Structure of creatine amidinohydrolase from Actinobacillus

The crystal structure of Actinobacillus creatine amidinohydrolase has been solved by molecular replacement. The amino-acid sequence has been derived from the crystal structure. Crystals belong to space group I222, with unit-cell parameters a = 111.26 (3), b = 113.62 (4), c = 191.65 (2) A, and contain two molecules in an asymmetric unit. The structure was refined to an R factor of 18.8% at 2.7 A resolution. The crystal structure contains a dimer of 402 residues and 118 water molecules. The protein structure is bilobal, consisting of a small N-terminal domain and a large C-terminal domain. The C-terminal domain has a pitta-bread fold, similar to that found in Pseudomonas putida creatinase, proline aminopeptidases and methionine aminopeptidase. Comparison with complex crystal structures of P. putida creatinase reveals that the enzyme activity of Actinobacillus creatinase might be similar to that of P. putida creatinase.

Quantification of the heterocyclic aromatic amine DNA adduct N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline in livers of rats using capillary liquid chromatography/microelectrospray mass spectrometry: a dose-response study

Capillary liquid chromatography/microelectrospray-mass spectrometry (capillary LC/muESI-MS) was used to quantify DNA adducts of the heterocyclic aromatic amine 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) in livers of male Fischer-344 rats. Animals received a single oral dose of either 0.05, 0.50, 1.0, or 10 mg/kg IQ and were sacrificed 24 h following treatment. The major lesion identified at all doses was N-(deoxyguanosine-8-yl)-2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (dG-C8-IQ). The capillary LC/muESI-MS method provided the means for quantifying 17.5 fmol of dG-C8-IQ (2.0 adducts in 10(8) nucleosides) (S/N 10) in 300 microg of liver DNA with an intra- and interday precision of 3.5 and 6.6% (RSD), respectively. dG-C8-IQ was quantified with a mean intra- and interday accuracy of 105 +/- 26 and 106 +/- 28 (SD) based on back-calculated adduct masses from five standard curves analyzed over a four-week period. This is the first report on development of a capillary LC/muESI-MS method to quantify dG-C8-IQ adducts in liver DNA of rats following dosing with IQ at different levels. Furthermore, the ability to accurately and precisely quantify dG-C8-IQ at a level of 2.0 adducts in 10(8) nucleosides in vivo makes this method well suited for use in future studies relating carcinogen exposure to risk in humans.