Metformin Attenuates Monosodium-Iodoacetate-Induced Osteoarthritis via Regulation of Pain Mediators and the Autophagy-Lysosomal Pathway.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative arthritis associated with pain and cartilage destruction in the elderly; it is known to be involved in inflammation as well. A drug called celecoxib is commonly used in patients with osteoarthritis to control pain. Metformin is used to treat type 2 diabetes but also exhibits regulation of the autophagy pathway. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether metformin can treat monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced OA in rats. Metformin was administered orally every day to rats with OA. Paw-withdrawal latency and threshold were used to assess pain severity. Cartilage damage and pain mediators in dorsal root ganglia were evaluated by histological analysis and a scoring system. Relative mRNA expression was measured by real-time PCR. Metformin reduced the progression of experimental OA and showed both antinociceptive properties and cartilage protection. The combined administration of metformin and celecoxib controlled cartilage damage more effectively than metformin alone. In chondrocytes from OA patients, metformin reduced catabolic factor gene expression and inflammatory cell death factor expression, increased LC3Ⅱb, p62, and LAMP1 expression, and induced an autophagy-lysosome fusion phenotype. We investigated if metformin treatment reduces cartilage damage and inflammatory cell death of chondrocytes. The results suggest the potential for the therapeutic use of metformin in OA patients based on its ability to suppress pain and protect cartilage.

Uncoupling oxidative/energy metabolism with low sub chronic doses of 3-nitropropionic acid or iodoacetate in vivo produces striatal cell damage.

A variety of evidence suggests that the failure of cellular metabolism is one of the underlying causes of neurodegenerative diseases. For example, the inhibition of mitochondrial function produces a pattern of cellular pathology in the striatum that resembles that seen in Huntington's disease. However, neurons can also generate ATP through the glycolytic pathway. Recent work has suggested a direct interaction between mutated huntingtin and a key enzyme in the glycolytic pathway, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Yet little work has been gone into examination of the cellular pathology that results from the inhibition of this alternative energy source. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to characterize the cellular pathology that results in the striatum of mice after treatment with a toxin (iodoacete, IOA) that compromises anaerobic metabolism. This striatal pathology is compared to that produced by a widely studied blocker of mitochondrial function (3-nitropropionic acid, 3-NP). We found that low doses of either toxin resulted in significant pathology in the mouse striatum. Signs of apoptosis were observed in both experimental groups, although apoptosis triggered by IOA treatment was independent from caspase-3 activation. Importantly, each toxin appears to produce cellular damage through distinct mechanisms; only 3-NP generated clear evidence of oxidative stress as well as inhibition of endogenous antioxidants. Understanding the distinct pathological fingerprints of cell loss produced by blockade of oxidative and anaerobic metabolisms may give us insights into neurodegenerative diseases.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity is critical for glucose metabolism and embryo survival in murine blastocysts.

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signal transduction pathway is a well known mediator of cell growth, proliferation, and survival signals. Whereas the expression and function of this pathway has been documented during mammalian development, evidence demonstrating the physiologic importance of this pathway in murine preimplantation embryos is beginning to emerge. This study demonstrates that inhibition of the PI3K pathway leads to the induction of apoptosis in both murine blastocysts and trophoblast stem cells. The apoptosis induced in both model systems correlates with a decrease in the expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1 at the plasma membrane. In addition, blastocysts cultured in the presence of the PI3K inhibitor LY-294002 display a decrease in both 2-deoxyglucose uptake and hexokinase activity as compared with control blastocysts. To determine the impact of PI3K inhibition on pregnancy outcome, embryo transfer experiments were performed. Blastocysts cultured in the presence of LY-294002 demonstrate a dramatic increase in fetal resorptions as compared with control embryos. Finally, we demonstrate that impairment of glucose metabolism via iodoacetate, a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase inhibitor, is sufficient to induce apoptosis in both blastocysts and trophoblast stem cells. Moreover, blastocysts treated with iodoacetate result in poor pregnancy outcome as determined by embryo transfer experiments. Taken together these data demonstrate the critical importance of the PI3K pathway in preimplantation embryo survival and pregnancy outcome and further emphasize the importance of glucose utilization and metabolism in cell survival pathways.

