Chemical modification of rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase defines residues of importance for catalytic function

Activation versus inhibition of microsomal glutathione S-transferase activity by acrolein. Dependence on the concentration and time of acrolein exposure

The toxicity of acrolein, an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, is due to its soft electrophilic nature and primarily involves the adduction of protein thiols. The thiol glutathione (GSH) forms the first line of defense against acrolein. The present study confirms that acrolein added to isolated rat liver microsomes can increase microsomal GSH transferase (MGST) activity 2-3 fold, which can be seen as a direct adaptive increase in the protection against acrolein. At a relatively high exposure level, acrolein appeared to inhibit MGST. The activation is due to adduction of thiol groups, and the inactivation probably involves adduction of amino groups in the enzyme by acrolein. The preference of acrolein to react with thiol groups over amino groups can explain why the enzyme is activated at a low exposure level and inhibited at a high exposure level of acrolein. These opposite forms of direct adaptation on the level of enzyme activity further narrow the thin line between survival and promotion of cell death, governed by the level of exposure.

Aldehyde sources, metabolism, molecular toxicity mechanisms, and possible effects on human health

Aldehydes are organic compounds that are widespread in nature. They can be formed endogenously by lipid peroxidation (LPO), carbohydrate or metabolism ascorbate autoxidation, amine oxidases, cytochrome P-450s, or myeloperoxidase-catalyzed metabolic activation. This review compares the reactivity of many aldehydes towards biomolecules particularly macromolecules. Furthermore, it includes not only aldehydes of environmental or occupational concerns but also dietary aldehydes and aldehydes formed endogenously by intermediary metabolism. Drugs that are aldehydes or form reactive aldehyde metabolites that cause side-effect toxicity are also included. The effects of these aldehydes on biological function, their contribution to human diseases, and the role of nucleic acid and protein carbonylation/oxidation in mutagenicity and cytotoxicity mechanisms, respectively, as well as carbonyl signal transduction and gene expression, are reviewed. Aldehyde metabolic activation and detoxication by metabolizing enzymes are also reviewed, as well as the toxicological and anticancer therapeutic effects of metabolizing enzyme inhibitors. The human health risks from clinical and animal research studies are reviewed, including aldehydes as haptens in allergenic hypersensitivity diseases, respiratory allergies, and idiosyncratic drug toxicity; the potential carcinogenic risks of the carbonyl body burden; and the toxic effects of aldehydes in liver disease, embryo toxicity/teratogenicity, diabetes/hypertension, sclerosing peritonitis, cerebral ischemia/neurodegenerative diseases, and other aging-associated diseases.

Kinetic analysis of the slow ionization of glutathione by microsomal glutathione transferase MGST1

An important aspect of the catalytic mechanism of microsomal glutathione transferase (MGST1) is the activation of the thiol of bound glutathione (GSH). GSH binding to MGST1 as measured by thiolate anion formation, proton release, and Meisenheimer complex formation is a slow process that can be described by a rapid binding step (K(GSH)d = 47 +/- 7 mM) of the peptide followed by slow deprotonation (k2 = 0.42 +/- 0.03 s(-1). Release of the GSH thiolate anion is very slow (apparent first-order rate k(-2) = 0.0006 +/- 0.00002 s(-)(1)) and thus explains the overall tight binding of GSH. It has been known for some time that the turnover (kcat) of MGST1 does not correlate well with the chemical reactivity of the electrophilic substrate. The steady-state kinetic parameters determined for GSH and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) are consistent with thiolate anion formation (k2) being largely rate-determining in enzyme turnover (kcat = 0.26 +/- 0.07 s(-1). Thus, the chemical step of thiolate addition is not rate-limiting and can be studied as a burst of product formation on reaction of halo-nitroarene electrophiles with the E.GS- complex. The saturation behavior of the concentration dependence of the product burst with CDNB indicates that the reaction occurs in a two-step process that is characterized by rapid equilibrium binding ( = 0.53 +/- 0.08 mM) to the E.GS- complex and a relatively fast chemical reaction with the thiolate (k3 = 500 +/- 40 s(-1). In a series of substrate analogues, it is observed that log k3 is linearly related (rho value 3.5 +/- 0.3) to second substrate reactivity as described by Hammett sigma- values demonstrating a strong dependence on chemical reactivity that is similar to the nonenzymatic reaction (rho = 3.4). Microsomal glutathione transferase 1 displays the unusual property of being activated by sulfhydryl reagents. When the enzyme is activated by N-ethylmaleimide, the rate of thiolate anion formation is greatly enhanced, demonstrating for the first time the specific step that is activated. This result explains earlier observations that the enzyme is activated only with more reactive substrates. Taken together, the observations show that the kinetic mechanism of MGST1 can be described by slow GSH binding/thiolate formation followed by a chemical step that depends on the reactivity of the electrophilic substrate. As the chemical reactivity of the electrophile becomes lower the rate-determining step shifts from thiolate formation to the chemical reaction.

