The G553M Mutant of Peroxisomal Carnitine Octanoyltransferase Catalyses Acetyl Transfer and Acetyl-CoA Hydrolysis

The structure of carnitine acetyltransferase revealed a putative binding site for longer acyl chains but access was blocked by methionine 564 (G. Jogl and L. Tong (2003) Cell 112, 113–122). The equivalent residue in all long chain carnitine acyltransferases is a conserved glycine. Mutation of glycine 553 to methionine in bovine COT resulted in loss of activity with all acyl-CoA substrates except acetyl-CoA, supporting the hypothesis that the methionine blocks access for longer acyl chains. The kinetic characteristics of acetyl transfer to carnitine were identical in the native and mutant enzyme. However, rapid acetyl-CoA hydrolysis in the mutant but not the wild-type indicates perturbation of the catalytic site.     

Comparative Study of Substrate- and Stereospecificity of Penicillin G Amidases from Different Sources and Hybrid Isoenzymes

Summary.  Four natural pencillin G amidase variants from different sources and two genetically constructed hybrid enzymes were produced and purified to homogeneity. The specificity constants of one enzyme (E. coli) were found to differ six orders of magnitude for hydrolytic transformations within a wide range of substrates. The substrate specificity of the homologous penicillin amidases was found to differ less than one order of magnitude for hydrolysis of the most specific and up to two orders of magnitude for the less specific substrates. The -substrate specificity in hydrolytic and transfer reactions (studied mainly with the E. coli enzyme) varied more than three orders of magnitude for the different substrates. The penicillin amidases were found to be R-specific in the S ₁-binding site and S-specific in the -binding site. The S ₁-stereoselectivity differs less than one order of magnitude for the different variants. The -stereoselectivity is more pronounced, increases with nucleophile specificity, and was found to differ up to three orders of magnitude in transfer reactions for the enzyme from E. coli. The observed variation of enatioselectivity for different penicillin amidases and one substrate can also be achieved by changes in temperature. Comparison of substrate- and stereospecificity of penicillin amidases from different sources and hybrid isoenzymes suggests that similar changes can be expected for enzyme variants derived by rational protein design or directed evolution. Received December 20, 1999. Accepted (revised) February 4, 2000     

The Chaperone‐like Activity and Structure of Mutant H119G of Rat Lens αB‐crystallin: A Study of Divalent Metal Ion Binding Site

The molecular chaperone αB‐crystallin, the major player in maintaining the transparency of the eye lens, preventing the aggregation of stress‐damaged and aging lens proteins from aggregation. In nonlenticular cells, it is involved in various neurological diseases, diabetes, and cancer. The role of some metal ions in the αB‐crystallin biology has been reported. Theoretical calculations have proposed that the coordination sites involving His101, His119, Lys121, His18 and Glu99 of human αB‐crystallin were the binding sites for divalent metal ions. Our previous mutagenesis study suggested that His18 rat lens αB‐crystallin is a crucial binding site for Cu(II) and Zn(II) in terms of chaperone‐like activity and structure. In this study mutant H119G of rat lens αB‐crystalin was cloned and expressed to investigate whether His119 is the coordination binding site. Copper and zinc at 1 mM concentration significantly increase the chaperone‐like activity in wild type αB‐crystalin, whereas zinc, copper and magnesium at 1 mM reduced the activity of H119G significantly. The results from chaperone‐like activity, ANS fluorescence measurement and Far‐and Near‐UV CD studies suggest that the replacement of His119 with Glycine resulted in a conformational and minor environmental changes that decrease chaperone‐like activity in the presence of divalent ions suggested that His119 was a crucial binding site for Cu(II) and Zn(II), which was similar to our previous study results of His18. Both results together suggest that His18 and His119 coordinates each other for the binding site of Cu(II) and Zn(II) in terms of improving the chaperone‐like activity and stability of crystallin/metal ion complex.     

螺旋构象的微环境效应——7.二甲基亚砜-水二元溶剂的组成对糖淀粉催化或抑制酯水解行为的影响

我们在研究Me_2SO—H_2O二元体系中糖淀粉[A]的物理和化学行为的基础上,又就溶剂组成对十二酸对-硝基苯酚酯水解行为的影响进行了研究。我们测量了硼酸缓冲液体系中五个不同φ值的k_(obs)对糖淀粉浓度的依赖关系(图1),φ值为混合溶剂中Me_2SO的体积分数~([1])。初看起来结果是复杂的,在[A]=0,即糖淀粉不存在的情况下,速度常数(k_(nn))随溶剂中Me_2SO量的增加而增加,即φ=0.5<0.6<0.7<0.8<0.9。加入糖淀粉后,曲线开始互相交叉。φ[A]>1.1×10~(-4)时,其次序几乎发生倒转,即φ=0.9<0.8<0.7<0.5<0.6。而且,=0.5,0.6,0.7的曲线随[A]增大而下