scholarly journals Benzofuroxan as a thiol-specific reactivity probe. Kinetics of its reactions with papain, ficin, bromelain and low-molecular-weight thiols

1977 ◽  
Vol 167 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Shipton ◽  
K Brocklehurst

1. The characteristics of benzofuroxan (benzofurazan 1-oxide, benzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole N-oxide) that relate to its application as a reactivity probe for the study of environments of thiol groups are discussed. 2. To establish a kinetic and mechanistic basis for its use as a probe, a kinetic study of its reaction with 2-mercaptoethanol was carried out. 3. This reaction appears to proceed by a rate-determining attack of the thiolate ion on one of the electrophilic centres of benzofuroxan (possibly C-6) to provide a low steady-state concentration of an intermediate adduct; rapid reaction of this adduct with a second molecule of thiol gives the disulphide and o-benzoquinone dioxime. 4. The effects of the different types of environment that proteins can provide on the kinetic characteristics of reactions of thiol groups with benzofuroxan are delineated. 5. Benzofuroxan was used as a thiolspecific reactivity probe to investigate the active centres of papain (EC 3.4.22.2), ficin (EC 3.4.22.3) and bromelain (EC 3.4.22.4). The results support the concept that the active centres of all three enzymes either contain a nucleophilic thiolate ion whose formation is characterized by a pKa of 3-4 and whose reaction with an electrophile can be assisted by interaction of a site of high electron density in the electrophile with active-centre imidazolium ion of pKa 8-9, or can provide such ions by protonic redistribution in enzyme-reagent or enzyme-substrate complexes.

1978 ◽  
Vol 171 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Shipton ◽  
K Brochlehurst

1.2,2′-Dipyridyl disulphide (2-Py-S-S-2-Py) and n-propyl 2-pyridyl disulphide (propyl-S-S-2-Py) were used as two-protonic-state reactivity probes to investigate the active centre of papain (EC 3.4.22.2).2. The existence of a striking rate optimum at pH approx. 4 in the reaction of papain not only with the symmetrical probe but also with the unsymmetrical probe is shown to constitute compelling evidence that the thiolate ion component of the cysteine-25-histidine-159 interactive system of papain possesses appreciable nucleophilic character. It is not a necessary requirement that the probe reagent should engage the imidazolium ion of histidine-159 in hydrogen-bonding for the sulphur atom of the interactive system to display nucleophilic character. The single proton-binding site of propyl-S-S-2-Py cannot simultaneously interrupt the active-centre ion pair and provide for rate enhancement as the pH is lowered towards 4. The possible implication of this for the mechanism of papain-catalysed hydrolysis is discussed. 3. The suspected difference in the active centres of papain and ficin (EC 3.4.22.3), which could be a lack in ficin of a carboxy group conformationally equivalent to that of aspartic acid-158 of papain is confirmed. The reactivity of the papain thiol group towards both probe reagents is controlled by two ionizations with pKa close to 4 that are positively co-operative. 4. In the reaction of papain with 2-Py-S-S-2-Py. the reactivity appears to be controlled also by an addition ionization with pKa approx. 5. Possible origins of this additional ionization are discussed. K. The spectral and ionization characteristics of propyl-S-S-2-Py are reported. 6. The reagent reacts rapidly with thiol groups at the sulphur atom distal from the pyridyl ring to provide, at pH values below 9, stoicheiometric release of 2-thiopyridone. This property, together with the ability of the reagent markedly to increase its electrophilicity consequent on protonation, suggests alkyl-2-pyridyl disulphides in general as valuable two-protonic-state reactivity probes with exceptional specificity for thiol groups.


1952 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 393-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. R. Khan

From the dark muscle of British Columbia herring a highly active enzyme capable of peroxidizing non-conjugated unsaturated fatty acids was isolated. This "lipoxidase", which was shown to be a nitrogenous complex possessing no heavy metals or sulphydryl group as the active centre, is heat-labile and can act only in presence of activators such as certain iron-containing organic nitrogenous compounds. Two such compounds, namely haemoglobin and cytochrome "c" were isolated. The enzyme exhibits optimal activity at 15 °C. and pH 6.9. There is also an optimal concentration of enzyme, substrate, and of the activators for maximal enzyme activity. The presence of the activators appears to change the kinetics, of the reactions. The inhibition of the enzymic reaction brought about by cyanide and azide is possibly due to the inactivation of the iron-containing activators rather than of the enzyme itself.


