Rational design of fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors that act by covalently bonding to two active site residues.

The design and characterization of α-ketoheterocycle fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitors are disclosed that additionally and irreversibly target a cysteine (Cys269) found in the enzyme cytosolic port while maintaining the reversible covalent Ser241 attachment responsible for their rapid and initially reversible enzyme inhibition. Two α-ketooxazoles (3 and 4) containing strategically placed electrophiles at the C5 position of the pyridyl substituent of 2 (OL-135) were prepared and examined as inhibitors of FAAH. Consistent with the observed time-dependent noncompetitive inhibition, the cocrystal X-ray structure of 3 bound to a humanized variant of rat FAAH revealed that 3 was not only covalently bound to the active site catalytic nucleophile Ser241 as a deprotonated hemiketal, but also to Cys269 through the pyridyl C5-substituent, thus providing an inhibitor with dual covalent attachment in the enzyme active site. In vivo characterization of the prototypical inhibitors in mice demonstrates that they raise endogenous brain levels of FAAH substrates to a greater extent and for a much longer duration (>6 h) than the reversible inhibitor 2, indicating that the inhibitors accumulate and persist in the brain to completely inhibit FAAH for a prolonged period. Consistent with this behavior and the targeted irreversible enzyme inhibition, 3 reversed cold allodynia in the chronic constriction injury model of neuropathic pain in mice for a sustained period (>6 h) beyond that observed with the reversible inhibitor 2, providing effects that were unchanged over the 1-6 h time course monitored.

Control of substrate access to the active site in methane monooxygenase.

Methanotrophs consume methane as their major carbon source and have an essential role in the global carbon cycle by limiting escape of this greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. These bacteria oxidize methane to methanol by soluble and particulate methane monooxygenases (MMOs). Soluble MMO contains three protein components, a 251-kilodalton hydroxylase (MMOH), a 38.6-kilodalton reductase (MMOR), and a 15.9-kilodalton regulatory protein (MMOB), required to couple electron consumption with substrate hydroxylation at the catalytic diiron centre of MMOH. Until now, the role of MMOB has remained ambiguous owing to a lack of atomic-level information about the MMOH-MMOB (hereafter termed H-B) complex. Here we remedy this deficiency by providing a crystal structure of H-B, which reveals the manner by which MMOB controls the conformation of residues in MMOH crucial for substrate access to the active site. MMOB docks at the α(2)ß(2) interface of α(2)ß(2)γ(2) MMOH, and triggers simultaneous conformational changes in the α-subunit that modulate oxygen and methane access as well as proton delivery to the diiron centre. Without such careful control by MMOB of these substrate routes to the diiron active site, the enzyme operates as an NADH oxidase rather than a monooxygenase. Biological catalysis involving small substrates is often accomplished in nature by large proteins and protein complexes. The structure presented in this work provides an elegant example of this principle.

Analysis of substrate access to active sites in bacterial multicomponent monooxygenase hydroxylases: X-ray crystal structure of xenon-pressurized phenol hydroxylase from Pseudomonas sp. OX1.

In all structurally characterized bacterial multicomponent monooxygenase (BMM) hydroxylase proteins, a series of hydrophobic cavities in the α-subunit trace a conserved path from the protein exterior to the carboxylate-bridged diiron active site. This study examines these cavities as a potential route for transport of dioxygen to the active site by crystallographic characterization of a xenon-pressurized sample of the hydroxylase component of phenol hydroxylase from Pseudomonas sp. OX1. Computational analyses of the hydrophobic cavities in the hydroxylase α-subunits of phenol hydroxylase (PHH), soluble methane monooxygenase (MMOH), and toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase (ToMOH) are also presented. The results, together with previous findings from crystallographic studies of xenon-pressurized sMMO hydroxylase, clearly identify the propensity for these cavities to bind hydrophobic gas molecules in the protein interior. This proposed functional role is supported by recent stopped flow kinetic studies of ToMOH variants [Song, W. J., et al. (2011) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.108, 14795-14800]. In addition to information about the Xe sites, the structure determination revealed significantly weakened binding of regulatory protein to the hydroxylase in comparison to that in the previously reported structure of PHH, as well as the presence of a newly identified metal-binding site in the α-subunit that adopts a linear coordination environment consistent with Cu(I), and a glycerol molecule bound to Fe1 in a fashion that is unique among hydrocarbon-diiron site adducts reported to date in BMM hydroxylase structures. Finally, a comparative analysis of the α-subunit structures of PHH, MMOH, and ToMOH details proposed routes for the other three BMM substrates, the hydrocarbon, electrons, and protons, comprising cavities, channels, hydrogen-bonding networks, and pores in the structures of their α-subunits.

