scholarly journals Topoisomerase I Amino Acid Substitutions, Gly185Arg and Asp325Glu, Confer Camptothecin Resistance in Leishmania donovani

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1441-1446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Marquis ◽  
Isabelle Hardy ◽  
Martin Olivier

ABSTRACT The antitumor compound camptothecin (CPT) is also recognized for its specific activity against Leishmania donovani topoisomerase I (Topo-I). In consequence, defining CPT resistance mechanisms represents an important strategic tool in the acquisition of a better understanding of its mode of action. In the present study, we selected a single highly resistant L. donovani strain termed LdRCPT.160 by stepwise exposure to CPT. Gene sequencing revealed two single nucleotide mutations in the LdRCPT.160 LdTOP1A gene, resulting in two amino acid substitutions (Gly185Arg and Asp325Glu) in the protein. Moreover, these two substitutions observed in the LdTOP1A protein were correlated with a decreased Topo-I DNA relaxation activity in these resistant parasites. Nevertheless, there was no change in the LdTOP1A gene expression level. Interestingly, transfection studies of the LdRCPT.160 LdTOP1A gene in its wild-type counterpart showed that it induced CPT resistance. Site-directed mutagenesis studies demonstrated that, despite a substantial level of resistance conferred by the Gly185Arg and Asp325Glu substitutions separately, both were essential to reach a high-resistance phenotype. Of interest, the amino acid substitutions observed in LdRCPT.160 LdTOP1A protein occurred near the amino acids previously predicted to interact with CPT, providing new insight into the mechanism of CPT molecular action.

2001 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1088-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yew-Loom Chen ◽  
Tsung-Yin Tang ◽  
Kuo-Joan Cheng

The catalytic domain of a xylanase from the anaerobic fungus Neocallimastix patriciarum was made more alkalophilic through directed evolution using error-prone PCR. Transformants expressing the alkalophilic variant xylanases produced larger clear zones when overlaid with high pH, xylan-containing agar. Eight amino acid substitutions were identified in six selected mutant xylanases. Whereas the wild-type xylanase exhibited no activity at pH 8.5, the relative and specific activities of the six mutants were higher at pH 8.5 than at pH 6.0. Seven of the eight amino acid substitutions were assembled in one enzyme (xyn-CDBFV) by site-directed mutagenesis. Some or all of the seven mutations exerted positive and possibly synergistic effects on the alkalophilicity of the enzyme. The resulting composite mutant xylanase retained a greater proportion of its activity than did the wild type at pH above 7.0, maintaining 25% of its activity at pH 9.0, and its retention of activity at acid pH was no lower than that of the wild type. The composite xylanase (xyn-CDBFV) had a relatively high specific activity of 10 128 µmol glucose·min–1·(mg protein)–1 at pH 6.0. It was more thermostable at 60°C and alkaline tolerant at pH 10.0 than the wild-type xylanase. These properties suggest that the composite mutant xylanase is a promising and suitable candidate for paper pulp bio-bleaching.Key words: xylanase, Neocallimastix patriciarum, alkalophilicity, random mutagenesis, directed evolution.


1992 ◽  
Vol 288 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
E P Ko ◽  
H Akatsuka ◽  
H Moriyama ◽  
A Shinmyo ◽  
Y Hata ◽  
...  

To elucidate the reaction mechanism of xylanase, the identification of amino acids essential for its catalysis is of importance. Studies have indicated the possibility that the reaction mechanism of xylanase is similar to that of hen's egg lysozyme, which involves acidic amino acid residues. On the basis of this assumption, together with the three-dimensional structure of Bacillus pumilus xylanase and its amino acid sequence similarity to other xylanases of different origins, three acidic amino acids, namely Asp-21, Glu-93 and Glu-182, were selected for site-directed mutagenesis. The Asp residue was altered to either Ser or Glu, and the Glu residues to Ser or Asp. The purified mutant xylanases D21E, D21S, E93D, E93S, E182D and E182S showed single protein bands of about 26 kDa on SDS/PAGE. C.d. spectra of these mutant enzymes show no effect on the secondary structure of xylanase, except that of D21E, which shows a little variation. Furthermore, mutations of Glu-93 and Glu-182 resulted in a drastic decrease in the specific activity of xylanase as compared with mutation of Asp-21. On the basis of these results we propose that Glu-93 and Glu-182 are the best candidates for the essential catalytic residues of xylanase.


