A systematic series of synthetic chromophoric substrates for aspartic proteinases.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dunn BM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1147073 | biostudies-other | 1986 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:The hexapeptide N-alpha-acetylalanylalanyl-lysyl-p- nitrophenylalanylalanylalanylamide has been synthesized and was found to be a good substrate for fungal aspartic proteinases that possess trypsinogen-activating activity, namely penicillopepsin, Rhizopus aspartic proteinase, Endothia aspartic proteinase and the aspartic proteinases from Aspergillus oryzae and Penicillium roqueforti. The peptide is rapidly cleaved between the lysine and p-nitrophenylalanine residues. Calf chymosin and human renin cleave the same bond, but only very slowly. The cleavage is accompanied by an absorbance decrease with a maximum at 296nm (Deltaepsilon -1800m(-1).cm(-1)). Pig pepsin and the aspartic proteinases from two Rhizomucor species cleave the peptide slowly on the carboxy side of p-nitrophenylalanine. For the five enzymes that hydrolysed the peptide rapidly, K(m) values range from 0.16 to 0.42mm and k(cat.) from 6 to 46.6s(-1) at pH 4.5 and 25 degrees C. A comparison of the kinetic parameters of the hexapeptide with those of the dipeptide N-alpha-acetyllysyl-p-nitrophenylalanylamide obtained with penicillopepsin shows that at pH 6.0 the catalytic rate constant k(cat.) is over 5000-fold greater for the hexapeptide, whereas the K(m) values are essentially the same, showing that the catalytic efficiency is strongly dependent on secondary binding. The new substrate with a p-nitrophenylalanine residue in the P'(1) position has advantages over previously used substrates for aspartic proteinases in that it offers a more sensitive spectrophotometric assay that is independent of pH up to 5.5 and can readily be used up to pH 7.0. The presence of lysine makes it very water-soluble. Stopped-flow spectrophotometric experiments with penicillopepsin gave clear evidence that the hydrolysis of the substrate by penicillopepsin is not accompanied by a ;burst' release of p-nitrophenylalanylalanylalanylamide.
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Project description:The effect of alpha 2-macroglobulin, one of the major antiproteinases in the plasma of vertebrates, on the action of the aspartic proteinases chymosin, cathepsin D and cathepsin E towards peptide and protein substrates at pH 6.2 was examined. Activities towards protein substrates were blocked, thus demonstrating that alpha 2-macroglobulin can inhibit aspartic proteinases, in addition to serine proteinases, cysteine proteinases and metalloproteinases.
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Project description:Carnivorous plants are known to secrete acid proteinases to digest prey, mainly insects, for nitrogen uptake. In the present study, we have purified, for the first time, to homogeneity two acid proteinases (nepenthesins I and II) from the pitcher fluid of Nepenthes distillatoria (a pitcher-plant known locally as badura) and investigated their enzymic and structural characteristics. Both enzymes were optimally active at pH approx. 2.6 towards acid-denatured haemoglobin; the specificity of nepenthesin I towards oxidized insulin B chain appears to be similar, but slightly wider than those of other APs (aspartic proteinases). Among the enzymic properties, however, the most notable is their unusual stability: both enzymes were remarkably stable at or below 50 degrees C, especially nepenthesin I was extremely stable over a wide range of pH from 3 to 10 for over 30 days. This suggests an evolutionary adaptation of the enzymes to their specific habitat. We have also cloned the cDNAs and deduced the complete amino acid sequences of the precursors of nepenthesins I and II (437 and 438 residues respectively) from the pitcher tissue of N. gracilis. Although the corresponding mature enzymes (each 359 residues) are homologous with ordinary pepsin-type APs, both enzymes had a high content of cysteine residues (12 residues/molecule), which are assumed to form six unique disulphide bonds as suggested by computer modelling and are supposed to contribute towards the remarkable stability of nepenthesins. Moreover, the amino acid sequence identity of nepenthesins with ordinary APs, including plant vacuolar APs, is remarkably low (approx. 20%), and phylogenetic comparison shows that nepenthesins are distantly related to them to form a novel subfamily of APs with a high content of cysteine residues and a characteristic insertion, named 'the nepenthesin-type AP-specific insertion', that includes a large number of novel, orthologous plant APs emerging in the gene/protein databases.
