蛋白质酪氨酸硝化的研究

蛋白质酪氨酸硝基化是一种重要的蛋白质翻译后修饰,与多种病症相关.经由过氧亚硝酸根(ONOO-)和NO2-/H2O2/血红素过氧化物酶体系是促使蛋白质硝化最主要的两种途径,其反应为自由基机理.本文对体内蛋白质硝基化的途径、机制及其生物学意义作了综述,指出蛋白质的硝化具有选择性,特定酪氨酸残基发生硝化能够改变蛋白质的结构和功能,影响其免疫应答和可能涉及的信号转导过程,从而具有重要的生物学意义.     

蛋白质酪氨酸硝化的研究

蛋白质酪氨酸硝基化是一种重要的蛋白质翻译后修饰，与多种病症相关。经由过氧亚硝酸根（ONOO-）和NO2^-／H2O2／血红素过氧化物酶体系是促使蛋白质硝化最主要的两种途径，其反应为自由基机理。本文对体内蛋白质硝基化的途径、机制及其生物学意义作了综述，指出蛋白质的硝化具有选择性，特定酪氨酸残基发生硝化能够改变蛋白质的结构和功能，影响其免疫应答和可能涉及的信号转导过程，从而具有重要的生物学意义。     

蛋白质酪氨酸硝化检测方法*

蛋白质酪氨酸硝化是一种重要的蛋白质翻译后的选择性修饰,其产物3－硝基酪氨酸可以作为检测细胞和组织损伤的一个生物标志。本文详细介绍了分析检测蛋白质酪氨酸硝化的各种方法,主要包括免疫法、分光光度法、色谱法、质谱法、电泳法等,并对其检测方法的发展趋势进行了评述和展望。     

微量元素铁与蛋白质酪氨酸硝化

蛋白质酪氨酸硝化是一氧化氮依赖的氧化应激的生物标志。蛋白质硝化将会直接影响蛋白质的催化活性、细胞信号传递和细胞骨架结构，导致相关病症的发生发展。本文介绍了铁在不同酪氨酸硝化途径中的作用，结果提示体内的微量铁对蛋白质硝化起着重要作用。     

L-酪氨酸甲酯消旋及Alcalase 2.4L催化对映选择性水解制备D-酪氨酸

提出了一个5-硝基水杨醛催化L-酪氨酸甲酯消旋化的新方法并推测了L-酪氨酸甲酯的消旋机理.在乙腈/磷酸盐缓冲液(pH 7.5)中,5-硝基水杨醛催化L-酪氨酸甲酯消旋为DL-酪氨酸甲酯,消旋率100%,消旋收率93%.优化了Alcalase 2.4L催化DL-酪氨酸甲酯对映选择性水解的反应条件.30℃下,在叔丁醇/磷酸盐缓冲液(pH 7.5)中,Alcalase 2.4L催化DL-酪氨酸甲酯对映选择性水解为L-酪氨酸和D-酪氨酸甲酯.在酶催化水解过程中,L-酪氨酸形成沉淀,容易通过简单的过滤进行分离.D-酪氨酸甲酯在碱性条件下水解为D-酪氨酸,收率91%,ee97%.     

蛋白质相互作用界面中磷酸酪氨酸质子化状态的判定研究

蛋白质相互作用界面上磷酸酪氨酸的质子化状态对蛋白质相互作用具有重要影响, 在进行相关结构的计算研究时, 必须对其进行准确判定. 采用AMBER/parm99力场和广义波恩(GBobc)隐式水模型, 以SHC1 (src homology 2 domain-containing transforming protein C1)的SH2 (Src homology 2)结构域与磷酸化激活的T细胞受体CD247链的相互作用核磁结构为例, 首次以热力学积分方法对相互作用界面上磷酸酪氨酸的质子化状态进行判定研究, 结果显示该方法计算精确, 判定结果与实验结果一致. 表明该方法不仅为涉及磷酸酪氨酸的蛋白质相互作用的计算结构研究奠定了基础, 在其它具有可电离基团的氨基酸的质子化状态判定中也将具有潜在的推广应用价值.     

HPLC-ESI-MS/MS测定胰岛素硝基化修饰产物

糖尿病患者组织中存在过量表达的ONOO-及3-硝基酪氨酸(3-NT),ONOO-对胰岛素的硝化修饰可能是糖尿病发病的重要原因.本实验采用HPLC-ESI-MS/MS及分子模拟法,研究了ONOO-与胰岛素反应的硝化产物、B链酪氨酸位点的硝化次序及硝化产物结构特征.     