1993 ◽  
Vol 296 (3) ◽  
pp. 563-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
L A Dalton ◽  
J O McIntyre ◽  
S Fleischer

(R)-3-Hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BDH) is a phosphatidylcholine-requiring tetrameric enzyme with two thiol groups (SH-1 and SH-2) per protomer. By first protecting the more rapidly reacting thiol group (SH-1) with diamide [1,1′-azobis-(NN′-dimethylformamide), DM] to form DM(SH-1)BDH, SH-2 can be selectively derivatized by reaction with maleimide reagents such as 4-maleimido-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-N-oxyl (MSL), which gives DM(SH-1)MSL(SH-2)BDH. Reduction with dithiothreitol (DTT) regenerates SH-1, yielding MAL(SH-2)BDH (where MAL is the diamagnetic reduction product of MSL-BDH and DTT). The enzymic activity of DM(SH-1)BDH is decreased to approx. 4% relative to the native purified enzyme, and the apparent Km for substrate, KmBOH, is increased approx. 100-fold. Reduction of DM(SH-1)BDH with DTT regenerates SH-1 and restores normal enzymic function. Modification of SH-2 with piperidinylmaleimide [MAL(SH-2)BDH] diminishes enzymic activity to approx. 35% of its original value, but has no significant effect on apparent KmBOH. The doubly derivatized enzyme, DM(SH-1)MSL(SH-2)BDH, has lower enzymic activity [about half that for DM(SH-2)BDH] and a yet higher apparent KmBOH than DM(SH-1)BDH. Derivatization of SH-2 with different maleimide reagents results in diminished activity approximately proportional to the size of the maleimide substituent, suggesting that this inhibition is steric. Whereas modification of SH-1 results in marked changes in kinetic parameters (increased apparent Km and reduced apparent Vmax), derivatization of SH-2 has a lesser effect on enzymic function. Thus SH-1 is postulated to be closer to the active centre than is SH-2, although neither is involved in catalysis, since: (1) the activity of the derivatized enzyme is not abolished; and (2) activity can be enhanced by increasing substrate (and cofactor) concentrations.


1969 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Aldridge ◽  
Elsa Reiner

1. The kinetics of the reaction of di-(2-chloroethyl) 3-chloro-4-methylcoumarin-7-yl phosphate (haloxon) and related compounds with acetylcholinesterase were studied and found to be unusual. 2. By a progressive reaction haloxon produces a di-(2-chloroethyl)phosphorylated enzyme. The influence of substrate on this reaction leading to a phosphorylated active centre was studied. From competition experiments between inhibitor and substrate values of Km for acetylcholine and acetylthiocholine of 0·79mm and 0·23mm respectively were derived. 3. Haloxon also combines with acetylcholinesterase by a non-progressive reaction, producing a complex that is reversible by dilution and by high concentrations of acetylcholine and acetylthiocholine. From this non-progressive reaction the competition between haloxon and substrate was studied, and it was shown that haloxon combines with a site involved in inhibition by substrate. From competition experiments the following dissociation constants were derived: for combination of haloxon and this site Ki is 4·9μm and for the combination of substrates with this site K88 values are 12mm and 3·3mm for acetylcholine and acetylthiocholine respectively. 4. The non-phosphorus-containing compound 3-chloro-7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin was shown to be a good reagent for the site involved in inhibition by substrate; its dissociation constant for the combination with this site is 30μm. 5. In order to interpret the experimental results, theoretical equations were derived for an enzyme with two binding sites to both of which substrate and inhibitor can combine. The equations correlate the activity of the enzyme with the concentration of substrate and inhibitor, for both progressive and non-progressive inhibition. These equations are applicable to reactions of acetylcholinesterase with organophosphorus compounds, carbamates etc. and may be applicable to other enzymes possessing two binding sites.