Common structural features of MAPEG -- a widespread superfamily of membrane associated proteins with highly divergent functions in eicosanoid and glutathione metabolism

A novel superfamily designated MAPEG (Membrane Associated Proteins in Eicosanoid and Glutathione metabolism), including members of widespread origin with diversified biological functions is defined according to enzymatic activities, sequence motifs, and structural properties. Two of the members are crucial for leukotriene biosynthesis, and three are cytoprotective exhibiting glutathione S-transferase and peroxidase activities. Expression of the most recently recognized member is strongly induced by p53, and may therefore play a role in apoptosis or cancer development. In spite of the different biological functions, all six proteins demonstrate common structural characteristics typical of membrane proteins. In addition, homologues are identified in plants, fungi, and bacteria, demonstrating this superfamily to be generally occurring.

Structural and functional aspects of rat microsomal glutathione transferase. The roles of cysteine 49, arginine 107, lysine 67, histidine, and tyrosine residues

Rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase is rapidly inactivated upon treatment with the arginine-selective reagent phenylglyoxal or the lysine-selective 1,3,5-trinitrobenzenesulfonate. Glutathione sulfonate, an inhibitor of the enzyme, gives nearly complete protection against inactivation and prevents modification, indicating that these residues form part of or reside close to the active site. Sequence analysis of peptides from peptic and tryptic digests of [7-14C]phenylglyoxal- and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzenesulfonate-treated microsomal glutathione transferase indicated arginine 107 and lysine 67 as the sites of modification. A set of mutant forms of microsomal glutathione transferase was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). Arginine 107 was exchanged for alanine and lysine residues. The alanine mutant (R107A) exhibited an activity and inhibition profile similar to that of the wild type enzyme but displayed a decreased thermostability. Thus, arginine 107 does not appear to participate in catalysis or substrate binding; instead, an important structural role is suggested for this residue. Lysine 67 was mutated to alanine and arginine with no effect on activity. All three histidines were replaced by glutamine, and the resulting mutant proteins had activities comparable with that of the wild type. It can thus be concluded that the chemical modification experiments indicating that arginine 107, lysine 67, and one of the histidines partake in catalysis can be disproved. However, protection from modification by a competitive inhibitor indicates that these residues could be close to the glutathione binding site. All tyrosine to phenylalanine substitutions resulted in mutants with activities similar to that of the wild type. Interestingly, the exchange of tyrosine 137 appears to result in activation of the enzyme. Thus, the microsomal glutathione transferase must display an alternate stabilization of the thiolate anion of glutathione other than through interaction with the phenolic hydroxyl group of a tyrosine residue. Substitution of cysteine 49 with alanine resulted in a semiactivated mutant enzyme with enzymatic properties partly resembling the activated form of microsomal glutathione transferase. The function of this mutant was not altered upon reaction with N-ethylmaleimide, and cysteine 49 is thus demonstrated as the site of modification that results in activation of microsomal glutathione transferase.

The glutathione S-transferase supergene family: regulation of GST and the contribution of the isoenzymes to cancer chemoprotection and drug resistance