RAC GTPases in tobacco and Arabidopsis mediate auxin-induced formation of proteolytically active nuclear protein bodies that contain AUX/IAA proteins.

Auxin signaling relies on ubiquitin ligase SCF(TIR1)-mediated 26S proteasome-dependent proteolysis of a large family of short-lived transcription regulators, auxin/indole acetic acid (Aux/IAA), resulting in the derepression of auxin-responsive genes. We have shown previously that a subset of Rac GTPases is activated by auxin, and they in turn stimulate auxin-responsive gene expression. We show here that increasing Rac signaling activity promotes Aux/IAA degradation, whereas downregulating that activity results in the reduction of auxin-accelerated Aux/IAA proteolysis. Observations reported here reveal a novel function for these Rac GTPases as regulators for ubiquitin/26S proteasome-mediated proteolysis and further consolidate their role in auxin signaling. Moreover, our study reveals a cellular process whereby auxin induces and Rac GTPases mediate the recruitment of nucleoplasmic Aux/IAAs into proteolytically active nuclear protein bodies, into which components of the SCF(TIR1), COP9 signalosome, and 26S proteasome are also recruited.

pH Dependence of the reaction catalyzed by avian mitochondrial phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase.

The pH dependence of the reaction catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) provides significant insight into the chemical mechanism. The pH dependence of k(cat) shows the importance of two acidic ionizations with pK(a) values of 6.5 and 7.0 assigned to the active site metal ligands H249 and K228. A single basic ionization is observed with an apparent pK(a) value of 8.4 that is assigned to K275 that is located in the P-loop motif and is essential for phosphoryl transfer. The pH dependence of k(cat)/K(M,PEP) demonstrates the importance of the same two acidic ionizations in the interaction of phosphoenolpyruvate with PEPCK and a single basic ionization with a pK(a) value of 8.1 that is assigned to Y220. The interaction of Mg-IDP with PEPCK is dependent upon a single acidic ionization attributed to K228 and two basic ionizations, both having an average pK(a) value of 8.1. One of the basic ionizations is attributed to the P-loop lysine (K275) and the other to C273.

Structural and functional changes in bovine pancreatic ribonuclease a by the replacement of Phe120 with other hydrophobic residues.

To clarify the specific role of Phe120 in bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (RNase A), changes in the thermal stability and activity of F120L, F120A, F120G, and F120W were analyzed with respect to some thermodynamic terms, i.e., Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy. The structural destabilization of F120L, F120A, and F120G was due to a decrease in DeltaH(m) with a parallel decrease in amino-acid volume at position 120, while the destabilization of F120W can be ascribed to an increase in DeltaS(m) accompanying an increase in DeltaH(m), showing that the size of Phe120 produces an optimum balance of conformational enthalpy and entropy for achieving the maximal structural stability. Moreover, the replacement of Phe120 affects activity. The increase in K(m) showed that the hydrophobicity and pi electron of Phe120 are important factors in substrate binding. The decrease in k(cat) was predicted to be due to positional changes of the side chains of His12 and/or His119. The positional changes were successfully detected by the rate of carboxymethylation by iodoacetate or bromoacetate, which correlated very well with decreases in activity, supporting the view that Phe120 also plays an important role in determining the position of His12 and/or His119 in order to achieve efficient catalysis.

Regulation of auxin transport by aminopeptidases and endogenous flavonoids.