1983 ◽  
Vol 209 (3) ◽  
pp. 873-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Brocklehurst ◽  
S M Mushiri ◽  
G Patel ◽  
F Willenbrock

1. The kinetics of the reactions of the catalytic-site thiol groups of actinidin (the cysteine proteinase from Actinidia chinensis), ficin (EC 3.4.22.3), papain (EC 3.4.22.2) and papaya peptidase A (the other monothiol cysteine proteinase component of Carica papaya) with 4,4′-dipyridyl disulphide (4-Py-S-S-4-Py) and with 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoate) dianion (Nbs22-) were studied in the pH range approx. 6-10. These studies provided the pH-independent second-order rate constants (k) for the reactions of the two probe reagents with the catalytic-site thiolate anions each in the environment of a neutral histidine side chain where an active-centre carboxy group would be ionized. 2. The ratio R equal to kNbs22-/k4-Py-S-S-4-Py provides an index of the catalytic-site solvation properties of the four cysteine proteinases and varies markedly from one enzyme to another, being 0.80 for papaya peptidase A (0.86 for the model thiol, 2-mercaptoethanol), 29 for actinidin, 0.18 for ficin and 0.015 for papain. These differences appear to derive mainly from the response of the enzyme to the negative charge on Nbs22-. 3. Possible implications of these results for (a) mechanisms of cysteine proteinase catalysis and (b) the possibility of using series of functionally related enzymes in the study of mechanism are discussed.


1979 ◽  
Vol 183 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Brocklehurst ◽  
J. Paul G. Malthouse ◽  
Michael Shipton

A method is proposed by which site-specific reactivity probes that exhibit different reactivities in two ionization states can be used to detect association–activation phenomena that involve repositioning of acid/base groups in enzyme active centres. The pH-dependences of the apparent second-order rate constants (k) for the reactions of the thiol group of papain (EC 3.4.22.2) with a series of two-protonic-state reactivity probes are compared. The short-chain probes, 2,2′-dipyridyl disulphide and n-propyl 2-pyridyl disulphide, react at pH6 in adsorptive complexes and/or transition states with geometries that do not permit hydrogen-bonding of the pyridyl nitrogen atom with the active-centre imidazolium ion, as evidenced by the rate minima at pH6 and the rate maxima at pH4 provided by reagent protonation. Only when the probe molecule, e.g. 4-(N-aminoethyl 2′-pyridyl disulphide)-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole [compound(III)], contains a long hydrophobic side chain is the reaction characterized by maximal rates at about pH6, as in the acylation step of the catalytic act (at pH6, kcompound III/k2,2′-dipyridyl disulphide ≃ 100). It is proposed that this striking difference in profile shape may result from binding of the hydrophobic side chain of compound (III) possibly in the S2-subsite of papain, which promotes a change in catalytic-site geometry involving repositioning of the imidazolium ion of histidine-159 and hydrogen-bonding with the N atom of the leaving group, as has been postulated to occur in the acylation step of substate hydrolysis.


Until recently no exact figures were available concerning the rate of transformation of the enzyme-substrate compound. For example, while Willstätter and Pollinger's (1923) best peroxidase preparation could activate over 2000 times its weight of H 2 O 2 per second under favourable conditions, neither its degree of purity nor its molecular weight is known. Hence such calculations as that of Haldane (1930, p. 176) based on this work are necessarily very rough. Zeile and Hellström (1930) have found that horse-liver catalase is an iron-porphyrin compound with a spectrum resembling that of alkaline hæmatin, and that its amount, reckoned in milligrams of combined iron, can be measured photometrically with great accuracy by converting it into pyridine-hæmochromogen. Thus, although it has not been obtained pure, one can now estimate the activity of a molecule of catalase. In what follows the assumption is made that each molecule of catalase contains only one atom of iron. If this is not so, as in the case of hæmoglobin, where the molecule contains four iron atoms, the calculations given below are true, not for the molecule as a whole, but for each of the active centres on it, since the iron-porphyrin complex is clearly the active centre, as shown by the effects of cyanide. Zeile and Hellström worked at 0° C. and the optimal p h of 6⋅6, with 0⋅01 M. H 2 O 2 , which disappears according to the unimolecular law, and express their results as unimolecular velocity constants per milligram Fe per litre. Their unit of time is a minute. Moreover, an examination of Zeile's (1930) protocols shows that he employs decimal instead of natural logarithms. Hence to reduce the published velocity constants to the normal unit, they must be multiplied by 2⋅3026/60, or 0⋅03838. For horse-liver catalase solutions containing x mg. Fe per litre., Zeile and Hellström found a unimolecular velocity constant of 2513 x , the standard error being only 86 x ; or neglecting one rather dubious figure, the velocity constant is 2531 ± 63 x . Zeile (1931) found a rate of about 8000 x for a catalase prepared from seedlings, but the error is considerably greater. In ordinary units the constant for liver catalase is 97⋅14 x, i. e. , mg. Fe destroys 0⋅9714 gram-molecule of H 2 O 2 per second, in 0⋅01 M. solution, and 1 gram-molecule of enzyme destroys 5⋅42 × 10 4 gram-molecules of H 2 O 2 per second. In other words a molecule of enzyme destroys 5⋅42 × 10 4 substrate molecules per second at 0° C. and 10 -2 M. substrate concentration. Under the same conditions plant catalase destroys about 1⋅7 × 10 5 substrate molecules per molecule per second.


