scholarly journals Mutagenesis of Active-Site Histidines ofListeria monocytogenes Phosphatidylinositol-Specific Phospholipase C: Effects on Enzyme Activity and Biological Function

1999 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudi Bannam ◽  
Howard Goldfine

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes, a gram-positive facultative intracellular pathogen, produces two distinct phospholipases C. PC-PLC, encoded by plcB, is a broad-range phospholipase, whereas PI-PLC, encoded by plcA, is specific for phosphatidylinositol. It was previously shown that PI-PLC plays a role in efficient escape of L. monocytogenes from the primary phagosome. To further understand the function of PI-PLC in intracellular growth, site-directed mutagenesis of plcA was performed. Two potential active-site histidine residues were mutated independently to alanine, serine, and phenylalanine. With the exception of the activity of the enzyme containing H38F, which was unstable, the PI-PLC enzyme activities of culture supernatants containing each mutant enzyme were <1% of wild-type activity. In addition, the levels of expression of the mutant PI-PLC proteins were equivalent to wild-type expression. Derivatives of L. monocytogenes containing these specific plcA mutations were found to have phenotypes similar to that of the plcA deletion strain in an assay for escape from the primary vacuole, in intracellular growth in a murine macrophage cell line, and in a plaquing assay for cell-to-cell spread. Thus, catalytic activity of PI-PLC is required for all its intracellular functions.

2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 999-1003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Gedde ◽  
Darren E. Higgins ◽  
Lewis G. Tilney ◽  
Daniel A. Portnoy

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that escapes from a host vacuolar compartment and grows rapidly in the cytosol. Listeriolysin O (LLO) is a secreted pore-forming protein essential for the escape of L. monocytogenes from the vacuole formed upon initial internalization. However, its role in intracellular growth and cell-to-cell spread events has not been testable by a genetic approach. In this study, purified six-His-tagged LLO (HisLLO) was noncovalently coupled to the surface of nickel-treated LLO-negative mutants. Bound LLO mediated vacuolar escape in approximately 2% of the mutants. After 5.5 h of growth, cytosolic bacteria were indistinguishable from wild-type bacteria with regard to formation of pseudopod-like extensions, here termed listeriopods, and spread to adjacent cells. However, bacteria in adjacent cells failed to multiply and were found in double-membrane vacuoles. Addition of bound LLO to mutants lacking LLO and two distinct phospholipases C (PLCs) also resulted in spread to adjacent cells, but these triple mutants became trapped in multiple-membrane vacuoles that are reminiscent of autophagocytic vacuoles. These studies show that neither LLO nor the PLCs are necessary for listeriopod formation and uptake of bacteria into neighboring cells but that LLO is required for the escape ofL. monocytogenes from the double-membrane vacuole that forms upon cell-to-cell spread.


1991 ◽  
Vol 277 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Jacob ◽  
B Joris ◽  
J M Frère

By using site-directed mutagenesis, the active-site serine residue of the Streptomyces albus G beta-lactamase was substituted by alanine and cysteine. Both mutant enzymes were produced in Streptomyces lividans and purified to homogeneity. The cysteine beta-lactamase exhibited a substrate-specificity profile distinct from that of the wild-type enzyme, and its kcat./Km values at pH 7 were never higher than 0.1% of that of the serine enzyme. Unlike the wild-type enzyme, the activity of the mutant increased at acidic pH values. Surprisingly, the alanine mutant exhibited a weak but specific activity for benzylpenicillin and ampicillin. In addition, a very small production of wild-type enzyme, probably due to mistranslation, was detected, but that activity could be selectively eliminated. Both mutant enzymes were nearly as thermostable as the wild-type.


RSC Advances ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (93) ◽  
pp. 76040-76047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenya Chen ◽  
Ye Li ◽  
Yue Feng ◽  
Liang Chen ◽  
Qipeng Yuan

Arg660 was found as a new active site and Asn795Ala and Trp818Ala mutants showed higher activities than the wild type based on molecular docking simulation analysis for the first time.


