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S Horinouchi

Publications and source records attributed to S Horinouchi.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Site-directed mutants of pseudoazurin: explanation of increased redox potentials from X-ray structures and from calculation of redox potential differences.

In order to understand the origins of differences in redox potentials among cupredoxins (small blue type I copper-containing proteins that reversibly change oxidation state and interact with redox partners), we have determined the structures of the native and two mutants (P80A and P80I) of pseudoazurin from Alcaligenes faecalis S-6 in oxidized and reduced forms at resolutions of 2.2 A in the worst case and 1.6 A in the best case. The P80A mutation creates a surface pocket filled by a new water molecule, whereas the P80I mutant excludes this water. Distinct patterns of change occur in response to reduction for all three molecules: the copper position shifts, Met 7 and Pro 35 move, and the relative orientations of residues 81 to 16, 18 to the amide planes of 77 and 86, all change. Systematic changes in the weak electrostatic interactions seen in the structures of different oxidation states can explain the Met 7/Pro 35 structural differences as well as some fluctuating solvent positions. Overall displacement parameters increase reversibly upon reduction. The reduced forms are slightly expanded over the oxidized forms. The geometries of the mutants become more trigonal in their reduced forms, consistent with higher redox potentials (+409 mV for P80A and +450 mV for P80I). Calculations of the differences in redox potentials, using POLARIS, reveal that a water unique to the P80A mutant is required (with correctly oriented hydrogens) to approximate the observed difference in redox potential. The POLARIS calculations suggest that the reduced forms are additionally stabilized through changes in the solvation of the copper center, specifically via the amides of residues 16, 39, 41, 79, and 80 which interact with either Phe 18, Met 86, or Cys 78. The redox potential of P80A is increased largely due to solvation effects, whereas the redox potential of P80I is increased largely due to geometrical effects.

Alcaligenes↗
PubMed1997

Biochemical differences between staurosporine-induced apoptosis and premature mitosis.

Apoptosis is morphologically related to premature mitosis, an aberrant form of mitosis. Staurosporine, a potent protein kinase inhibitor, induces not only apoptotic cell death in a wide variety of mammalian cells but also premature initiation of mitosis in hamster cells that are arrested in S phase by DNA synthesis inhibitors. Here we report on the biochemical differences between the two phenomena commonly caused by staurosporine. Rat 3Y1 fibroblasts that had been arrested in S phase with hydroxyurea underwent apoptosis by treatment with staurosporine, whereas S-phase-arrested CHO cells initiated mitosis prematurely when similarly treated with a low concentration of staurosporine. Chromosome condensation occurred in both apoptosis (3Y1) and premature mitosis (CHO). However, neither formation of mitotic spindles nor mitosis-specific phosphorylation of MPM-2 antigens was observed in apoptosis of 3Y1 cells, unlike premature mitosis of CHO cells. The p34cdc2 kinase activated in normal and prematurely mitotic cells remained inactive in the apoptotic cells, probably because the active cyclin B/p34cdc2 complex was almost absent in the S-phase-arrested 3Y1 cells. The absence of intracellular activation of p34cdc2 in apoptosis was confirmed by immunohistochemical analyses using a specific antibody raised against Ser55-phosphorylated vimentin which is specifically phosphorylated by p34cdc2 during M phase. Furthermore, phosphorylation of histones H1 and H3, which is associated with mitotic chromosome condensation, did not occur in the apoptotic cells. These results indicate that the two phenomena, staurosporine-induced apoptosis and premature mitosis, are different in their requirement for p34cdc2 kinase activation and histone phosphorylation.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

A novel HSP70 gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe that confers K-252a resistance.