1980 ◽  
Vol 189 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Brocklehurst ◽  
B S Baines ◽  
M S Mushiri

The active centres of chymopapains A and B (jointly designated EC 3.4.22.6) and papaya (Carica papaya L.) peptidase A were investigated by using 2,2′-dipyridyl disulphide and 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) as thiol-specific reactivity probes. Whereas the first active-centre pKa values for chymopapain B and papaya peptidase A are less than 5, is as the case for papain (EC 3.4.22.2) and ficin (EC 3.4.22.3), that for chymopapain A is about 6.8. The reason why the reactions of thiols of pKa approx. 6.5 with 2.2′-dipyridyl disulphide are essentially pH-independent in the pH range around the thiol pKa is delineated. The value of the Brønsted coefficient (beta nuc.) for the reactions of thiolate ions with the 2,2′-dipyridyl disulphide monocation appears to be smaller than its value for the corresponding reactions with the neutral disulphide.


1976 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Norris ◽  
K Brocklehurst

1. A convenient method of preparation of jack-bean urease (EC3.5.1.5) involving covalent chromatography by thiol-disulphide interchange is described. 2. Urease thus prepared has specific activity comparable with the highest value yet reported (44.5 ± 1.47 kat/kg, Km = 3.32 ± 0.05 mM; kcat. = 2.15 × 104 ± 0.05 × 104s-1 at pH7.0 and 38°C). 3. Titration of the urease thiol groups with 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide (2-Py-S-S-2-Py) and application of the method of Tsou Chen-Lu [(1962) Sci. Sin.11, 1535-1558] suggests that the urease molecule (assumed to have mol.wt. 483000 and ε280 = 2.84 × 105 litre·mol-1-cm-1) contains 24 inessential thiol groups of relatively high reactivity (class-I), six ‘essential’ thiol groups of low reactivity (class-II) and 54 buried thiol groups (class-III) which are exposed in 6M-guanidinium chloride. 4. The reaction of the class-I thiol groups with 2-Py-S-S-2-Py was studied in the pH range 6-11 at 25°C(I = 0.1 mol/l) by stopped-flow spectrophotometry, and the analogous reaction of the class-II thiol groups by conventional spectrophotometry. 5. The class-I thiol groups consist of at least two sub-classes whose reactions with 2-Py-S-S-2-Py are characterized by (a) pKa = 9.1, k = 1.56 × 104M-1·s-1 and (b) pKa = 8.1, k = 8.05 × 102M-1·s-1 respectively. The reaction of the class-II thiol groups is characterized by pKa = 9.15 and k = 1.60 × 102M-1·s-1. 6. At pH values 7-8 the class-I thiol groups consist of approx. 50% class-Ia groups and 50% class-Ib groups. The ratio class Ia/class Ib decreases as the pH is raised according to a pKa value ≥ approx. 9.5, and at high pH the class-I thiol groups consist of at most 25% class-Ia groups and at least 75% class-Ib groups. 7. The reactivity of the class-II thiol groups towards 2-Py-S-S-2-Py is insensitive to the nature of the group used to block the class-I thiols. 8. All the ‘essential’ thiol groups in urease appear to be eeactive only as uncomplicated thiolate ions. The implications of this for the active-centre chemistry of urease relative to that of the thiol proteinases are discussed.


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