基于离心式富集装置的酪氨酸磷酸肽分析新方法

酪氨酸磷酸化及其相应激酶活性的研究在抗肿瘤药物靶点的研发中具有重要意义.由于酪氨酸磷酸化仅占蛋白质总磷酸化含量的不足0.1%,因此规模化的酪氨酸磷酸化鉴定面临着重大技术挑战.本研究构建了TiO2串联C18反相填料的离心式富集装置,结合抗体免疫沉淀法,建立了酪氨酸磷酸肽的富集策略.此新型富集装置由吸头、适配器和离心(EP)管组成,将TiO2富集磷酸肽和C18填料反相分离磷酸肽有机结合,以离心的方式进行样品的上样、清洗、洗脱和分离,再通过抗酪氨酸磷酸化抗体进一步特异性富集酪氨酸磷酸肽,从而实现了酪氨酸磷酸肽的高效富集和大规模质谱鉴定.通过离心式富集装置简化了实验步骤,减少了样品损失和人为因素干扰;而且离心式、平行化的样品处理方式可显著提高分析通量.将此策略成功用于小鼠肝脏蛋白质酪氨酸磷酸化肽段的富集和质谱鉴定,在5 mg鼠肝蛋白中共鉴定出967个酪氨酸磷酸化位点,对应545个蛋白质,显示了其在蛋白质组学研究中的应用潜力.     

荧光光度法测定血清中酪氨酸

酪氨酸在人体内虽是一种非必需氨基酸.但其含量稳定与否会影响人体健康状况,而且其含量是疾病检测的一个指标,所以准确地测定体液中酪氨酸具有重要的意义.荧光法测定酪氨酸已有文献报道.我们发现在酸性介质中铈(Ⅳ)可将酪氨酸氧化为强荧光性物质,以此可作为酪氨酸荧光定量分析的基础.     

过氧亚硝酸与酪氨酸的反应机理

用密度泛函理论(DFT)研究了过氧亚硝酸与酪氨酸的反应机理. 在B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)水平上对该反应体系的反应物、中间体、过渡态和产物进行了几何构型优化并计算了振动频率和能量. 计算结果表明, 过氧亚硝酸不易直接与酪氨酸反应, 而是先分解产生自由基(·OH和·NO2), 而后再与酪氨酸分步作用. 过氧亚硝酸与酪氨酸的反应生成两种主要产物, 分别为3-羟基酪氨酸和3-硝基酪氨酸, 这一结论与实验所得到的结果一致. 此外在同一计算水平上采用SCRF(PCM)方法计算了溶剂化效应, 结果表明, 极性溶剂可以增加自由基结合的稳定化能, 并降低反应通道的活化能, 有利于反应的进行.     

Analysis of nitrated proteins and tryptic peptides by HPLC-chip-MS/MS: site-specific quantification,nitration degree,and reactivity of tyrosine residues

The reaction products and pathways of protein nitration were studied with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and ovalbumin (OVA) nitrated by liquid tetranitromethane (TNM) or by gaseous nitrogen dioxide and ozone (NO₂ + O₃). Native and nitrated proteins were enzymatically digested with trypsin, and the tryptic peptides were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) using a chip cube nano-flow system (Agilent). Upon nitration by TNM, up to ten of 17 tyrosine residues in BSA and up to five of ten tyrosine residues in OVA could be detected in nitrated form. Upon nitration by NO₂ + O₃, only three nitrated tyrosine residues were found in BSA. The nitration degrees of individual nitrotyrosine residues (ND_Y) were determined by site-specific quantification and compared to the total protein nitration degrees (ND) determined by photometric detection of HPLC-DAD. The slopes of the observed linear correlations between ND_Y and ND varied in the range of ~0.02–2.4 for BSA and ~0.2–1.6 for OVA. They provide information about the relative rates of nitration or reaction probabilities for different tyrosine residues. In BSA, the tyrosine residue Y₁₆₁ was by far most reactive against NO₂ + O₃ and one of the four most reactive positions with regard to nitration by TNM. In OVA, all except one tyrosine residue detected in nitrated form exhibited similar reactivities. The observed nitration patterns show how the site selectivity of protein nitration depends on the nitrating agent, reaction conditions, and molecular structure of the protein (primary, secondary, and tertiary).     