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Project description:The separation of pepsin isoenzymes 1, 2, 3 and 5 (gastricsin) in human gastric juice was effected by chromatography on Mono Q ion-exchanger, and slow-moving proteinase was purified to homogeneity by using a modified procedure incorporating a novel affinity-chromatography step. The pH-activity profiles of these enzymes with mucus glycoprotein and basement-membrane substrates were determined; the profiles for pepsin 2 were noticeably different, and, in general, the pH optima for the hydrolysis of basement membrane were more acidic. Pepsin 1 expressed larger specificity constants (kcat./Km) than pepsin 3 with a series of synthetic peptide substrates, reflecting greater binding (smaller Km) by pepsin 1. Inhibitor studies at pH 1.7 and 4.5 with a series of P2-substituted lactoyl-pepstatins implied that valine at position P2 was optimal for inhibiting pepsins 1, 2 and 3 but detrimental for pepsin 5, whereas lysine at position P2 was tolerated well by pepsin 5 but not by pepsins 1, 2 and 3. The potency of lactoyl-pepstatin with lysine at position P2 did not increase as a function of pH. P2-substituted lactoyl-pepstatins failed to show any inhibitory selectivity among pepsins 1, 2 and 3.
| S-EPMC1131349 | biostudies-other
Project description:The A1 family of eukaryotic aspartic proteinases (APs) forms one of the 16 AP families. Although one of the best characterized families, the recent increase in genome sequence data has revealed many fungal AP homologs with novel sequence characteristics. This study was performed to explore the fungal AP sequence space and to obtain an in-depth understanding of fungal AP evolution. Using a comprehensive phylogeny of approximately 700 AP sequences from the complete proteomes of 87 fungi and 20 nonfungal eukaryotes, 11 major clades of APs were defined of which clade I largely corresponds to the A1A subfamily of pepsin-archetype APs. Clade II largely corresponds to the A1B subfamily of nepenthesin-archetype APs. Remarkably, the nine other clades contain only fungal APs, thus indicating that fungal APs have undergone a large sequence diversification. The topology of the tree indicates that fungal APs have been subject to both "birth and death" evolution and "functional redundancy and diversification." This is substantiated by coclustering of certain functional sequence characteristics. A meta-analysis toward the identification of Cluster Determining Positions (CDPs) was performed in order to investigate the structural and biochemical basis for diversification. Seven CDPs contribute to the secondary structure of the enzyme. Three other CDPs are found in the vicinity of the substrate binding cleft. Tree topology, the large sequence variation among fungal APs, and the apparent functional diversification suggest that an amendment to update the current A1 AP classification based on a comprehensive phylogenetic clustering might contribute to refinement of the classification in the MEROPS peptidase database.
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Project description:The interactions of five human enzymes (renin, pepsin, gastricsin, cathepsin D and cathepsin E) and the aspartic proteinase from Endothia parasitica with several series of synthetic inhibitors were examined. All of the inhibitors contained the dipeptide analogue statine or its phenylalanine or cyclohexylalanine homologues in the P1-P1' positions. The residues occupying the peripheral sub-sites (P4 to P3') were varied systematically and inhibitory constants were determined for the interactions with each of the proteinases. Inhibitors were elucidated that specifically inhibited human renin and did not affect any of the other human enzymes or the fungal proteinase. With suitable selection of residues to occupy individual sub-sites, effective inhibitors of specific human aspartic proteinases may now be designed.