The glutathione S-transferases (GST) represent a major group of detoxification enzymes. All eukaryotic species possess multiple cytosolic and membrane-bound GST isoenzymes, each of which displays distinct catalytic as well as noncatalytic binding properties: the cytosolic enzymes are encoded by at least five distantly related gene families (designated class alpha, mu, pi, sigma, and theta GST), whereas the membrane-bound enzymes, microsomal GST and leukotriene C4 synthetase, are encoded by single genes and both have arisen separately from the soluble GST. Evidence suggests that the level of expression of GST is a crucial factor in determining the sensitivity of cells to a broad spectrum of toxic chemicals. In this article the biochemical functions of GST are described to show how individual isoenzymes contribute to resistance to carcinogens, antitumor drugs, environmental pollutants, and products of oxidative stress. A description of the mechanisms of transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of GST isoenzymes is provided to allow identification of factors that may modulate resistance to specific noxious chemicals. The most abundant mammalian GST are the class alpha, mu, and pi enzymes and their regulation has been studied in detail. The biological control of these families is complex as they exhibit sex-, age-, tissue-, species-, and tumor-specific patterns of expression. In addition, GST are regulated by a structurally diverse range of xenobiotics and, to date, at least 100 chemicals have been identified that induce GST; a significant number of these chemical inducers occur naturally and, as they are found as nonnutrient components in vegetables and citrus fruits, it is apparent that humans are likely to be exposed regularly to such compounds. Many inducers, but not all, effect transcriptional activation of GST genes through either the antioxidant-responsive element (ARE), the xenobiotic-responsive element (XRE), the GST P enhancer 1(GPE), or the glucocorticoid-responsive element (GRE). Barbiturates may transcriptionally activate GST through a Barbie box element. The involvement of the Ah-receptor, Maf, Nrl, Jun, Fos, and NF-kappa B in GST induction is discussed. Many of the compounds that induce GST are themselves substrates for these enzymes, or are metabolized (by cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases) to compounds that can serve as GST substrates, suggesting that GST induction represents part of an adaptive response mechanism to chemical stress caused by electrophiles. It also appears probable that GST are regulated in vivo by reactive oxygen species (ROS), because not only are some of the most potent inducers capable of generating free radicals by redox-cycling, but H2O2 has been shown to induce GST in plant and mammalian cells: induction of GST by ROS would appear to represent an adaptive response as these enzymes detoxify some of the toxic carbonyl-, peroxide-, and epoxide-containing metabolites produced within the cell by oxidative stress. Class alpha, mu, and pi GST isoenzymes are overexpressed in rat hepatic preneoplastic nodules and the increased levels of these enzymes are believed to contribute to the multidrug-resistant phenotype observed in these lesions. The majority of human tumors and human tumor cell lines express significant amounts of class pi GST. Cell lines selected in vitro for resistance to anticancer drugs frequently overexpress class pi GST, although overexpression of class alpha and mu isoenzymes is also often observed. The mechanisms responsible for overexpression of GST include transcriptional activation, stabilization of either mRNA or protein, and gene amplification. In humans, marked interindividual differences exist in the expression of class alpha, mu, and theta GST. The molecular basis for the variation in class alpha GST is not known. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Aggregation of pyrene-labeled microsomal glutathione S-transferase. Effect of concentration

Microsomal glutathione S-transferase was labeled by the fluorescence probe N-(1-pyrenyl)maleimide which modified 1 mol thiol residue/mol protein. The enzyme activity increased about tenfold after the binding. The pyrene-labeled microsomal glutathione S-transferase exhibited two fluorescence bands which are typical of pyrene; one at 393 nm attributable to unassociated pyrenes, the other at 480 nm attributable to pyrene excimers (excited dimers). The excimeric fluorescence increased at high protein concentrations indicating a shift of the equilibrium of labeled polypeptide chains from trimeric complexes, the functional unit of microsomal glutathione S-transferase, to larger aggregates. At 25 degrees C and at a 1% Triton X-100 concentration, the calculated equilibrium constant of this process is 65 microM. Along with the formation of large aggregates, a progressive increase of the enzymic activity was observed. Thus, N-(1-pyrenyl)maleimide appears to be a very useful probe to study the supramolecular structure of this enzyme.

Electrostatic evidence for the activation of the glutathione thiol by Tyr7 in pi-class glutathione transferases

A number of spectrophotometric studies [Graminski, G.F., Kubo, Y. & Armstrong, R.N. (1989) Biochemistry 28, 3562-3568; Liu, S., Zhang, P., Ji, X., Johnson, W.W., Gilliland, G.L. & Armstrong, R.N. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 4296-4299] have recently shown that the glutathione (GSH) thiol is deprotonated when it is in complex with glutathione S-transferase. Different models have been proposed for the activation of the glutathione S gamma, all pointing out the key role of active-site residue Tyr7. It remains unclear, however, how Tyr7 is actually involved in this process. In this paper we present an analysis of the electrostatic potential in the region of the active site of a pi-class GSH transferase. This analysis provides evidence that the titration behaviour of the absorption band of the E.GSH complex with a pK between 6 and 7 [Liu, S., Zhang, P., Ji, X., Johnson, W.W., Gilliland, G.L. & Armstrong, R.N. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 4296-4299] should rather be explained by the protonation/deprotonation equilibrium of Tyr7 than by the protonation/deprotonation equilibrium of the GSH thiol group itself. On the basis of this conclusion, a mechanism for activation of GSH is proposed: the Tyr7 OH group is deprotonated by the influence of the protein charge constellation and the peptide dipoles. Thus it acts as a general base, promotes proton abstraction from the GSH thiol and creates a thiolate anion with high nucleophilic reactivity.

