Biomedical subjects

A E Eakin

Publications and source records attributed to A E Eakin.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1995

The crystal structure of cruzain: a therapeutic target for Chagas' disease.

Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite, is the etiologic agent of American trypanosomiasis or Chagas' disease. Chagas' disease afflicts more than 24 million individuals in South and Central America producing a debilitating life-long disease. It is the leading cause of heart failure in many Latin American countries. Currently, there is no satisfactory treatment for this parasitic infection. Cruzain (also known as cruzipain, gp 57/51), the major cysteine protease present in T. cruzi, is critical for the development and survival of the parasite within the host cells, making this enzyme a target for potential trypanocidal drugs. Here we report the X-ray crystal structure of cruzain complexed with the potent inhibitor Z-Phe-Ala-fluoromethyl ketone. The structure was determined at 2.35 A (Rcryst = 0.15) by molecular replacement using a modified papain as the search model. The refined structure is compared to papain. Features which distinguish cruzain from papain are discussed since they may aid in the design of specificity inhibitors. Fluorescence microscopy shows that a biotinylated form of the bound inhibitor does not effectively reach host proteases in their lysosomal compartment, but is selectively taken up by the parasite. The inhibitor greatly reduces parasitemia in a cell culture system, without adverse effects to mammalian cells. This biological selectivity can be exploited, in conjunction with unique active site features revealed by the crystal structure, to develop chemotherapy for Chagas' disease.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Comparative complement selection in bacteria enables screening for lead compounds targeted to a purine salvage enzyme of parasites.

Expression plasmids encoding the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferases (HPRTs) of Plasmodium falciparum, Schistosoma mansoni, Tritrichomonas foetus, and Homo sapiens were subcloned into genetically deficient Escherichia coli that requires complementation by the activity of a recombinant HPRT for growth on semidefined medium. Fifty-nine purine analogs were screened for their abilities to inhibit the growth of these bacteria. Several compounds that selectively altered the growth of the bacteria complemented by the malarial, schistosomal, or tritrichomonal HPRT compared with the growth of bacteria expressing the human enzyme were identified. These results demonstrate that the recombinant approach to screening compounds by complement selection in a comparative manner provides a rapid and efficient method for the identification of new lead compounds selectively targeted to the purine salvage enzymes of parasites.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Atlantic cod cDNA encoding a psychrophilic chymotrypsinogen.

A cDNA clone encoding a psychrophilic cod chymotrypsinogen has been isolated and characterized. The predicted amino acid sequence reveals a preproenzyme of 263 amino acids containing a unique 18 residue signal sequence. Amino acid sequence identity between the cod and mammalian chymotrypsinogens is 64-68%. Two highly conserved proline residues are substituted in cod chymotrypsin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Production of crystallizable cruzain, the major cysteine protease from Trypanosoma cruzi.

The major cysteine protease of Trypanosoma cruzi, cruzain, has been previously expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion polypeptide. The proteolytic processing events required to obtain active, mature cruzain from the recombinant expression system have been characterized using mutational analysis of the cloned gene. An inactive variant of cruzain (cruzain-C25A) revealed that the proteolytic cleavage of the COOH-terminal domain from the recombinant cruzain is independent of cruzain activity. This cleavage event, presumably performed by another protease, was reduced, although not completely eliminated, in a variant in which the cleavage recognition site was altered (cruzain-E219P). To obtain a homogeneous COOH terminus of the recombinant enzyme, a truncated form of cruzain (cruzain-delta c) was engineered by insertion of a stop codon in the gene at a site corresponding to autoproteolysis observed with the native enzyme, purified from epimastigotes. Diffraction quality crystals of recombinant cruzain (cruzain) and the truncated variant (cruzain-delta c) have been produced and characterized. Cruzain and cruzain-delta c were cocrystallized with the peptide fluoromethyl ketone (FMK) inhibitors, Z-Phe-Arg-FMK and Z-Phe-Ala-FMK, respectively, (where Z is benzyloxycarbonyl). The crystals are monoclinic, space group P2(1), with a = 45.5 A, b = 51.0 A, c = 45.7 A, and beta = 116.1 degrees. One cruzain molecule is present in the asymmetric unit. The crystallographic data reveal that the high resolution structure determination is feasible. This system will facilitate the three-dimensional structure determinations and biochemical analyses of cruzain and cruzain variants.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

The sequence, organization, and expression of the major cysteine protease (cruzain) from Trypanosoma cruzi.

