Photoaffinity labeling of human recombinant sulfotransferases with 2-azidoadenosine 3',5'-[5'-32P]bisphosphate

Phenylalanine 90 and 93 Are Localized within the Phenol Binding Site of Human UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase 1A10 as Determined by Photoaffinity Labeling, Mass Spectrometry, and Site-Directed Mutagenesis

4-Azido-2-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-AzHBA), a novel photoactive benzoic acid derivative, has been synthesized and used as a photoprobe to identify the phenol binding site of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs). Analysis of recombinant His-tag UGTs from the 1A family for their ability to glucuronidate p-nitrophenol (pNP) and 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) revealed that UGT1A10 shows high activity toward phenols and phenol derivatives. Purified UGT1A10 was photolabeled with 4-AzHBA, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF)-mass spectrometry. A single modified peak corresponding to amino acid residues 89-98 (EFMVFHAQWK) of UGT1A10 was identified. The attachment site of the 4-AzHBA probe was localized to the quadruplet Phe(90)-Met(91)-Val(92)-Phe(93) using ESI LC-MS/MS. Sequence alignment revealed that the Phe(90) and Phe(93) are conserved in UGT1A7-10. Site-directed mutagenesis of these two amino acids was then followed by kinetic analysis of the mutants with two phenolic substrates, pNP and 4-MU, containing one and two planar rings, respectively. Using the combination of photoaffinity labeling, enzymatic digestion, MALDI-TOF and LC-MS mass spectrometry, and site-directed mutagenesis, we have determined for the first time that Phe(90) and Phe(93) are directly involved in the catalytic activity of UGT1A10 toward 4-MU and pNP.

Isolation, partial purification, and characterization of a novel petromyzonol sulfotransferase from Petromyzon marinus (lamprey) larval liver

We have isolated, partially purified, and characterized the 5 alpha-petromyzonol (5 alpha-PZ), (5 alpha-cholan- 3 alpha, 7 alpha, 12 alpha, 24-tetrahydroxy-) sulfotransferase (PZ-SULT) from larval lamprey liver. Crude liver extracts exhibited a PZ-SULT activity of 0.9120 pmol/min/mg in juvenile and 12.62 pmol/min/mg in larvae. Using crude larval liver extracts and various 5 beta-cholan substrates and allocholic acid there was negligible activity, however, with 5 alpha-PZ and 3-keto-5 alpha-PZ the SULT activity was 231.5 pmol/min/mg and 180.8 pmol/min/mg respectively. This established that the sulfotransferase of lamprey larval liver extracts prefers (5 alpha) substrates and it is selective for hydroxyl at C-24. PZ-SULT was purified through various chromatography procedures. Partially purified PZ-SULT exhibited a pH optimum of 8.0, a temperature optimum of 22 degrees C, and activity was linear for 1h. PZ-SULT exhibited a K(m) of 2.5 microM for PAPS and a K(m) of 8 microM for PZ. The affinity purified peak PZ-SULT exhibited a specific activity of 2,038 pmol/min/mg. The peak protein upon SDS-PAGE, correlated to an Mw 47 kDa. Photoaffinity labeling with PAP(35)S, specifically crosslinked the 47 kDa protein, further confirming the identity of PZ-SULT. Partial amino acid sequencing of the putative 47 kDa PZ-SULT protein yielded a peptide sequence (M)SISQAVDAAFXEI, which possessed an overall (approximately 35-40%) homology with mammalian SULT2B1a.

Photoaffinity labeling probe for the substrate binding site of human phenol sulfotransferase (SULT1A1): 7-azido-4-methylcoumarin

A novel fluorescent photoactive probe 7-azido-4-methylcoumarin (AzMC) has been characterized for use in photoaffinity labeling of the substrate binding site of human phenol sulfotransferase (SULT1A1 or P-PST-1). For the photoaffinity labeling experiments, SULT1A1 cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein to maltose binding protein (MBP) and purified to apparent homogeneity over an amylose column. The maltose moiety was removed by Factor Xa cleavage. Both MBSULT1A1 and SULT1A1 were efficiently photolabeled with AzMC. This labeling was concentration dependent. In the absence of light, AzMC competitively inhibited the sulfation of 4MU catalyzed by SULT1A1 (Ki = 0.47 +/- 0.05 mM). Moreover, enzyme activity toward 2-naphthol was inactivated in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. SULT1A1 inactivation by AzMC was protected by substrate but was not protected by cosubstrate. These results indicate that photoaffinity labeling with AzMC is highly suitable for the identification of the substrate binding site of SULT1A1. Further studies are aimed at identifying which amino acids modified by AzMC are localized in the binding site.