The 1-N-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA)-binding protein is a putative negative regulator of polar auxin transport that has been shown to block auxin efflux from both whole plant tissues and microsomal membrane vesicles. We previously showed that NPA is hydrolyzed by plasma-membrane amidohydrolases that co-localize with tyrosine, proline, and tryptophan-specific aminopeptidases (APs) in the cotyledonary node, hypocotyl-root transition zone and root distal elongation zone of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. seedlings. Moreover, amino acyl-beta-naphthylamide (aa-NA) conjugates resembling NPA in structure have NPA-like inhibitory activity on growth, suggesting a possible role of APs in NPA action. Here we report that the same aa-NA conjugates and the AP inhibitor bestatin also block auxin efflux from seedling tissue. Bestatin and, to a lesser extent, some aa-NA conjugates were more effective inhibitors of low-affinity specific [3H]NPA-binding than were the flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol but had no effect on high-affinity binding. Since the APs are inhibited by flavonoids, we compared the localization of endogenous flavonoids and APs in seedling tissue. A correlation between AP and flavonoid localization was found in 5- to 6-d-old seedlings. Evidence that these flavonoids regulate auxin accumulation in vivo was obtained using the flavonoid-deficient mutant, tt4. In whole-seedling [14C]indole-3-acetic acid transport studies, the pattern of auxin distribution in the tt4 mutant was shown to be altered. The defect appeared to be in auxin accumulation, as a considerable amount of auxin escaped from the roots. Treatment of the tt4 mutant with the missing intermediate naringenin restored normal auxin distribution and accumulation by the root. These results implicate APs and endogenous flavonoids in the regulation of auxin efflux.

Regulation of the cyanide-resistant alternative oxidase of plant mitochondria. Identification of the cysteine residue involved in alpha-keto acid stimulation and intersubunit disulfide bond formation.

The cyanide-resistant alternative oxidase of plant mitochondria is a homodimeric protein whose activity can be regulated by a redox-sensitive intersubunit sulfhydryl/disulfide system and by alpha-keto acids. After determining that the Arabidopsis alternative oxidase possesses the redox-sensitive sulfhydryl/disulfide system, site-directed mutagenesis of an Arabidopsis cDNA clone was used to individually change the two conserved Cys residues, Cys-128 and Cys-78, to Ala. Using diamide oxidation and chemical cross-linking of the protein expressed in Escherichia coli, Cys-78 was shown to be: 1) the Cys residue involved in the sulfhydryl/disulfide system; and 2) not required for subunit dimerization. The C128A mutant was stimulated by pyruvate, while the C78A mutant protein had little activity and displayed no stimulation by pyruvate. Mutating Cys-78 to Glu produced an active enzyme which was insensitive to pyruvate, consistent with alpha-keto acid activation occurring through a thiohemiacetal. These results indicate that Cys-78 serves as both the regulatory sulfhydryl/disulfide and the site of activation by alpha-keto acids. In light of these results, the previously observed effects of sulfhydryl reagents on the alternative oxidase of isolated soybean mitochondria were re-examined and were found to be in agreement with a single sulfhydryl residue being the site both of alpha-keto acid activation and of the regulatory sulfhydryl/disulfide system.

Role of Phe120 in the activity and structure of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A.

Phenylalanine120 is a candidate residue juxtaposing catalytic His12 and His119 in ribonuclease A (RNase A). To clarify its role in construction of the catalytic center, Phe120 was replaced by alanine, tryptophan, leucine, or glutamic acid by site-directed mutagenesis. The transphosphorylation and hydrolysis activities of the mutant RNase As, respectively, toward cytidinyl 3',5' adenosine (CpA) and cytidine 2',3' cyclic monophosphate (C>p) were compared with those of the wild type enzyme. The Km values of the two reactions increased markedly with slight changes in the Kcat values. The pKe values of His12 and His119 in the wild type and mutant enzymes, estimated from the pH dependence of the kcat/Km values, showed little change. The rate of carboxymethylation was reduced markedly by the mutations. The Ki values of the phosphate anion as to hydrolysis activity increased only slightly when Phe120 was replaced by leucine, tryptophan, or alanine. These findings suggest that Phe120 participates in the binding of the substrate, juxtaposing His12 and His119, and in stabilizing the transition state intermediate in the hydrolysis reaction. Furthermore, the decreases in the thermal denaturation temperatures of all the mutants, particularly F120E, indicate that Phe120 also helps maintain the conformational stability of RNase A.

13C-NMR studies of transmembrane electron transfer to extracellular ferricyanide in human erythrocytes.

