Antibodies conjugated with new highly luminescent Eu3+ and Tb3+ chelates as markers for time resolved immunoassays. Application to simultaneous determination of clenbuterol and free cortisol in horse urine.

Highly luminescent Eu(3+) and Tb(3+) complexes of 10-[4-(3-isothiocyanatopropoxy)benzoylmethyl]-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7 triacetic acid Eu(3+) is a subset of 1 and Tb(3+) is a subset of 1 were conjugated with a goat anti-rabbit IgG and a rabbit anti-mouse IgG, respectively, and applied as markers in a time resolved immunoassay for simultaneous quantitative determination of anabolic compounds clenbuterol (CL) and hydrocortisone (HC). The assay was performed in horse urine, using a monoclonal antibody specific to CL and a rabbit polyclonal antibody specific to the free HC. These lanthanide chelates are very stable and highly luminescent in aqueous solution and allowed to reach 10 microg L(-1) and 40 microg L(-1) sensitivities for CL and for HC, respectively. Application to the horse urine, that is a very complex matrix, has a considerable interest in the control of illegal use of these compounds.

Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay for quantitative determination of ampicillin in cow milk samples with different fat contents.

In this paper, we have reported an immunoassay with time-resolved revelation system for ampicillin in raw milk samples. Immunological methods appear to be a promising approach in the analysis of beta-lactam compounds, because they do not need previous sample pre-treatments. In fact, beta-lactam ring is not very stable in extensive sample pre-treatment procedures requested in conventional analytical techniques. Specimens were collected from lactating cows bred in various conditions and assayed for the fat contents. Ampicillin was assayed in samples with different fat concentrations. The assay was performed using ampicillin-specific polyclonal antibody raised in rabbit; the immunogen was synthesized using bovine thyroglobulin conjugated to ampicillin by glutaraldehyde reaction; as fluorescent marker we used goat anti-rabbit IgG conjugated with a chelating molecule complexed with Eu(3+). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugated with ampicillin was synthesized and used to prepare a solid phase on polystyrene microtiter plates. The use of a lanthanide chelate as label allowed to achieve 1 ng mL(-1) sensitivity, which is four times more sensitive than limits requested from European Community. Fat contents did not affect the assay performance.

Structural and functional characterization of the porcine proline-rich antifungal peptide SP-B isolated from salivary gland granules.

A 1905-Da cationic proline-rich peptide, named SP-B, was recently isolated by our group as the main component of salivary gland granules, and its primary sequence fully characterized by means of automated Edman sequencing and LC-MS/MS tools. In the present study SP-B is shown to possess antifungal activity when challenged with strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus, while only negligible antibacterial activity was detected. Furthermore, SP-B was found to be non-cytotoxic when tested on fibroblast cell lines. To obtain information regarding its structure affinity, capillary electrophoresis (CE), circular dichroism (CD) and attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FT/IR experiments were performed. CE revealed a pH dependence of the hydrodynamic radial dimensions both in aqueous and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol solutions. CD and ATR-FT/IR measurements confirmed the structure-pH relationship, revealing a secondary structure composed of mixed proportions of polyproline-II, unordered and turn motifs, the last being more evident in the zwitterionic form of the peptide. From these findings SP-B peptide could be classified as a new member of the proline-rich antimicrobial peptide family.

Different structural behaviors evidenced in thaumatin-like proteins: a spectroscopic study.

Three proteins belonging to the thaumatin-like proteins family were compared in this study from a structural point of view: zeamatin, a new recently isolated PR-5 from Cassia didymobotrya and the commercial sweet-thaumatin. The former two proteins possess antifungal activities while commercial thaumatin is well known to be a natural sweetener. Intrinsic fluorescence studies have evidenced that the three proteins behave differently in unfolding experiments showing different structural rigidity. All the three proteins are more stable at slight acidic buffers, but sweet-thaumatin has a major tendency to destructurate itself. Similar observations were made from circular dichroism studies where a structural dependence relationship from the pH and the solvent used confirmed a hierarchic scale of stability for the three proteins. These structural differences should be considered to be significant for a functional role.

