The L.donovani Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) oligomer is distinct from the human homolog.

Purine bases, synthesized de novo or recycled through the salvage pathway, are precursors of nucleotide synthesis and are essential in a variety of physiological processes including cell division, growth, signaling, energy metabolism and synthesis of vitamins/co-factor. The protozoan kinetoplastid parasites including Leishmania cannot synthesize de novo and rely solely on the purine salvage pathway, recycling the degraded products of nucleic acid metabolism. Enzymes of this pathway are thus of therapeutic importance. The enzyme Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) (EC 2.4.2.8) plays a central role in this pathway, converting the purine base to its monophosphate product. Towards the elucidation of its role, we have cloned, expressed, purified and determined the crystal structure of L. donovani HGPRT at 2.76 Å. Comparative structural analysis with the human homolog indicates differences in oligomer association. Comparative analyses identify insertions in the human homolog sequence in the tetramer interface. The results suggest that this difference can be exploited for therapeutic approaches.

Leveraging Rational Protein Engineering to Improve mRNA Therapeutics.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a promising new class of therapeutics that has potential for treatment of diseases in fields such as immunology, oncology, vaccines, and inborn errors of metabolism. mRNA therapy has several advantages over DNA-based gene therapy, including the lack of the need for nuclear import and transcription, as well as limited possibility of genomic integration. One drawback of mRNA therapy, especially in cases such as metabolic disorders where repeated dosing will be necessary, is the relatively short in vivo half-life of mRNA (∼6-12 h). We hypothesize that protein engineering designed to improve translation, yielding longer-lasting protein, or modifications that would increase enzymatic activity would be helpful in alleviating this issue. In this study, we present two examples where sequence engineering improved the expression and duration, as well as enzymatic activity of target proteins in vitro. We then confirmed these findings in wild-type mice. This work shows that rational engineering of proteins can lead to improved therapies in vivo.

Crystal structure of Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase L160I mutant--insights into inhibitor design.

Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) is a potential target for structure-based inhibitor design for the treatment of parasitic diseases. We created point mutants of Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis HGPRT and tested their activities to identify side chains that were important for function. Mutating residues Leu160 and Lys133 substantially diminished the activity of HGPRT, confirming their importance in catalysis. All 11 HGPRT mutants were subject to crystallization screening. The crystal structure of one mutant, L160I, was determined at 1.7 A resolution. Surprisingly, the active site is occupied by a peptide from the N-terminus of a neighboring tetramer. These crystal contacts suggest an alternate strategy for structure-based inhibitor design.

Crystal structures of free, IMP-, and GMP-bound Escherichia coli hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase.

Crystal structures have been determined for free Escherichia coli hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) (2.9 A resolution) and for the enzyme in complex with the reaction products, inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) and guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP) (2.8 A resolution). Of the known 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferase (PRTase) structures, E. coli HPRT is most similar in structure to that of Tritrichomonas foetus HGXPRT, with a rmsd for 150 Calpha atoms of 1.0 A. Comparison of the free and product bound structures shows that the side chain of Phe156 and the polypeptide backbone in this vicinity move to bind IMP or GMP. A nonproline cis peptide bond, also found in some other 6-oxopurine PRTases, is observed between Leu46 and Arg47 in both the free and complexed structures. For catalysis to occur, the 6-oxopurine PRTases have a requirement for divalent metal ion, usually Mg(2+) in vivo. In the free structure, a Mg(2+) is coordinated to the side chains of Glu103 and Asp104. This interaction may be important for stabilization of the enzyme before catalysis. E. coli HPRT is unique among the known 6-oxopurine PRTases in that it exhibits a marked preference for hypoxanthine as substrate over both xanthine and guanine. The structures suggest that its substrate specificity is due to the modes of binding of the bases. In E. coli HPRT, the carbonyl oxygen of Asp163 would likely form a hydrogen bond with the 2-exocyclic nitrogen of guanine (in the HPRT-guanine-PRib-PP-Mg(2+) complex). However, hypoxanthine does not have a 2-exocyclic atom and the HPRT-IMP structure suggests that hypoxanthine is likely to occupy a different position in the purine-binding pocket.