Active site threonine facilitates proton transfer during dioxygen activation at the diiron center of toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase hydroxylase.

Toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase hydroxylase (ToMOH), a diiron-containing enzyme, can activate dioxygen to oxidize aromatic substrates. To elucidate the role of a strictly conserved T201 residue during dioxygen activation of the enzyme, T201S, T201G, T201C, and T201V variants of ToMOH were prepared by site-directed mutagenesis. X-ray crystal structures of all the variants were obtained. Steady-state activity, regiospecificity, and single-turnover yields were also determined for the T201 mutants. Dioxygen activation by the reduced T201 variants was explored by stopped-flow UV-vis and Mössbauer spectroscopy. These studies demonstrate that the dioxygen activation mechanism is preserved in all T201 variants; however, both the formation and decay kinetics of a peroxodiiron(III) intermediate, T201(peroxo), were greatly altered, revealing that T201 is critically involved in dioxygen activation. A comparison of the kinetics of O(2) activation in the T201S, T201C, and T201G variants under various reaction conditions revealed that T201 plays a major role in proton transfer, which is required to generate the peroxodiiron(III) intermediate. A mechanism is postulated for dioxygen activation, and possible structures of oxygenated intermediates are discussed.

X-ray structure determination of the glycine cleavage system protein H of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using an inverse Compton synchrotron X-ray source.

Structural genomics discovery projects require ready access to both X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy which support the collection of experimental data needed to solve large numbers of novel protein structures. The most productive X-ray crystal structure determination laboratories make extensive use of tunable synchrotron X-ray light to solve novel structures by anomalous diffraction methods. This requires that frozen cryo-protected crystals be shipped to large multi acre synchrotron facilities for data collection. In this paper we report on the development and use of the first laboratory-scale synchrotron light source capable of performing many of the state-of-the-art synchrotron applications in X-ray science. This Compact Light Source is a first-in-class device that uses inverse Compton scattering to generate X-rays of sufficient flux, tunable wavelength and beam size to allow high-resolution X-ray diffraction data collection from protein crystals. We report on benchmarking tests of X-ray diffraction data collection with hen egg white lysozyme, and the successful high-resolution X-ray structure determination of the Glycine cleavage system protein H from Mycobacterium tuberculosis using diffraction data collected with the Compact Light Source X-ray beam.

cis-Diammine(pyridine)chloroplatinum(II), a monofunctional platinum(II) antitumor agent: Uptake, structure, function, and prospects.

We have identified unique chemical and biological properties of a cationic monofunctional platinum(II) complex, cis-diammine(pyridine)chloroplatinum(II), cis-[Pt(NH(3))(2)(py)Cl](+) or cDPCP, a coordination compound previously identified to have significant anticancer activity in a mouse tumor model. This compound is an excellent substrate for organic cation transporters 1 and 2, also designated SLC22A1 and SLC22A2, respectively. These transporters are abundantly expressed in human colorectal cancers, where they mediate uptake of oxaliplatin, cis-[Pt(DACH)(oxalate)] (DACH = trans-R,R-1,2-diaminocyclohexane), an FDA-approved first-line therapy for colorectal cancer. Unlike oxaliplatin, however, cDPCP binds DNA monofunctionally, as revealed by an x-ray crystal structure of cis-{Pt(NH(3))(2)(py)}(2+) bound to the N7 atom of a single guanosine residue in a DNA dodecamer duplex. Although the quaternary structure resembles that of B-form DNA, there is a base-pair step to the 5' side of the Pt adduct with abnormally large shift and slide values, features characteristic of cisplatin intrastrand cross-links. cDPCP effectively blocks transcription from DNA templates carrying adducts of the complex, unlike DNA lesions of other monofunctional platinum(II) compounds like {Pt(dien)}(2+). cDPCP-DNA adducts are removed by the nucleotide excision repair apparatus, albeit much less efficiently than bifunctional platinum-DNA intrastrand cross-links. These exceptional characteristics indicate that cDPCP and related complexes merit consideration as therapeutic options for treating colorectal and other cancers bearing appropriate cation transporters.

Dioxygen activation at non-heme diiron centers: oxidation of a proximal residue in the I100W variant of toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase hydroxylase.

