The enzymatic biotinylation of proteins: a post-translational modification of exceptional specificity.

Biotin is a coenzyme essential to all life forms. The vitamin has biological activity only when covalently attached to certain key metabolic enzymes. Most organisms have only one enzyme for attachment of biotin to other proteins and the sequences of these proteins and their substrate proteins are strongly conserved throughout nature. Structures of both the biotin ligase and the biotin carrier protein domain from Escherichia coli have been determined. These, together with mutational analyses of biotinylated proteins, are beginning to elucidate the exceptional specificity of this protein modification.

Processing of the N termini of nascent polypeptide chains requires deformylation prior to methionine removal.

N-formyl-methionine termini are formed in the initiation reaction of bacterial protein synthesis and processed during elongation of the nascent polypeptide chain. We report that the formyl group must be removed before the methionine residue can be cleaved by methionine aminopeptidase. This has long been implicitly assumed, but that assumption was based on inconclusive data and was in apparent conflict with more recently published data. We demonstrate that the Salmonella typhimurium methionine aminopeptidase is totally inactive on an N-formyl-methionyl peptide in vitro, and present a detailed characterization of the substrate specificity of this key enzyme by use of a very sensitive and quantitative assay. Finally, a reporter protein expressed in a strain lacking peptide deformylase was shown to retain the formyl group confirming the physiological role of the deformylase.

The C-terminal domain of biotin protein ligase from E. coli is required for catalytic activity.

Biotin protein ligase of Escherichia coli, the BirA protein, catalyses the covalent attachment of the biotin prosthetic group to a specific lysine of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) subunit of acetyl-CoA carboxylase. BirA also functions to repress the biotin biosynthetic operon and synthesizes its own corepressor, biotinyl-5'-AMP, the catalytic intermediate in the biotinylation reaction. We have previously identified two charge substitution mutants in BCCP, E119K, and E147K that are poorly biotinylated by BirA. Here we used site-directed mutagenesis to investigate residues in BirA that may interact with E119 or E147 in BCCP. None of the complementary charge substitution mutations at selected residues in BirA restored activity to wild-type levels when assayed with our BCCP mutant substrates. However, a BirA variant, in which K277 of the C-terminal domain was substituted with Glu, had significantly higher activity with E119K BCCP than did wild-type BirA. No function has been identified previously for the BirA C-terminal domain, which is distinct from the central domain thought to contain the ATP binding site and is known to contain the biotin binding site. Kinetic analysis of several purified mutant enzymes indicated that a single amino acid substitution within the C-terminal domain (R317E) and located some distance from the presumptive ATP binding site resulted in a 25-fold decrease in the affinity for ATP. Our data indicate that the C-terminal domain of BirA is essential for the catalytic activity of the enzyme and contributes to the interaction with ATP and the protein substrate, the BCCP biotin domain.

Pyruvate carboxylase.

Pyruvate carboxylase [EC 6.4.1.1] is a member of the family of biotin-dependent carboxylases and is found widely among eukaryotic tissues and in many prokaryotic species. It catalyses the ATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to form oxaloacetate which may be utilised in the synthesis of glucose, fat, some amino acids or their derivatives and several neurotransmitters. Diabetes and hyperthyroidism increase the level of expression of pyruvate carboxylase in the long term, while its activity in the short term is controlled by the intramitochondrial concentrations of acetyl-CoA and pyruvate. Many details of this enzyme's regulation are yet to be described in molecular terms. However, progress towards this goal and towards understanding the relationship of pyruvate carboxylase structure to its catalytic reaction mechanism, has been enormously enhanced recently by the cloning and sequencing of genes and cDNAs encoding the approximately 130 kDa subunit of this homotetramer. Defects in the expression or biotinylation of pyruvate carboxylase in humans almost invariably results in early death or at best a severely debilitating psychomotor retardation, clearly reflecting the vital role it plays in intermediary metabolism in many tissues including the brain.

In vivo enzymatic protein biotinylation.

