Biomedical subjects

N S Sampson

Publications and source records attributed to N S Sampson.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

Increased expression of Brevibacterium sterolicum cholesterol oxidase in Escherichia coli by genetic modification.

To improve expression of Brevibacterium sterolicum cholesterol oxidase in Escherichia coli, we utilized the T7lac promoter and modified the gene to encode the first 21 amino acids with high-expression E. coli codons. These changes resulted in a 60-fold improvement of expression level. N-terminal sequencing revealed that the E. coli produced cholesterol oxidase signal peptide is cleaved 6 amino acids closer to the N-terminus than in B. sterolicum. The recombinant E. coli produced protein is composed of 513 amino acids with a calculated Mr of 55,374. The kinetic rate constants of the recombinant protein and the B. sterolicum produced cholesterol oxidase are identical.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1997

Investigation of membrane disruption in the reaction catalyzed by cholesterol oxidase.

Dye leakage experiments were undertaken to investigate the membrane disruption properties of cholesterol oxidase. Inspection of the X-ray crystal structures of cholesterol oxidase suggested that an active-site "lid" opens in order to bind substrate [Li, J., Vrielink, A., Brick, P., & Blow, D. M. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 11507-11515]. We tested whether the interaction of the putative active-site lid with the membrane was sufficiently disruptive of the membrane structure to cause leakage or lysis of the cell membrane. Vesicles (100 nm) composed of egg phosphatidylcholine, 2-palmitoyl-3-oleoyl-1-sn-phosphatidylethanolamine, and 2-palmitoyl-3-oleoyl-1-sn-phosphatidylcholine were used in this study to mimic biomembranes. To separate the effects of membrane binding from conversion of cholesterol to cholest-4-en-3-one, the active-site mutant E361Q was utilized. In the reaction catalyzed by E361Q, isomerization of the cholest-5-en-3-one intermediate is suppressed and cholest-5-en-3-one is the major product isolated. Furthermore, E361Q produces cholest-5-en-3-one 20-fold more slowly than wild type produces cholest-4-en-3-one from cholesterol. Wild-type and E361Q cholesterol oxidases bind to vesicles with an apparent K(D) of approximately 25 microM, as measured by quenching of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence, irrespective of headgroup size and cholesterol content. Membrane disruption was measured by leakage of the encapsulated marker carboxyfluorescein. Leakage was observed with cholesterol-containing vesicles and wild-type enzyme only; the rate of leakage was dependent on the rate of cholest-4-en-3-one production. E361Q did not induce membrane disruption, regardless of vesicle type tested. Thus, binding of cholesterol oxidase to the membrane and partitioning of cholesterol into the active site does not sufficiently perturb the bilayer to cause leakage of vesicle contents. Formation of the product cholest-4-en-3-one, however, does increase membrane permeability. Expansion of the lipid bilayer upon conversion of cholesterol to cholest-4-en-3-one is the likely cause of this increased permeability.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

The isomerization catalyzed by Brevibacterium sterolicum cholesterol oxidase proceeds stereospecifically with one base.

We have demonstrated that the isomerization reaction catalyzed by Brevibacterium sterolicum (ATCC 81387) cholesterol oxidase (EC 1.1.3.6) proceeds via a stereospecific proton transfer from the 4 beta carbon to the 6 beta carbon to form 4-cholestene-3-one using deuterated and nondueterated substrates. This result implies that there is one active site base, positioned over the beta-face, responsible for isomerization. On the basis of X-ray crystallographic evidence [Li, J., Vrielink, A., Brick, P. & Blow, D. M. Biochemistry 32, 11507-11515 (1993)], glutamate-361 is the most likely candidate for this general base.

Brevibacterium↗

PubMed1992

Segmental movement: definition of the structural requirements for loop closure in catalysis by triosephosphate isomerase.

To determine what drives the closure of the active-site loop in the reaction catalyzed by triosephosphate isomerase, several residues involved in hydrogen bonding between the loop and the bulk of the protein have been altered. It was known from earlier work that the loop serves two functions: to stabilize the reaction intermediate (and the two transition states that flank it) and to prevent the loss of this unstable species into free solution. To discover what elements of the protein are necessary for proper closure of the loop, selective destabilization of the "open" and the "closed" forms of the enzyme with respect to one another has been attempted. The mutant Y164F isomerase has been prepared to evaluate the importance of the structure of the "open" form, and the mutant E129Q, Y208F, and S211A enzymes have allowed investigation of the "closed" form. The integrity of the loop itself has been destabilized by making the T172A isomerase. We have found that only those mutations that destabilize the "closed" form of the enzyme significantly perturb the catalytic properties of the isomerase. The second-order rate constants (kcat/Km) of the S211A and E129Q enzymes are reduced 30-fold, and that of the mutant Y208F enzyme is reduced 2000-fold, from the level of the wild-type enzyme. The dramatic drop in activity of the Y208F enzyme is accompanied by a 200-fold increase in the dissociation constant of the intermediate analogue phosphoglycolohydroxamate. The most important property of the mobile loop of triosephosphate isomerase lies, therefore, in the stability of the system when the active site contains ligand and the loop is closed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Segmental motion in catalysis: investigation of a hydrogen bond critical for loop closure in the reaction of triosephosphate isomerase.

