scholarly journals Topology of the Erwinia chrysanthemi oligogalacturonate porin KdgM

2003 ◽  
Vol 372 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teijo PELLINEN ◽  
Helena AHLFORS ◽  
Nicolas BLOT ◽  
Guy CONDEMINE

The Erwinia chrysanthemi oligogalacturonate-specific monomeric porin, KdgM, does not present homology with any porins of known structure. A model of this protein, based on sequence similarity and the amphipathy profile, was constructed. The model depicts a β-barrel composed of 14 antiparallel β-strands. The accuracy of this model was tested by the chemical labelling of cysteine residues introduced by site-directed mutagenesis. The protein has seven surface-exposed loops. They are rather small with the exception of one, loop L6. Deletion of this loop allowed the entry of maltopentaose into the bacteria, a molecule too large to enter through the wild-type KdgM. Loop L6 could fold back into the lumen of the pore and play the role of the constriction loop L3 of general porins. With 14 transmembrane segments, the KdgM porin family could represent the smallest porin characterized to date.

1993 ◽  
Vol 295 (2) ◽  
pp. 485-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Zapata ◽  
P P Roller ◽  
J Crowley ◽  
W F Vann

N-Acetylneuraminic acid cytidyltransferase (CMP-NeuAc synthase) of Escherichia coli K1 is sensitive to mercurials and has cysteine residues only at positions 129 and 329. The role of these residues in the catalytic activity and structure of the protein has been investigated by site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification. The enzyme is inactivated by the thiol-specific reagent dithiodipyridine. Inactivation by this reagent is decreased in the presence of the nucleotide substrate CTP, suggesting that a thiol residue is at or near the active site. Site-directed mutagenesis of either residue Cys-129 to serine or Cys-329 to selected amino acids has minor effects on the specific activity of the enzyme, suggesting that cysteine is not essential for catalysis and that a disulphide bond is not an essential structural component. The limited reactivity of the enzyme to other thiol-blocking reagents suggests that its cysteine residues are partially exposed. The accessibility and role of the cysteine residues in enzyme structure were investigated by fluorescence, c.d. and denaturation studies of wild-type and mutant enzymes. The mutation of Cys-129 to serine makes the enzyme more sensitive to heat and chemical denaturation, but does not cause gross changes in the protein structure as judged by the c.d. spectrum. The mutant containing Ser-129 instead of Cys-129 had a complex denaturation pathway similar to that of wild-type E. coli K1 CMP-NeuAc synthase consisting of several partially denatured states. Cys-329 reacts more readily with N-[14C]ethylmaleimide when the enzyme is in a heat-induced relaxed state. Cys-129 is less reactive and is probably a buried residue.


2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 621-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-Wei Chen ◽  
Cheng-Ying Jiang ◽  
Qunxin She ◽  
Shuang-Jiang Liu ◽  
Pei-Jin Zhou

ABSTRACT Analysis of known sulfur oxygenase-reductases (SORs) and the SOR-like sequences identified from public databases indicated that they all possess three cysteine residues within two conserved motifs (V-G-P-K-V-C31 and C101-X-X-C104; numbering according to the Acidianus tengchongensis numbering system). The thio-modifying reagent N-ethylmaleimide and Zn2+ strongly inhibited the activities of the SORs of A. tengchongensis, suggesting that cysteine residues are important. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to construct four mutant SORs with cysteines replaced by serine or alanine. The purified mutant proteins were investigated in parallel with the wild-type SOR. Replacement of any cysteine reduced SOR activity by 98.4 to 100%, indicating that all the cysteine residues are crucial to SOR activities. Circular-dichroism and fluorescence spectrum analyses revealed that the wild-type and mutant SORs have similar structures and that none of them form any disulfide bond. Thus, it is proposed that three cysteine residues, C31 and C101-X-X-C104, in the conserved domains constitute the putative binding and catalytic sites of SOR. Furthermore, enzymatic activity assays of the subcellular fractions and immune electron microscopy indicated that SOR is not only present in the cytoplasm but also associated with the cytoplasmic membrane of A. tengchongensis. The membrane-associated SOR activity was colocalized with the activities of sulfite:acceptor oxidoreductase and thiosulfate:acceptor oxidoreductase. We tentatively propose that these enzymes are located in close proximity on the membrane to catalyze sulfur oxidation in A. tengchongensis.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
G A Vehar ◽  
K M Tate ◽  
D L Higgins ◽  
W E Holmes ◽  
H L Heyneker

