Kinetics and thermodynamics of glycans and glycoproteins binding to Holothuria scabra lectin: a fluorescence and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopic study.

Holothuria scabra produces a monomeric lectin (HSL) of 182 kDa. HSL showed strong antibacterial activity and induced bacterial agglutination under in vitro conditions, indicating its role in animals' innate immune responses. Very few lectins have been reported from echinoderms and none of these lectins have been explored in detail for their sugar-binding kinetics. Affinity, kinetics and thermodynamic analysis of glycans and glycoproteins binding to HSL were studied by fluorescence and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Lectin binds with higher affinity to O-linked than N-linked asialo glycans, and the affinities were relatively higher than that for sialated glycans and glycoproteins. T-antigen α-methyl glycoside was the most potent ligand having the highest affinity (Ka 8.32 ×10(7) M(-1)). Thermodynamic and kinetic analysis indicated that the binding of galactosyl Tn-antigen and asialo glycans is accompanied by an enthalpic contribution in addition to higher association rate coupled by low activation energy for the association process. Presence of sialic acid or protein matrix inhibits binding. Higher affinity of HSL for O-glycans than N-glycans had biological implications; since HSL specifically recognizes bacteria, which have mucin or O-glycan cognate on their cell surfaces and play a major role in animal innate immunity. Since, HSL had higher affinity to T-antigen, makes it a useful tool for cancer diagnostic purpose.

Steady state and time resolved fluorescence quenching and chemical modification studies of a lectin from endophytic fungus Fusarium solani.

The solute quenching studies of a lectin from endophytic fungus Fusarium solani were carried out using different quenchers such as acrylamide, succinimide, potassium iodide and cesium chloride. The lectin showed emission maximum at 348 nm indicating relative exposure of tryptophan. The quenchable fraction of the fluorophore was 100% with acrylamide, whereas it was only 50% with succinimide. The ionic quenchers iodide and cesium showed opposite effects at different pH. In the case of cesium, raising the pH resulted in increased quenching and accessibility of typtophan residue, while the iodide showed just opposite effect. These studies showed that the single tryptophan residue of the lectin (per monomer) is relatively exposed, and might be in the vicinity of positively charged amino acid residues. Various amino acids of the F. solani lectin were modified using different reagents to obtain information about the hemagglutinating site. The chemical modification studies suggested tyrosine residues can be modified using N-acetylimidazole, which results in complete loss of hemagglutination activity of the lectin. Kinetics of chemical modification suggested involvement of only 2 tyrosine residues. Modification of arginine, cysteine, histidine, lysine, aspartate, glutamate and tryptophan did not result in loss of hemagglutinating activity of the lectin.

Synthesis of polyfunctional quinolizidine alkaloids: development towards selective glycosidase inhibitors.

A highly divergent route to a variety of quinolizidine alkaloids is described. The enantiomeric precursors and utilized for the synthesis of these alkaloids were constructed stereospecifically from the PET cyclization of the corresponding acetylene tethered alpha-trimethylsilyl amine moieties and , respectively, both of which were synthesised from D-ribose. The polyhydroxy quinolizidine alkaloid was found to be a selective inhibitor of alpha-galactosidase with Ki 83.9 microM. The amine analogs , and are found to be selective and potent inhibitors of alpha-glucosidase with Ki 28, 120 and 140 microM, respectively.

Comparative studies of two araceous lectins by steady state and time-resolved fluorescence and CD spectroscopy.

Transitions in the tryptophan microenvironment and secondary structure of two monocot lectins from Sauromatum guttatum and Arisaema tortuosum under different denaturing conditions were studied by steady state and time resolved fluorescence and CD spectroscopy. The lectins exist as tetramers with a single tryptophan residue estimated per monomer, present in a polar environment. Quenching with ionic quenchers showed predominantly electropositive environment for tryptophan residues. Acrylamide had maximum quenching effect. A decrease in KI quenching due to lectin denaturation indicated redistribution of charges as a result of possible conformational change. The two values for lifetimes of tryptophanyl population (1.2-1.4 and 6.3-6.4 ns) reduced substantially on quenching or denaturation. Similarly, both the lectins showed a drastic loss of secondary structure in 5 M Gdn-HCl or 6 M Urea or at pH 2.0 and below. For the first time araceous lectins, like legume lectins are shown to bind adenine. The presence of a compact structure at alkaline pH 10.0-12.0 was observed in CD spectra.