Biotin is biologically active only when protein-bound and is covalently attached to a class of important metabolic enzymes, the biotin carboxylases and decarboxylases. Biotinylation is a relatively rare modification, with between one and five biotinylated protein species found in different organisms. We discuss the mechanism and structures involved in this extraordinarily specific protein modification and its exploitation in tagging recombinant proteins.

Molecular biology of biotin attachment to proteins.

Enzymatic attachment of biotin to proteins requires the interaction of a distinct domain of the acceptor protein (the "biotin domain") with the enzyme, biotin protein ligase, that catalyzes this essential and rare post-translational modification. Both biotin domains and biotin protein ligases are very strongly conserved throughout biology. This review concerns the protein structures and mechanisms involved in the covalent attachment of biotin to proteins.

The existence of multiple tetrameric conformers of chicken liver pyruvate carboxylase and their roles in dilution inactivation.

The time-dependent loss of enzymic activity and tetrameric structure of chicken liver pyruvate carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.1) after dilution below 2 units/ml was apparently monophasic and first-order. When examined over a range of initial enzyme concentrations, both activity and tetrameric structure decayed to equilibrium levels which were dependent on the initial concentration. The observed rate constants for the loss of enzymic activity (i) showed no apparent dependence on the initial enzyme concentration, and (ii) were of similar magnitude to the corresponding rate constants of dissociation. Computer simulations of the most likely kinetic model suggest that the predominant form of the dissociated enzyme is the monomer. Dilution of pyruvate carboxylase in the presence of the allosteric activator acetyl-CoA largely prevented the subsequent dissociation of the tetrameric molecule. In addition, acetyl-CoA was able to cause a degree of activation and reassociation when added after dilution inactivation had been allowed to occur. Electron-microscopic observation showed the treatment with avidin before dilution markedly decreased the degree of dissociation of the enzyme tetramer. This structure-stabilizing effect of avidin was dependent on preincubation of the concentrated enzyme solution with acetyl-CoA. We propose that, over a range of protein concentrations, the tetrameric enzyme exists in two forms that are in equilibrium, and that acetyl-CoA alters the equilibrium to favour the more compact form.

Molecular recognition in a post-translational modification of exceptional specificity. Mutants of the biotinylated domain of acetyl-CoA carboxylase defective in recognition by biotin protein ligase.

We have used localized mutagenesis of the biotin domain of the Escherichia coli biotin carboxyl carrier protein coupled with a genetic selection to identify regions of the domain having a role in interactions with the modifying enzyme, biotin protein ligase. We purified several singly substituted mutant biotin domains that showed reduced biotinylation in vivo and characterized these proteins in vitro. This approach has allowed us to distinguish putative biotin protein ligase interaction mutations from structurally defective proteins. Two mutant proteins with glutamate to lysine substitutions (at residues 119 or 147) behaved as authentic ligase interaction mutants. The E119K protein was virtually inactive as a substrate for biotin protein ligase, whereas the E147K protein could be biotinylated, albeit poorly. Neither substitution affected the overall structure of the domain, assayed by disulfide dimer formation and trypsin resistance. Substitutions of the highly conserved glycine residues at positions 133 and 143 or at a key hydrophobic core residue, Val-146, gave structurally unstable proteins.

Covalent modification of an exposed surface turn alters the global conformation of the biotin carrier domain of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase.

We have studied the apo (unbiotinylated) and holo (biotinylated) forms of BCCP87, an 87-residue COOH-terminal peptide comprising the biotin carrier domain of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein subunit of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase. The apo protein spontaneously formed disulfide-linked dimers and was modified readily by sulfhydryl reagents, whereas the holo protein remained monomeric and was unreactive toward sulfhydryl reagents unless a protein denaturant was present. These data indicated that the single cysteine residue of the domain (Cys-116) was much more reactive in the apo form of the protein. Incubation of apoBCCP87 with biotin ligase for different times, followed by reaction with fluorescein-5-maleimide, clearly showed that the loss of Cys-116 reactivity was the result of modification with biotin. In addition, reaction of Cys-116 with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) showed that apoBCCP87 denatured at lower urea concentrations than holoBCCP87. We also found that apoBCCP87 was at least 10-fold more sensitive than the holo form to proteolysis by a range of proteases. Identification of the cleavage sites indicated that the differences in protease sensitivity could not be attributed to shielding of susceptible bonds by the biotin moiety of the holo protein. These data indicate that a conformational change accompanies biotinylation of the biotin domain. Thus, modification of a beta-turn protruding from the protein surface results in alteration of the overall structure of this protein domain.