A residue essential for proper closure of the active-site loop in the reaction catalyzed by triosephosphate isomerase is tyrosine-208, the hydroxyl group of which forms a hydrogen bond with the amide nitrogen of alanine-176, a component of the loop. Both residues are conserved, and mutagenesis of the tyrosine to phenylalanine results in a 2000-fold drop in the catalytic activity (kcat/Km) of the enzyme compared to the wild-type isomerase. The nature of the closure process has been elucidated from both viscosity dependence and primary isotope effects. The reaction catalyzed by the mutant enzyme shows a viscosity dependence using glycerol as the viscosogen. This dependence can be attributed to the rate-limiting motion of the active-site loop between the "open" and the "closed" conformations. Furthermore, a large primary isotope effect is observed with [1-2H]dihydroxyacetone phosphate as substrate [(kcat/Km)H/(kcat/Km)D = 6 +/- 1]. The range of isotopic experiments that were earlier used to delineate the energetics of the wild-type isomerase has provided the free energy profile of the mutant enzyme. Comparison of the energetics of the wild-type and mutant enzymes shows that only the transition states flanking the enediol intermediate have been substantially affected. The results suggest either that loop closure and deprotonation are coupled and occur in the same rate-limiting step or that these two processes happen sequentially but interdependently. This finding is consistent with structural information that indicates that the catalytic base glutamate-165 moves 2 A toward the substrate upon loop closure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Binding Sites↗

PubMed1991

Peptidic phosphonylating agents as irreversible inhibitors of serine proteases and models of the tetrahedral intermediates.

Peptide analogues incorporating an electrophilic phosphorus moiety (2-6) have been synthesized and studied as inhibitors of a variety of serine proteases. Inhibition is irreversible and, for alpha-lytic protease (ALP), shown to result from covalent binding to the active site serine hydroxyl [Bone, R., Sampson, N. S., Bartlett, P.A., & Agard, D. A. (1991) Biochemistry (following paper in this issue)]. For reaction of human leukocyte elastase (HLE) with the thiophenyl esters 6s-V (Boc-AAPV psi [P = O(SPh)O]AA-OMe), 4s-V (BocAAPV psi [P = O(SPh)O]-Me), and 3s-V (Boc-V psi [P = O(SPh)O]AA-OMe), evidence is presented to suggest that the S4-S1 subsites, but not the S1' and S2' positions, are occupied by the inhibitors during the inactivation process. The selectivity that is observed between the proteases and the hexapeptide phosphonates 6o-V (Boc-AAPV psi [P = O(OPh)O]AA-OMe) and 6o-F (Boc-AAPF psi [P = O(OPh)O]AA-OMe) parallels that between these enzymes and their substrates: ALP and HLE are selectively inactivated by the ValP-containing analogue 6o-V, while subtilisin (SUB) shows a preference for the PheP derivative 6o-F. A detailed kinetic analysis of the enzyme-inhibitor interactions was complicated by the susceptibility of the inhibitors to enzymatic degradation. The configuration at phosphorus was found not to have a significant influence on the rate at which the inhibitors react with the peptidases. Moreover, in the case of inactivation of ALP by the hexapeptide 6o-V, the same covalent adduct is formed from both stereoisomers (Bone et al., 1991), indicating that one of these diastereomers undergoes substitution with retention of configuration.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1991

Crystal structures of alpha-lytic protease complexes with irreversibly bound phosphonate esters.

The structures of the complexes with alpha-lytic protease of both phosphorus stereoisomers of N-[(2S)-2-[[[(1R)-1-[N-[(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)-L-alanyl-L-alanyl- L-prolyl]amino]-2-methylpropyl]-phenoxyphosphinyl]oxy]propanoyl]- L-alanine methyl ester, an analogue of the peptide Boc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val-Ala-Ala where Val is replaced with an analogous phosphonate phenyl ester and the subsequent Ala is replaced with lactate, have been determined to high resolution (1.9 A) by X-ray crystallography. Both stereoisomers inactivate the enzyme but differ by a factor of 2 in the second-order rate constant for inactivation [Sampson, N. S., & Bartlett, P. A. (1991) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. One isomer (B) forms a tetrahedral adduct in which the phosphonate phenyl ester is displaced by the active site serine (S195) and interacts with the enzyme across seven substrate recognition sites that span both sides of the scissile bond. Seven hydrogen bonds are formed with the enzyme, and 510 A2 of hydrophobic surface area is buried when the inhibitor interacts with the enzyme. Although two hydrogen bonds are gained by incorporation of two residues on the C-terminal side of the scissile bond into the inhibitor, there is very little adjustment in the structure of the enzyme in this region. Surprisingly, the active site histidine (H57) does not interact with the phosphonate, apparently because the phosphonate lacks negative charge in or near the oxyanion hole, and instead, the side chain rotates out of the active site cleft and hydrogen bonds with solvent. The other isomer (A) forms a mixture of two different tetrahedral adducts in the active site, both covalently bonded to Ser 195. One adduct, at approximately 58% occupancy, is exactly the same in structure as the complex formed with isomer B, and the other adduct, at 42% occupancy, has lost the two residues C-terminal to the scissile bond by hydrolysis. In the lower occupancy structure, His 57 does not rotate out of the active site and forms a hydrogen bond with the phosphonate oxygen instead. The structures of both complexes were insensitive to pH. As very little change in structure accompanies the histidine rotation, the complex with isomer B provides an excellent mimic for the structure of the transition state (or high-energy reaction intermediate) that spans both sides of the scissile bond.

Amino Acid Sequence↗