Human erythrocytes are known to reduce ferricyanide (hexacyanoferrate) [Fe(CN)6]3- to ferrocyanide [Fe(CN)6]2- in an extracellular reaction that involves the transmembrane transfer of reducing equivalents; potentially these could be either electrons from NADH, formed in glycolysis inside the cells or transmembrane exchange of reduced solutes. The 13C-NMR resonance of [Fe(13CN)6]3- (which was synthesised in our laboratory) was seen to be very broad while that of ferrocyanide was narrow. This phenomenon formed the basis of a simple non-invasive procedure to study ferricyanide reduction in high-haematocrit suspensions of erythrocytes. The method should be directly applicable to other cell types. In a series of experiments, erythrocyte metabolism was studied in the presence of ferricyanide, using 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR spectroscopy. Incubating the cells with 13C-labelled glucose enabled the rate of ferricyanide reduction, glucose utilisation, and lactate and bicarbonate production to be measured simultaneously. Various metabolic states were imposed as follows: glycolysis was inhibited with F- and iodoacetate; glucose transport was inhibited with phloretin and cytochalasin B; and anion transport was inhibited with dinitrostilbene 2,2'-disulfonate and p-chloromercuriphenyl sulfonate. Earlier work was confirmed, showing that ascorbate is intimately involved in the reduction reaction; but its main action appears not to be mediated by membrane transport but in a membrane-associated redox-protein complex that is functionally linked to glycolysis. Also, large differences (factors of three) in the rate of the reduction reaction were recorded in erythrocytes from different, apparently healthy, donors.

Cysteine reactivity in Thermoanaerobacter brockii alcohol dehydrogenase.

The free cysteine residues in the extremely thermophilic Thermoanaerobacter brockii alcohol dehydrogenase (TBADH) were characterized using selective chemical modification with the stable nitroxyl biradical bis(1-oxy-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-3-imidazoline-4-yl)disulfide, via a thiol-disulfide exchange reaction and with 2[14C]iodoacetic acid, via S-alkylation. The respective reactions were monitored by electron paramagenetic resonance (EPR) and by the incorporation of the radioactive label. In native TBADH, the rapid modification of one cysteine residue per subunit by the biradical and the concomitant loss of catalytic activity was reversed by DTT. NADP protected the enzyme from both modification and inactivation by the biradical. RPLC fingerprint analysis of reduced and S-carboxymethylated lysyl peptides from the radioactive alkylated enzyme identified Cys 203 as the readily modified residue. A second cysteine residue was rapidly modified with both modification reagents when the catalytic zinc was removed from the enzyme by o-phenanthroline. This cysteine residue, which could serve as a putative ligand to the active-site zinc atom, was identified as Cys 37 in RPLC. The EPR data suggested a distance of < or 10 A between Cys 37 and Cys 203. Although Cys 283 and Cys 295 were buried within the protein core and were not accessible for chemical modification, the two residues were oxidized to cystine when TBADH was heated at 75 degrees C, forming a disulfide bridge that was not present in the native enzyme, without affecting either enzymatic activity or thermal stability. The status of these cysteine residues was verified by site directed mutagenesis.

Effect of selective cysteine --> alanine replacements on the catalytic functions of lysine: N6-hydroxylase.

Recombinant lysine: N6-hydroxylase, rIucD, catalyzes the conversion of L-lysine to its N6-hydroxy derivative. Re-examination of the nucleotide sequence of iucD, the gene encoding for the enzyme, has revealed a few discrepancies in the data documented in literature and the corrected version is presented. The revised nucleotide sequence predicts the presence of five cysteine residues in the primary structure of IucD. Two of these residues, cysteine 51 and cysteine 158 are alkylatable by iodoacetate in the native conformation of the protein resulting in a loss of monooxygenase activity while their replacement with alanine has no such adverse effect. Site directed mutagenesis studies have enabled an assessment of the reactivity of these cysteine residue(s) towards thiol modifying agents.

The reaction of the soybean cotyledon mitochondrial cyanide-resistant oxidase with sulfhydryl reagents suggests that alpha-keto acid activation involves the formation of a thiohemiacetal.

