Modification of substrate specificity of L-arginine oxidase for detection of L-citrulline

Enzymatic detection of citrulline, a potential biomarker for various diseases, is beneficial. However, determining citrulline levels requires expensive instrumental analyses and complicated colorimetric assays. Although L-amino acid oxidase/dehydrogenase is widely used to detect L-amino acids, an L-citrulline-specific oxidase/dehydrogenase has not been reported. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to develop an L-citrulline-specific enzyme by introducing a mutation into L-arginine oxidase (ArgOX) derived from Pseudomonas sp. TPU 7192 to provide a simple enzymatic L-citrulline detection system. The ratio of the oxidase activity against L-arginine to that against L-citrulline (Cit/Arg) was 1.2%, indicating that ArgOX could recognize L-citrulline as a substrate. In the dehydrogenase assay, the specific dehydrogenase activity towards L-arginine was considerably lower than the specific oxidase activity. However, the specific dehydrogenase activity towards L-citrulline was only slightly lower than the oxidase activity, resulting in improved substrate specificity with a Cit/Arg ratio of 49.5%. To enhance the substrate specificity of ArgOX, we performed site-directed mutagenesis using structure-based engineering. The 3D model structure indicated that E486 interacted with the L-arginine side chain. By introducing the E486 mutation, the specific dehydrogenase activity of ArgOX/E486Q for L-citrulline was 3.25 ± 0.50 U/mg, which was 3.8-fold higher than that of ArgOX. The Cit/Arg ratio of ArgOX/E486Q was 150%, which was higher than that of ArgOX. Using ArgOX/E486Q, linear relationships were observed within the range of 10-500 μM L-citrulline, demonstrating its suitability for detecting citrulline in human blood. Consequently, ArgOX/E486Q can be adapted as an enzymatic sensor in the dehydrogenase system.

Comparison of the stability of Mucor-derived flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent glucose dehydrogenase and glucose oxidase

Long-term stability at near-body temperature is important for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors. However, the stability of enzymes used in CGM sensors has often been evaluated by measuring their melting temperature (T_m) values and by short heat treatment but not at around 37 °C. Glucose oxidase (GOD) is used in current CGM sensors. In this study, we evaluated the stability of modified Mucor-derived flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent glucose dehydrogenase (designated Mr144-297) with improved thermal stability at medium to high temperatures and compared it with that of GOD. The T_m value of Mr144-297 was 61.6 ± 0.3 °C and was similar to that of GOD (61.4 ± 1.2 °C). However, Mr144-297 was clearly more stable than GOD at 40 °C and 55 °C. At 37 °C, the stability of a carbon electrode with immobilized Mr144-297 was higher than that of an electrode with GOD. Our data indicate that Mr144-297 is a more suitable enzyme for CGM sensors than is GOD.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of two eukaryotic fructosyl peptide oxidases

Fructosyl peptide oxidase (FPOX) catalyses the oxidation of α-glycated dipeptides such as N(α)-(1-deoxy-D-fructos-1-yl)-L-valyl-L-histidine (Fru-ValHis) and is used in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Here, two thermostable mutants of FPOX, CFP-T7 and EFP-T5M, were crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystal of CFP-T7 belonged to the tetragonal space group P4(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 110.09, c = 220.48 Å, and that of EFP-T5M belonged to the monoclinic space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 43.00, b = 230.05, c = 47.27 Å, β = 116.99°. The crystals of CFP-T7 and EFP-T5M diffracted to 1.8 and 1.6 Å resolution, respectively.

Cloning and expression of a highly active recombinant alkaline phosphatase from psychrotrophic Cobetia marina

Alkaline phosphatase catalyzes the hydrolysis of phosphomonoesters and is widely used in molecular biology techniques and clinical diagnostics. We expressed a recombinant alkaline phosphatase of the marine bacterium, Cobetia marina, in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant protein was purified with a specific activity of 12,700 U/mg protein, which is the highest activity reported of any bacterial alkaline phosphatase studied to date. The molecular mass of the recombinant protein was 55-60 kDa, as determined by SDS-PAGE, and was observed to be a dimer by gel filtration analysis. The enzyme was optimally active at 45°C and the recombinant alkaline phosphatase efficiently hydrolyzed a phosphoric acid ester in luminescent and fluorescent substrates. Therefore, this enzyme can be considered to be extremely useful as a label conjugated to an antibody.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) protects against methylglyoxal-induced PC12 cell apoptosis through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR/GCLc/redox signaling pathway

