumin (which is devoid of carbohydrate) or with asialo alpha 1-acid glycoprotein. Exclusion chromatography in the presence of a dissociating agent was sometimes required to remove significant amounts of noncovalently adsorbed dye. Fluorescent-labeled alpha subunits of human chorionic gonadotropin were shown to recombine normally with native beta subunits. However, the labeling procedure appeared to compromise the ability of the beta subunits to recombine. Electrophoretic analysis produced evidence of covalent cross-linking between subunits following periodate oxidation of the intact gonadotropin. The possibility that primary amine groups of the protein compete with added fluorescent amines for reaction with periodate-generated aldehydes is discussed.

Cleavage of phosphofructokinase at S-cyanylated cysteine residues

Rabbit muscle phosphofructokinase (E.C. 2.7.1.11; ATP: D-fructose-6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase) consists of four protomers of 80 000 molecular weight, each of which contains 15--16 sulfhydryl groups. Specific cyanylation of the most reactive sulfhydryl group in each protomer with 2-nitro-5-thio-[14C]cyanobenzoic acid and cleavage of the S-cyanylated protomer yields two fragments--a 14C-labeled fragment of 72 500 molecular weight and an unlabeled fragment of 5400 molecular weight--indicating that the position of the cysteine residue bearing the most reactive sulfhydryl group is approx. 5400 daltons from the amino-terminal end of each protomer. The phosphofructokinase protomer also contains 5--6 sulfhydryl groups that are reactive in the denatured protomer but unreactive in the native protomer. The cleavage fragments, obtained from protomers specifically cyanylated at sulfhydryl groups reactive only in the denatured protomer, indicate that three of the cysteine residues bearing this class of sulfhydryl group occupy positions approx. 5000, 11 500, and 58 000 daltons from the carboxyl-terminal end of each protomer.