Characterization of an extremely large, ligand-induced conformational change in plasminogen.

Native human plasminogen has a radius of gyration of 39 angstroms. Upon occupation of a weak lysine binding site, the radius of gyration increases to 56 angstroms, an extremely large ligand-induced conformational change. There are no intermediate conformational states between the closed and open form. The conformational chang is not accompanied by a change in secondary structure, hence the closed conformation is formed by interaction between domains that is abolished upon conversion to the open form. This reversible change in conformation, in which the shape of the protein changes from that best described by a prolate ellipsoid to a flexible structure best described by a Debye random coil, is physiologically relevant because a weak lysine binding site regulates the activation of plasminogen.

The hydrolytic water molecule in trypsin, revealed by time-resolved Laue crystallography.

Crystals of bovine trypsin were acylated at the reactive residue, serine 195, to form the transiently stable p-guanidinobenzoate. Hydrolysis of this species was triggered in the crystals by a jump in pH. The hydrolysis was monitored by three-dimensional Laue crystallography, resulting in three x-ray diffraction structures, all from the same crystal and each representing approximately 5 seconds of x-ray exposure. The structures were analyzed at a nominal resolution of 1.8 angstroms and were of sufficient quality to reproduce subtle features in the electron-density maps for each of the structures. Comparison of the structures before and after the pH jump reveals that a water molecule has positioned itself to attack the acyl group in the initial step of the hydrolysis of this transient intermediate.

Disruption of signaling by Yersinia effector YopJ, a ubiquitin-like protein protease.

Homologs of the Yersinia virulence effector YopJ are found in both plant and animal bacterial pathogens, as well as plant symbionts. These YopJ family members were shown to act as cysteine proteases. The catalytic triad of the protease was required for inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) signaling in animal cells and for induction of localized cell death in plants. The substrates for YopJ were shown to be highly conserved ubiquitin-like molecules, which are covalently added to numerous regulatory proteins. YopJ family members exert their pathogenic effect on cells by disrupting this posttranslational modification.

Temporal and spatial control of the adenovirus proteinase by both a peptide and the viral DNA.

The adenovirus proteinase (AVP) uses both an 11-amino acid peptide (pVIc) and the viral DNA as cofactors to increase its catalytic rate constant 6000-fold. The crystal structure of an AVP-pVIc complex at 2.6-A resolution reveals a new protein fold of an enzyme that is the first member of a new class of cysteine proteinases, which arose via convergent evolution.

Modulation of the plasminogen activator activity of a transformed cell line by cell density.

The effects of variations in cell density on the expression of the plasminogen activator activity of a tumorigenic rat cell line were analyzed. At low cell densities, the plasminogen activator activity per cell was high and independent of cell density. As the cell density increased, the plasminogen activator activity per cell decreased until it eventually became inversely proportional to cell density. Inhibition of the plasminogen activator activity per cell by increases in cell density was not the result of the presence of a soluble inhibitor but seemed to require cell-to-cell contact. The V(max) per cell for the activation of plasminogen changed at high cell densities, but the K(m) did not change. This change in the V(max) per cell was in part the result of a change in the catalytic rate constant for the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin. This was inferred from studies on the kinetics of inhibition of plasminogen activator activity by diisopropyl fluorophosphate as a function of cell density. For cells growing at high densities, the rate of inhibition was constant, exhibiting a second-order rate constant of 2.6 x 10(-2)M(-1) s(-1). For cells growing at low densities, the plasminogen activator activity was inhibited at two different rates, one exhibiting a second-order rate constant of 2.6 x 10(-2)M(-1) s(-1) and the other exhibiting a second-order rate constant of 9.4 x 10(-2)M(-1) s(-1). We discuss the importance of cell density in assays of the plasminogen activator activity of cells, the use of this cell line to study the biochemical basis of the density dependence of plasminogen activator activity, and the density-dependent role of plasminogen activator activity in tumor formation and metastasis.

Modulation of cell-associated plasminogen activator activity by cocultivation of a stem cell and its tumorigenic descendant.

