Site-directed mutagenesis of farnesyl diphosphate synthase; effect of substitution on the three carboxyl-terminal amino acids

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanetoshi Koyama ◽  
Kazuhiro Saito ◽  
Kyozo Ogura ◽  
Shusei Obata ◽  
Ayumi Takeshita

Site-directed mutation was introduced into the gene for the farnesyl diphosphate synthase of Bacillus stearothermophilus. To investigate the significance of the three C-terminal amino acids, where arginine is completely conserved throughout the farnesyl diphosphate synthases of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, three kinds of mutant enzymes, R295V, D296G, and H297L, which have replacements of arginine-295 with valine, aspartate-296 with glycine, and histidine-297 with leucine, respectively, were overproduced and purified to homogeneity. All of the three mutant enzymes showed similar catalytic activities to that of the wild-type enzyme, indicating that the basic amino acids including the conserved arginine in the C-terminal region are not essential for catalytic function. They were also similar to the wild-type enzyme with respect to pH optima, thermostability, reaction product, and kinetic parameters for allylic substrates. However, their Km values for isopentenyl diphosphate are approximately twice that of the wild type.

1997 ◽  
Vol 326 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinji TOGASHI ◽  
Kazunaga TAKAZAWA ◽  
Toyoshi ENDO ◽  
Christophe ERNEUX ◽  
Toshimasa ONAYA

A series of key amino acids involved in Ins(1,4,5)P3 (InsP3) binding and catalytic activity of rat brain InsP3 3-kinase has been identified. The catalytic domain is at the C-terminal end and restricted to a maximum of 275 amino acids [Takazawa and Erneux (1991) Biochem. J. 280, 125–129]. In this study, newly prepared 5′-deletion and site-directed mutants have been compared both for InsP3 binding and InsP3 3-kinase activity. When the protein was expressed from L259 to R459, the activity was lost but InsP3 binding was conserved. Another deletion mutant that had lost only four amino acids after L259 had lost InsP3 binding, and this finding suggests that these residues (i.e. L259DCK262) are involved in InsP3 binding. To further support the data, we have produced two mutants by site-directed mutagenesis on residues C261 and K262. The two new enzymes were designated M4 (C261S) and M5 (K262A). M4 showed similar Vmax and Km values for InsP3 and ATP to wild-type enzyme. In contrast, M5 was totally inactive but had kept the ability to bind to calmodulin–Sepharose. C-terminal deletion mutants that had lost five, seven or nine amino acids showed a large decrease in InsP3 binding and InsP3 3-kinase activity. One mutant that had lost five amino acids (M2) was purified to apparent homogeneity: Km values for both substrates appeared unchanged but Vmax was decreased approx. 40-fold compared with the wild-type enzyme. The results indicate that (1) a positively charged amino acid residue K262 is essential for InsP3 binding and (2) amino acids at the C-terminal end of the protein are necessary to act as a catalyst in the InsP3 3-kinase reaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana C. Ferreira ◽  
Samar Fadl ◽  
Adrian J. Villanueva ◽  
Wael M. Rabeh

Coronaviruses are responsible for multiple pandemics and millions of deaths globally, including the current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Development of antivirals against coronaviruses, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for COVID-19, is essential for containing the current and future coronavirus outbreaks. SARS-CoV-2 proteases represent important targets for the development of antivirals because of their role in the processing of viral polyproteins. 3-Chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) is one such protease. The cleavage of SARS-CoV-2 polyproteins by 3CLpro is facilitated by a Cys145–His41 catalytic dyad. We here characterized the catalytic roles of the cysteine–histidine pair for improved understanding of the 3CLpro reaction mechanism, to inform the development of more effective antivirals against Sars-CoV-2. The catalytic dyad residues were substituted by site-directed mutagenesis. All substitutions tested (H41A, H41D, H41E, C145A, and C145S) resulted in a complete inactivation of 3CLpro, even when amino acids with a similar catalytic function to that of the original residues were used. The integrity of the structural fold of enzyme variants was investigated by circular dichroism spectroscopy to test if the catalytic inactivation of 3CLpro was caused by gross changes in the enzyme secondary structure. C145A, but not the other substitutions, shifted the oligomeric state of the enzyme from dimeric to a higher oligomeric state. Finally, the thermodynamic stability of 3CLpro H41A, H41D, and C145S variants was reduced relative the wild-type enzyme, with a similar stability of the H41E and C145A variants. Collectively, the above observations confirm the roles of His41 and Cys145 in the catalytic activity and the overall conformational fold of 3CLpro SARS-CoV-2. We conclude that the cysteine–histidine pair should be targeted for inhibition of 3CLpro and development of antiviral against COVID-19 and coronaviruses.