Pegylated enzyme entrapped in poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel for biocatalytic application.

A procedure for enzyme entrapment into matrices suitable for biocatalytic applications is reported. The method, which takes advantage of the stable formation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels by freezing and thawing PVA aqueous solutions, was assayed using lipase as model enzyme. The leakage of lipase was minimised by using high molecular weight PVA and by previous conjugation of the enzyme to PEG. The immobilised PEG enzyme maintained its catalytic activity in organic solvents also, thus allowing enzymatic activity towards water insoluble substrates. The activity was largely increased reducing the diffusional constrain by cutting the matrices into slices of micron size. Matrix-entrapped lipase-PEG, when used in the hydrolysis of acetoxycoumarins, showed a conversion rate of about 10 times lower than the enzyme-PEG in the free form, and maintained regioselectivity when a diacetylated product was used as substrate.

Activity of different Candida antarctica lipase B formulations in organic solvents.

The activity of different formulations of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB), such as crude CALB, purified CALB, purified CALB lyophilized with PEG (CALB + PEG) or oleic acid (CALB + OA), and the commercial formulation Novozym 435, was determined in toluene, carbon tetrachloride, and 1,4-dioxane at various water activities (a(w)). The reaction between vinylacetate and 1-octanol was used as the model reaction and both transesterification (formation of 1-octylacetate) and hydrolytic (formation of acetic acid from vinylacetate) activities were determined. For equal amounts of lipase protein, CALB + PEG (and to a lesser extent CALB + OA) displayed higher activity than that of the other formulations; for instance, in toluene (a(w) < 0.1), it was 260-, 13-, and 1.8-fold more active than crude CALB, purified CALB, and Novozym 435, respectively. Moreover, the transesterification activity of CALB + PEG was of the same order of magnitude (51%) of the activity shown by the enzyme in the hydrolysis of vinylacetate in aqueous buffer. These results suggest that PEG and oleic acid could act as lyoprotectants, preventing the formation of intermolecular interactions during the lyophilization process that might be responsible for protein denaturation. No diffusional limitation was observed for CALB + PEG-catalyzed reactions. Purified CALB, in contrast to the other formulations, showed a marked activity increase (2.1 to 7.8-fold) as a function of a(w) and, in 1,4-dioxane, it was 3.5-fold more active when it was added to the solvent after previous dissolution of the lyophilized powder in water.

The first crystal structure of a phospholipase D.

BACKGROUND: The phospholipase D (PLD) superfamily includes enzymes that are involved in phospholipid metabolism, nucleases, toxins and virus envelope proteins of unknown function. PLD hydrolyzes the terminal phosphodiester bond of phospholipids to phosphatidic acid and a hydrophilic constituent. Phosphatidic acid is a compound that is heavily involved in signal transduction. PLD also catalyses a transphosphatidylation reaction in the presence of phosphatidylcholine and a short-chained primary or secondary alcohol. RESULTS: The first crystal structure of a 54 kDa PLD has been determined to 1.9 A resolution using the multiwavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) method on a single WO(4) ion and refined to 1.4 A resolution. PLD from the bacterial source Streptomyces sp. strain PMF consists of a single polypeptide chain that is folded into two domains. An active site is located at the interface between these domains. The presented structure supports the proposed superfamily relationship with the published structure of the 16 kDa endonuclease from Salmonella typhimurium. CONCLUSIONS: The structure of PLD provides insight into the structure and mode of action of not only bacterial, plant and mammalian PLDs, but also of a variety of enzymes as diverse as cardiolipin synthases, phosphatidylserine synthases, toxins, endonucleases, as well as poxvirus envelope proteins having a so far unknown function. The common features of these enzymes are that they can bind to a phosphodiester moiety, and that most of these enzymes are active as bi-lobed monomers or dimers.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of phospholipase D from Streptomyces sp.