1991 ◽  
Vol 274 (3) ◽  
pp. 707-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
M P Jackman ◽  
A Hajnal ◽  
K Lerch

Site-directed mutagenesis was used to determine the functional role of several residues of Streptomyces glaucescens tyrosinase. Replacement of His-37, -53, -193 or -215 by glutamine yields albino phenotypes, as determined by expression on melanin-indicator plates. The purified mutant proteins display no detectable oxy-enzyme and increased Cu lability at the binuclear active site. The carbonyl derivatives of H189Q and H193Q luminesce, with lambda max. displaced more than 25 nm to a longer wavelength compared with native tyrosinase. The remaining histidine mutants display no detectable luminescence. The results are consistent with these histidine residues (together with His-62 and His-189 reported earlier) acting as Cu ligands in the Streptomyces glaucescens enzyme. Conservative substitution of the invariant Asn-190 by glutamine also gives an albino phenotype, no detectable oxy-enzyme and labilization of active-site Cu. The luminescence spectrum of carbonyl-N190Q, however, closely resembles that of the native enzyme under conditions promoting double Cu occupancy of the catalytic site. A critical role for Asn-190 in active-site hydrogen-bonding interactions is proposed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 508-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suat L. G. Cirillo ◽  
Luiz E. Bermudez ◽  
Sahar H. El-Etr ◽  
Gerald E. Duhamel ◽  
Jeffrey D. Cirillo

ABSTRACT Successful parasitism of host cells by intracellular pathogens involves adherence, entry, survival, intracellular replication, and cell-to-cell spread. Our laboratory has been examining the role of early events, adherence and entry, in the pathogenesis of the facultative intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Currently, the mechanisms used by L. pneumophila to gain access to the intracellular environment are not well understood. We have recently isolated three loci, designated enh1,enh2, and enh3, that are involved in the ability of L. pneumophila to enter host cells. One of the genes present in the enh1 locus, rtxA, is homologous to repeats in structural toxin genes (RTX) found in many bacterial pathogens. RTX proteins from other bacterial species are commonly cytotoxic, and some of them have been shown to bind to β2 integrin receptors. In the current study, we demonstrate that the L. pneumophila rtxA gene is involved in adherence, cytotoxicity, and pore formation in addition to its role in entry. Furthermore, an rtxA mutant does not replicate as well as wild-type L. pneumophila in monocytes and is less virulent in mice. Thus, we conclude that the entry genertxA is an important virulence determinant in L. pneumophila and is likely to be critical for the production of Legionnaires' disease in humans.


1994 ◽  
Vol 303 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
M P G van der Linden ◽  
L de Haan ◽  
O Dideberg ◽  
W Keck

Alignment of the amino acid sequence of penicillin-binding protein 5 (PBP5) with the sequences of other members of the family of active-site-serine penicillin-interacting enzymes predicted the residues playing a role in the catalytic mechanism of PBP5. Apart from the active-site (Ser44), Lys47, Ser110-Gly-Asn, Asp175 and Lys213-Thr-Gly were identified as the residues making up the conserved boxes of this protein family. To determine the role of these residues, they were replaced using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutant proteins were assayed for their penicillin-binding capacity and DD-carboxypeptidase activity. The Ser44Cys and the Ser44Gly mutants showed a complete loss of both penicillin-binding capacity and DD-carboxypeptidase activity. The Lys47Arg mutant also lost its DD-carboxypeptidase activity but was able to bind and hydrolyse penicillin, albeit at a considerably reduced rate. Mutants in the Ser110-Gly-Asn fingerprint were affected in both acylation and deacylation upon reaction with penicillin and lost their DD-carboxypeptidase activity with the exception of Asn112Ser and Asn112Thr. The Asp175Asn mutant showed wild-type penicillin-binding but a complete loss of DD-carboxypeptidase activity. Mutants of Lys213 lost both penicillin-binding and DD-carboxypeptidase activity except for Lys213His, which still bound penicillin with a k+2/K' of 0.2% of the wild-type value. Mutation of His216 and Thr217 also had a strong effect on DD-carboxypeptidase activity. Thr217Ser and Thr217Ala showed augmented hydrolysis rates for the penicillin acyl-enzyme. This study reveals the residues in the conserved fingerprints to be very important for both DD-carboxypeptidase activity and penicillin-binding, and confirms them to play crucial roles in catalysis.