The effect of the presence of one cell type on the plasminogen activator activity of another cell type was studied. The cell types, AC and D, were isolated from a rat neuroblastoma (I. Imada and N. Sueoka, Dev. Biol. 66:97-108, 1978). AC cells are stem cells capable of multipotential differentiation in vitro and have little or no cell-associated plasminogen activator activity. D cells are tumorigenic and have high levels of cell-associated plasminogen activator activity. When AC cells were cocultivated with D cells, the plasminogen activator activity of the D cells was dramatically inhibited. The presence of as few as 1,250 AC cells inhibited 70% of the plasminogen activator activity of 20,000 D cells, as determined by a highly quantitative assay. The amount of inhibition by AC cells was proportional to the number of AC cells present. At increasing numbers of AC cells and a constant number of D cells, the Vmax for the activation of plasminogen proportionately decreased and the Km remained constant, implying that AC cells did not alter the structure or concentration of plasminogen. Inhibition was not mediated by a soluble inhibitor secreted by AC cells. Rather, attachment of AC cells adjacent to D cells, i.e., cell-to-cell contact, seemed to be required for inhibition. The substratum-attached material of AC cells, that which remained on the microwell surface after removal of AC cells with EDTA, inhibited D cell plasminogen activator activity. If plasminogen activator activity is involved in metastasis, then regulation of the plasminogen activator activity of one cell type by another cell type may be involved in determining which cells in a tumor can metastasize and where secondary tumors can arise.

Antiestrogenic potency and binding characteristics of the triphenylethylene H1285 in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

The antiestrogenic character and potency of 4-(N,N-diethylaminoethoxy)-4'-methoxy-alpha-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-alpha' -ethylstilbene (H1285) and its binding to estrogen receptor and to estrogen-noncompetible antiestrogen binding sites have been studied in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. H1285 has an affinity for the estrogen receptor (Kd 0.23 nM) which is comparable to that of estradiol (Kd 0.25 nM), and the binding of these two compounds to estrogen receptor is mutually competitive. On high salt sucrose gradients, the sedimentation profiles of nuclear receptor complexes with H1285 and estradiol are different. While the sedimentation profile of the complex with estradiol varies with the buffer composition, being 4.1S in phosphate:thioglycerol: glycerol and predominantly 5.5S in Tris:EDTA buffered gradients, the H1285 receptor complex shows the same sedimentation (5.5S) regardless of the buffer composition. H1285 also binds to estrogen-noncompetable antiestrogen binding sites that are distinct from the estrogen receptor with a low affinity, only 15% that of the antiestrogen tamoxifen. The biological character and potency of H1285 were examined by determining its effects on cell proliferation, cellular progesterone receptor levels, and plasminogen activator activity. In MCF-7 cells, H1285 was a 30- to 100-fold more potent inhibitor of cell proliferation than was the antiestrogen tamoxifen, and it was approximately equipotent with the higher affinity antiestrogen trans-hydroxytamoxifen. H1285 evoked very minimal increases in cellular progesterone receptor levels, and no increase in plasminogen activator activity over a broad range of concentrations (10(-10)-10(-6)M), and it suppressed plasminogen activator activity stimulated by estradiol. Therefore, by the criteria we have used, we conclude that H1285 is a potent and very effective antiestrogen in MCF-7 cells. The ability of estradiol to reverse the suppression of cell proliferation by H1285, and the high affinity of H1285 for estrogen receptor and its low affinity for estrogen-noncompetible antiestrogen binding sites suggest that H1285 exerts its antiestrogenic effects via interaction with the estrogen receptor of these breast cancer cells.

Bioactivities, estrogen receptor interactions, and plasminogen activator-inducing activities of tamoxifen and hydroxy-tamoxifen isomers in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