2018 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 679-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-ling Liao ◽  
George N. Somero ◽  
Yun-wei Dong

Comparative studies of orthologous proteins of species evolved at different temperatures have revealed consistent patterns of temperature-related variation in thermal stabilities of structure and function. However, the precise mechanisms by which interspecific variations in sequence foster these adaptive changes remain largely unknown. Here, we compare orthologs of cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (cMDH) from marine molluscs adapted to temperatures ranging from −1.9 °C (Antarctica) to ∼55 °C (South China coast) and show how amino acid usage in different regions of the enzyme (surface, intermediate depth, and protein core) varies with adaptation temperature. This eukaryotic enzyme follows some but not all of the rules established in comparisons of archaeal and bacterial proteins. To link the effects of specific amino acid substitutions with adaptive variations in enzyme thermal stability, we combined site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) and in vitro protein experimentation with in silico mutagenesis using molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) techniques. SDM and MDS methods generally but not invariably yielded common effects on protein stability. MDS analysis is shown to provide insights into how specific amino acid substitutions affect the conformational flexibilities of mobile regions (MRs) of the enzyme that are essential for binding and catalysis. Whereas these substitutions invariably lie outside of the MRs, they effectively transmit their flexibility-modulating effects to the MRs through linked interactions among surface residues. This discovery illustrates that regions of the protein surface lying outside of the site of catalysis can help establish an enzyme’s thermal responses and foster evolutionary adaptation of function.


1998 ◽  
Vol 331 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang-Chao SUI ◽  
Björn WIMAN

Thirteen amino acid substitutions have been introduced within the stretch Phe113 to Asp138 in the plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) molecule by site-directed mutagenesis. The different proteins and wild-type (wt) PAI-1 have been overexpressed in Escherichia coliand purified by chromatography on heparin–Sepharose and on anhydrotrypsin–agarose. The PAI-1 variants have been characterized by their reactivity with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), interactions with vitronectin or heparin, and stability. Most PAI-1 variants, except for Asp125 → Lys, Phe126 → Ser and Arg133 → Asp, displayed a high spontaneous inhibitory activity towards tPA, which did not change greatly on reactivation with 4 M guanidinium chloride, followed by dialysis at pH 5.5. The variants Asp125 → Lys and Arg133 → Asp became much more active after reactivation and they were also more rapidly transformed to inactive forms (t½ 22–31 min) at physiological pH and temperature than the other variants. However, in the presence of vitronectin they were both almost equally stable (t½ 2.3 h) as wtPAI-1 (t½ 3.0 h). The mutant Glu130 → Lys showed an increased stability, both in the absence and in the presence of vitronectin compared with wtPAI-1. Nevertheless a similar affinity between all the active PAI-1 variants and vitronectin was observed. Further, all mutants, including the three mutants with low activity, were to a large extent adsorbed on anhydrotrypsin–agarose and were eluted in a similar fashion. In accordance with these data, the three variants with a low activity were all to a large extent cleaved as a result of their reaction with tPA, suggesting that they occurred predominantly in the substrate conformation. Our results do not support the presence of a binding site for vitronectin in this part of the molecule, but rather that it might be involved in controlling the active PAI-1 to substrate transition. Partly, this region of the PAI-1 molecule (Arg115 to Arg118) seems also to be involved in the binding of heparin to PAI-1.