Purification and characterization of hypoxanthine/guanine phosphoribosyltransferase in bovine snout epidermis.

Hypoxanthine/guanine phosphoribosyltransferase was purified from bovine snout epidermis, about 600-fold by a combination method of centrifugation, ammonium sulfate fraction, Sephadex G-200 and DEAE cellulose chromatography. Enzymatic properties of the purified enzyme were determined as follows: pH optimum 7.2, temperature optimum 56 degrees C, and 82,000 in molecular weight. In the presence of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate, the enzyme was extremely heat-stable. The enzyme displayed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with apparent Michaelis constants for hypoxanthine, guanine and phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate of 1.59, 20.4 and 72.6 microM respectively.

Synthesis of normal and variant human hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase in Escherichia coli.

Naturally occurring mutations in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) have been identified by amino acid sequencing, cDNA cloning, and direct nucleotide sequencing of PCR-amplified transcripts. To determine the effect these mutations have on the catalytic properties of the molecule, knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of HPRT is required. A prerequisite for this, however, is the availability of a large amount of purified product for crystallization and x-ray diffraction analysis. For these reasons we have developed an effective means of producing high levels of human HPRT in Escherichia coli using the expression cassette PCR. By taking advantage of a T7 polymerase/promoter system, we have expressed both normal and variant human hprt sequences in E. coli. The proteins synthesized from these sequences are immunologically and enzymatically active, and are physically indistinguishable from the HPRT in B-lymphoblasts derived from normal and three HPRT-deficient subjects.

Purification and characterisation of chicken brain hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase.

Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase enzyme (EC 2.4.2.8) from chicken brain has been purified 10 000-fold to homogeneity. The molecular mass of the native enzyme is 85 kDa, with four subunits, each of 26 kDa, and exerts its maximum activity at pH 10.0. The Km values for hypoxanthine and guanine are 5.2 and 1.8 microM, respectively. The half-life of the enzyme is 30 min at 85 degrees C. Monoclonal antibodies were raised against the native purified enzyme and were used for purification of enzyme to homogeneity. The monoclonal antibody did not bind to the active centre of the enzyme.

Hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

Hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) and adenosine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) were examined from 11 individuals with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, 10 of their first- or second-degree relatives, and 3 normal controls. It has been suggested that in some self-mutilating Tourette patients, HGPRT shows a time-related loss of activity at 4 degrees C, and an unusual isoelectrofocusing pattern. Although 3 patients experienced self-mutilation, no consistent abnormalities were found in the temperature-stability of their HGPRT at 4 degrees C and 70 degrees C, or in isoelectrofocusing of HGPRT purified by immunoprecipitation. An alteration of the purine metabolic pathway in Tourette syndrome has not been established.

Purification of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase of Plasmodium lophurae.

Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (EC 2.4.2.8) was isolated from the malarial parasite, Plasmodium lophurae. The apparent pI, as determined by chromatofocusing, was 7.6. The native molecular weight was 79,000. The pH profile of HGPRT exhibited a broad pH optimum. With hypoxanthine as substrate maximal activity was achieved from pH 6.0-10.0, and with guanine as substrate maximal activity occurred from pH 7.5-9.5. The enzyme exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics with all substrates. The Km values were 3.8 microM (hypoxanthine), 2.4 microM (guanine), 6.2 microM (6-mercaptopurine), 7.6 microM (6-thioguanine), and 360 microM (8-azahypoxanthine). 6-Thioinosine, 9-beta-arabinofuranosylhypoxanthine, 6-chloropurine, xanthine and azaguanine were inhibitors of the P. lophurae enzyme. From the substrate and inhibitor data it appears that the sixth position on the purine ring plays a major role in enzyme activity.

Purification and characterization of the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase activities from Leishmania donovani.

The adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRTase) and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRTase) activities from promastigotes of Leishmania donovani have been purified to homogeneity using ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-cellulose exclusion, and either AMP-agarose (APRTase) or GTP-agarose (HGPRTase) affinity chromatography. The specific activities of the affinity-purified APRTase and HGPRTase fractions were 326-fold and 1341-fold greater than those in the 40-80% ammonium sulfate precipitate, respectively. The purified APRTase migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels with a size of 29 kDa, while HGPRTase was also determined to be homogeneous by SDS gel electrophoresis with a size of 24 kDa. In addition, a mutant cell line, APPB2, partially deficient in APRTase activity, still contained quantities of purifiable APRTase protein, while a clonal secondary derivative of the APPB2 cell line that is completely deficient in APRTase activity, APPB2-640A3, failed to express purifiable APRTase protein. The homogeneous enzymes possessed apparent Km values for their nucleobase substrates between 2.0 and 5.0 microM, and both enzymes were inhibited by their immediate or ultimate reaction endproducts, APRTase by AMP and PPi and HGPRTase by GMP, GTP, and PPi. The generation of homogeneous preparations of APRTase and HGPRTase protein will serve as a prerequisite for the generation of immunological and molecular biological probes to analyze the leishmanial phosphoribosyltransferases.

Molecular characterization and overexpression of the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase gene from Trypanosoma cruzi.

The hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) enzyme in Trypanosoma cruzi is a rational target for the treatment of Chagas disease. To evaluate the T. cruzi HGPRT in detail, the HGPRT gene (hgprt) was cloned from a genomic library of T. cruzi DNA and sequenced. Translation of the nucleotide sequence of the hgprt revealed an open reading frame of 663 bp that encoded a 25.5-kDa polypeptide of 221 amino acids. The T. cruzi HGPRT exhibited only 24%, 25%, and 21% amino acid sequence identity to its human, Plasmodium falciparum, and Schistosoma mansoni counterparts, respectively, but was 50% identical to the T. brucei HGPRT protein. Northern analysis of T. cruzi RNA revealed a 1.8-kb hgprt transcript, while Southern blots of genomic DNA suggested that hgprt was a single copy gene within the T. cruzi genome. The T. cruzi hgprt was inserted into the pBAce expression plasmid and transformed into Escherichia coli that are deficient in hypoxanthine and guanine phosphoribosylating activities. High levels of soluble, enzymatically active T. cruzi HGPRT were obtained, and this expression complemented the bacterial phosphoribosyltransferase deficiencies. The recombinant HGPRT was purified to apparent homogeneity by GTP-agarose affinity chromatography and recognized hypoxanthine, guanine, and allopurinol, but not adenine or xanthine, as substrates. The availability of the hgprt clone and large amounts of pure HGPRT protein provide a foundation for a structure-based drug design strategy for the treatment of Chagas disease.

Purification and characterization of Plasmodium falciparum hypoxanthine-guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase and comparison with the human enzyme.

The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is auxotrophic for purines and relies on the purine salvage pathway for the synthesis of its purine nucleotides. Hypoxanthine-guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGXPRT) is a key purine salvage enzyme in P. falciparum, making it a potential target for chemotherapy. Previous attempts to purify this enzyme have been unsuccessful because of the difficulty in obtaining cultured parasite material and because of the inherent instability of the enzyme during purification and storage. Other groups have tried to express recombinant P. falciparum HGXPRT but only small amounts of activity were obtained. The successful expression of recombinant P. falciparum HGXPRT in Escherichia coli has now been achieved and the enzyme purified to homogeneity in mg quantities. The measured molecular mass of 26 229+/-2 Da is in excellent agreement with the calculated value of 26232 Da. A method to stabilise the activity and to reactivate inactive samples has been developed. The subunit structure of P. Jilciparum HGXPRT has been determined by ultracentrifugation in the absence (tetramer) and presence (dimer) of KC1. Kinetic constants were determined for 5-phospho-alpha-D-ribosyl-1-pyrophosphate, for the three naturally-occurring 6-oxopurine bases guanine, hypoxanthine, and xanthine and for the base analogue, allopurinol. Differences in specificity between the purified P. falciparum HGXPRT and human hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase enzymes were detected which may be able to be exploited in rational drug design.

Cloning, expression and characterization of an unusual guanine phosphoribosyltransferase from Giardia lamblia.