Tamoxifen is used widely in the treatment of endocrine-responsive breast cancers in humans. Studies were undertaken to examine the biological character (estrogenic-antiestrogenic properties) and estrogen receptor (ER) interaction of the cis- and trans-isomers of tamoxifen and hydroxytamoxifen in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. For each compound, the following parameters were monitored: affinity for ER and effects on cellular ER levels; stimulation-inhibition of cell growth, plasminogen activator activity, and cellular progesterone receptor levels; and isomer interconversion and metabolism in vitro. The relative binding affinities of the compounds cis-tamoxifen, trans-tamoxifen, cis-hydroxytamoxifen, and trans-hydroxytamoxifen for cytosol ER were 0.3, 2.5, 1.8, and 310%, respectively, in which the affinity of estradiol is considered 100%. cis-Tamoxifen behaved as a weak estrogen agonist in all assays, while trans-tamoxifen was an effective estrogen antagonist. cis-Tamoxifen behaved like estradiol in stimulating MCF-7 cell growth and increasing plasminogen activator activity and cellular progesterone receptor content, although very much higher concentrations of cis-tamoxifen (10(-6) M) were needed to achieve the levels of stimulation observed with 10(-10) M estradiol. trans-Tamoxifen and trans-hydroxytamoxifen suppressed cell growth, inhibited plasminogen activator activity of control cells, and suppressed estradiol-stimulation of plasminogen activator activity, and they evoked minimal increases in cellular progesterone receptor levels. trans-Hydroxytamoxifen had a 100-fold increased affinity for ER and was approximately 100-times more potent than was trans-tamoxifen in suppressing cell growth and plasminogen activator activity. cis-Hydroxytamoxifen behaved as an estrogen antagonist, suppressing cell growth and plasminogen activator activity, and it elicited submaximal increases in progesterone receptor levels. This apparently paradoxical behavior of cis-hydroxytamoxifen was shown to be due to the fact that the cis- and trans-hydroxytamoxifens readily undergo isomeric interconversion upon exposure to our cell culture conditions, resulting in substantial accumulation of the higher-affinity trans-hydroxytamoxifen in the nuclear ER fraction of cells. In contrast to the facile interconversion of the hydroxytamoxifen isomers, there is no metabolism or interconversion of the parent compounds cis- and trans-tamoxifen in vitro. Hence, by the criteria we have used, the biological characters of trans-tamoxifen and trans-hydroxytamoxifen are similar, the major difference being the approximately 100-fold enhanced potency of the hydroxylated form. In contrast, cis-t

Adaptation of acyl-enzyme kinetic theory and an experimental method for evaluating the kinetics of fast-acting, irreversible protease inhibitors.

The theory of acyl-enzyme kinetics (Bender, M.L., Kézdy, F.J. and Wedler, F.C. (1967) J. Chem. Educ. 44, 84-88) has been adapted for use in evaluating the kinetics of inhibition of serine proteases by both natural and synthetic irreversible inhibitors. The new theory is based upon formal analysis of the case of an irreversible, active-site-directed inhibitor competing with an irreversible, active-site-directed substrate for the active site of a serine protease. From this theory, an experimentally simple and accurate method is described to obtain a second-order rate constant that is characteristic of the efficiency with which an irreversible inhibitor reacts. The experimental method is particularly useful for characterizing fast-acting, irreversible inhibitors. The theory and method which are applicable to a wide variety of enzymes are verified by analysis of the inhibition of bovine trypsin by three model inhibitors, p-nitrophenyl p'-guanidinobenzoate, soybean trypsin inhibitor and alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor as well as by human antithrombin III in the presence of heparin and by bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor.

Theory and experimental method for determining individual kinetic constants of fast-acting, irreversible proteinase inhibitors.

A theory and experimental method are presented to characterize the kinetics of fast-acting, irreversible proteinase inhibitors. The theory is based upon formal analysis of the case of an irreversible inhibitor competing with a substrate for the active-site of a proteinase. From this theory, an experimental method is described by which the individual microscopic kinetic constants for the interaction of the inhibitor with the proteinase can be determined. These are, for a two-step inhibition reaction sequence, the equilibrium dissociation constant and the first-order rate constant for inhibition, and, for a one-step inhibition reaction sequence, the second-order rate constant for inhibition. The theory and experimental method were validated by an analysis of the inhibition of trypsin by the two-step synthetic inhibitor p-nitrophenyl p-guanidinobenzoate and the one-step protein inhibitor bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. The substrate used in these experiments is a new, fluorogenic substrate for trypsin-like serine proteinases (Cbz-Ile-Pro-Arg-NH)2-Rhodamine, the synthesis and properties of which are described.