Synthesis of polyhydroxy piperidines and their analogues: a novel approach towards selective inhibitors of alpha-glucosidase.

Various polyhydroxy piperidine azasugars have been synthesized from precursors 18a and 18b, obtained in both enantiomeric forms from d-ribose. Out of these polyhydroxy piperidine azasugars, 22, 39 and 20 were found to be potent as well as selective inhibitors of alpha-glucosidase with K(i) values ranging as low as 1.07 microM, 16.4 microM, and 88.2 microM, respectively. Replacement of the hydroxy methylene moiety of (K(i) 33% at 1 mM) by an amino methylene moiety (32, K(i) 36.8 microM) showed a remarkable increase in the activity (almost 30 times). Furthermore, increasing the lipophilicity of by N-alkylation with a dodecyl group (36) showed a three-fold enhancement in the activity (K(i) 217 microM to K(i) 72.3 microM).

T-antigen binding lectin with antibacterial activity from marine invertebrate, sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra): possible involvement in differential recognition of bacteria.

In invertebrates, cellular and humoral components are evolved to maintain their body immunity and integrity. Both these factors respond to different antigens such as microorganisms, vertebrate erythrocytes and foreign proteins. In this article, we report a study of a lectin (HSL) involved in immune response in the echinoderm, sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra). Correlative studies indicate that the expression of this defensive lectin is induced by bacterial challenge, wherein cell wall glycoconjugates of bacteria are involved in lectin induction. HSL showed strong broad spectrum antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Under in vitro conditions, purified HSL mediate agglutination of the test bacteria, there by indicating a possible mode of action in physiological situation.

Purification and characterization of a T-antigen specific lectin from the coelomic fluid of a marine invertebrate, sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra).

A novel lectin was purified from the coelomic fluid of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra (HSL), subjected to bacterial challenge. HSL is a monomeric glycoprotein of molecular mass 182 kDa. The lectin is highly thermostable as it retains full activity for 1 h at 80 degrees C. Further, the hemagglutination activity of HSL is unaffected by pH in the range 2-11. Unlike other lectins purified from marine invertebrates, the hemagglutination activity of HSL does not require any divalent metal ions. The affinity profile of HSL was studied by a combination of hemagglutination inhibition and fluorescence spectroscopy. HSL binds to desialylated glycoproteins, MealphaGal, T-antigen and T (alpha-ser)-antigen with a distinction between beta1-4 and beta1-3 linkages. Mealpha-T-antigen was a potent ligand having highest affinity (Ka 8.32 x 10(7)M(-1)). Monosaccharide binding is enthalphically driven while disaccharide binding involves both entropic and enthalpic contributions.

Steady state and time-resolved fluorescence studies of a hemagglutinin from Moringa oleifera.

The saccharide binding and conformational characterization of a hemagglutinin, a low molecular weight protein from the seeds of Moringa oleifera was studied using steady state and time resolved fluorescence. The lectin binds sugars LacNAc (K (a) = 1380 M(-1)) and fructose (K (a) = 975 M(-1)), as determined by the fluorescence spectroscopy. It has a single tryptophan per monomer which is exposed on the surface and is in a strong electropositive environment as revealed by quenching with iodide. Quenching of the fluorescence by acrylamide involved both static (K (s) = 0.216 M(-1)) and collisional (K (sv) = 8.19 M(-1)) components. The native protein showed two different lifetimes, tau (1) (1.6 ns) and tau (2) (4.36 ns) which decrease and get converted into a single one, (2.21 ns) after quenching with 0.15 M acrylamide. The bimolecular quenching constant, k ( q ) was 7.55 x 10(11) M(-1) s(-1). ANS binding studies showed that the native protein has exposed hydrophobic patches which get further exposed at extreme acidic or alkaline pH. However, they get buried in the interior of the protein in presence of 1 M GdnHCl or urea.

