Shifting Substrate Specificity of Human Glutathione Transferase (from Class Pi to Class Alpha) by a Single Point Mutation (original) (raw)

Residue 234 is a master switch of the alternative-substrate activity profile of human and rodent theta class glutathione transferase T1-1☆

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, 2010

Background: The Theta class glutathione transferase GST T1-1 is a ubiquitously occurring detoxication enzyme. The rat and mouse enzymes have high catalytic activities with numerous electrophilic compounds, but the homologous human GST T1-1 has comparatively low activity with the same substrates. A major structural determinant of substrate recognition is the H-site, which binds the electrophile in proximity to the nucleophilic sulfur of the second substrate glutathione. The H-site is formed by several segments of amino acid residues located in separate regions of the primary structure. The C-terminal helix of the protein serves as a lid over the active site, and contributes several residues to the H-site. Methods: Site-directed mutagenesis of the H-site in GST T1-1 was used to create the mouse Arg234Trp for comparison with the human Trp234Arg mutant and the wild-type rat, mouse, and human enzymes. The kinetic properties were investigated with an array of alternative electrophilic substrates to establish substrate selectivity profiles for the different GST T1-1 variants. Results: The characteristic activity profile of the rat and mouse enzymes is dependent on Arg in position 234, whereas the human enzyme features Trp. Reciprocal mutations of residue 234 between the rodent and human enzymes transform the substrate-selectivity profiles from one to the other. Conclusions: H-site residue 234 has a key role in governing the activity and substrate selectivity profile of GST T1-1. General significance: The functional divergence between human and rodent Theta class GST demonstrates that a single point mutation can enable or suppress enzyme activities with different substrates.

Human Glutathione Transferase T2-2 Discloses Some Evolutionary Strategies for Optimization of the Catalytic Activity of Glutathione Transferases

Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2001

Steady state, pre-steady state kinetic experiments, and site-directed mutagenesis have been used to dissect the catalytic mechanism of human glutathione transferase T2-2 with 1-menaphthyl sulfate as co-substrate. This enzyme is close to the ancestral precursor of the more recently evolved glutathione transferases belonging to Alpha, Pi, and Mu classes. The enzyme displays a random kinetic mechanism with very low k cat and k cat / K m(GSH) values and with a rate-limiting step identified as the product release. The chemical step, which is fast and causes product accumulation before the steady state catalysis, strictly depends on the deprotonation of the bound GSH. Replacement of Arg-107 with Ala dramatically affects the fast phase, indicating that this residue is crucial both in the activation and orientation of GSH in the ternary complex. All pre-steady state and steady state kinetic data were convincingly fit to a kinetic mechanism that reflects a quite primordial catalytic efficiency of this enzyme. It involves two slowly interconverting or not interconverting enzyme populations (or active sites of the dimeric enzyme) both able to bind and activate GSH and strongly inhibited by the product. Only one population or subunit is catalytically competent. The proposed mechanism accounts for the apparent half-site behavior of this enzyme and for the apparent negative cooperativity observed under steady state conditions. These findings also suggest some evolutionary strategies in the glutathione transferase family that have been adopted for the optimization of the catalytic activity, which are mainly based on an increased flexibility of critical protein segments and on an optimal orientation of the substrate.

Naturally Occurring Human Glutathione S-transferase GSTP1-1 Isoforms with Isoleucine and Valine in Position 104 Differ in Enzymic Properties

European Journal of Biochemistry, 1994

In the present report, the enzymic properties of these two proteins are compared. [1104]glutathione S-transferase P1-1 has been expressed from its cDNA in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography; the cDNA has been mutated to replace Ile104 by Va1104, and [V104]glutathione S-transferase P1-1 was expressed and isolated as described for [1104]glutathione S-transferase P1-1. The two enzymes differed in their specific activity and affinity for electrophilic substrates (KM values for 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene were 0.8 mM and 3.0 mM for [I-l04]glutathione S-transferase P1-1 and [V-l04]glutathione S-transferase Pl-1, respectively), but were identical in their affinity for glutathione. In addition, the two enzymes were distinguishable by their heat stability, with half-lives at 45°C of 19 min and 51 min, respectively. The resistance to heat denaturation was differentially modulated by the presence of substrates. These data, in conjunction with molecular modeling, indicate that the residue in position 104 helps to define the geometry of the hydrophobic substrate-binding site, and may also influence activity by interacting with residues directly involved in substrate binding.