2002 ◽  
Vol 365 (1) ◽  
pp. 303-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wynand B.L. ALKEMA ◽  
Antoon K. PRINS ◽  
Erik de VRIES ◽  
Dick B. JANSSEN

The active site of penicillin acylase of Escherichia coli contains two conserved arginine residues. The function of these arginines, αArg145 and βArg263, was studied by site-directed mutagenesis and kinetic analysis of the mutant enzymes. The mutants αArg145→Leu (αArg145Leu), αArg145Cys and αArg145Lys were normally processed and exported to the periplasm, whereas expression of the mutants βArg263Leu, βArg263Asn and βArg263Lys yielded large amounts of precursor protein in the periplasm, indicating that βArg263 is crucial for efficient processing of the enzyme. Either modification of both arginine residues by 2,3-butanedione or replacement by site-directed mutagenesis yielded enzymes with a decreased specificity (kcat/Km) for 2-nitro-5-[(phenylacetyl)amino]benzoic acid, indicating that both residues are important in catalysis. Compared with the wild type, the αArg145 mutants exhibited a 3–6-fold-increased preference for 6-aminopenicillanic acid as the deacylating nucleophile compared with water. Analysis of the steady-state parameters of these mutants for the hydrolysis of penicillin G and phenylacetamide indicated that destabilization of the Michaelis—Menten complex accounts for the improved activity with β-lactam substrates. Analysis of pH—activity profiles of wild-type enzyme and the βArg263Lys mutant showed that βArg263 has to be positively charged for catalysis, but is not involved in substrate binding. The results provide an insight into the catalytic mechanism of penicillin acylase, in which αArg145 is involved in binding of β-lactam substrates and βArg263 is important both for stabilizing the transition state in the reaction and for correct processing of the precursor protein.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 3253-3262 ◽  
Author(s):  
G�n�l Vardar ◽  
Thomas K. Wood

ABSTRACT Toluene-o-xylene monooxygenase (ToMO) from Pseudomonas stutzeri OX1 oxidizes toluene to 3- and 4-methylcatechol and oxidizes benzene to form phenol; in this study ToMO was found to also form catechol and 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene (1,2,3-THB) from phenol. To synthesize novel dihydroxy and trihydroxy derivatives of benzene and toluene, DNA shuffling of the alpha-hydroxylase fragment of ToMO (TouA) and saturation mutagenesis of the TouA active site residues I100, Q141, T201, and F205 were used to generate random mutants. The mutants were initially identified by screening with a rapid agar plate assay and then were examined further by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography. Several regiospecific mutants with high rates of activity were identified; for example, Escherichia coli TG1/pBS(Kan)ToMO expressing the F205G TouA saturation mutagenesis variant formed 4-methylresorcinol (0.78 nmol/min/mg of protein), 3-methylcatechol (0.25 nmol/min/mg of protein), and methylhydroquinone (0.088 nmol/min/mg of protein) from o-cresol, whereas wild-type ToMO formed only 3-methylcatechol (1.1 nmol/min/mg of protein). From o-cresol, the I100Q saturation mutagenesis mutant and the M180T/E284G DNA shuffling mutant formed methylhydroquinone (0.50 and 0.19 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively) and 3-methylcatechol (0.49 and 1.5 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively). The F205G mutant formed catechol (0.52 nmol/min/mg of protein), resorcinol (0.090 nmol/min/mg of protein), and hydroquinone (0.070 nmol/min/mg of protein) from phenol, whereas wild-type ToMO formed only catechol (1.5 nmol/min/mg of protein). Both the I100Q mutant and the M180T/E284G mutant formed hydroquinone (1.2 and 0.040 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively) and catechol (0.28 and 2.0 nmol/min/mg of protein, respectively) from phenol. Dihydroxybenzenes were further oxidized to trihydroxybenzenes with different regiospecificities; for example, the I100Q mutant formed 1,2,4-THB from catechol, whereas wild-type ToMO formed 1,2,3-THB (pyrogallol). Regiospecific oxidation of the natural substrate toluene was also checked; for example, the I100Q mutant formed 22% o-cresol, 44% m-cresol, and 34% p-cresol, whereas wild-type ToMO formed 32% o-cresol, 21% m-cresol, and 47% p-cresol.


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