Structure-activity relationship of a hemagglutinin from Moringa oleifera seeds.

The hemagglutinin from the seeds of Moringa oleifera (MoL) agglutinates human as well as rabbit erythrocytes; the affinity for the latter is almost 250 times more than that for the former. MoL was inhibited by glycoproteins namely thyroglobulin, fetuin and holotransferin indicating the complex sugar specificity of the lectin. The protein is a homodimer with molecular mass of 14kDa, subunits (7.1kDa) linked by the disulfide bond(s). The secondary structure elements of MoL are alpha-helix, 28%; beta-sheet, 23%; turn 20% and unordered 28%. While the activity and secondary structure were not affected at extreme pH and high temperature, they were drastically affected in presence of dithiothreitol at and above pH 7.0, indicating that disulfide linkages hold the active conformation of the protein.

Study of papain-cystatin interaction by intensity fading MALDI-TOF-MS.

Intensity fading (IF) matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS ) has become an alternative screening approach for the affinity-binding analysis of proteins and peptides with molecular ligands. In this investigation an attempt has been made to study the protein ligand interaction by intensity fading (IF) MALDI-MS using papain and cystatin as model system for protein-ligand interactions. The intensity fading of cystatin was monitored using various concentration of cystatin ranging from (1 to 8.6 microM) in presence of target protein, papain. The results indeed indicate that the intensity of cystatin decreases upon addition of papain. Furthermore, for the first time we have used IF-MALDI-MS for determining the number of binding sites for cystatin on papain by Scatchard analysis.

Interaction of Fusarium solani lectin with monosaccharides and oligosaccharides: a fluorometric study.

The intrinsic fluorescence intensity of Fusarium solani lectin was quenched upon binding to mono- and oligosaccharides without any change in the emission maximum and it was used to determine association constants for several sugars and glycans. The lectin interacted very poorly with monosaccharides but well with disaccharides (T-antigen and LacNAc) with a distinction between beta1-->4 and beta1-->3 linkages. Among the monosaccharides, the interaction was observed only with Gal/GalNAc derivatives and not with Glc/Man derivatives. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the binding of the lectin with all the saccharides is enthalpically driven and exothermic in nature. Asialo-triantennary N-glycan and asialo-biantennary N-glycan showed higher affinity than monovalent LacNAc with significant increase in binding enthalpy, pointing towards the importance of multivalency in the lectin-ligand interactions. Time-resolved fluorescence measurement indicated the lectin has two lifetimes for tryptophan and the shorter lifetime is affected on ligand binding.

Chemical, thermal and pH-induced equilibrium unfolding studies of Fusarium solani lectin.

The effect of urea, guanidine thiocyanate, temperature and pH was studied on the conformational stability of Fusarium solani lectin. Equilibrium unfolding with chemical denaturants showed that the lectin was least stable at pH 12 and maximally stable at pH 8.0 near its pI (8.7). Guanidine thiocyanate (the concentration of denaturant at which the protein is half folded, D1/2 = 0.49 M at pH 12) was found to be an eight times stronger denaturant than urea (D1/2 = 3.88 M at pH 12). The unfolding curves obtained with fluorescence and CD measurements showed good agreement indicating a monophasic nature of unfolding and excluded the possibility of formation of any stable intermediate. The effect of pH on the lectin was found to be unusual as at acidic pH, the lectin showed a flexible tertiary structure with pronounced secondary structure, and retained its hemagglutinating activity. On the other hand, the lectin did not show any loss of conformation or activity upto 70 degrees C for 15 min. Moreover, thermal denaturation did not result in the aggregation or precipitation of the protein even at high temperatures. Thermal denaturation was also carried out in the presence of a low concentration of guanidine thiocyanate. Change in the enthalpy of transition (DeltaHm) varied linearly with transition temperature (Tm), which indicated that the heat capacity (DeltaCp = 3.95 kJ . mol-1 . K-1) of the lectin remained constant during the unfolding.