| S-EPMC1133712 | biostudies-other
Project description:The crystal structures of an aspartic proteinase from Trichoderma reesei (TrAsP) and of its complex with a competitive inhibitor, pepstatin A, were solved and refined to crystallographic R-factors of 17.9% (R(free)=21.2%) at 1.70 A resolution and 15.8% (R(free)=19.2%) at 1.85 A resolution, respectively. The three-dimensional structure of TrAsP is similar to structures of other members of the pepsin-like family of aspartic proteinases. Each molecule is folded in a predominantly beta-sheet bilobal structure with the N-terminal and C-terminal domains of about the same size. Structural comparison of the native structure and the TrAsP-pepstatin complex reveals that the enzyme undergoes an induced-fit, rigid-body movement upon inhibitor binding, with the N-terminal and C-terminal lobes tightly enclosing the inhibitor. Upon recognition and binding of pepstatin A, amino acid residues of the enzyme active site form a number of short hydrogen bonds to the inhibitor that may play an important role in the mechanism of catalysis and inhibition. The structures of TrAsP were used as a template for performing statistical coupling analysis of the aspartic protease family. This approach permitted, for the first time, the identification of a network of structurally linked residues putatively mediating conformational changes relevant to the function of this family of enzymes. Statistical coupling analysis reveals coevolved continuous clusters of amino acid residues that extend from the active site into the hydrophobic cores of each of the two domains and include amino acid residues from the flap regions, highlighting the importance of these parts of the protein for its enzymatic activity.
| S-EPMC2711637 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The gastric aspartic proteinases (pepsin A, pepsin B, gastricsin and chymosin) are synthesized in the gastric mucosa as inactive precursors, known as zymogens. The gastric zymogens each contain a prosegment (i.e. additional residues at the N-terminus of the active enzyme) that serves to stabilize the inactive form and prevent entry of the substrate to the active site. Upon ingestion of food, each of the zymogens is released into the gastric lumen and undergoes conversion into active enzyme in the acidic gastric juice. This activation reaction is initiated by the disruption of electrostatic interactions between the prosegment and the active enzyme moiety at acidic pH values. The conversion of the zymogen into its active form is a complex process, involving a series of conformational changes and bond cleavage steps that lead to the unveiling of the active site and ultimately the removal and dissociation of the prosegment from the active centre of the enzyme. During this activation reaction, both the prosegment and the active enzyme undergo changes in conformation, and the proteolytic cleavage of the prosegment can occur in one or more steps by either an intra- or inter-molecular reaction. This variability in the mechanism of proteolysis appears to be attributable in part to the structure of the prosegment. Because of the differences in the activation mechanisms among the four types of gastric zymogens and between species of the same zymogen type, no single model of activation can be proposed. The mechanism of activation of the gastric aspartic proteinases and the contribution of the prosegment to this mechanism are discussed, along with future directions for research.
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Project description:To elucidate the role of amino acid residues adjacent to the catalytic site of pepsin-like enzymes, we analyzed and compared the crystal structures of these enzymes, their complexes with inhibitors, and zymogens in the active site area (a total of 82 structures). In addition to the water molecule (W1) located between the active carboxyls and playing a role of the nucleophile during catalytic reaction, another water molecule (W2) at the vicinity of the active groups was found to be completely conserved. This water molecule plays an essential role in formation of a chain of hydrogen-bonded residues between the active site flap and the active carboxyls on ligand binding. These data suggest a new approach to understanding the role of residues around the catalytic site, which can assist the development of the catalytic reaction. The influence of groups adjacent to the active carboxyls is manifested by pepsin activity at pH 1.0. Some features of pepsin-like enzymes and their mutants are discussed in the framework of the approach.
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Project description:A new fluorogenic substrate for serine proteinases, bis(N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-argininamido)Rhodamine [(Cbz-Arg-NH)2-Rhodamine], was synthesized, purified and chemically and enzymically characterized. This compound, which employs Rhodamine as a fluorophoric leaving group, is the first in a series of substrates designed to measure the amidase activity of proteinases. Cleavage of one of the amide bonds of (Cbz-Arg-NH)2-Rhodamine by a trypsin-like serine proteinase converts the non-fluorescent bisamide substrate into a highly fluorescent monoamide product. Significant differences in the electronic absorption and fluorescence emission spectra and quantum yields of bis-, mono- and un-substituted Rhodamine are reported. Macroscopic kinetic constants for the interaction of (Cbz-Arg-NH)2-Rhodamine with bovine trypsin, human and dog plasmin and human thrombin were determined. Compared with the corresponding 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin-based analogue, (Cbz-Arg-NH)2-Rhodamine exhibits an increase in sensitivity with these enzymes of 50--300-fold. The physical basis for this increase in sensitivity is discussed.
| S-EPMC1154094 | biostudies-other