1994 ◽  
Vol 302 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Moreau ◽  
M Roberge ◽  
C Manin ◽  
F Shareck ◽  
D Kluepfel ◽  
...  

On the basis of similarities between known xylanase sequences of the F family, three invariant acidic residues of xylanase A from Streptomyces lividans were investigated. Site-directed-mutagenesis experiments were carried out in Escherichia coli after engineering the xylanase A gene to allow its expression. Replacement of Glu-128 or Glu-236 by their isosteric form (Gln) completely abolished enzyme activity with xylan and p-nitrophenyl beta-D-cellobioside, indicating that the two substrates are hydrolysed at the same site. These two amino acids probably represent the catalytic residues. Immunological studies, which showed that the two mutants retained the same epitopes, indicate that the lack of activity is the result of the mutation rather than misfolding of the protein. Mutation D124E did not affect the kinetic parameters with xylan as substrate, but D124N reduced the Km 16-fold and the Vmax. 14-fold when compared with the wild-type enzyme. The mutations had a more pronounced effect with p-nitrophenyl beta-D-cellobioside as the substrate. Mutation D124E increased the Km and decreased the Vmax. 5-fold each, while D124N reduced the Km 4.5-fold and the Vmax. 75-fold. The mutations had no effect on the cleavage mode of xylopentaose.


1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Koyama ◽  
S Obata ◽  
M Osabe ◽  
K Saito ◽  
A Takeshita ◽  
...  

The gene for thermostable farnesyl diphosphate synthase from Bacillus stearothermophilus was cloned, sequenced, and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The synthase was purified to homogeneity and crystallized. The enzyme carried only two cysteine residues in contrast to its counterparts from other sources, which have four to six cysteine residues. Either or both of the cysteine residues can be replaced with serine without causing a loss of the catalytic activity. The conserved arginine residue that occupies the third position from the C-terminus was also replaced with valine without significant loss of activity, but the valine mutant showed a weakened affinity for isopentenyl diphosphate.


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.


1991 ◽  
Vol 279 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Chambert ◽  
M F Petit-Glatron

The levansucrase (sucrose:2,6-beta-D-fructan 6-beta-D-fructosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.10) structural gene from a Bacillus subtilis mutant strain displaying a low polymerase activity was sequenced. Only one missense mutation changing Arg331 to His was responsible for this modified catalytic property. From this allele we created new mutations by directed mutagenesis, which modified the charge and polarity of site 331. Examination of the kinetics of the purified levansucrase variants revealed that transfructosylation activities are affected differently by the substitution chosen. His331→Arg completely restored the properties of the wild-type enzyme. The most striking feature of the other variants, namely Lys331, Ser331 and Leu331, was that they lost the ability of the wild-type enzyme to synthesize levan from sucrose alone. They were only capable of catalysing the first step of levan chain elongation, which is the formation of the trisaccharide ketose. The variant His331→Lys presented a higher kcat. for sucrose hydrolysis than the wild-type, and only this hydrolase activity was preserved in a solvent/water mixture in which the wild-type acted as a true polymerase. The two other substitutions reduced the efficiency of transfructosylation activities of the enzyme via the decrease of the rate of fructosyl-enzyme intermediate formation. For all variants, the sucrose affinity was slightly affected. This strong modulation of the enzyme specificities from a single amino acid substitution led us to postulate the hypothesis that bacterial levansucrases and plant fructosyltransferases involved in fructan synthesis may possess a common ancestral form.