Sulfite reductase-mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles capped with phytochelatin.

An enzymatic synthesis route to peptide-capped gold nanoparticles has been developed. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized using alpha-NADPH-dependent sulfite reductase and phytochelatin in vitro. The gold ions were reduced in the presence of the enzyme sulfite reductase, leading to the formation of a stable gold hydrosol of dimensions 7-20 nm and were stabilized by the capping peptide. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV-visible optical absorption. These studies will help in designing a rational enzymatic strategy for the synthesis of nanomaterials of different chemical compositions, shapes and sizes as well as their separation.

Purification and characterization of a lectin from endophytic fungus Fusarium solani having complex sugar specificity.

A lectin from the mycelial extract of an endophytic strain of Fusarium solani was purified. Its hemagglutinating activity was inhibited by glycoproteins possessing N-linked as well as O-linked glycans. The thermodynamics and kinetics of binding of glycans and glycoproteins to F. solani lectin was studied using surface plasmon resonance. The lectin showed high affinity for asialofetuin, asialomucin, asialofibrinogen, and thyroglobulin; and comparatively low affinity for mucin, fetuin, fibrinogen, and holotransferrin. Glycoproteins showed several fold higher affinity than their corresponding glycans with significant contribution from enthalpy and positive entropy, suggesting the involvement of non-polar protein-protein interaction. Moreover, the higher affinity of the glycoproteins was due to their faster association rates and low activation energy.

Convergent approach toward the synthesis of the stereoisomers of C-6 homologues of 1-deoxynojirimycin and their analogues: evaluation as specific glycosidase inhibitors.

A new and stereoselective strategy is developed to synthesize an appropriate template 9 to obtain C-6 homologues of 1-deoxyazasugars such as 1-deoxy-D-galactohomonojirimycin (5), 1-deoxy-4-hydroxymethyl-D-glucohomonojirimycin (6), and their enantiomers. The template 9 is also used to obtain neutral nonbasic pseudo-glyconolactam (8), C-4 amino, and methyl analogues of 1-deoxy-homonojirimycin as new analogues of 1-deoxyhomoazasugars. Compound 5 is found to be a potent and specific inhibitor to alpha-galactosidase (Ki = 1.7 microM). Similarly compounds 6 (Ki= 28 microM), ent-5 (Ki= 129 microM), and ent-6 (Ki= 12 microM) exhibited specific inhibition of beta-glucosidase.

Binding of T-antigen disaccharides to Artocarpus hirsuta lectin and jacalin are energetically different.

The thermodynamics of binding of Me-alpha(-GalNAc, Gal-beta-1-3GalNAc-alpha-O-Me (T-antigen-alpha), Gal-beta-1-3GalNAc and Gal-alpha-1-6Glc (mellibiose) to Artocarpus hirsuta lectin was studied using fluorescence spectroscopy. The binding affinities of the saccharides are in the order Gal-beta-1-3GalNAc-alpha-O-Me > Me-alpha-GalNAc > Me-alpha-Gal > Gal-beta-1-3GalNAc > Gal-alpha-1-6Glc. The binding affinities were comparable to those for jacalin. However, binding of the saccharides to the A. hirsuta lectin was not affected as strongly by temperature as observed in jacalin and the trend was found to be reversed. Values for AH and AS were found to be positive in A. hirsuta lectin-disaccharide binding despite similar binding affinities. Thus, with 99% structural and 96% sequence homology, with similar sugar specificity and affinity, the energetics of the disaccharide binding of the two lectins seem to be different. Me-alpha-GalNAc binding to A. hirsuta lectin is enthalpically driven, because the association constant decreases with increasing temperature. However, the binding of the T-antigen disaccharides and mellibiose disaccharides to the lectin is entropically driven. The difference in the molecular associations in the packing and variation of the C-terminal length of the beta chain of the A. hirsuta lectin could be reflected in the different disaccharide binding energetics.