2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia N. Qureshi ◽  
Dimitrios Morikis ◽  
Neal L. Schiller

ABSTRACTAmoxicillin is commonly used to treatHelicobacter pylori, a major cause of peptic ulcers, stomach cancer, and B-cell mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. Amoxicillin resistance inH. pyloriis increasing steadily, especially in developing countries, leading to treatment failures. In this study, we characterize the mechanism of amoxicillin resistance in the U.S. clinical isolate B258. Transformation of amoxicillin-susceptible strain 26695 with the penicillin binding protein 1 gene (pbp1) from B258 increased the amoxicillin resistance of 26695 to equal that of B258, while studies using biotinylated amoxicillin showed a decrease in the binding of amoxicillin to the PBP1 of B258. Transformation with 4pbp1fragments, each encompassing several amino acid substitutions, combined with site-directed mutagenesis studies, identified 3 amino acid substitutions in PBP1 of B258 which affected amoxicillin susceptibility (Val 469 Met, Phe 473 Leu, and Ser 543 Arg). Homology modeling showed the spatial orientation of these specific amino acid changes in PBP1 from 26695 and B258. The results of these studies demonstrate that amoxicillin resistance in the clinical U.S. isolate B258 is due solely to an altered PBP1 protein with a lower binding affinity for amoxicillin. Homology modeling analyses using previously identified amino acid substitutions of amoxicillin-resistant PBP1s demonstrate the importance of specific amino acid substitutions in PBP1 that affect the binding of amoxicillin in the putative binding cleft, defining those substitutions deemed most important in amoxicillin resistance.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 3035-3038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry G. Hall

ABSTRACT In an early example of DNA shuffling, Stemmer (W. P. C. Stemmer, Nature 370:389-390, 1994) demonstrated a dramatic improvement in the activity of the TEM-1 β-lactamase toward cefotaxime as the consequence of six amino acid substitutions. It has been pointed out (B. G. Hall, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 178:1-6, 1999; M. C. Orencia, J. S. Yoon, J. E. Ness, W. P. Stemmer, and R. C. Stevens, Nat. Struct. Biol. 8:238-242, 2001) that the power of DNA shuffling might be applied to the problem of predicting evolution in nature from in vitro evolution in the laboratory. As a predictor of natural evolutionary processes, that power may be misleading because in nature mutations almost always arise one at a time, and each advantageous mutation must be fixed into the population by an evolutionary pathway that leads from the wild type to the fully evolved sequence. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to introduce each of Stemmer's six substitutions into TEM-1, the best single mutant was chosen, and each of the remaining five substitutions was introduced. Repeated rounds of site-directed mutagenesis and selection of the best mutant were used in an attempt to construct a pathway between the wild-type TEM-1 and Stemmer's mutant with six mutations. In the present study it is shown (i) that no such pathway exists between the wild-type TEM-1 and the supereffective cefotaxime-hydrolyzing mutant that was generated by six amino acid substitutions via DNA shuffling (Stemmer, Nature 370:389-390, 1994) but that a pathway to a fourfold more efficient enzyme resulting from four of the same substitutions does exist, and (ii) that the more efficient enzyme is likely to arise in nature as the result of a single mutation in the naturally occurring TEM-52 allele.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 3709-3716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Hsiang Cheng ◽  
Tzu-Lung Lin ◽  
Yi-Tsung Lin ◽  
Jin-Town Wang

Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic for treatment of carbapenem-resistantKlebsiella pneumoniae. A recent study indicated that missense mutations in the CrrB protein contribute to colistin resistance. In our previous study, mechanisms of colistin resistance were defined in 17 of 26 colistin-resistantK. pneumoniaeclinical isolates. Of the remaining nine strains, eight were highly resistant to colistin. In the present study,crrABsequences were determined for these eight strains. Six separate amino acid substitutions in CrrB (Q10L, Y31H, W140R, N141I, P151S, and S195N) were detected. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to generatecrrBloci harboring individual missense mutations; introduction of the mutated genes into a susceptible strain, A4528, resulted in 64- to 1,024-fold increases in colistin MICs. ThesecrrBmutants showed increased accumulation ofH239_3062,H239_3059,pmrA,pmrC, andpmrHtranscripts by quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR. Deletion ofH239_3062(but not that ofH239_3059) in the A4528crrB(N141I) strain attenuated resistance to colistin, andH239_3062was accordingly namedcrrC. Similarly, accumulation ofpmrA,pmrC, andpmrHtranscripts induced bycrrB(N141I) was significantly attenuated upon deletion ofcrrC. Complementation ofcrrCrestored resistance to colistin and accumulation ofpmrA,pmrC, andpmrHtranscripts in acrrB(N141I) ΔcrrCstrain. In conclusion, novel individual CrrB amino acid substitutions (Y31H, W140R, N141I, P151S, and S195N) were shown to be responsible for colistin resistance. We hypothesize that CrrB mutations induce CrrC expression, thereby inducing elevated expression of thepmrHFIJKLMoperon andpmrC(an effect mediated via the PmrAB two-component system) and yielding increased colistin resistance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 3653-3661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Ji Choi ◽  
Eun Jeong Won ◽  
Jong Hee Shin ◽  
Soo Hyun Kim ◽  
Wee-Gyo Lee ◽  
...  