A new gene encoding a heat shock protein 70 family protein of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Sp), named sks2+, was cloned as a weak suppressor for the K-252a-sensitive mutation, ucm1. The nucleotide sequence of sks2+ revealed an open reading frame of a 613-amino-acid (aa) protein. The deduced aa sequence of sks2+ showed significant homology with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) Ssb1p and Ssb2p responsible for protein synthesis by non-organelle-localized ribosomes, as well as with other proteins of the HSP70 family. The cells lacking the functional sks2+ gene were viable and showed no increased sensitivity to K-252a but grew slowly with an elongated morphology. These results suggest that the sks2+ gene product plays a role in the cell cycle progression and is able to confer drug resistance in a multicopy state.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Chromosomal deletions in Streptomyces griseus that remove the afsA locus.

We have recently constructed a physical map of the Streptomyces griseus 2247 genome using the restriction enzymes AseI and DraI, which revealed that this strain carries a 7.8 Mb linear chromosome. Based on this map, precise macrorestriction fragment and cosmid maps were constructed for both ends of the chromosome, which localized the afsA gene 150 Kb from the left end. Two afsA- mutants were found to have suffered chromosomal deletions that removed the afsA locus. The sizes of the deletions were 20 and 130 Kb at the right end and 180 and 350 kb at the left end, respectively. Hybridization experiments using cosmids carrying a deletion endpoint indicated that the ends of the chromosome in the mutants were fused to form a circular chromosome.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1997

DNA-binding activity of the A-factor receptor protein and its recognition DNA sequences.

The A-factor receptor protein (ArpA) containing an alpha-helix-turn-alpha-helix DNA-binding consensus sequence at its N-terminal portion plays a key role in the regulation of secondary metabolism and cell differentiation in Streptomyces griseus. A binding site forming a palindrome 24bp in length was initially recovered from a pool of random-sequence oligonucleotides by rounds of a binding/immunoprecipitation/amplification procedure with histidine-tagged ArpA and anti-ArpA antibody. By means of further binding/gel retardation/amplification experiments on the basis of the recovered sequence, a 22 bp palindromic binding site with the sequence 5'-GG(T/C)CGGT(A/T)(T/C)G(T/G)-3' as one half of the palindrome was deduced as a consensus sequence recognized and bound by ArpA. ArpA did not bind to the binding site in the presence of its ligand, A-factor. In addition, exogenous addition of A-factor to the ArpA-DNA complex induced immediate release of ArpA from the DNA. All of these data are consistent with the idea, obtained from previous genetic studies, that ArpA acts as a repressor-type regulator for secondary metabolism and cellular differentiation by preventing the expression of a certain key gene(s) during the early growth phase. A-factor, produced in a growth-dependent manner, releases ArpA from the DNA, thus switching on the expression of the key gene(s), leading to the onset of secondary metabolism and aerial mycelium formation.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Site-directed mutagenesis of conserved Trp39 in Rhizomucor pusillus pepsin: possible role of Trp39 in maintaining Tyr75 in the correct orientation for maximizing catalytic activity.

Replacement of Trp39 of Rhizomucor pusillus pepsin (RMPP) by Asn or Cys resulted in a marked decrease in the milk-clotting and proteolytic activities. Kinetic analysis with chromogenic synthetic oligopeptides as substrates revealed that the mutations caused marked changes in the kcat value, but only slight changes in the Km value. Similar enzymatic properties were observed in mutants of Tyr75, which was shown to have a role in enhancing the catalytic activity. Both Tyr75Asn and Trp39Asn mutants rapidly lost the activity at high temperatures due to autocatalytic digestion at two sites. The structures of several aspartic proteinases including RMPP, as revealed by X-ray crystallographic studies, showed that Trp39 occupies a position close to Tyr75 and the N delta atom of Trp39 within hydrogen-bonding distance of the hydroxyl side chain of Tyr75. These observations suggest that Trp39 plays a role in maintaining Tyr75 in the correct orientation in aspartic proteinases, including RMPP.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Two genes encoding serine protease homologues in Serratia marcescens and characterization of their products in Escherichia coli.