The cyanide-resistant alternative oxidase of plant mitochondria is known to be activated by alpha-keto acids, such as pyruvate, and by the reduction of a disulfide bond that bridges the two subunits of the enzyme homodimer. When the regulatory cysteines are oxidized, the inactivated enzyme is much less responsive to pyruvate than when these groups are reduced. When soybean cotyledon mitochondria were isolated in the presence of iodoacetate or N-ethylmaleimide, the intermolecular disulfide bond did not form and the alternative oxidase was present only as a noncovalently associated dimer. N-Ethylmaleimide inhibited alternative oxidase activity, but iodoacetate was found to stimulate activity much like pyruvate, including enhancing the enzyme's apparent affinity for reduced ubiquinone. The presence of pyruvate or iodoacetate blocked inhibition of the enzyme by N-ethylmaleimide, indicating that all three compounds acted at the same sulfhydryl group on the alternative oxidase protein. The site of pyruvate and iodoacetate action was shown to be a different sulfhydryl than that involved in the redox-active regulatory disulfide bond, because iodoacetate bound to the alternative oxidase at the activating site even when the redox-active regulatory sulfhydryls were oxidized. Given the nature of the covalent adduct formed by the reaction of iodoacetate with sulfhydryls, the activation of the alternative oxidase by alpha-keto acids appears to involve the formation of a thiohemiacetal.

Detection of protease activity using a fluorescence-enhancement globular substrate.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) highly derivatized with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC, isomer I) served as a fluorescent enhancement substrate to measure protease activity. In the native globular BSA structure, the fluorescence of the lysine-conjugated fluorescein moieties was quenched 98%. Proteolytic digestion of highly derivatized BSA with Pronase resulted in fluorescence enhancement of 4300%. Both alpha-chymotrypsin and proteinase K yielded lower but similar fluorescence enhancement values of 2880% and 2800%, respectively. Digestion of the fluorescein-BSA substrate with trypsin, which required basic amino acids for activity, showed fluorescence enhancement of 1480% reflecting the fluorescein-lysine thiocarbamyl linkage. When derivatized substrate was pretreated with a thiol-reducing agent prior to incubation with proteases, a relatively small increase in fluorescence was noted relative to the untreated substrate except in the case of Pronase. The minimum sensitivity of proteolytic activity, based on a comparison of untreated and reduced FITC25BSA was 32 x 10(-6) units for I ng proteinase K, 1 x 10(-3) units for 1 ng alpha-chymotrypsin and 10 x 10(-3) units for Pronase and trypsin (1 ng each). The fluorescence enhancement assay was suited for sensitive intensity measurements or as an endpoint assay to detect protease activity.

Identification of the active sites of human and schistosomal hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferases by GMP-2',3'-dialdehyde affinity labeling.

Labeling of human and schistosomal hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferases (HGPRTases) with GMP-2',3'-dialdehyde (ox-GMP) results in nearly complete inactivation of the enzymes. Digestion of the [3H]ox-GMP-modified HGPRTases with trypsin followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic fractionation, partial amino acid sequencing, and mass spectral analysis of the labeled peptides revealed that four peptides from each of the two HGPRTases were labeled with ox-GMP. The conclusion from these studies indicates that two segments of the human enzyme protein, Ser 4-Arg 47 and Ser 91-Arg 100, and one region in the schistosomal enzyme, Gly 95-Lys 133, were labeled by ox-GMP. Since the ox-GMP labeling of human HGPRTase was effectively blocked by either GMP or PRibPP, whereas that of schistosomal HGPRTase was inhibited only by GMP [Kanaaneh, J., Craig, S. P., III, & Wang, C. C. (1994) Eur. J. Biochem. 223, 595-601], the two labeled peptides in human enzyme may be involved in binding to both GMP and PRibPP while the one peptide in schistosomal enzyme may be implicated only in GMP binding. We have also confirmed a previous observation [Keough, D. T., Emmerson, B. T., & de Jersey, J. (1991) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1096, 95-100] that carboxymethylation of Cys 22 in the human HGPRTase by iodoacetate was inhibited by PRibPP. We also demonstrated that the carboxymethylation of Cys 25 in schistosomal HGPRTase by iodoacetate was specifically blocked by PRibPP. Apparently, the N-terminal regions in both enzymes are involved in PRibPP binding. The fact that ox-GMP labels the N-terminal region in human enzyme but not in schistosomal enzyme and that PRibPP protects against ox-GMP labeling in human enzyme but not in schistosomal enzyme both suggest that the amino-terminal PRibPP-binding site may be in close proximity to the GMP-binding site in human HGPRTase but not in schistosomal HGPRTase. This clear distinction between the active sites of human and schistosomal HGPRTases could be further exploited for potential opportunities for antischistosomal chemotherapy.