2003 ◽  
Vol 374 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhonghua LIU ◽  
Anna ZOLKIEWSKA ◽  
Michal ZOLKIEWSKI

Deletion of a single glutamate in torsinA correlates with early-onset dystonia, the most severe form of a neurological disorder characterized by uncontrollable muscle contractions. TorsinA is targeted to the ER (endoplasmic reticulum) in eukaryotic cells. We investigated the processing and membrane association of torsinA and the dystonia-associated Glu-deletion mutant (torsinAΔE). We found that the signal sequence of torsinA (residues 1–20 from the 40 amino-acid long N-terminal hydrophobic region) is cleaved in Drosophila S2 cells, as shown by the N-terminal sequencing after partial protein purification. TorsinA is not secreted from S2 cells. Consistently, sodium carbonate extraction and Triton X-114 treatment showed that torsinA is associated with the ER membrane in CHO (Chinese-hamster ovary) cells. In contrast, a variant of torsinA that contains the native signal sequence without the hydrophobic region Ile24–Pro40 does not associate with the membranes in CHO cells, and a truncated torsinA without the 40 N-terminal amino acids is secreted in the S2 culture. Thus the 20-amino-acid-long hydrophobic segment in torsinA, which remains at the N-terminus after signal-peptide cleavage, is responsible for the membrane anchoring of torsinA. TorsinAΔE showed similar cleavage of the 20 N-terminal amino acids and membrane association properties similar to wild-type torsinA but, unlike the wild-type, torsinAΔE was not secreted in the S2 culture even after deletion of the membrane-anchoring segment. This indicates that the dystonia-associated mutation produces a structurally distinct, possibly misfolded, form of torsinA, which cannot be properly processed in the secretory pathway of eukaryotic cells.


2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (11) ◽  
pp. 3880-3884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Ri Lim ◽  
Soo-Jin Yeom ◽  
Deok-Kun Oh

ABSTRACTA triple-site variant (W17Q N90A L129F) of mannose-6-phosphate isomerase fromGeobacillus thermodenitrificanswas obtained by combining variants with residue substitutions at different positions after random and site-directed mutagenesis. The specific activity and catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) forl-ribulose isomerization of this variant were 3.1- and 7.1-fold higher, respectively, than those of the wild-type enzyme at pH 7.0 and 70°C in the presence of 1 mM Co2+. The triple-site variant produced 213 g/literl-ribose from 300 g/literl-ribulose for 60 min, with a volumetric productivity of 213 g liter−1h−1, which was 4.5-fold higher than that of the wild-type enzyme. Thekcat/Kmand productivity of the triple-site variant were approximately 2-fold higher than those of theThermus thermophilusR142N variant of mannose-6-phosphate isomerase, which exhibited the highest values previously reported.


1979 ◽  
Vol 179 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey D. Hillman

NAD+-specific glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12) from Escherichia coli was purified to homogeneity by a relatively simple procedure involving affinity chromatography on agarose–hexane–NAD+ and repeated crystallization. Rabbit antiserum directed against this protein produced one precipitin line in double-diffusion studies against the pure enzyme, and two lines against crude extracts of wild-type E. coli strains. Both precipitin lines represent the interaction of antibody with determinants specific for glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Nine independent mutants of E. coli lacking glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity all possessed some antigenic cross-reacting material to the wild-type enzyme. The mutants could be divided into three groups on the basis of the types and amounts of precipitin lines observed in double-diffusion experiments; one group formed little cross-reacting material. The cross-reacting material in crude cell-free extracts of several of the mutant strains were also tested for alterations in their affinity for NAD+ and their phosphorylative activity. The cumulative data indicate that the protein in several of the mutant strains is severely altered, and thus that glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase is unlikely to have an essential, non-catalytic function such as buffering nicotinamide nucleotide or glycolytic-intermediate concentrations. Others of the mutants tested have cross-reacting material which behaved like the wild-type enzyme for the several parameters studied; the proteins from these strains, once purified, might serve as useful analogues of the wild-type enzyme.


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