Studies on recombinant single chain Jacalin lectin reveal reduced affinity for saccharides despite normal folding like native Jacalin.

Sugar binding studies, inactivation, unfolding, and refolding of native Jacalin (nJacalin) from Artocarpus integrifolia and recombinant single-chain Jacalin (rJacalin) expressed in Escherichia coli were studied by intrinsic fluorescence and thermal and chemical denaturation approaches. Interestingly, rJacalin does not undergo any proteolytic processing in an E. coli environment. It has 100fold less affinity for methyl-alpha-galactose (Ka: 2.48 x 10(2)) in comparison to nJacalin (Ka: 1.58 x 10(4)), and it also binds Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) disaccharide (Galbeta1-3GalNAc) with less affinity. Overall sugar binding characteristics of rJacalin are qualitatively similar to that of nJacalin (Gal

Immobilization of biogenic gold nanoparticles in thermally evaporated fatty acid and amine thin films.

We have recently demonstrated the biological synthesis of gold nanoparticles by the reduction of aqueous chloroaurate ions by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum and with extract of geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) leaf. In this paper, we demonstrate the immobilization of biogenic gold nanoparticles in lipid thin films deposited by thermal evaporation. The charge on the gold nanoparticles synthesized by both the fungus and the geranium plant extract is used to facilitate their immobilization in both anionic and cationic lipid thin films. A rough estimate of the isoelectric point of the proteins capping the gold nanoparticles synthesized using the fungus could be made by pH-dependent microgravimetry studies of the immobilization process. An interesting size and shape selectivity in the immobilized gold nanoparticles is observed in the lipid thin films. The biogenic gold nanoparticle-lipid composite films were characterized using quartz crystal microgravimetry, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy.

Low molecular mass pectate lyase from Fusarium moniliforme: similar modes of chemical and thermal denaturation.

A low molecular mass pectate lyase from Fusarium moniliforme was unfolded reversibly by urea and Gdn-HCl at its optimum pH of 8.5, as monitored by intrinsic fluorescence, circular dichroism, and enzymatic activity measurements. Equilibrium unfolding studies yielded a deltaG(H(2)O) of 1.741 kcal/mol, D1/2 of 2.3M, and m value of 0.755kcal/molM with urea and a deltaG(H(2)O) of 1.927kcal/mol, D1/2 of 1.52M, and m value of 1.27 kcal/molM with Gdn-HCl as the denaturant. Thermal denaturation of the pectate lyase at, pH 8.5, was also reversible even after exposure to 75 degrees C for 10 min. Thermodynamic parameters calculated from thermal denaturation curves at pH values from 5.0 to 8.5 yielded a deltaCp of 0.864kcal/(molK). The deltaG(25 degrees C) at, pH 8.5, was 2.06kcal/mol and was in good agreement with the deltaG(H(2)O) values obtained from chemical denaturation curves. There was no exposure of hydrophobic pockets during chemical or thermal denaturation as indicated by the inability of ANS to bind the pectate lyase.

A new access to polyhydroxy piperidines of the azasugar class: synthesis and glycosidase inhibition studies.

A new synthetic strategy has been devised to access a variety of polyhydroxylated piperidines belonging to the azasugar class of glycosidase inhibitors. The key precursor (3aR, 7aR)-5-benzyl-2,2-dimethyl-7-methylenehexahydro[1,3]dioxo[4,5-c]pyridine is obtained by photoinduced electron transfer (PET) cyclization of the corresponding alpha-trimethylsilylmethylamine radical cation to the tethered acetylene functionality. The new molecules have been evaluated for inhibitory properties for certain beta-glycosidases and have been found to be moderate to weak inhibitors of the enzymes under study.