Alkylation of Cytochrome c by (Glutathion- S -yl)-1,4-benzoquinone and Iodoacetamide Demonstrates Compound-Dependent Site Specificity (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2009
4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), a major racemic product of lipid peroxidation, preferentially reacts with cysteine residues to form a stable HNE-cysteine Michael addition adduct possessing three chiral centers. Here, to gain more insight into sulfhydryl modification by HNE, we characterized the stereochemical configuration of the HNE-cysteine adducts and investigated their stereoselective formation in redoxregulated proteins. To characterize the HNE-cysteine adducts by NMR, the authentic (R)-HNE-and (S)-HNE-cysteine adducts were prepared by incubating N-acetylcysteine with each HNE enantiomer, both of which provided two peaks in reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The NMR analysis revealed that each peak was a mixture of anomeric isomers. In addition, mutarotation at the anomeric center was also observed in the analysis of the nuclear Overhauser effect. To analyze these adducts in proteins, we adapted a pyridylamination-based approach, using 2-aminopyridine in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride, which enabled analyzing the individual (R)-HNE-and (S)-HNE-cysteine adducts by reversed-phase HPLC following acid hydrolysis. Using the pyridylamination method along with mass spectrometry, we characterized the stereoselective formation of the HNE-cysteine adducts in human thioredoxin and found that HNE preferentially modifies Cys 73 and, to the lesser extent, the active site Cys 32. More interestingly, the (R)-HNE-and (S)-HNE-cysteine adducts were almost equally formed at Cys 73 , whereas Cys 32 exhibited a remarkable preference for the adduct formation with (R)-HNE. Finally, the utility of the method for the determination of the HNE-cysteine adducts was confirmed by an in vitro study using HeLa cells. The present results not only offer structural insight into sulfhydryl modification by lipid peroxidation products but also provide a platform for the chemical analysis of protein S-associated aldehydes in vitro and in vivo.
Quinone Electrophiles Selectively Adduct “Electrophile Binding Motifs” within Cytochrome c
Biochemistry, 2007
Electrophiles generated endogenously, or via the metabolic bioactivation of drugs and other environmental chemicals, are capable of binding to a variety of nucleophilic sites within proteins. Factors that determine site selective susceptibility to electrophile-mediated post-translational modifications, and the consequences of such alterations, remain largely unknown. To identify and characterize chemicalmediated protein adducts, electrophiles with known toxicity were utilized. Hydroquinone, and its mercapturic acid pathway metabolites, cause renal proximal tubular cell necrosis and nephrocarcinogenicity in rats. The adverse effects of HQ and its thioether metabolites are in part a consequence of their oxidation to the corresponding electrophilic 1,4-benzoquinones (BQ). We now report that BQ and 2-(N-acetylcystein-Syl)benzoquinone (NAC-BQ) preferentially bind to solvent-exposed lysine-rich regions within cytochrome c. Furthermore, we have identified specific glutamic acid residues within cytochrome c as novel sites of NAC-BQ adduction. The microenvironment at the site of adduction governs both the initial specificity and the structure of the final adduct. The solvent accessibility and local pK a of the adducted and neighboring amino acids contribute to the selectivity of adduction. Postadduction chemistry subsequently alters the nature of the final adduct. Using molecular modeling, the impact of BQ and NAC-BQ adduction on cytochrome c was visualized, revealing the spatial rearrangement of critical residues necessary for proteinprotein interactions. Consequently, BQ-adducted cytochrome c fails to initiate caspase-3 activation in native lysates and also inhibits Apaf-1 oligomerization into an apoptosome complex in a purely reconstituted system. In summary, a combination of mass spectroscopic, molecular modeling, and biochemical approaches confirms that electrophile-protein adducts produce structural alterations that influence biological function.