The complete sequence of the gene encoding the major cysteine protease from Trypanosoma cruzi is reported. The amino acid sequence predicted from the gene sequence aligns well with members of the papain family of cysteine proteases, suggesting the name cruzain. The sequence is most closely related to the cysteine protease of Trypanosoma brucei (59.3%) and the murine cathepsin L (42.2%). At least six copies of the gene are present in the genome and are organized in a tandem array of copies which are identical in all restriction endonuclease sites tested. The gene appears to be expressed in all developmental stages of T. cruzi with mRNA levels approximately 2-fold higher in the intracellular amastigote form. A copy of the T. cruzi gene was expressed in bacteria as an inactive, insoluble fusion polypeptide to approximately 5% of the total cell protein. The fusion protein was readily purified, solubilized in urea, and successfully refolded to produce a polyprotein which processed autocatalytically to yield approximately 1 mg of active protease per 3 g of wet cell paste. The processed form of the recombinant protease has an NH2-terminal sequence identical to that of the mature form of the protease purified from T. cruzi (Murta, A. C. M., Persechini, P. M., Souto-Padrón, T., de Souza, W., Guimaraes, J. A., and Scharfstein, J. (1990) Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 43, 27-38; Cazzulo, J. J., Couso, R., Raimondi, A., Wernstedt, C., and Hellman, U. (1989) Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. 33, 33-42). This suggests that the recombinant protease possesses the requisite specificity and activity to correctly process the proform of the protease in vitro. Kinetic assays with peptide substrates demonstrate that the substrate specificity and kinetic parameters for the recombinant protease are consistent with those of the endogenous protease. The proteolytic activity of the recombinant protease is enhanced by dithiothreitol, inhibited by leupeptin, N alpha-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone and trans-epoxysuccinyl-L-leucylamido(4-guanidino)butane (E-64) but is unaffected by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, pepstatin, and 1,10-phenanthroline. More specifically, the recombinant enzyme was inhibited by benzyloxycarbonyl-Phe-Arg-fluoromethyl ketone, which inhibits replication and differentiation of T. cruzi within mammalian cells in culture.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Amplification and sequencing of genomic DNA fragments encoding cysteine proteases from protozoan parasites.

Cysteine protease gene fragments from three protozoan parasites Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, and Entamoeba histolytica were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from genomic DNA using degenerate oligonucleotide primers. The primers used for the amplification were designed based upon amino acid sequences flanking the active site cysteine and asparagine residues that are conserved in the eukaryotic cysteine proteases analyzed to date. The amplified DNA fragments, representing approximately 70% of the coding regions of the cysteine protease genes, were subcloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis and alignment showed significant sequence similarity to other members of the eukaryotic cysteine protease family (45% identical to chicken cathepsin L) and conservation of the cysteine, histidine, and asparagine residues which form the catalytic triad. These gene fragments provide molecular probes for further analysis of the structure and function of these important metabolic enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Trypanosoma (Schizotrypanum) cruzi: repetitive DNA sequence evolution in three geographically distinct isolates.

1. Middle-repetitive DNA sequences were analyzed by molecular hybridization to determine both the extent of complementarity and time of evolutionary divergence between isolates of Trypanosoma cruzi from Argentina, Mexico, or Venezuela. 2. Although molecular hybridizations showed no significant difference between the middle-repetitive DNAs of the Mexican and Venezuelan isolates, there was a 2.7% base pair mismatch in hybrid molecules formed by association of strands from both the Mexican and Argentine isolates. 3. Using the rates for divergence of middle-repetitive DNA in sea urchins, the Mexican and Argentine isolates were estimated to have diverged approximately 20-25 million years ago. 4. Analysis of the kinetics for the DNA hybridizations indicates that only minor amplifications of specific gene sequences or changes in the complexity of the genomes could have occurred during the divergence of the three isolates studied.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Serine proteases from nematode and protozoan parasites: isolation of sequence homologs using generic molecular probes.

Serine proteases are one of the biologically most important and widely distributed families of enzymes. Isolation of serine protease genes from organisms of widely diverged phylogenetic groups would provide a basis for studying their biological function, the relationship between structure and function, and the molecular evolution of these enzymes. Serine proteases for which little structural information is known are those that are important in the pathogenesis of parasitic nematode and protozoan diseases. Identification and isolation of protease genes from these organisms is a critical first step in understanding their function for the parasite and possibly suggesting innovative approaches to arresting parasitic diseases. Serine protease gene fragments were isolated from genomic DNA of the parasitic nematode Anisakis simplex by using degenerate oligonucleotide primers and the polymerase chain reaction. Primers were designed based upon the consensus sequence of amino acids flanking the active site serine and histidine residues of eukaryotic serine proteases. Four serine protease gene fragments from this parasite were sequenced and one is 67% identical to the rat trypsin II gene. Alignment of these two genes revealed that the intron-exon junctions are conserved between nematode and rat suggesting that this Anisakis serine protease is structurally and functionally similar to rat trypsin. The generality of this approach to identify serine protease genes from genomic DNA of two very divergent species, a parasitic protozoan and a mammal, was also confirmed. Genes for other enzymes or any protein with conserved structural motifs can be identified and isolated using this technology. Using a similar strategy, a cathepsin B-like cysteine (thiol) protease gene fragment was isolated from Caenorhabditis elegans DNA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