Copper-catalyzed tyrosine nitration

Tyrosine nitration, often observed during neurodegenerative disorders under nitrative stress, is usually considered to be induced chemically either by nitric oxide and oxygen forming nitrogen dioxide or by the decomposition of peroxynitrite. It can also be induced enzymatically by peroxidases or superoxide dismutases in the presence of both hydrogen peroxide and nitrite forming nitrogen dioxide and/or peroxynitrite. In this study, the role of cupric ions for catalyzing tyrosine nitration in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and nitrite, by a chemical mechanism rather similar to enzymatic pathways where nitrite is oxidized to form nitrogen dioxide, was investigated by development of a microreactor also capable of acting as an emitter for electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis. Indeed, cupric ions and peptide-cupric ion complexes are found to be excellent Fenton catalysts, even better than Fe(III) or heme, for the formation of (?)OH radicals and/or copper(II)-bound (?)OH radicals from hydrogen peroxide. These radicals are efficiently scavenged by nitrite anions to form (?)NO(2) and by tyrosine to form tyrosine radicals, leading to tyrosine nitration in polypeptides. We also show that cupric ions can catalyze tyrosine nitration from nitric oxide, oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide as the formation of tyrosine radicals is increased in the presence of diffusible and/or copper(II) bound hydroxyl radicals. This study shows that copper has a polyvalent role in the processes of tyrosine nitration.     

Identification of the tyrosine nitration sites in human endothelial nitric oxide synthase by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

The formation of nitric oxide (NO) in biological systems has led to the discovery of a number of post- translational protein modifications that can affect biological conditions such as vasodilation. Studies both from our laboratory and others have shown that beside its effect on cGMP generation from soluble guanylate cylcase, NO can produce protein modifications through both S-nitrosylation of cysteine residues. Previously, we have identified the potential S-nitrosylation sites on endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). Thus, the goal of this study was to further increase our understanding of reactive nitrogen protein modifications of eNOS by identifing tyrosine residues within eNOS that are susceptible to nitration in vitro. To accomplish this, nitration was carried out using tetranitromethane followed by tryptic digest of the protein. The resulting tryptic peptides were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and the position of nitrated tyrosines in eNOS were identified. The eNOS sequence contains 30 tyrosine residues and our data indicate that multiple tyrosine residues are capable of being nitrated. We could identify 25 of the 30 residues in our tryptic digests and 19 of these were susceptible to nitration. Interstingly, our data identified four tyrosine residues that can be modified by nitration that are located in the region of eNOS responsible for the binding to heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which is responsible for ensuring efficient coupling of eNOS.     

Allostery in a disordered protein: oxidative modifications to α-synuclein act distally to regulate membrane binding

Both oxidative stress and aggregation of the protein α-synuclein (aS) have been implicated as key factors in the etiology of Parkinson's disease. Specifically, oxidative modifications to aS disrupt its binding to lipid membranes, an interaction considered critical to its native function. Here we seek to provide a mechanistic explanation for this phenomenon by investigating the effects of oxidative nitration of tyrosine residues on the structure of aS and its interaction with lipid membranes. Membrane binding is mediated by the first ～95 residues of aS. We find that nitration of the single tyrosine (Y39) in this domain disrupts binding due to electrostatic repulsion. Moreover, we observe that nitration of the three tyrosines (Y125/133/136) in the C-terminal domain is equally effective in perturbing binding, an intriguing result given that the C-terminus is not thought to interact directly with the lipid bilayer. Our investigations show that tyrosine nitration results in a change of the conformational states populated by aS in solution, with the most prominent changes occurring in the C-terminal region. These results lead us to suggest that nitration of Y125/133/136 reduces the membrane-binding affinity of aS through allosteric coupling by altering the ensemble of conformational states and depopulating those capable of membrane binding. While allostery is a well-established concept for structured proteins, it has only recently been discussed in the context of disordered proteins. We propose that allosteric regulation through modification of specific residues in, or ligand binding to, the C-terminus may even be a general mechanism for modulating aS function.     

Investigation of tyrosine nitration in proteins by mass spectrometry.

In vivo nitration of tyrosine residues is a post-translational modification mediated by peroxynitrite that may be involved in a number of diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate possibilities for site-specific detection of tyrosine nitration by mass spectrometry. Angiotensin II and bovine serum albumin (BSA) nitrated with tetranitromethane (TNM) were used as model compounds. Three strategies were investigated: (i) analysis of single peptides and protein digests by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) peptide mass mapping, (ii) peptide mass mapping by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry and (iii) screening for nitration by selective detection of the immonium ion of nitrotyrosine by precursor ion scanning with subsequent sequencing of the modified peptides. The MALDI time-of-flight mass spectrum of nitrated angiotensin II showed an unexpected prompt fragmentation involving the nitro group, in contrast to ESI-MS, where no fragmentation of nitrated angiotensin II was observed. The ESI mass spectra showed that mono- and dinitrated angiotensin II were obtained after treatment with TNM. ESI-MS/MS revealed that the mononitrated angiotensin II was nitrated on the side-chain of tyrosine. The dinitrated angiotensin II contained two nitro groups on the tyrosine residue. Nitration of BSA was confirmed by Western blotting with an antibody against nitrotyrosine and the sites for nitration were investigated by peptide mass mapping after in-gel digestion. Direct mass mapping by ESI revealed that two peptides were nitrated. Precursor ion scanning for the immonium ion for nitrotyrosine revealed two additional partially nitrated peptides. Based on the studies with the two model compounds, we suggest that the investigation of in vivo nitration of tyrosine and identification of nitrated peptides might be performed by precursor ion scanning for the specific immonium ion at m/z 181.06 combined with ESI-MS/MS for identification of the specific nitration sites.     