In vitro proteolytic activity and active-site identification of the human cytomegalovirus protease.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) encodes a protease that cleaves itself and the HCMV assembly protein. Two proteolytic processing sites within the protease were identified at Ala 256-Ser 257 (release site) and Ala 643-Ser 644 (maturation site). Identification of rP5-P4' and mP4-P6' as the minimal peptide substrates spanning the release and maturation cleavage sites, respectively, demonstrated a requirement for residues flanking the conserved core in substrate recognition and hydrolysis, which are unique to HCMV. Kinetic parameters determined for release-site-derived and maturation-site-derived peptides revealed a 10-fold increase in kcat/Km for a maturational peptide (mP4-P8') over release-site peptide (rP5-P5'). Experimental results with a panel of class-specific protease inhibitors were consistent with the protease being a member of the serine or cysteine family of proteases. Further investigation revealed that the HCMV protease activity decreased with incorporation of [14C]iodoacetic acid, but when approximately 4.5 mol 14C were incorporated/mol enzyme, the enzyme retained approximately 20% of its original activity, indicating that hydrolysis does not require a cysteine nucleophile. Analysis of diisopropyl-fluorophosphate-inactivated protease by mass spectrometry indicated a stoichiometry of 1 diisopropyl phosphate/protease molecule, suggesting that hydrolysis requires a single serine nucleophile. The residue modified by diisopropyl fluorophosphate was identified as Ser132 by modification with 3H-labeled diisopropyl fluorophosphate, peptide mapping and Edman degradation. This residue and the region in which it is found is highly conserved among the herpes virus proteases. These data demonstrates that HCMV protease is a serine protease and that Ser132 is the active-site nucleophile.

The catalytic role of Cys124 in the dual specificity phosphatase VHR.

The recombinant human Vaccinia virus H1-related protein tyrosine phosphatase, (VHR PTPase) possesses intrinsic Tyr and Thr/Ser phosphatase activities. Both activities were abolished by a single amino acid substitution, C124S. When VHR was incubated with a 32P-labeled phosphotyrosine-containing substrate and then rapidly denatured, enzyme-associated 32P was evident following SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The formation of 32P-labeled protein could be blocked in the presence of an unlabeled substrate. VHR-associated 32P was sensitive to iodine but insensitive to pyridine and hydroxylamine. The catalytically inactive C124S mutant would not form a 32P-labeled enzyme. Furthermore, VHR phosphatase could be selectively inactivated by the alkylating agent iodoacetate. The inactivation resulted from the specific covalent modification of Cys124. Collectively these results suggest that a thiol-phosphate enzyme intermediate is formed when Cys124 of VHR accepts a phosphate from the substrate. Our results also demonstrate that the dual specificity phosphatases and the tyrosine-specific PTPases employ similar catalytic mechanisms.

Identification of an essential cysteine residue in pyridoxal phosphatase from human erythrocytes.