Site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification of histidine residues on an alpha-class chick liver glutathione S-transferase CL 3-3. Histidines are not needed for the activity of the enzyme and diethylpyrocarbonate modifies both histidine and lysine residues

Each chick liver glutathione S-transferase CL 3 subunit contains three histidine residues: His142, His158 and His228. CL 3-3 can be inactivated by treating with diethylpyrocarbonate. The inactivation process is pH dependent and the pKa of the modified residue is 6.4. The second-order inhibition rate constant is 741 M-1min-1 at pH 7.0. Based on difference-spectrum and kinetic analysis, inactivation coincides with the modification of one histidine residue. However, hydroxylamine treatment of the diethylpyrocarbonate-modified enzyme only partially restored the activity (30-50%) of CL 3-3. By tryptic mapping and amino acid sequence analysis, His228 and Lys14 have been identified as the modified residues. Mutants with histidine to serine replacement (H142S and H158S) or C-terminal histidine deletion (des-H228) were constructed and over-expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda cells using a baculovirus system. The mutants are enzymically active. Furthermore, the des-H228 mutant can be inactivated by diethylpyrocarbonate. These results support the conclusion that histidines are not involved in the enzymic mechanism of CL 3-3.

Three-dimensional structure of class pi glutathione S-transferase from human placenta in complex with S-hexylglutathione at 2.8 A resolution

The three-dimensional structure of human class pi glutathione S-transferase from placenta (hGSTP1-1), a homodimeric enzyme, has been solved by Patterson search methods and refined at 2.8 A resolution to a final crystallographic R-factor of 19.6% (8.0 to 2.8 A resolution). Subunit folding topology, subunit overall structure and subunit association closely resembles the structure of porcine class pi glutathione S-transferase. The binding site of a competitive inhibitor, S-hexylglutathione, is analyzed and the locations of the binding regions for glutathione (G-site) and electrophilic substrates (H-site) are determined. The specific interactions between protein and the inhibitor's glutathione peptide are the same as those observed between glutathione sulfonate and the porcine isozyme. The H-site is located adjacent to the G-site, with the hexyl moiety lying above a segment (residues 8 to 10) connecting strand beta 1 and helix alpha A where it is in hydrophobic contact with Tyr7, Phe8, Val10, Val35 and Tyr106. Catalytic models are discussed on the basis of the molecular structure.

Tyrosine-7 is an essential residue for the catalytic activity of human class PI glutathione S-transferase: chemical modification and site-directed mutagenesis studies

The glutathione (GSH)-conjugating activity of human class Pi glutathione S-transferase (GST pi) toward 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) was significantly lowered by reaction with N-acetylimidazole, an O-acetylating reagent for tyrosine residues. Further, the replacement of Tyr7 in GST pi, which is conserved in all cytosolic GSTs, with phenylalanine by site-directed mutagenesis also lowered the activities toward CDNB and ethacrynic acid. The Km values of the mutant for both GSH and CDNB were almost equivalent to those of the wild type, while the Vmax of the former was about 55-fold smaller than that of the latter. Therefore, Tyr7 is considered to be an essential residue for the catalytic activity of GST pi.

Non-essentiality of cysteine and histidine residues for the activity of human class PI glutathione S-transferase

In order to examine the roles of cysteine and histidine residues in the activity of human class Pi glutathione S-transferase (GST pi), site-directed mutagenesis was used to replace each of the four cysteine residues (at positions 14, 47, 101 and 169) with serine and each of the two histidine residues (at positions 71 and 162) with asparagine using a cDNA for the enzyme (Kano, T. et al. (1987) Cancer Res., 47, 5626-5630) and an E. coli expression system. The replacements of Cys101, Cys169, His71 and His162 did not affect the GSH-conjugating activity toward 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and ethacrynic acid. On the other hand, the activities were partly decreased by the replacements of Cys47 and Cys14. These results indicated that the cysteine and histidine residues in GST pi are not essential for the catalytic activity, although Cys47 and Cys14 may contribute to some extent to the catalytic efficiency.

The single cysteine residue on an alpha family chick liver glutathione S-transferase CL 3-3 is not functionally important

Chick liver glutathione S-transferase CL 3-3, expressed using a baculovirus system in Spodoptera frugiperda (SF9) cells, contains a single cysteine residue per subunit. This enzyme was modified with iodoacetamide. Amino acid analysis indicates that 0.85 +/- 0.10 cysteine residue was modified per enzyme subunit. GST CL 3-3 modified with iodo[14C]acetamide was further digested with trypsin and the isotope-labelled fragments were isolated. The fragment containing the cysteine residue accounts for 53% of the total labels. The S-carbaminomethylated protein retains the glutathione conjugating activity. Therefore, the cysteine residue is not essential for the enzymatic activity of CL 3-3.