Mass spectrometric characterization of photooxidative protein modifications in Arabidopsis thaliana thylakoid membranes

Oxidative and nitrosative stress leaves footprints in the plant chloroplast in the form of oxidatively modified proteins. Using a mass spectrometric approach, we identified 126 tyrosine and 12 tryptophan nitration sites in 164 nitrated proteolytic peptides, mainly from photosystem I (PSI), photosystem II (PSII), cytochrome b(6) /f and ATP-synthase complexes and 140 oxidation products of tyrosine, tryptophan, proline, phenylalanine and histidine residues. While a high number of nitration sites were found in proteins from four photosynthetic complexes indicating that the nitration belongs to one of the prominent posttranslational protein modifications in photosynthetic apparatus, amino acid oxidation products were determined mostly in PSII and to a lower extent in PSI. Exposure of plants to light stress resulted in an increased level of tyrosine and tryptophan nitration and tryptophan oxidation in proteins of PSII reaction center and the oxygen-evolving complex, as compared to low light conditions. In contrast, the level of nitration and oxidation of these amino acid residues strongly decreased for all light-harvesting proteins of PSII under the same conditions. Based on these data, we propose that oxidative modifications of proteins by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species might represent an important regulatory mechanism of protein turnover under light stress conditions, especially for PSII and its antenna proteins.     

Structural characterisation of tyrosine-nitrated peptides by ultraviolet and infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Nitration of tyrosine residues in proteins may occur in cells upon oxidative stress and inflammation processes mediated through generation of reactive nitroxyl from peroxynitrite. Tyrosine nitration from oxidative pathways may generate cytotoxic species that cause protein dysfunction and pathogenesis. A number of protein nitrations in vivo have been reported and some specific Tyrosine nitration sites have been recently identified using mass spectrometric methods. High-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (MALDI) FT-ICR-MS) is shown here to be a highly efficient method in the determination of protein nitrations. Following the identification of nitration of the catalytic site Tyr-430 residue of bovine prostacyclin synthase, we synthesised several model peptides containing both unmodified tyrosine and 3-nitro-tyrosine residues, using solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS). The structures of the nitrotyrosine peptides were characterised both by ESI- and by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI)-FT-ICR-MS, using a standard ultraviolet (UV) nitrogen nitrogen laser and a 2.97 microm Nd-YAG infrared laser. Using UV-MALDI-MS, 3-nitrotyrosyl-peptides were found to undergo extensive photochemical fragmentation at the nitrophenyl group, which may hamper or prevent the unequivocal identification of Tyr-nitrations in cellular proteins. In contrast, infrared-MALDI-FT-ICR-MS did not produce fragmentation of molecular ions of Tyr-nitrated peptides.     

Mass spectrometry analysis of in vitro nitration of a recombinant human IgG1 monoclonal antibody

Nitration of a recombinant human monoclonal antibody was carried out in vitro by incubating the antibody with the nitrating reagent tetranitromethane (TNM). The susceptible sites of nitration were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS). In general, tyrosine residues in the variable domains of the antibody are more susceptible to nitration, while tyrosine residues in the constant domains are relatively resistant to nitration. However, one tyrosine residue in the CH1 domain and one tyrosine residue in the CH2 domain are highly susceptible to nitration. Interestingly, the susceptible tyrosine residue in the CH2 domain is followed by the conserved asparagine residue that is glycosylated.     

Determination of nitration degrees for the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1

Nitration of tyrosine residues in the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 may alter the allergenic potential of the protein. The kinetics and mechanism of the nitration reaction, however, have not yet been well characterized. To facilitate further investigations, an efficient method to quantify the nitration degree (ND) of small samples of Bet v 1 is required. Here, we present a suitable method of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) that can be photometrically calibrated using the amino acids tyrosine (Tyr) and nitrotyrosine (NTyr) without the need for nitrated protein standards. The new method is efficient and in agreement with alternative methods based on hydrolysis and amino acid analysis of tetranitromethane (TNM)-nitrated Bet v 1 standards as well as samples from nitration experiments with peroxynitrite. The results confirm the applicability of the new method for the investigation of the reaction kinetics and mechanism of protein nitration.