Biotin protein ligase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The N-terminal domain is required for complete activity.

Catalytically active biotin protein ligase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (EC 6.3.4.15) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to near homogeneity in three steps. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that the substrates ATP, biotin, and the biotin-accepting protein bind in an ordered manner in the reaction mechanism. Treatment with any of three proteases of differing specificity in vitro revealed that the sequence between residues 240 and 260 was extremely sensitive to proteolysis, suggesting that it forms an exposed linker between an N-terminal 27-kDa domain and the C-terminal 50-kDa domain containing the active site. The protease susceptibility of this linker region was considerably reduced in the presence of ATP and biotin. A second protease-sensitive sequence, located in the presumptive catalytic site, was protected against digestion by the substrates. Expression of N-terminally truncated variants of the yeast enzyme failed to complement E. coli strains defective in biotin protein ligase activity. In vitro assays performed with purified N-terminally truncated enzyme revealed that removal of the N-terminal domain reduced BPL activity by greater than 3500-fold. Our data indicate that both the N-terminal domain and the C-terminal domain containing the active site are necessary for complete catalytic function.

The biotin domain peptide from the biotin carboxyl carrier protein of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase causes a marked increase in the catalytic efficiency of biotin carboxylase and carboxyltransferase relative to free biotin.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of long-chain fatty acids. The Escherichia coli form of the enzyme consists of a biotin carboxylase activity, a biotin carboxyl carrier protein, and a carboxyltransferase activity. The C-terminal 87 amino acids of the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP87) form a domain that can be independently expressed, biotinylated, and purified (Chapman-Smith, A., Turner, D. L., Cronan, J. E., Morris, T. W., and Wallace, J. C. (1994) Biochem. J. 302, 881-887). The ability of the biotinylated form of this 87-residue protein (holoBCCP87) to act as a substrate for biotin carboxylase and carboxyltransferase was assessed and compared with the results with free biotin. In the case of biotin carboxylase holoBCCP87 was an excellent substrate with a K(m) of 0.16 +/- 0.05 mM and V(max) of 1000.8 +/- 182.0 min(-1). The V/K or catalytic efficiency of biotin carboxylase with holoBCCP87 as substrate was 8000-fold greater than with biotin as substrate. Stimulation of the ATP synthesis reaction of biotin carboxylase where carbamyl phosphate reacted with ADP by holoBCCP87 was 5-fold greater than with an equivalent amount of biotin. The interaction of holoBCCP87 with carboxyltransferase was characterized in the reverse direction where malonyl-CoA reacted with holoBCCP87 to form acetyl-CoA and carboxyholoBCCP87. The K(m) for holoBCCP87 was 0.45 +/- 0.07 mM while the V(max) was 2031.8 +/- 231.0 min(-1). The V/K or catalytic efficiency of carboxyltransferase with holoBCCP87 as substrate is 2000-fold greater than with biotin as substrate.

Further studies on the localization of the reactive lysyl residue of pyruvate carboxylase.