Class-Pi of Glutathione S-Transferases

Iranian Journal of Biotechnology, 2006

Class-Pi of glutathione s-transferases (GST-Pi) is the specific form of GSTs that are known to participate particularly in the mechanisms of resistance to drugs and carcinogens. This class of the enzyme is referred to as class-P or class-Pi or class π. The accepted terminology in this review article is class-Pi. In this article following a brief description of identified molecular forms of GSTs, we focus on GST-Pi. We review new findings about the structure and regulation of GST-Pi gene. Then, the role of GST-Pi in liver damage, oxidative stress, carcinogenesis and drug resistance are discussed. Also, the presence of common genetic polymorphism,hypermethylation in GST-Pi gene and the consequences GST-Pi knock out is regarded.

Design of a monomeric human glutathione transferase GSTP1, a structurally stable but catalytically inactive protein

Protein Engineering Design and Selection, 2002

By the introduction of 10 site-specific mutations in the dimer interface of human glutathione transferase P1-1 (GSTP1-1), a stable monomeric protein variant, GSTP1, was obtained. The monomer had lost the catalytic activity but retained the affinity for a number of electrophilic compounds normally serving as substrates for GSTP1-1. Fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra of the monomer and wild-type proteins were similar, indicating that there are no large structural differences between the subunits of the respective proteins. The GSTs have potential as targets for in vitro evolution and redesign with the aim of developing proteins with novel properties. To this end, a monomeric GST variant may have distinct advantages.

The High Activity of Rat Glutathione Transferase 8-8 with Alkene Substrates Is Dependent on a Glycine Residue in the Active Site

Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1995

Rat glutathione transferase (GST) 8-8 displays high catalytic activity with ␣,␤-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, including lipid peroxidation products such as 4-hydroxyalkenals. The catalytic efficiency of the related class Alpha GST 1-1 is substantially lower with the same substrates. Chimeric enzymes were prepared by replacing N-terminal subunit 8 segments of different lengths (6, 25, or 100 residues) with corresponding sequences from subunit 1 using recombinant DNA techniques. The chimeric subunit r1(25)r8, containing 25 amino acid residues from subunit 1, had the same low activity with alkenal substrates as that displayed by subunit 1. Mutation of Ala-12 into Gly in r1(25)r8 gave rise to the high alkenal activity characteristic of subunit 8, showing the importance of amino acid residue 12 for the activity. However, other structural determinants are also essential, as demonstrated by the corresponding Ala-12 3 Gly mutation in subunit 1, which did not afford high alkenal activity. The results show that a single point mutation in a GST subunit may give rise to a 100-fold increase in catalytic efficiency with certain substrates. Introduction of such mutations may have contributed to the biological evolution of GST isoenzymes with altered substrate specificities and may also find use in the engineering of GSTs for novel functions.

Evaluation of the role of two conserved active-site residues in Beta class glutathione S-transferases

Biochemical Journal, 2000

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) normally use hydroxy-groupcontaining residues in the N-terminal domain of the enzyme for stabilizing the activated form of the co-substrate, glutathione. However, previous mutagenesis studies have shown that this is not true for Beta class GSTs and thus the origin of the stabilization remains a mystery. The recently determined crystal structure of Proteus mirabilis GST B1-1 (PmGST B1-1) suggested that the stabilizing role might be fulfilled in Beta class GSTs by one or more residues in the C-terminal domain of the enzyme. To test this hypothesis we mutated His"!' and Lys"!(of PmGST B1-1 to investigate their possible role in the enzyme 's catalytic

Hidden Allostery in Human Glutathione Transferase P1-1 Unveiled by Unnatural Amino Acid Substitutions and Inhibition Studies

Conventional steady-state kinetic studies of the dimeric human glutathione transferase (GST) P1-1 do not reveal obvious deviations from Michaelis-Menten behavior. By contrast, engineering of the key residue Y50 of the lock-and-key motif in the subunit interface reveals allosteric properties of the enzyme. The low-activity mutant Y50C, characterized by 150-fold decreased k cat and 300-fold increased K M GSH values, displays an apparent Hill coefficient of 0.82 ± 0.22. Chemical alkylation of the sulfhydryl group of Y50C by unnatural n-butyl or n-pentyl substitutions enhances the catalytic efficiency k cat /K M GSH to near the wild-type value but still yields Hill coefficients of 0.61 ± 0.08 and 0.86 ± 0.1, respectively. Thus, allosteric kinetic behavior is not dependent on low activity of the enzyme. On the other hand, S-cyclobutylmethyl-substituted Y50C, which also displays high catalytic efficiency, has a Hill coefficient of 0.99 ± 0.11, showing that subtle differences in structure at the subunit interface influence the complex kinetic behavior. Furthermore, inhibition studies of native GST P1-1 using ethacrynic acid demonstrate that a ligand bound noncovalently to the wild-type enzyme also can elicit allosteric kinetic behavior. Thus, we conclude that the GST P1-1 structure has intrinsic allostery that becomes overt under some, but not all, ambient conditions.