Pyridoxal-specific phosphatase purified from human erythrocytes was inactivated by a variety of thiol-specific reagents in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The presence of pyridoxal phosphate, a substrate, or inorganic phosphate, a competitive inhibitor, protected the enzyme from inactivation. Phosphatase inactivated by disulfide reagents was reactivated by the addition of excess dithiothreitol, indicating that the inactivation was due to formation of a mixed disulfide between the reagent and a free cysteinyl residue at or near the active site of the enzyme. Incorporation of either 1 mol of 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), 0.6 mol of iodo[3H]acetate, or 0.6 mol of N-[3H]ethylmaleimide per mol of subunit led to complete inactivation of the enzyme. High concentration of phosphate prevented the incorporation of DTNB and iodo[3H]acetate. Amino acid analysis of carboxymethylated enzyme and DTNB titration of the denatured phosphatase indicated that there may be only 1 cysteinyl residue per subunit. Modification by iodoacetate did not affect the quaternary structure of the enzyme. The phosphatase modified by iodo[3H]acetate was subjected to trypsin digestion, and the resulting peptides were separated on a reverse phase C18 column. Two radioactive peaks were obtained and contained a peptide with the N-terminal sequence of Ala-Gln-Gly-Val-Leu-Phe-Asp-Cys(Cm)-Asp-Gly-Val-Leu-X-Asn-Gly. Most of the radioactivity was released with Cys(Cm). These results indicate that the cysteinyl residue in this sequence is at or near the active site and is essential for activity. Residues 5-12 and 15 of this peptide are identical with a sequence of a yeast alkaline p-nitrophenylphosphatase, and the peptide has little homology with other mammalian phosphatases.

A 76-amino acid disulfide loop in the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis invasin protein is required for integrin receptor recognition.

The Yersinia pseudotuberculosis invasin protein is a 986-amino acid protein that promotes bacterial penetration into mammalian cells by avidly binding multiple beta 1-chain integrins. A 192-amino acid carboxyl-terminal domain of invasin was previously shown to be sufficient for binding. Evidence is presented here that a 76-amino acid disulfide loop in the integrin binding domain of invasin is required for invasin-mediated cell binding and entry. Bacterial mutants that were altered at either of 2 cysteine residues in the binding domain of invasin were completely defective for entry. Purified invasin protein derivatives altered at either of these cysteines, in contrast to the wild-type invasin, did not promote either cell binding or penetration. Analysis of proteolytic products of invasin in the presence or absence of reducing agent provided evidence of an intra-chain disulfide bond near the carboxyl terminus of the protein. Alkylation of invasin derivatives with [3H]iodoacetate indicated that these 2 cysteines were normally disulfide-bonded. A treatment that resulted in the maximal reduction of the disulfide bond also resulted in maximal loss of cell attachment activity. These results indicate that the 76-amino acid disulfide loop at the carboxyl terminus of invasin is required for recognition by integrins.

Conserved cysteine residues of histidinol dehydrogenase are not involved in catalysis. Novel chemistry required for enzymatic aldehyde oxidation.

The 4-electron oxidoreductase L-histidinol dehydrogenase (HDH, EC 1.1.1.23) oxidizes the amino alcohol histidinol to histidine via an aldehyde-level intermediate at a single active site. The enzyme contains two Zn2+ per dimer, and treatment with metal chelators causes a metal-reversible inactivation. NAD-linked aldehyde oxidations, for which glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase has served as the major paradigm, are thought to proceed via cysteine-based thiohemiacetals. Sequenced forms of HDH contain two conserved cysteine residues, Cys-116 and Cys-153 in the Salmonella typhimurium enzyme, and in previous work we have shown that HDH is inactivated by active site modification of Cys-116 by the reagent 4-nitro-7-chlorobenzadioxazole. Thus, Cys-116 is an excellent candidate for the active site nucleophile in HDH. In the current studies we show that treatment of HDH with the Zn2+ chelator 1,10-phenanthroline exposes Cys-116 to specific modification by iodoacetate, resulting in irreversible loss of activity. Site-specific mutagenesis was used to explore the roles of the conserved cysteine residues. The mutant enzymes C116S, C153S, C116A, and C153A and the double mutant C116,153A were each overproduced and purified to homogeneity. All mutant enzymes showed normal kcat and Km values for catalysis. The double mutant protein was unstable, and the single mutants also lose significant activities over a 3-h period during which wild-type enzyme retains full activity. The C116S mutant, and to a lesser extent the C116A mutant, were sensitive to the presence of EDTA in the assay medium, but the other mutants or wild-type enzyme were not, suggesting that Cys-116 may be near, but probably not liganded to, the bound metal ion. The results clearly indicate that HDH does not use a cysteine-based thiohemiacetal as a catalytic intermediate, requiring a new paradigm for NAD-linked aldehyde oxidation. Some models for the reaction are presented and discussed.