Analysis of transition state mimicry by tight binding aminothiazoline inhibitors provides insight into catalysis by human O-GlcNAcase.

The modification of nucleocytoplasmic proteins with O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) plays diverse roles in multicellular organisms. Inhibitors of O-GlcNAc hydrolase (OGA), the enzyme that removes O-GlcNAc from proteins, lead to increased O-GlcNAc levels in cells and are seeing widespread adoption in the field as a research tool used in cells and in vivo. Here we synthesize and study a series of tight binding carbohydrate-based inhibitors of human OGA (hOGA). The most potent of these 2'-aminothiazolines binds with a sub-nanomolar Ki value to hOGA (510 ± 50 pM) and the most selective has greater than 1 800 000-fold selectivity for hOGA over mechanistically related human lysosomal ß-hexosaminidase. Structural data of inhibitors in complex with an hOGA homologue reveals the basis for variation in binding among these compounds. Using linear free energy analyses, we show binding of these 2'-aminothiazoline inhibitors depends on the pKa of the aminothiazoline ring system, revealing the protonation state of the inhibitor is a key driver of binding. Using series of inhibitors and synthetic substrates, we show that 2'-aminothiazoline inhibitors are transition state analogues of hOGA that bind to the enzyme up to 1-million fold more tightly than the substrate. These collective data support an oxazoline, rather than a protonated oxazolinium ion, intermediate being formed along the reaction pathway. Inhibitors from this series will prove generally useful tools for the study of O-GlcNAc. The new insights gained here, into the catalytic mechanism of hOGA and the fundamental drivers of potency and selectivity of OGA inhibitors, should enable tuning of hOGA inhibitors with desirable properties.

A ribozyme and a catalytic DNA with peroxidase activity: active sites versus cofactor-binding sites.

BACKGROUND: An 18-nucleotide DNA oligomer, PS2.M, derived using an in vitro selection method was previously reported to bind hemin (Fe(III)-protoporphyrinIX) with submicromolar affinity. The DNA-hemin complex exhibited DNA-enhanced peroxidative activity. PS2. M is guanine-rich and requires potassium ions to fold to its active conformation, consistent with its forming a guanine-quaduplex. In investigating the specific catalytic features of PS2.M we tested the peroxidative properties of its RNA version (rPS2.M) as well as that of an unrelated DNA guanine-quadruplex, OXY4. RESULTS: The hemin-binding affinity of rPS2.M was found to be 30-fold weaker than that of PS2.M. The UV-visible spectra and kinetics of enzymatic peroxidation of the RNA-hemin complex, however, were nearly identical to those of its DNA counterpart. Both displayed peroxidase activity substantially greater than those of heme proteins such as catalase and Fe(III)-myoglobin. Kinetic analysis suggested that PS2. M and rPS2.M catalyzed the breakdown of the hemin-hydrogen peroxide covalent complex to products. The hemin complex of folded OXY4 (which bound hemin as strongly as did rPS2.M) had a distinct absorption spectrum and only a minor peroxidase activity above the background level. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that it is possible for RNA and DNA of the same sequence to fold to form comparable cofactor-binding sites, and to show comparable catalytic behavior. The results further suggest that only a subset of cofactor-binding sites formed within folded nucleic acids might be able to function as active sites, by providing the appropriate chemical environments for catalysis.

Active-site variants of Streptomyces griseus protease B with peptide-ligation activity.

BACKGROUND: Peptide-ligating technologies facilitate a range of manipulations for the study of protein structure and function that are not possible using conventional genetic or mutagenic methods. To different extents, the currently available enzymatic and nonenzymatic methodologies are synthetically demanding, sequence-dependent and/or sensitive to denaturants. No single coupling method is universally applicable. Accordingly, new strategies for peptide ligation are sought. RESULTS: Site-specific variants (Ser195-->Gly, S195G, and Ser195-->Ala, S195A) of Streptomyces griseus protease B (SGPB) were generated that efficiently catalyze peptide ligation (i.e., aminolysis of ester-, thioester- and para-nitroanilide-activated peptides). The variants also showed reduced hydrolytic activity relative to the wild-type enzyme. The ratio of aminolysis to hydrolysis was greater for the S195A variant, which was also capable of catalyzing ligation in concentrations of urea as high as 2 M. CONCLUSIONS: Mutagenic substitution of the active-site serine residue of SGPB by either glycine or alanine has created a unique class of peptide-ligating catalysts that are useful for coupling relatively stable ester- and para-nitroanilide-activated substrates. Ligation proceeds through an acyl-enzyme intermediate involving His57. Serine to alanine mutations may provide a general strategy for converting proteases with chymotrypsin-like protein folds into peptide-coupling enzymes.

Lyme disease in the highlands.

Serological results for Borrelia burgdorferi were examined for one year. The results suggest a 'pocket' of infection in one Highland general practice. In this practice, most of the patients had exposure to tick bites and rashes were frequent. There were difficulties in relating serological results to clinical features and management of some patients.

A kinetic isotope effect study on the hydrolysis reactions of methyl xylopyranosides and methyl 5-thioxylopyranosides: oxygen versus sulfur stabilization of carbenium ions.

The following kinetic isotope effects, KIEs (k(light)/k(heavy)), have been measured for the hydrolyses of methyl alpha- and beta-xylopyranosides, respectively, in aqueous HClO(4) (mu = 1.0 M, NaClO(4)) at 80 degrees C: alpha-D, 1.128 +/- 0.004, 1.098 +/- 0.005; beta-D, 1.088 +/- 0.008, 1.042 +/- 0.004; gamma-D(2), (C5) 0.986 +/- 0.001, 0.967 +/- 0.003; leaving-group (18)O, 1.023 +/- 0.002, 1.023 +/- 0.003; ring (18)O, 0.983 +/- 0.001, 0.978 +/- 0.001; anomeric (13)C, 1.006 +/- 0.001, 1.006 +/- 0.003; and solvent, 0.434 +/- 0.017, 0.446 +/- 0.012. In conjunction with the reported (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1986, 108, 7287-7294) KIEs for the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of methyl alpha- and beta-glucopyranosides, it is possible to conclude that at the transition state for xylopyranoside hydrolysis resonance stabilization of the developing carbenium ion by the ring oxygen atom is coupled to exocyclic C-O bond cleavage, and the corresponding methyl glucopyranosides hydrolyze via transition states in which charge delocalization lags behind aglycon departure. In the analogous hydrolysis reactions of methyl 5-thioxylopyranosides, the measured KIEs in aqueous HClO(4) (mu = 1.0 M, NaClO(4)) at 80 degrees C for the alpha- and beta-anomers were, respectively, alpha-D, 1.142 +/- 0.010, 1.094 +/- 0.002; beta-D 1.061 +/- 0.003, 1.018(5) +/- 0.001; gamma-D(2), (C5) 0.999 +/- 0.001, 0.986 +/- 0.002; leaving-group (18)O, 1.027 +/- 0.001, 1.035 +/- 0.001; anomeric (13)C, 1.031 +/- 0.002, 1.028 +/- 0.002; solvent, 0.423 +/- 0.015, 0.380 +/- 0.014. The acid-catalyzed hydrolyses of methyl 5-thio-alpha- and beta-xylopyranosides, which occur faster than methyl alpha- and beta-xylopyranosides by factors of 13.6 and 18.5, respectively, proceed via reversibly formed O-protonated conjugate acids that undergo slow, rate-determining exocyclic C-O bond cleavage. These hydrolysis reactions do not have a nucleophilic solvent component as a feature of the thiacarbenium ion-like transition states.