We have shown the increase in the acetyl-CoA-independent activity of sheep liver pyruvate carboxylase following trinitrophenylation of a specific lysine residue (designated Lys-A) to be the result of a large stimulation of the first partial reaction and a slight stimulation of the second partial reaction catalysed by this enzyme. Like acetyl-CoA, the activators adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate and CoA did not stimulate the catalytic activity of the trinitrophenylated enzyme in either the overall reaction or the first partial reaction. Conversely, trinitrophenylation had no effect on activation of the overall reaction and the second partial reaction by acetyl-phosphopantetheine. Protection experiments demonstrated that the presence of both acetyl-CoA and adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate decreased the rate of loss of activity during exposure of sheep liver pyruvate carboxylase to trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (TNBS), whereas acetyl-phosphopantetheine did not. 5'-AMP and acetyl-dephospho-CoA did not protect the enzyme against loss of activity, whereas the presence of adenosine 2',5'-bisphosphate only slightly decreased the rate of modification. This suggests that Lys-A interacts with the adenosine nucleotide portion of the acetyl-CoA molecule, specifically the 3'-phosphate moiety. Acetyl-CoA and adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate were shown to protect pyruvate carboxylase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae against inhibition by TNBS. A [14C]acetyl-CoA-binding assay demonstrated that modification of Lys-A inhibits the binding of acetyl-CoA to S. cerevisiae pyruvate carboxylase, indicating that Lys-A is at or near the acetyl-CoA-binding site.

Polymorphism of the yeast pyruvate carboxylase 2 gene and protein: effects on protein biotinylation.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae there are two isoenzymes of pyruvate carboxylase (Pyc) encoded by separate genes designated PYC1 and PYC2. We report the isolation and sequencing of a PYC2 gene, and the localization of both genes on the physical map of S. cerevisiae. Comparison with the previously reported sequence [Stucka, Dequin, Salmon and Gancedo (1991) Mol. Gen. Genet. 229, 307-315] revealed significant differences within the open reading frame. The most notable difference was near the 3' end, where we found a single base deletion reducing the open reading frame by 15 bases. We have confirmed the C-terminus of Pyc2 encoded by the gene isolated here by expressing and purifying an 86-amino-acid biotin-domain peptide. In addition, we investigated the effects of the two changes in the Pyc2 biotin domain (K1155R substitution and Q1178P/five-amino-acid extension) on the extent of biotinylation in vivo by Escherichia coli biotin ligase, and compared the biotinylation of peptides containing these changes with that of two different-length Pyc1 biotin-domain peptides. The K1155R substitution had very little effect on biotinylation, but the five-amino-acid C-terminal extension to Pyc2 and the N-terminal extension to Pycl both improved biotinylation in vivo.

Expression, biotinylation and purification of a biotin-domain peptide from the biotin carboxy carrier protein of Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase.

A protein segment consisting of the C-terminal 87 residues of the biotin carboxy carrier protein from Escherichia coli acetyl-CoA carboxylase was overexpressed in E. coli. The expressed biotin-domain peptide can be fully biotinylated by coexpression with a plasmid that overproduces E. coli biotin ligase. The extent of biotinylation was limited in vivo, but could be taken to completion in cell lysates on addition of ATP and biotin. We used the coexpression of biotin ligase and acceptor protein to label the biotin-domain peptide in vitro with [3H]biotin, which greatly facilitated development of a purification procedure. The apo (unbiotinylated) form of the protein was prepared by induction of biotin-domain expression in a strain lacking the biotin-ligase-overproduction plasmid. The apo domain could be separated from the biotinylated protein by ion-exchange chromatography or non-denaturing PAGE, and was converted into the biotinylated form of the peptide on addition of purified biotin ligase. The identify of the purified biotin-domain peptide was confirmed by N-terminal sequence analysis, amino acid analysis and m.s. The domain was readily produced and purified in sufficient quantities for n.m.r. structural analysis.

Isolation of a carboxyphosphate intermediate and the locus of acetyl-CoA action in the pyruvate carboxylase reaction.