Plasminogen activators in tissues of the immature and estrogen-stimulated rat uterus and in uterine luminal fluid: characterization and properties.

We have characterized the molecular properties of the plasminogen activators in different cell types comprising the immature and the estrogen-stimulated rat uterus and in rat uterine luminal fluid. There were two plasminogen activators in the immature (day 20) rat uterus with apparent molecular weights, determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, of 70,000 and 46,000. Both plasminogen activators were present in epithelial and in stromal plus myometrial cell fractions of the immature uterus, and after stimulation by 17 beta-estradiol, no new plasminogen activators were detected in either cell fraction. The Michaelis constants (Km) for the activation of dog plasminogen by extracts from epithelial cells and from stromal plus myometrial cells obtained from either immature or 17 beta-estradiol-stimulated uteri were similar (approximately 11 microM). The maximal velocity (Vmax), normalized to protein concentration, increased 2.5-fold in the stromal plus myometrial cell fraction and 6.5-fold in the epithelial cell fraction, upon hormone stimulation (2 micrograms 17 beta-estradiol/day X rat for 3 days). The greatest concentration of plasminogen activator activity was found in the luminal fluid from estrogen-stimulated uteri, where the Vmax per mg protein was more than 10-fold greater than that in the cell fractions from estrogen-stimulated uteri. The plasminogen activator activity of luminal fluid was inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and rho-nitrophenyl rho-guanidinobenzoate, was not inhibited by human alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor and human antithrombin III, and was inhibited by high, but not low, concentrations of soybean trypsin inhibitor and bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. These studies indicate that the plasminogen activators in different cell types comprising the uterus are similar and show that the estrogen enhancement of uterine plasminogen activator activity is the result of an increase in Vmax. The presence, upon hormone stimulation, of an apparent concentration gradient of increasing plasminogen activator activity through the uterus from myometrium to epithelium to luminal fluid may be a reflection of the dynamic role of this protease in the physiology of the uterus.

Uterine plasminogen activator activity: modulation by steroid hormones.

We have used a sensitive and quantitative assay to investigate the hormonal regulation of plasminogen activator (PA) activity in the rat uterus. PA activity is increased 5-fold (per U protein or DNA) by low physiological (0.1 micrograms) doses of estradiol, with increases in activity first observed at approximately 12 h. The stimulation of PA activity shows strict specificity among the steroid hormones, being stimulated by estrogens only or by high doses of dihydrotestosterone, which are known to affect the estrogen receptor system, and this stimulation is suppressed markedly by triphenylethylene antiestrogens. Comparative dose-response studies with a variety of estrogens of different uterotropic potencies indicate a good correlation between the potencies of different estrogens in stimulating PA activity and uterine growth (diethylstilbestrol = 17 beta-estradiol greater than estrone = 17 alpha-estradiol greater than estriol), with the exception of the zearalanol estrogen P-1496, which was consistently a potent stimulator of PA activity while being a very weak uterotropic agent. These studies suggest that increases in uterine PA levels may serve as a good marker of estrogen action in the uterus. Although the role of PA in uterine function remains unknown at present, its relatively large increase (up to 25-fold increase in content per uterus) may play a role in tissue remodeling during uterine growth.

Different modes of inhibition of human adenovirus proteinase, probably a cysteine proteinase, by bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor.

The type of proteinase and the nature of the active site of the human adenovirus proteinase are unknown. For these reasons we produced an inhibitor profile of the enzyme. Enzyme activity in disrupted virions was inhibited by several serine-specific as well as cysteine-specific proteinase inhibitors. Of the inhibitors that worked, the most useful potentially in illuminating the nature of the active site was bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI), and for this reason we extensively characterized the interaction with BPTI. In disrupted virions, the enzyme is irreversibly inhibited by BPTI with a Ki of 35 nM and a ki of 6.2 x 10(-4) s(-1). One reason enzyme activity is inhibited is that BPTI, a basic protein, precipitates the viral DNA, a cofactor of enzyme activity. In vitro with purified components, BPTI acts as a competitive inhibitor (Ki 2 microM) of the recombinant proteinase complexed with its 11-amino-acid cofactor pVIc. The recombinant endoproteinase is beat labile whereas its 11-amino-acid cofactor is heat stable. We estimate there are about 50 molecules of proteinase per virus particle.