We investigated the azole resistance mechanisms and clinical features of fluconazole-nonsusceptible (FNS) isolates ofCandida tropicalisrecovered from Korean surveillance cultures in comparison with fluconazole-less-susceptible (FLS) isolates. Thirty-five clinical isolates ofC. tropicalis, comprising 9 FNS (fluconazole MIC, 4 to 64 μg/ml), 12 FLS (MIC, 1 to 2 μg/ml), and 14 control (MIC, 0.125 to 0.5 μg/ml) isolates, were assessed.CDR1,MDR1, andERG11expression was quantified, and theERG11andUPC2genes were sequenced. Clinical features of 16 patients with FNS or FLS bloodstream isolates were analyzed. Both FNS and FLS isolates had >10-fold higher mean expression levels ofCDR1,MDR1, andERG11genes than control isolates (Pvalues of <0.02 for all). When FNS and FLS isolates were compared, FNS isolates had 3.4-fold higher meanERG11expression levels than FLS isolates (P= 0.004), but there were no differences in those ofCDR1orMDR1. Of all 35 isolates, 4 (2 FNS and 2 FLS) and 28 (8 FNS, 11 FLS, and 9 control) isolates exhibited amino acid substitutions in Erg11p and Upc2p, respectively. Both FNS and FLS bloodstream isolates were associated with azole therapeutic failure (3/4 versus 4/7) or uncleared fungemia (4/6 versus 4/10), but FNS isolates were identified more frequently from patients with previous azole exposure (6/6 versus 3/10;P= 0.011) and immunosuppression (6/6 versus 3/10;P= 0.011). These results reveal that the majority of FNSC. tropicalisisolates show overexpression ofCDR1,MDR1, andERG11genes, and fungemia develops after azole exposure in patients with immunosuppression.


1995 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 605-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Biassoni ◽  
M Falco ◽  
A Cambiaggi ◽  
P Costa ◽  
S Verdiani ◽  
...  

Natural killer (NK) cells have been shown to express a clonally distributed ability to recognize HLA class I alleles. The previously defined NK clones belonging to "group 1" recognize HLA-C*0401 (Cw4) and other HLA-C alleles sharing Asn at position 77 and Lys at position 80. Conversely, the "group 2" NK clones recognize HLA-Cw*0302 (Cw3) and other HLA-C alleles characterized by Ser at position 77 and Asn at position 80. We assessed directly the involvement of these two residues in the capacity of NK cell clones to discriminate between the two groups of HLA-C alleles. To this end, Cw3 and Cw4 alleles were subjected to site-directed mutagenesis. Substitution of the amino acids typical of the Cw3 allele (Ser-77 and Asn-80) with those present in Cw4 (Asn-77 and Lys-80) resulted in a Cw3 mutant that was no longer recognized by group 2 NK cell clones, but that was recognized by group 1 clones. Analysis of Cw3 or Cw4 molecules containing single amino acid substitutions indicates roles for Lys-80 in recognition mediated by group 1 clones and for Ser-77 in recognition mediated by group 2 clones. These results demonstrate that NK-mediated specific recognition of HLA-C allotypes is affected by single natural amino acid substitutions at positions 77 and 80 of the heavy chain.


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