Toxicological Sciences, 2011
Electrophile-mediated post-translational modifications (PTMs) are known to cause tissue toxicities and disease progression. These effects are mediated via site-specific modifications and structural disruptions associated with such modifications. 1,4-Benzoquinone (BQ) and its quinone-thioether metabolites are electrophiles that elicit their toxicity via protein arylation and the generation of reactive oxygen species. Site-specific BQ-lysine adducts are found on residues in cytochrome c that are necessary for protein-protein interactions, and these adducts contribute to interferences in its ability to facilitate apoptosome formation. To further characterize the structural and functional impact of these BQ-mediated PTMs, the original mixture of BQ-adducted cytochrome c was fractionated by liquid isoelectric focusing to provide various fractions of BQadducted cytochrome c species devoid of the native protein. The fractionation process separates samples based on their isoelectric point (pI), and because BQ adducts form predominantly on lysine residues, increased numbers of BQ adducts on cytochrome c correlate with a lower protein pI. Each fraction was analyzed for structural changes, and each was also assayed for the ability to support apoptosome-mediated activation of caspase-3. Circular dichroism revealed that several of the BQ-adducted cytochrome c species maintained a slightly more rigid structure in comparison to native cytochrome c. BQ-adducted cytochrome c also failed to activate caspase-3, with increasing numbers of BQ-lysine adducts corresponding to a greater inability to activate the apoptosome. In summary, the specific site of the BQ-lysine adducts, and the nature of the adduct, are important determinants of the subsequent structural changes to cytochrome c. In particular, adducts at sites necessary for protein-protein interactions interfere with the proapoptotic function of cytochrome c.
Biochemistry, 2000
Microsomal glutathione transferase 1 is a homotrimeric detoxication enzyme protecting against electrophiles. The enzyme can also react with electrophiles, and when modification occurs at a unique Cys49 the reaction often results in activation. Here we describe the characterization of the chemical properties of this sulfhydryl (kinetic pK(a) was 8.8 +/- 0.3 and 9.0 +/- 0.1 with two different reagents) and we conclude that the protein environment does not lower the pK(a). Upon a direct comparison of the reactivity of Cys49 and low molecular weight thiols [L-Cys and glutathione (GSH)], the protein sulfhydryl displayed a 10-fold lower reactivity. The reactivity was correlated to reagent concentration in a linear fashion with a polar reagent, whereas the reactivity toward a hydrophobic reagent displayed saturation behavior (at low concentrations). This finding indicates that Cys49 is situated in a hydrophobic binding pocket. In a series of related quinones, activation occurs with the more reactive and less sterically hindered compounds. Thus, activation can be used to detect reactive intermediates during the metabolism of foreign compounds but certain intermediates can (and will) escape undetected. The reactivities of the three cysteines in the homotrimer were shown not to differ dramatically as the reaction of the protein with 4, 4'-dithiodipyridine could be fitted to a single exponential. On the basis of this result, a probabilistic expression could be used to relate the overall degree of modification to fractional activation. When N-ethylmaleimide activation (determined by the 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene assay) was plotted against modification (determined with 4,4'-dithiodipyridine), a nonlinear relation was obtained, clearly showing that subunits do not function independently. The contribution to activation by single-, double-, and triple-modified trimers, were 0 +/- 0.06, 0.74 +/- 0.09, and 0.97 +/- 0.06, respectively. The double-modified enzyme appears partly activated, but this conclusion is more uncertain due to the possibility of independent modification of the purified enzyme upon storage. It is, however, clear that the single-modified enzyme is not activated whereas the triple-modified enzyme is fully activated. These observations together with the fact that MGST1 homotrimers bind only one substrate molecule (GSH) strongly support the view that subunits must interact in a functional manner.
Biochemical Pharmacology, 2006
Tetrachloro-1, 4-benzoquinone (TCBQ) is a metabolite of pentachlorophenol known to react with cysteines of glutathione transferases (GSTs). TCBQ treatment of rat kidney rGSTA1-2 and rGSTA1-1 abolishes 70-80% conjugation of glutathione (GSH) to 1-chloro-2, 4dinitrobenzene and results in strongly correlated quenching of intrinsic fluorescence of Trp-20 (R > 0.96). rGSTA2-2 is only inhibited by 25%. Approximately 70% (rGSTA1-1) and 60% (rGSTA1-2) conjugation activity is abolished at TCBQ: GST stoichiometries near 1:1. The inactivation follows a Kitz/Wilson model with K D of 4.77 AE 2.5 mM for TCBQ and k 3 for inactivation of 0.036 AE 0.01 min À1. A single tryptic peptide labelled with TCBQ was isolated from kidney rGSTA1-2 containing Cys-17 which we identify as the site of modification. Treatment with more than stoichiometric amounts of TCBQ modified other residues but resulted in only modest further inhibition of catalysis. We interpret these findings in terms of localised steric effects on the relatively rigid a-helix 1 adjacent to the catalytic site of subunit 1 possibly affecting the Alpha class-specific a-helix 9 which acts as a ''lid'' on the hydrophobic part of the active site. Homology modelling of rGSTA1-1 modified at Cys-17 of one subunit revealed only modest structural perturbations in the second subunit and tends to exclude global structural effects.