A serine protease (SSP) of Serratia marcescens is one of the extracellular enzymes secreted from this Gram-negative bacterium. SSP is produced as a large precursor and converted to a mature protein by cleavages removing an NH2-terminal signal sequence and a COOH-terminal pro-region. This COOH-terminal pro-region is integrated into the outer membrane and has a functional role for the export of the mature protein across the outer membrane. Southern hybridization analysis with a DNA fragment encoding the COOH-terminal pro-region as the probe showed a wide distribution of nucleotide sequences encoding SSP exporter-like proteins among Serratia species. Moreover, S. marcescens IFO 3046, from which the ssp gene had been cloned, was found to contain two ssp homologues (ssp-h1 and ssp-h2). They were cloned and their nucleotide sequences were determined. The two ssp homologues were found to exist in tandem on the genome and their amino acid sequences showed 81% identity to each other. Both of them showed 55% identity in amino acid sequence to preproSSP. In addition, both showed end-to-end similarity to the 100 kDa serotype-specific antigen (Ssa1) of Pasteurella haemolytica. Escherichia coli JM105 containing ssp-h1 gene produced a 53 kDa protein corresponding to the NH2-terminal portion and a 49 kDa protein corresponding to the COOH-terminal portion, both of which were rigidly integrated in the outer membrane. Consistent with the significant similarity of the COOH-terminal portions of the homologues to that of SSP, they showed the ability to translocate the mature SSP part across the outer membrane into the medium. Furthermore, the NH2-terminal portion of the homologue was not translocated into the outer membrane without its COOH-terminal part. All of these data show that the SSP homologues are outer membrane proteins that are translocated into the outer membrane with the aid of the translocator function of their COOH-terminal part.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of the genes encoding the three-component membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase from Gluconobacter suboxydans and their expression in Acetobacter pasteurianus.

The three-component membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) of Gluconobacter suboxydans IFO12528 was purified, and the NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of each subunit was determined. On the basis of the amino acid sequences, the genes adhA, encoding the 72-kDa dehydrogenase, adhB, encoding the 44-kDa cytochrome c-553 (a CO-binding cytochrome c), and adhS, encoding a 15-kDa protein, were cloned and the amino acid sequences of their products were deduced from the nucleotide sequences. The dehydrogenase and cytochrome genes were clustered with the same transcription polarity, as is the case in species of Acetobacter, another genus of acetic acid bacteria. These AdhA and AdhB subunits showed similarity in amino acid sequence to those from Acetobacter spp., whereas AdhS showed no similarity to the corresponding subunit of the ADH complex of Acetobacter pasteurianus. Consistent with this, adhS of G. suboxydans could not complement a defect in the corresponding subunit of A. pasteurianus. When the adhA-adhB gene cluster of G. suboxydans was expressed in an ADH-deficient mutant of A. pasteurianus, the transformant showed distinct ADH activity. The ADH complex was purified to near homogeneity and consisted of two subunits, the dehydrogenase and the cytochrome c subunits derived from G. suboxydans, without any other subunit. These data suggested that AdhS, the smallest subunit of ADH, from G. suboxydans is not essential for ADH activity in A. pasteurianus, in contrast to the essential role of A. pasteurianus AdhS, which is required for correct assembly of the dehydrogenase and cytochrome c subunits on the membrane.

Acetobacter↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of an insertion sequence, IS12528, from Gluconobacter suboxydans.

A novel insertion sequence element, IS12528, was found to be associated with inactivation of the alcohol dehydrogenase by insertion in the adhA gene, which encodes the primary dehydrogenase subunit of the three-component membrane-bound alcohol dehydrogenase complex in Gluconobacter suboxydans. Cloning and sequencing analyses revealed that IS12528 was 905 bp in length and had a terminal inverted repeat of 18 bp. In addition, IS12528 was found to generate a 3-bp duplication (TMA, where M represents C or A) at the inserted site upon transposition. IS12528 encoded one long product of 274 amino acids that was rich in basic amino acids. This protein showed significant homology with putative transposases of the IS1031 family isolated from Acetobacter xylinum, which belongs to another genus of acetic acid bacteria. IS12528-like sequences were distributed in a wide variety of acetic acid bacteria, as determined by Southern hybridization and PCR. These observations suggest that IS12528 is one of the insertion sequences that are responsible for genetic instability leading to deficiencies in various physiological properties in a variety of acetic acid bacteria.

