Specific photoaffinity labelling of a ferripyoverdin outer membrane receptor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

In order to identify and characterize the receptors involved in pyoverdin-mediated iron transport in Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15692, a photoactivatable siderophore has been synthesized. In the dark, this probe is stable and is able to promote iron transport at the same rate as the native pyoverdin. Under irradiation at 312 nm, the molecule is photodecomposed and a clear inhibition of the iron transport is observed. With the radioactive form of this photoactivatable probe, we were able to visualize on a SDS-PAGE gel a labelled protein of approximately 90 kDa molecular mass, which is very likely the FpvA receptor or a yet unknown pyoverdin receptor.

Structure and mutational analysis of Rab GDP-dissociation inhibitor

The crystal structure of the bovine alpha-isoform of Rab GDP-dissociation inhibitor (GDI), which functions in vesicle-membrane transport to recycle and regulate Rab GTPases, has been determined to a resolution of 1.81 A. GDI is constructed of two main structural units, a large complex multisheet domain I and a smaller alpha-helical domain II. The structural organization of domain I is surprisingly closely related to FAD-containing monooxygenases and oxidases. Sequence-conserved regions common to GDI and the choroideraemia gene product, which delivers Rab to catalytic subunits of Rab geranylgeranyltransferase II, are clustered on one face of the molecule. The two most sequence-conserved regions, which form a compact structure at the apex of GDI, are shown by site-directed mutagenesis to play a critical role in the binding of Rab proteins.

6-Coumarin diazonium salt: a specific affinity label of the Torpedo acetylcholinesterase peripheral site

A 6-coumarin diazonium salt was synthesized and tested on Torpedo acetylcholinesterase as a site-directed irreversible probe for quaternary ammonium binding. The rate of the inactivation was examined as a function of time, inhibitor concentration, and pH, which allowed the determination of the dissociation and the rate constants of this efficient affinity labeling process. Protection experiments using tetramethylammonium, edrophonium, and propidium demonstrated that the labeling reaction occurred exclusively at the peripheral quaternary ammonium binding site of the enzyme. This result was confirmed by the modification of propidium binding at the peripheral site after inactivation reaction, as directly determined by fluorescence. Mutations of the likely labeled amino acid residues, Tyr70 and Tyr121, by histidine and phenylalanine indicated a predominant involvement of Tyr70 over Tyr121 in the coupling reaction.

Trp279 is involved in the binding of quaternary ammonium at the peripheral site of Torpedo marmorata acetylcholinesterase

Specific photoaffinity labelling of purified acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo marmorata by p-N,N-[3H]dimethylamino benzenediazonium and p-N,N-[3H]dibutylamino benzenediazonium derivatives was demonstrated. This occurred at the active site of the enzyme for lower concentrations of the probes and at the peripheral ammonium binding site for higher concentrations. The affinities and the rate constants of alkylation for each probe on both sites have been established. Specific labelling at the peripheral site of the enzyme with both probes allowed the identification of radio-labelled peptides having the common sequence K270PQELIDVEW. The radioactivity was always associated with the residue Trp279 indicating the preferential ammonium complexation with this aromatic residue.

Quaternary ligand binding to aromatic residues in the active-site gorge of acetylcholinesterase

Binding sites of Torpedo acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) for quaternary ligands were investigated by x-ray crystallography and photoaffinity labeling. Crystal structures of complexes with ligands were determined at 2.8-A resolution. In a complex with edrophonium, and quaternary nitrogen of the ligand interacts with the indole of Trp-84, and its m-hydroxyl displays bifurcated hydrogen bonding to two members of the catalytic triad, Ser-200 and His-440. In a complex with tacrine, the acridine is stacked against the indole of Trp-84. The bisquaternary ligand decamethonium is oriented along the narrow gorge leading to the active site; one quaternary group is apposed to the indole of Trp-84 and the other to that of Trp-279, near the top of the gorge. The only major conformational difference between the three complexes is in the orientation of the phenyl ring of Phe-330. In the decamethonium complex it lies parallel to the surface of the gorge; in the other two complexes it is positioned to make contact with the bound ligand. This close interaction was confirmed by photoaffinity labelling by the photosensitive probe 3H-labeled p-(N,N-dimethylamino)benzenediazonium fluoroborate, which labeled, predominantly, Phe-330 within the active site. Labeling of Trp-279 was also observed. One mole of label is incorporated per mole of AcChoEase inactivated, indicating that labeling of Trp-279 and that of Phe-330 are mutually exclusive. The structural and chemical data, together, show the important role of aromatic groups as binding sites for quaternary ligands, and they provide complementary evidence assigning Trp-84 and Phe-330 to the "anionic" subsite of the active site and Trp-279 to the "peripheral" anionic site.

Photoaffinity labelling of cholinesterases. Discrimination between active and peripheral sites

Two para-dialkylaminobenzenediazonium salts, the dimethylamino (A) and dibutylamino (B) derivatives, are presented as structural probes for acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. While being reversible competitive inhibitors in the dark, A and B behave, upon irradiation and through the formation of arylcation species, as irreversible labels of ammonium-binding sites of both enzymes. The observed variations of the different inactivation rate constants point to a different structural environment for acetylcholinesterase-binding and butyrylcholinesterase-binding sites. Moreover, in the case of acetylcholinesterase, protection experiments with specific ligands (edrophonium and propidium) showed that the dimethylamino salt A exclusively labels the hydrolytic anionic site, whereas the dibutylamino salt B also labels the peripheral site. Specificities and stoechiometries of the incorporations were determined and, in the case of acetylcholinesterase, the irradiated protein was submitted to chemical degradation. Peptide maps were obtained by gel-permeation chromatography and HPLC, giving access to labelled peptides which belong either to the active or to the peripheral site.