When chicken liver pyruvate carboxylase was incubated with either H14CO3- or gamma-[32P]ATP, a labeled carboxyphospho-enzyme intermediate could be isolated. The complex was catalytically competent, as determined by its subsequent ability to transfer either 14CO2 to pyruvate or 32P to ADP. While the carboxyphospho-enzyme complex was inherently unstable and the stoichiometry of the transfer was variable depending on experimental conditions, both the [14C]carboxyphospho-enzyme and the carboxy[32P]phospho-enzyme had similar half-lives. Acetyl-CoA was shown to be involved in the conversion of the carboxyphospho-enzyme complex to the more stable carboxybiotin-enzyme species, which was consistent with the effects of acetyl-CoA on isotope exchange reactions involving ATP. We were unable to detect the formation of a phosphorylated biotin derivative during the ATP cleavage reaction. In the presence of K+ and at pH 9.5, the acetyl-CoA-independent activity of chicken liver pyruvate carboxylase approached 2% of the acetyl-CoA-stimulated rate, which represents a 30-fold increase on previously reported activity for this enzyme.

Mutational analysis of protein substrate presentation in the post-translational attachment of biotin to biotin domains.

Biotinylation in vivo is an extremely selective post-translational event where the enzyme biotin protein ligase (BPL) catalyzes the covalent attachment of biotin to one specific and conserved lysine residue of biotin-dependent enzymes. The biotin-accepting lysine, present in a conserved Met-Lys-Met motif, resides in a structured domain that functions as the BPL substrate. We have employed phage display coupled with a genetic selection to identify determinants of the biotin domain (yPC-104) of yeast pyruvate carboxylase 1 (residues 1075-1178) required for interaction with BPL. Mutants isolated using this strategy were analyzed by in vivo biotinylation assays performed at both 30 degrees C and 37 degrees C. The temperature-sensitive substrates were reasoned to have structural mutations, leading to compromised conformations at the higher temperature. This interpretation was supplemented by molecular modeling of yPC-104, since these mutants mapped to residues involved in defining the structure of the biotin domain. In contrast, substitution of the Met residue N-terminal to the target lysine with either Val or Thr produced mutations that were temperature-insensitive in the in vivo assay. Furthermore, these two mutant proteins and wild-type yPC-104 showed identical susceptibility to trypsin, consistent with these substitutions having no structural effect. Kinetic analysis of enzymatic biotinylation using purified Met --> Thr/Val mutant proteins with both yeast and Escherichia coli BPLs revealed that these substitutions had a strong effect upon K(m) values but not k(cat). The Met --> Thr mutant was a poor substrate for both BPLs, whereas the Met --> Val substitution was a poor substrate for bacterial BPL but had only a 2-fold lower affinity for yeast BPL than the wild-type peptide. Our data suggest that substitution of Thr or Val for the Met N-terminal of the biotinyl-Lys results in mutants specifically compromised in their interaction with BPL.

Solution structures of apo and holo biotinyl domains from acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase of Escherichia coli determined by triple-resonance nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

A subgene encoding the 87 C-terminal amino acids of the biotinyl carboxy carrier protein (BCCP) from the acetyl CoA carboxylase of Escherichia coli was overexpressed and the apoprotein biotinylated in vitro. The structures of both the apo and holo forms of the biotinyl domain were determined by means of multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. That of the holo domain was well-defined, except for the 10 N-terminal residues, which form part of the flexible linker between the biotinyl and subunit-binding domains of BCCP. In agreement with X-ray crystallographic studies [Athappilly, F. K., and Hendrickson, W. A. (1995) Structure 3, 1407-1419], the structure comprises a flattened beta-barrel composed of two four-stranded beta-sheets with a 2-fold axis of quasi-symmetry and the biotinyl-lysine residue displayed in an exposed beta-turn on the side of the protein opposite from the N- and C-terminal residues. The biotin group is immobilized on the protein surface, with the ureido ring held down by interactions with a protruding polypeptide "thumb" formed by residues 94-101. However, at the site of carboxylation, no evidence could be found in solution for the predicted hydrogen bond between the main chain O of Thr94 and the ureido HN1'. The structure of the apo domain is essentially identical, although the packing of side chains is more favorable in the holo domain, and this may be reflected in differences in the dynamics of the two forms. The thumb region appears to be lacking in almost all other biotinyl domain sequences, and it may be that the immobilization of the biotinyl-lysine residue in the biotinyl domain of BCCP is an unusual requirement, needed for the catalytic reaction of acetyl CoA carboxylase.