Acetobacter↗
PubMed1997

A mutation at proline-115 in the A-factor receptor protein of Streptomyces griseus abolishes DNA-binding ability but not ligand-binding ability.

A-factor (2-isocapryloyl-3R-hydroxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone) and its specific receptor protein (ArpA) are required for streptomycin production and aerial mycelium formation in Streptomyces griseus. A mutant strain HO1 that produced streptomycin and formed aerial mycelium and spores was derived from an A-factor-deficient mutant, S. griseus HH1. The phenotypes of mutant HO1 were found to result from a single amino acid replacement of ArpA; the proline residue at position 115 in the wild-type ArpA was replaced by serine, yielding mutant ArpA (P115S). The mutant ArpA (P115S) was still able to form a homodimer and possessed A-factor-binding ability but lost the ability to bind DNA. The properties of P115S suggest that ArpA consists of two independently functional domains, one for A-factor binding and one for DNA binding, and that proline-115 plays an important role in DNA binding. This is in agreement with the idea that A-factor binding to the COOH-terminal domain of ArpA causes a subtle conformational change of the distal NH2-terminal DNA-binding domain, resulting in dissociation of ArpA from DNA.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1997

Involvement of afsA in A-factor biosynthesis as a key enzyme.

The afsA gene of Streptomyces griseus has been postulated to encode a key enzyme for A-factor biosynthesis from primary metabolites commonly present in Streptomyces strains. Escherichia coli cells harboring afsA under the control of the T7 promoter specified distinct A-factor activity in the culture broth, as determined by induction of streptomycin production and aerial mycelium and spore formation in an A-factor-deficient S. griseus mutant strain. Production of the substance(s) having A-factor activity was inhibited by cerulenin, an inhibitor of fatty acid biosynthesis. These observations suggest that afsA encodes a key enzyme in the A-factor biosynthetic pathway in which a beta-keto acid derived from fatty acid biosynthesis and a glycerol derivative serve as precursors.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1997

[Morphological reversion of tumor cells by histone deacetylase inhibitors and radicicol].

Trichostatins and trapoxins, structurally unrelated microbial metabolites, are specific inhibitors of histone deacetylases. Radicicol inhibits Src family protein-tyrosine kinases. Recently, these agents were found to induce morphological reversion and enhanced expression of gelsolin, an actin regulatory protein, in a variety of transformed cells. Microinjection of an anti-gelsolin antibody that neutralizes the gelsolin function caused inhibition of the morphological change, suggesting that gelsolin expression is associated with the suppression of transformation.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Expression of the Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) ptpA gene encoding a phosphotyrosine protein phosphatase leads to overproduction of secondary metabolites in S. lividans.

A DNA fragment that caused pigment production in Streptomyces lividans was isolated from a gene library of PstI-digested chromosomal fragments of S. coelicolor A3(2). Subcloning and nucleotide sequencing proved the identity of the cloned gene to ptpA encoding a low-molecular-mass phosphotyrosine protein phosphatase. The S. lividans transformant containing ptpA on pIJ41 with a copy number of 3 4 per genome produced large amounts of undecylprodigiosin and A-factor, in addition to the pigmented antibiotic actinorhodin, whereas the transformant containing ptpA on an SCP2* derivative with a copy number of 1-2 did not. The PtpA protein produced as a fusion to the maltose binding protein in Escherichia coli showed phosphatase activity toward o-phosphotyrosine, but not toward o-phosphoserine or a-threonine. Introduction of a mutant ptpA gene encoding an inactive protein with serine instead of the 9th cysteine caused no pigmentation. Disruption of the chromosomal ptpA gene of S. coelicolor A3(2), however, appeared to cause no detectable effect on the production of the pigmented antibiotics or A-factor and the ptpA disruptants developed aerial mycelium and spores normally.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1996

Site-directed mutagenesis of azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa enhances the formation of an electron-transfer complex with a copper-containing nitrite reductase from Alcaligenes faecalis S-6.