The significance of the cleavage at arginine-275 of human t-PA has been the subject of debate. It has been reported, as expected for a member of the serine protease family, that the single chain form is a zymogen and that generation of catalytic activity is dependent upon cleavage at arginine-275. Other groups, in contrast, have found considerable enzyme activity associated with the one-chain form of t-PA. To clarify the functional significance of this proteolysis and circumvent cleavage of one-chain t-PA by itself or plasmin, site-directed mutagenesis was employed to change the codon of arginine-275 to specify a glutamic acid. The resulting plasmid was used to transfect CHO cells. The single chain mutant [Glu-275 t-PA] was expressed in CHO cells and the protein purified by conventional techniques. The mutant enzyme could be converted to the two-chain form by V8 protease, but not by plasmin. Glu-275 t-PA was 8 times less active in the cleavage of a tripeptide substrate and 20-50 times less active in the activation of plasminogen in the absence of firbrin(ogen) than its two-chain form. In the presence of fibrin(ogen), in contrast, the one and two-chain forms of Glu-275 t-PA were equal in their ability to activate plasminogen in the presence of fibrin(ogen). The activity in these assays was equal to the activity of wild type t-PA. In addition, it was observed that fibrin bound considerably more of the one-chain form of t-PA than the two chain forms of t-PA and the Glu-275 mutant. The one and two-chain forms of the wild type and mutated t-PA were found to slowly form complexes with plasma protease inhibitors in vitro, although the one-chain forms were less reactive with alpha-2-macroglobulin. It can be concluded that the one-chain form of t-PA appears to be fully functional under physiologic conditions and has an increased affinity for fibrin compared to two-chain t-PA.


1999 ◽  
Vol 344 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M. PAJOR ◽  
Sally J. KRAJEWSKI ◽  
Nina SUN ◽  
Rama GANGULA

The role of cysteine residues in the Na+/dicarboxylate co-transporter (NaDC-1) was tested using site-directed mutagenesis. The transport activity of NaDC-1 was not affected by mutagenesis of any of the 11 cysteine residues, indicating that no individual cysteine residue is necessary for function. NaDC-1 is sensitive to inhibition by the impermeant cysteine-specific reagent, p-chloromercuribenzenesulphonate (pCMBS). The pCMBS-sensitive residues in NaDC-1 are Cys-227, found in transmembrane domain 5, and Cys-476, located in transmembrane domain 9. Although cysteine residues are not required for function in NaDC-1, their presence appears to be important for protein stability or trafficking to the plasma membrane. There was a direct relationship between the number of cysteine residues, regardless of location, and the transport activity and expression of NaDC-1. The results indicate that mutagenesis of multiple cysteine residues in NaDC-1 may alter the shape or configuration of the protein, leading to alterations in protein trafficking or stability.


Biochemistry ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 32 (25) ◽  
pp. 6374-6380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Aliverti ◽  
Luciano Piubelli ◽  
Giuliana Zanetti ◽  
Thomas Luebberstedt ◽  
Reinhold G. Herrmann ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 3123-3126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Bottoni ◽  
Mariagrazia Perilli ◽  
Francesca Marcoccia ◽  
Alessandra Piccirilli ◽  
Cristina Pellegrini ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTSite-directed mutagenesis of CphA indicated that prolines in the P158-P172 loop are essential for the stability and the catalytic activity of subclass B2 metallo-β-lactamases against carbapenems. The sequential substitution of proline led to a decrease of the catalytic efficiency of the variant compared to the wild-type (WT) enzyme but also to a higher affinity for the binding of the second zinc ion.


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