Crystals of purified phospholipase D (E.C. 3.1.4.4) from Streptomyces sp. strain PMF have been grown under two different crystallization conditions using vapour diffusion. Both conditions gave monoclinic crystals in space group P2(1). The unit-cell parameters were a = 57.28, b = 57.42, c = 68.70 A, beta = 93.17 degrees. The crystals diffract at 110 K to a resolution beyond 1.4 A using synchrotron radiation.

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy study of dehydrated lipases from candida antarctica B and pseudomonas cepacia

Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was employed to investigate potential lyophilization-induced changes in the secondary structure of lipases from Candida antarctica B and Pseudomonas cepacia. The secondary structure elements were determined by curve fitting of the amide III bands of the two lipases in the lyophilized state in KBr pellets and in solution. It was found that lyophilization decreased the alpha-helix and increased the beta-sheet content. However, FT-IR analysis of crosslinked enzyme crystals of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase also indicated an increase in the beta-sheet content, which appears despite the fact that the enzyme, being in the crystallized state, should possess native conformation. This result partially questions the suitability of FT-IR for analysis of the structure of solid proteins, at least as far as the beta-sheet content is concerned, because it is possible that the method overestimates the beta-sheets by measuring other hydrogen-bonded nonperiodic intermolecular structures. No significant modification was observed when lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was lyophilized in the presence of methoxypoly(ethylene glycol). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Spectroscopic investigation of lipase from pseudomonas cepacia solubilized in 1,4-dioxane by non-covalent complexation with methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)

Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was made soluble in 1,4-dioxane by lyophilization of the enzyme from aqueous solutions containing methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The solubility of the enzyme-PEG complex depended both on protein concentration and PEG protein ratio. Intrinsic protein fluorescence and far- and near-UV circular dichroism revealed that not only did the enzyme not unfold in the organic solvent, but rather became more compact. This was seen by the slight quenching of fluorescence intensity and by the enhancement of the near-UV circular dichroism negative signals, which are indicative of stronger interactions of tryptophanyl and/or tyrosyl residues among themselves or with other parts of the enzyme molecule. The specific activity of the lipase-PEG complex in the organic solvent was at least 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of the enzyme powder. This can be attributed both to the maintenance of native conformation and to enzyme dissolution in the reaction medium which should minimize possible limitations to enzyme-substrate interactions. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,

Optimization of Pseudomonas cepacia lipase preparations for catalysis in organic solvents.

The activity of different lipase (from Pseudomonas cepacia) forms, such as crude powder (crude PC), purified and lyophilized with PEG (PEG + PC), covalently linked to PEG (PEG-PC), cross-linked enzyme crystals (CLEC-PC), and immobilized in Sol-Gel-AK (Sol-Gel-AK-PC) was determined, at various water activities (aw), in carbon tetrachloride, benzene and 1,4-dioxane. The reaction of vinyl butyrate with 1-octanol was employed as a model and both transesterification (formation of 1-octyl butyrate) and hydrolysis (formation of butyric acid from vinyl butyrate) rates were determined. Both rates depended on the lipase form, solvent employed, and aw value. Hydrolysis rates always increased as a function of aw, while the optimum of aw for transesterification depended on the enzyme form and nature of the solvent. At proper aw, some lipase forms such as PEG + PC, PEG-PC, and Sol-Gel-AK-PC had a total activity in organic solvents (transesterification plus hydrolysis) which was close to (39 and 48%) or even higher than (130%) that displayed by the same amount of lipase protein in the hydrolysis of tributyrin-one of the substrates most commonly used as standard for the assay of lipase activity-in aqueous buffer. Instead, CLEC-PC and crude PC were much less active in organic solvents (2 and 12%) than in buffer. The results suggest that enzyme dispersion and/or proper enzyme conformation (favored by interaction with PEG or the hydrophobic Sol-Gel-AK matrix) are essential for the expression of high lipase activity in organic media.

Biophysical and mutagenic analysis of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus secondary-alcohol dehydrogenase activity and specificity.

The Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus 39E adhB gene encoding the secondary-alcohol dehydrogenase (secondary ADH) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli at more than 10% of total protein. The recombinant enzyme was purified in high yield (67%) by heat-treatment at 85 degrees C and (NH4)2SO4 precipitation. Site-directed mutants (C37S, H59N, D150N, D150Eand D150C were analysed to test the peptide sequence comparison-based predictions of amino acids responsible for putative catalytic Zn binding. X-ray absorption spectroscopy confirmed the presence of a protein-bound Zn atom with ZnS1(imid)1(N,O)3 co-ordination sphere. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry measured 0.48 Zn atoms per wild-type secondary ADH subunit. The C37S, H59N and D150N mutant enzymes bound only 0.11, 0.13 and 0.33 Zn per subunit respectively,suggesting that these residues are involved in Zn liganding. The D150E and D150C mutants retained 0.47 and 1.2 Zn atoms per subunit, indicating that an anionic side-chain moiety at this position preserves the bound Zn. All five mutant enzymes had

Activity, stability, and conformation of methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)-subtilisin at different concentrations of water in dioxane.

The transesterification activity, autolysis, thermal stability and conformation of subtilisin Carlsberg, made soluble in dioxane by covalent linking to methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), were investigated as a function of the concentration of water in the medium. Electrospray mass spectrometry showed that the modified enzyme preparation was a mixture of proteins containing from 2 to 5 covalently linked PEG chains per subtilisin molecule. PEG-subtilisin catalyzed transesterification between vinyl butyrate and 1-hexanol was optimum at 0.55 MH(2)O, while hydrolysis prevailed above 2 MH(2)O. There was a decrease in the overall enzyme activity with increasing water concentration because of autolysis and denaturation of the enzyme. Subtilisin powder and celite-immobilized subtilisin were more stable and less susceptible to autolysis than the PEG-modified enzyme. Circular dichroism and intrinsic protein-fluorescence studies showed that the conformation of PEG-subtilisin did not change as a function of water concentrations between 0 and 9 M. The K(m,app) value of PEG-subtilisin for 1-hexanol was highly influenced by water, which behaved as a competitive inhibitor in the transesterification reaction with an affinity for the enzyme similar to that of the alcohol. The K(m,app) for the acylating agent was not significantly modified by water. Lyoprotectants such as sorbitol and free PEG did not influence the activity of PEG-subtilisin but notably increased the activity of subtilisin powder and celite-immobilized subtilisin. The addition of 1.7-5.5 M water, however, rendered enzyme preparations containing no additives as active as those containing the lyoprotectants.

Effects of tyrosine ring fluorination on rates and equilibria of formation of intermediates in the reactions of carbon-carbon lyases.

The interactions of ring fluorinated analogs of tyrosine with tyrosine phenol-lyase and tryptophan indole-lyase (tryptophanase) were studied by rapid-scanning stopped-flow spectrophotometry. The reaction of L-tyrosine with tyrosine phenol-lyase resulted in rapid formation of a small absorbance peak at 500 nm, attributed to a quinonoid intermediate. The reaction of 3-fluoro-L-tyrosine with tyrosine phenol-lyase resulted in a peak at 500 nm with much higher absorbance, as did the reaction of 3,5-difluoro-L-tyrosine, due to increased accumulation of quinonoid intermediates. In constrast, complexes with 2-fluoro-L-tyrosine, 2,3-difluoro-L-tyrosine, 2,5-difluoro-L-tyrosine, and 2,6-difluoro-L-tyrosine exhibited much lower absorbance intensity at 500 nm. The rate constant for quinonoid intermediate formation from 3-fluoro-L-tyrosine was comparable to that for L-tyrosine. However, 3,5-difluoro-L-tyrosine reacted to form a quinonoid intermediate at about half the rate of L-tyrosine, while 2,3-difluoro-L-tyrosine reacted at twice the rate of L-tyrosine. In addition, the 2-substituted difluorotyrosines exhibited an intermediate, which was formed rapidly, absorbing strongly at about 340 nm, which is likely due to a gem-diamine intermediate. Tyrosine is not a substrate for tryptophan indole-lyase; the reaction of tryptophan indole-lyase with L-tyrosine resulted in formation of external aldimine, which absorbed at 420 nm, and a very small absorbance peak at 500 nm. 3-Fluoro-L-tyrosine reacted with tryptophan indole-lyase to produce a prominent quinonoid absorbance peak at 500 nm, whereas L-tyrosine, 2-fluoro-L-tyrosine, and all difluoro-L-tyrosines, had a much reduced intensity for this peak. Thus, the presence of ring fluorine substituents in L-tyrosine that are remote from the site of the chemical transformation has significant effects on the rates and equilibria of intermediate formation in the reactions with both tyrosine phenol-lyase and tryptophan indole-lyase. Although it is commonly thought that fluorine substitution will not result in any significant steric effects, our results suggest that the effects of fluorine substitution in the reactions of fluorinated tyrosines with tyrosine phenol-lyase and tryptophan indole-lyase are due to a combination of steric and electronic effects.