Protein Electrophile-Binding Motifs: Lysine-Rich Proteins Are Preferential Targets of Quinones
Drug Metabolism and Disposition, 2009
Quinones represent an important class of endogenous compounds such as neurotransmitters and coenzyme Q10, electrophilic xenobiotics, and environmental toxicants that have known reactivity based on their ability to redox cycle and generate oxidative stress, as well as to alkylate target proteins. It is likely that topological, chemical, and physical features combine to determine which proteins become targets for chemical adduction. Chemical-induced post-translational modification of certain critical proteins causes a change in structure/function that contributes to the toxicological response to chemical exposure. In this study, we have identified a number of proteins that are modified by quinone-thioethers after administration of 2-(glutathion-S-yl)HQ. Parallel one-dimensional gel electrophoresis was performed, and the Coomassie-stained gel was aligned with the corresponding Western blot, which was probed for adductions. Immunopositive bands were then subjected to trypsin digestion and analyzed via liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The proteins that were subsequently identified contained a higher than average (9.7 versus 5.5%) lysine content and numerous stretches of lysine run-ons, which is a presumed electrophile binding motif. Approximately 50% of these proteins have also been identified as targets for electrophilic adduction by a diverse group of chemicals by other investigators, implying overlapping electrophile adductomes. By identifying a motif targeted by electrophiles it becomes possible to make predictions of proteins that may be targeted for adduction and possible sites on these proteins that are adducted. An understanding of proteins targeted for adduction is essential to unraveling the toxicity produced by these electrophiles.
Current Organic Chemistry
Glutathione (GSH), due to the ability to capture the reactive electrophiles of exoand endogenous origins, is expected to prevent cross-linking induced by these compounds. However, it may instead become cross-linked itself. We subjected glutathione to reactions with model α,β-unsaturated carbonyl systems resulting from the interactions of adenosine with bifunctional aldehyde products of lipid peroxidation, and identified a range of adducts and cross-linked products. We found that the S-conjugated adducts, initially formed in the typical GSH Michael addition to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl system, unexpectedly undergo gradual degradation giving rise to the final N-conjugated products, in which formation of peptide amino group is involved instead of sulfhydryl functionality. This finding shows that the role of the GSH amino group in the non-enzymatic detoxification is underestimated, and that reactions between cellular α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and GSH may be more complex than are...
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2005
S-Glutathionylation is emerging as a novel regulatory and adoptive mechanism by which glutathione (GSH or GSSG) conjugation can modify functionally important reactive cysteines in redox-sensitive proteins. The dynamics of generation and reversal of this modification in cells is poorly understood. This study describes the ability and applicability of GSH-and GSSG-affinity matrices to quantitatively bind proteins which harbor reactive cysteines and undergo glutathionylation. We showed that purified proteins, known to be modified by S-thiolation, bind to these matrices, are selectively eluted by dithiothreitol and rapidly incorporate biotin-labeled GSH or GSSG in vitro. Chromatography of extracts from tumor cells that had been treated with oxidants (diamide, H 2 O 2 , tert-butyl hydroperoxide) on GSH-Sepharose showed the specific binding of many proteins, whose levels increased transiently (2-to 6-fold) soon after treatments. However, when these cells were post-incubated in drug/oxidant-free media, protein binding decreased gradually to control levels over 3-12 h, thereby demonstrating the central role of cysteine redox status in the binding. Immunoblotting of eluates from GSH-Sepharose showed the presence of known (actin, ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1, NF-jB, and proteasome) and putative (p53, glutathione-S-transferase P1) targets for glutathionation. After oxidant withdrawal, many of these proteins displayed unique kinetics in their loss of binding to GSH-matrix, reflecting their differential abilities to recover from cysteine redox changes in cellular milieu. Further, we correlated the kinetics of S-thiolation susceptibility of the proteasome and ubiquitin-E1 proteins with altered levels of protein ubiquitination in H 2 O 2-treated cells. Our study reveals the hitherto underutilized ability of glutathione matrices for analyzing the kinetics of cysteine redox in cellular proteins and allows easy identification of S-thiolatable proteins.