Giardia lamblia is one of the most ancient eukaryotes identified to date. It lacks de novo purine biosynthesis and is thought to rely solely on the functions of two salvage enzymes, adenine and guanine phosphoribosyltransferases (APRTase and GPRTase). We have cloned the gene encoding the G. lamblia GPRTase by complementation of the E. coli strain Sø609 (delta gpt-pro-lac, thi, hpt, pup, purH,J, strA) with a genomic library consisting of Sau3AI-digested G. lamblia DNA inserted into the Bluescript vector. Transformed Sø609 colonies grew on minimal medium supplemented with guanine at a frequency of 3.3 x 10(-5) ampicillin-resistant colonies, but were unable to salvage hypoxanthine or xanthine, as predicted from previous studies of the native G. lamblia GPRTase. The sequence analysis of cloned DNA fragments reveals an open reading frame of 690 bp, encoding a protein of 26.3 kDa with an estimated pI of 6.83, in agreement with the reported subunit molecular weight of the native G. lamblia GPRTase. The deduced protein has less than 20% sequence identity to the human and other known HGPRTases, and features several significant changes in the primary sequence of the putative active sites of the enzyme, which may reflect the stringent substrate specificity of GPRTase. The recombinant GPRTase was expressed in E. coli and purified to > 95% homogeneity. Kinetic studies of the recombinant enzyme showed an apparent K(m) of 74 microM for guanine. Hypoxanthine as an alternate purine substrate was used only when present in millimolar amounts, and xanthine was not utilized at all. This Giardia enzyme is thus a highly unique purine PRTase without a known parallel in any other living organisms.

Constant denaturant gel electrophoresis, a modification of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, in mutation detection.

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) is increasingly being utilized in mutational detection, both in characterization of variations in genomic DNA and in the generation of mutational spectra after in vitro and in vivo mutagenesis. The basis for this electrophoretic separation technique is strand dissociation of DNA fragments in discrete, sequence-dependent melting domains followed by an abrupt decrease in mobility. We have modified the DGGE by using constant denaturant gels corresponding to the specific melting domains of certain DNA fragments. This leads to increased resolution of mutants as fragments differing in as little as 1 base pair migrate with a consistently different mobility through the whole gel allowing separations of several centimeters. By using a set of constant denaturant gels it is also possible to obtain a better approximation of the location of the different mutations as each denaturant concentration will correspond to specific melting domains. We have used this technique to separate 6 out of 7 exon-3 hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) mutants while using conventional DGGE we were only able to separate 3.

Expression of normal and variant human hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase in E. coli.

1. ECPR is a rapid and effective means for generating recombinant human HPRT. 2. The Bl21 (DE3) T7 polymerase/T7 promoter system provides high level expression of human HPRT constructs after induction of the T7 polymerase gene with IPTG. 3. Human HPRT constructs expressed in E. coli mimic the variant properties originally demonstrated in lymphoblast extracts from affected individuals. 4. Human HPRT expressed in E. coli can be rapidly purified to near homogeneity by a two step purification scheme.

Plasmodium vivax hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase: a target for anti-malarial chemotherapy.

The malarial parasite, Plasmodium vivax (Pv), causes a serious infectious disease found primarily in Asia and the Americas. For protozoan parasites, 6-oxopurine phosphoribosyltransferases (PRTases) provide the only metabolic pathway to synthesize the purine nucleoside monophosphates essential for DNA/RNA production. We have purified the recombinant Pv 6-oxopurine (PRTase) and compared its properties with the human and Pf enzymes. The Pv enzyme uses hypoxanthine and guanine with similar catalytic efficiency to the Pf enzyme but xanthine is not a substrate, hence we identify this enzyme as PvHGPRT. Mass spectrometry suggests that PvHGPRT contains bound magnesium ions that are removed by EDTA resulting in loss of activity. However, the addition of Mg(2+) restores activity. Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs) are good inhibitors of PvHGPRT having K(i) values as low as 3 microM. These compounds can form the basis for the design of new drugs aimed at combating malaria caused by Pv.