At its carboxylate-bridged diiron active site, the hydroxylase component of toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase activates dioxygen for subsequent arene hydroxylation. In an I100W variant of this enzyme, we characterized the formation and decay of two species formed by addition of dioxygen to the reduced, diiron(II) state by rapid-freeze quench (RFQ) EPR, Mössbauer, and ENDOR spectroscopy. The dependence of the formation and decay rates of this mixed-valent transient on pH and the presence of phenol, propylene, or acetylene was investigated by double-mixing stopped-flow optical spectroscopy. Modification of the alpha-subunit of the hydroxylase after reaction of the reduced protein with dioxygen-saturated buffer was investigated by tryptic digestion coupled mass spectrometry. From these investigations, we conclude that (i) a diiron(III,IV)-W* transient, kinetically linked to a preceding diiron(III) intermediate, arises from the one-electron oxidation of W100, (ii) the tryptophan radical is deprotonated, (iii) rapid exchange of either a terminal water or hydroxide ion with water occurs at the ferric ion in the diiron(III,IV) cluster, and (iv) the diiron(III,IV) core and W* decay to the diiron(III) product by a common mechanism. No transient radical was observed by stopped-flow optical spectroscopy for reactions of the reduced hydroxylase variants I100Y, L208F, and F205W with dioxygen. The absence of such species, and the deprotonated state of the tryptophanyl radical in the diiron(III,IV)-W* transient, allow for a conservative estimate of the reduction potential of the diiron(III) intermediate as lying between 1.1 and 1.3 V. We also describe the X-ray crystal structure of the I100W variant of ToMOH.

X-ray structure of a hydroxylase-regulatory protein complex from a hydrocarbon-oxidizing multicomponent monooxygenase, Pseudomonas sp. OX1 phenol hydroxylase.

Phenol hydroxylase (PH) belongs to a family of bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases (BMMs) with carboxylate-bridged diiron active sites. Included are toluene/o-xylene (ToMO) and soluble methane (sMMO) monooxygenase. PH hydroxylates aromatic compounds, but unlike sMMO, it cannot oxidize alkanes despite having a similar dinuclear iron active site. Important for activity is formation of a complex between the hydroxylase and a regulatory protein component. To address how structural features of BMM hydroxylases and their component complexes may facilitate the catalytic mechanism and choice of substrate, we determined X-ray structures of native and SeMet forms of the PH hydroxylase (PHH) in complex with its regulatory protein (PHM) to 2.3 A resolution. PHM binds in a canyon on one side of the (alphabetagamma)2 PHH dimer, contacting alpha-subunit helices A, E, and F approximately 12 A above the diiron core. The structure of the dinuclear iron center in PHH resembles that of mixed-valent MMOH, suggesting an Fe(II)Fe(III) oxidation state. Helix E, which comprises part of the iron-coordinating four-helix bundle, has more pi-helical character than analogous E helices in MMOH and ToMOH lacking a bound regulatory protein. Consequently, conserved active site Thr and Asn residues translocate to the protein surface, and an approximately 6 A pore opens through the four-helix bundle. Of likely functional significance is a specific hydrogen bond formed between this Asn residue and a conserved Ser side chain on PHM. The PHM protein covers a putative docking site on PHH for the PH reductase, which transfers electrons to the PHH diiron center prior to O2 activation, suggesting that the regulatory component may function to block undesired reduction of oxygenated intermediates during the catalytic cycle. A series of hydrophobic cavities through the PHH alpha-subunit, analogous to those in MMOH, may facilitate movement of the substrate to and/or product from the active site pocket. Comparisons between the ToMOH and PHH structures provide insights into their substrate regiospecificities.

X-ray crystal structures of manganese(II)-reconstituted and native toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase hydroxylase reveal rotamer shifts in conserved residues and an enhanced view of the protein interior.

We report the X-ray crystal structures of native and manganese(II)-reconstituted toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase hydroxylase (ToMOH) from Pseudomonas stutzeri OX1 to 1.85 and 2.20 A resolution, respectively. The structures reveal that reduction of the dimetallic active site is accompanied by a carboxylate shift and alteration of the coordination environment for dioxygen binding and activation. A rotamer shift in a strategically placed asparagine 202 accompanies dimetallic center reduction and is proposed to influence protein component interactions. This rotamer shift is conserved between ToMOH and the corresponding residue in methane monooxygenase hydroxylase (MMOH). Previously unidentified hydrophobic pockets similar to those present in MMOH are assigned.