Discovery of a new inhibitor lead of adenovirus proteinase: steps toward selective, irreversible inhibitors of cysteine proteinases.

Using the computer docking program EUDOC, in silico screening of a chemical database for inhibitors of human adenovirus cysteine proteinase (hAVCP) identified 2,4,5,7-tetranitro-9-fluorenone that selectively and irreversibly inhibits hAVCP in a two-step reaction: reversible binding (Ki = 3.09 microM) followed by irreversible inhibition (ki = 0.006 s(-1)). The reversible binding is due to molecular complementarity between the inhibitor and the active site of hAVCP, which confers the selectivity of the inhibitor. The irreversible inhibition is due to substitution of a nitro group of the inhibitor by the nearby Cys122 in the active site of hAVCP. These findings suggest a new approach to selective, irreversible inhibitors of cysteine proteinases involved in normal and abnormal physiological processes ranging from embryogenesis to apoptosis and pathogen invasions.

A new form of antiviral combination therapy predicted to prevent resistance from arising, and a model system to test it.

Combination therapy in the treatment of viral infections in which, for example, three different drugs against three different targets on three independent proteins are administered, has been highly successful clinically. However, it is only a matter of time before a virus will arise resistant to all three drugs, because the mutations leading to drug resistance are independent of each other. But, what if the mutations leading to drug resistance are not independent of each other, but confer some cost to the virus? If the cost is too great, than resistance may not arise. To impose such a cost in the clinical treatment of viral infections, we propose a new form of combination therapy. Here, three different drugs against three different targets on the same virus-coded protein are administered. If the physiological functions of the three different target sites are not independent of each other, then, a mutation at one site may alter the physiological functions at the other sites. We present a model system in which to test the efficacy of this new form of triple combination therapy. Human adenovirus has a virus-coded proteinase that is essential for the synthesis of infectious virus. It contains an active site and two cofactor binding sites; the functions of the active site are dependent upon the cofactors interacting with their binding sites. We describe how to obtain drugs against the three different sites.

Sensitive method to identify and characterize proteinases in situ after SDS-PAGE.

Cells and body fluids contain numerous, different proteinases; to identify and characterize them are both important and difficult tasks. Especially difficult to identify and characterize are highly specific proteinases. Here, we present an extremely sensitive and quantitative method to characterize proteinases fractionated by SDS-PAGE that cleave specific rhodamine-based fluorogenic substrates. To test the sensitivity of the technique, we used trypsin as our model system. Filter paper impregnated with rhodamine-based fluorogenic substrates was placed on a gel, and bands of fluorescence originating from specific proteinases were visualized in real time. The method is very sensitive; picogram amounts of trypsin can be detected. The method should be very general, in that even proteinases whose substrates require amino acids C-terminal to the cleavage site may be identified and characterized. The results allow one to obtain not only information on the substrate specificity of a specific enzyme but also information about its molecular weight.

Prevention of viral drug resistance by novel combination therapy.

A new form of antiviral clinical therapy is proposed in which three different drugs are administered against three different targets on the same virus-coded protein. If the physiological functions of the three different target sites are not independent of each other, then a mutation conferring drug resistance at one site may alter the physiological functions at the other sites and further drug resistance may not arise. The adenovirus proteinase, with its two cofactors that act synergistically on enzyme activity, may be a good model system within which to test the efficacy of this form of combination therapy.

Evidence for the functional similarity between tumour cell surface guanidinobenzoatase and tissue type plasminogen activator.

Tumour cells possess a cell surface protease referred to as guanidinobenzoatase (GB). The active centre of GB binds the fluorescent probe 9-amino acridine (9-AA) and this binding enables cells possessing active GB to be located by fluorescent microscopy. GB binding of 9-AA was inhibited by prior treatment of sections of tumour tissue with a specific polyclonal antibody recognising the tumour associated protease tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA). GB binding of 9-AA was also inhibited by prior treatment of sections of tumour tissues with PAI-I, a protein inhibitor of plasminogen activatory. We conclude from these studies and kinetic analyses that GB and t-PA are very similar both in structure and function.