Kinetic analysis of electron transfer between azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and copper-containing nitrite reductase (NIR) from Akaligenes faecalis S-6 was carried out to investigate the specificity of electron transfer between copper-containing proteins. Apparent values of kcat and Km of NIR for azurin were 300-fold smaller and 172-fold larger than those for the physiological redox partner, pseudoazurin from A. faecalis S-6, respectively, suggesting that the electron transfer between azurin and NIR was less specific than that between pseudoazurin and NIR. One of the major differences in 3-D structure between these redox proteins, azurin and pseudoazurin, is the absence and presence of lysine residues near their type 1 copper sites, respectively. Three mutated azurins, D11K, P36K, and D11K/P36K, were constructed to evaluate the importance of lysine residues in the interaction with NIR. The redox potentials of D11K, P36K, and D11K/P36K azurins were higher than that of wild-type azurin by 48, 7, and 55 mV, respectively. As suggested by the increase in the redox potential, kinetic analysis of electron transfer revealed reduced ability of electron transfer in the mutated azurins. On the other hand, although each of the single mutations caused modest effects on the decrease in the Km value, the simultaneous mutations of D11K and P36K caused significant decrease in the Km value when compared to that for wild-type azurin. These results suggest that the introduction of two lysine residues into azurin facilitated docking to NIR.

Alcaligenes↗
PubMed1996

Enhancement of the turnover number of thermostable malate dehydrogenase by deleting hydrogen bonds around the catalytic site.

In malate dehydrogenase from Thermus flavus, substitution of Ile for Thr189, which is involved in hydrogen-bond network around a loop containing catalytic His186, caused an increase in the turnover number at room temperatures. In order to examine the effect of disruption of the hydrogen bonds on the catalytic activity, residues participating in the network were replaced by others which cannot form hydrogen bond by site-directed mutagenesis. All the mutations caused increases in the turnover number at room temperatures. This result suggests that an increase in flexibility introduced around catalytic site enhanced the catalytic activity of the malate dehydrogenase.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Studies on protein-protein interaction between copper-containing nitrite reductase and pseudoazurin from Alcaligenes faecalis S-6.

Site-directed mutagenesis of a copper-containing nitrite reductase (NIR) from Alcaligenes faecalis S-6 was carried out to identify the amino acid residues involved in interaction with its redox partner, pseudoazurin, in which four positively charged residues were previously shown to be important in the interaction. Ten negatively charged residues located on the surface of NIR were replaced independently by alanine or serine. All the altered NIRs showed CD spectra and optical spectra identical to those of wild-type NIR, suggesting that all the replacements caused no gross change in the overall structure or in the environment of type 1 copper site. Kinetic analysis of electron transfer between pseudoazurin and altered NIRs revealed that the replacement of Glu-118, Glu-197, Asp-201, Glu-204, or Asp-205 by Ala caused a significant increase in the Km value for pseudoazurin compared with that of wild-type NIR. Furthermore, the simultaneous replacement of three of these residues (Glu-118, Glu-197, and Asp-201) caused a further increase in the Km value. These results suggested that the negatively charged residues are involved in electrostatic interaction with pseudoazurin. Kinetic analyses of the altered NIRs (E118A, E197A, or D201A) with altered pseudoazurins (K10A, K57A, or K77A) implicate specific pairs of the charged residues that are involved in electrostatic interaction between NIR and pseudoazurin.

Alcaligenes↗