Patients with long-standing diabetes commonly develop diabetic encephalopathy, which is characterized by cognitive impairment and dementia. Oxidative stress-induced neuronal cell apoptosis is a contributing factor. Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 has recently become an attractive treatment modality for patients with diabetes. It also readily enters the brain, prevents neuronal cell apoptosis, and improves the cognitive impairment characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, we investigated whether GLP-1 could protect against oxidative stress-induced neuronal cell apoptosis in pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. PC12 cells were exposed to 1 mM methylglyoxal (MG) or MG plus 3.30 microg/ml GLP-1. Cell apoptosis, expression and phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin/gamma-glutamylcysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLc), and redox balance were then determined. The data showed that MG induced PC12 apoptosis in accordance with the redox (glutathione (GSH) and GSH/glutathione disulfide [GSSG]) imbalance. GLP-1 protected against this MG-induced apoptosis, which corresponded to the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt, and mTOR, as well as the upregulation of GCLc and the restoration of the redox imbalance. Inhibitors of PI3K (LY294002), Akt (Akt-I), and mTOR (rapamycin) reduced the GLP-1-induced GCLc upregulation and its protection against MG-induced PC12 apoptosis. The GLP-1-induced redox restoration was also attenuated by rapamycin. In conclusion, the neuroprotective effect of GLP-1 is due to an enhancement of PI3K/Akt/mTOR/GCLc/redox signaling.

DyP, a unique dye-decolorizing peroxidase, represents a novel heme peroxidase family: ASP171 replaces the distal histidine of classical peroxidases

DyP, a unique dye-decolorizing enzyme from the fungus Thanatephorus cucumeris Dec 1, has been classified as a peroxidase but lacks homology to almost all other known plant peroxidases. The primary structure of DyP shows moderate sequence homology to only two known proteins: the peroxide-dependent phenol oxidase, TAP, and the hypothetical peroxidase, cpop21. Here, we show the first crystal structure of DyP and reveal that this protein has a unique tertiary structure with a distal heme region that differs from that of most other peroxidases. DyP lacks an important histidine residue known to assist in the formation of a Fe4+ oxoferryl center and a porphyrin-based cation radical intermediate (compound I) during the action of ubiquitous peroxidases. Instead, our tertiary structural and spectrophotometric analyses of DyP suggest that an aspartic acid and an arginine are involved in the formation of compound I. Sequence analysis reveals that the important aspartic acid and arginine mentioned above and histidine of the heme ligand are conserved among DyP, TAP, and cpop21, and structural and phylogenetic analyses confirmed that these three enzymes do not belong to any other families of peroxidase. These findings, which strongly suggest that DyP is a representative heme peroxidase from a novel family, should facilitate the identification of additional new family members and accelerate the classification of this novel peroxidase family.

Precipitation diagram and optimization of crystallization conditions at low ionic strength for deglycosylated dye-decolorizing peroxidase from a basidiomycete

The growth of suitably sized protein crystals is essential for protein structure determination by X-ray crystallography. In general, crystals are grown using a trial-and-error method. However, these methods have been modified with the advent of microlitre dispensing-robot technology and of protocols that rapidly screen for crystal nucleation conditions. The use of one such automatic dispenser for mixing protein drops (1.3-2.0 microl in volume) of known concentration and pH with precipitating solutions (ejecting 2.0 microl droplets) containing salt is described here. The results of the experiments are relevant to a crystallization approach based on a two-step procedure: screening for the crystal nucleation step employing robotics followed by optimization of the crystallization conditions using incomplete factorial experimental design. Large crystals have successfully been obtained using quantities as small as 3.52 mg protein.

A case of gallbladder cancer producing granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor

A patient with pleomorphic giant cell carcinoma of the gallbladder also had mild neutrophilia, and this tumor was found to be human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-positive on immunohistochemical staining. CSF activity in urine and serum was not examined, but leukocytosis disappeared immediately after cholecystectomy. These findings suggest that this was a G-CSF-producing tumor.

[Two autopsy cases of intramedullary spinal cord metastasis]

Two autopsy cases of intramedullary metastasis to the spinal cord from small cell lung cancer and seminoma of the testis are reported and a review of the literature is presented. Rather than lung cancer, the most common primary tumor of this rare intramedullary spinal cord metastasis is seminoma of the testis. In our case, we posit the occurrence of hematogenous spread via arterial and vertebral venous system.

[Effect of therapeutic irradiation on the immune responses]

The immune responses of patients with lung cancer undergoing therapeutic irradiation were evaluated. Absolute lymphocyte counts, PPD skin test, PHA skin test and in vitro lymphocyte transformation test with PHA were performed on each patient before and after 40 Gy irradiation. The values of these parameters were depressed as the increment of the irradiated dose, OK-432 and PS-K administration combined with radiotherapy suppressed the depression of the PHA skin test reactivity and in vitro lymphocyte transformation with PHA. Adding to the effect on immune response of the whole body, the local radiation effect on immunological reaction of tumor tissue was also evaluated.