Evidence for an essential lysyl residue in phospholipase D from Streptomyces sp. by modification with diethyl pyrocarbonate and pyridoxal 5-phosphate.

Diethyl pyrocarbonate inactivated phospholipase D from Streptomyces PMF with second-order rate constants of 0.7 M-1 s-1 at pH 6.1 or 222 M-1 s-1 at pH 8.3 and 25 degrees C, and modified 5 His residues per enzyme molecule. The His residues, however, were not essential for activity because: (a) the second-order rate constants for reaction of diethyl pyrocarbonate with the His residues of the enzyme, which were 1.4 M-1 s-1 at pH 6.1 or 7.2 M-1 s-1 at pH 8.3 and 25 degrees C, differed, both at low and high pH values, from the inactivation rates, and (b) the reversal of His modification by hydroxylamine was not accompanied by recovery of activity. As demonstrated by dinitrophenylation experiments carried out on the treated enzyme, diethyl pyrocarbonate also modified up to 20 Lys residues per enzyme molecule. Other amino acid residues and the conformation and hydrodynamic volume of the enzyme were not modified. The involvement of a Lys residue in enzyme activity was confirmed through experiments with pyridoxal 5-phosphate which inactivated phospholipase D, after NaBH4 reduction, with a second-order rate constant of 3.5 M-1 s-1 at pH 8.5 and 15 degrees C. The inactivation took place with concomitant modification of 4 Lys residues, only one of which was found to be essential using the kinetic method of Tsou (Tsou, C.-L. (1962) Sci. Sin. 11, 1535-1538). Dicaproyl phosphatidylcholine markedly protected the enzyme against inactivation by DEP or PLP, and this strongly suggests that the essential Lys residue is located in or near the substrate binding site.

Purification and properties of two phospholipases D from Streptomyces sp.

Two enzymes with phospholipase D activity were purified from Streptomyces strains (PMF and PM43) by column chromatography on Fractogel TSK CM-650(S), Sephadex G-100 and Fractogel EMD DEAE-650(M). The purified preparations were found to be homogeneous by SDS-PAGE, capillary electrophoresis and analytical gel filtration. The molecular masses, assessed by MALDI-MS spectrometry, were 53.864 kDa for PMF and 54.147 kDa for PM43. The isoelectric point was 9.1 for both enzymes. The enzymes were most active at around 60 degrees C and stable between pH 4 and 9 and below 50 degrees C. The pH optima were between 4 and 6 for PMF and between 6 and 7 for PM43. Both phospholipases displayed high transphosphatidylation activity but PMF was more selective than PM43.

CD and small-angle x-ray scattering of silk fibroin in solution.

We investigated the structure of silk fibroin dissolved in water and in water-organic solvent mixtures by CD and small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). CD spectra indicated a disordered secondary structure in water and a beta-sheet conformation in aqueous organic solvents, such as methanol, dioxane, and trifluoroethanol (in trifluoroethanol a transient form evolving toward beta-sheet conformation was seen just after dissolution). The SAXS technique indicated the presence of fibroin particles of lamellar shape. The molecular weight was 188,000 daltons in water and 302,000 daltons in aqueous methanol.