蛋氨酸亚砜/蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶荧光检测研究进展

蛋白质蛋氨酸亚砜化是一种重要的氧化还原依赖的蛋白质翻译后修饰,不仅是氧化应激的重要标志物之一,也是一种蛋白质功能调控开关可影响活性氧信号转导,与一系列疾病尤其是神经退行性疾病的发生发展密切相关。 在许多生物体中,蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶是目前已经发现的唯一能将蛋白质蛋氨酸亚砜还原为蛋氨酸的物质,可以修复氧化损伤蛋白,恢复蛋白质功能,调控细胞氧还平衡,对相关疾病的治疗具有非常重要的意义。 本文重点介绍蛋氨酸亚砜和蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶的结构和催化机理,综述蛋氨酸亚砜和蛋氨酸亚砜还原酶荧光探针的部分研究进展,对该领域的研究前景进行展望。     

利用内禀荧光探针研究蛋白相互作用中硫氧还蛋白的氧化还原态

细胞内蛋白质的氧化还原状态直接影响细胞的增殖、分化及凋亡,而氧化还原状态的改变对调控细胞的生存或死亡尤为重要。硫氧还蛋白(Thioredoxin, TRX)是一种广泛存在于生物体内的氧化还原调节蛋白,其在细胞内氧化还原状态的变化是发挥其氧化还原调控作用的重要过程。以TRX为对象并以其中的色氨酸残基(Trp)作为内禀荧光探针,利用蛋白质定点突变、SDS-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(SDS-PAGE)、荧光光谱和圆二色谱等技术和方法,研究TRX与谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(glutathione peroxidase, GPX3)相互作用过程中氧化还原态的变化。通过观测TRX以及突变体中色氨酸荧光光谱的变化,研究蛋白相互作用的电子转移模式以及TRX氧化态-还原态之间的相互转化。结果表明氧化态的TRX与还原态的GPX3之间存在相互作用并发生电子交换,解释了二者之间电子传递模式为GPX3将电子传递给TRX,为揭示TRX在细胞信号传递过程中的物理化学机制提供了实验依据。     

芳香噻嗪类衍生物作为选择性醛糖还原酶抑制剂的分子对接和基于受体的三维定量构效关系研究

芳香噻嗪类衍生物被证明是一类选择性较好的高活性醛糖还原酶抑制剂(ARIs).本文对44个芳香噻嗪类化合物进行了分子对接(docking)和三维定量构效关系(3D-QSAR)研究,并探索了此类化合物与醛糖还原酶(ALr²)的作用机理.醛糖还原酶与醛还原酶(ALR1)活性位点的叠加结果显示, ALr²中残基Leu 300和Cys298的存在是化合物1m具有高选择性的原因.分别建立了比较分子场分析方法(CoMFA, q² = 0.649, r² =0.934; q²:交叉验证相关系数, r²:非交叉验证相关系数)和比较分子相似性指数分析方法(CoMSIA, q² = 0.746, r² = 0.971)模型,并对影响此类化合物生物活性的结构进行了鉴定.结果显示,两个模型均具有较高预测能力,并通过测试集中的7个化合物进行了验证,其中CoMFA模型和CoMSIA模型的预测相关系数(r_Pred²)分别为0.748和0.828. 3D-QSAR模型中的三维等值线图表明,在化合物1m的苄基环上C3和C4位置以及苯并噻嗪母核上C5和C7位置进行改进可能对生物活性的提高有利,此预测与我们前期报道的苯并噻嗪母核C7位改进结果一致.本文所建3D-QSAR模型能够在理性设计具有更高生物活性的新型ARIs中发挥重要作用.     

Phenolics Profiling of Carpobrotus edulis (L.) N.E.Br. and Insights into Molecular Dynamics of Their Significance in Type 2 Diabetes Therapy and Its Retinopathy Complication

Adverse effects associated with synthetic drugs in diabetes therapy has prompted the search for novel natural lead compounds with little or no side effects. Effects of phenolic compounds from Carpobrotus edulis on carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes through in vitro and in silico methods were assessed. Based on the half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀), the phenolic extract of the plant had significant (p < 0.05) in vitro inhibitory effect on the specific activity of alpha-amylase (0.51 mg/mL), alpha-glucosidase (0.062 mg/mL) and aldose reductase (0.75 mg/mL), compared with the reference standards (0.55, 0.72 and 7.05 mg/mL, respectively). Molecular interactions established between the 11 phenolic compounds identifiable from the HPLC chromatogram of the extract and active site residues of the enzymes revealed higher binding affinity and more structural compactness with procyanidin (−69.834 ± 6.574 kcal/mol) and 1,3-dicaffeoxyl quinic acid (−42.630 ± 4.076 kcal/mol) as potential inhibitors of alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase, respectively, while isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside (−45.398 ± 4.568 kcal/mol) and luteolin-7-O-beta-d-glucoside (−45.102 ± 4.024 kcal/mol) for aldose reductase relative to respective reference standards. Put together, the findings are suggestive of the compounds as potential constituents of C. edulis phenolic extract responsible for the significant hypoglycemic effect in vitro; hence, they could be exploited in the development of novel therapeutic agents for type-2 diabetes and its retinopathy complication.     

The effect of the sixth sulfur ligand in the catalytic mechanism of periplasmic nitrate reductase

The catalytic mechanism of nitrate reduction by periplasmic nitrate reductases has been investigated using theoretical and computational means. We have found that the nitrate molecule binds to the active site with the Mo ion in the +6 oxidation state. Electron transfer to the active site occurs only in the proton‐electron transfer stage, where the Mo^V species plays an important role in catalysis. The presence of the sulfur atom in the molybdenum coordination sphere creates a pseudo‐dithiolene ligand that protects it from any direct attack from the solvent. Upon the nitrate binding there is a conformational rearrangement of this ring that allows the direct contact of the nitrate with Mo^VI ion. This rearrangement is stabilized by the conserved methionines Met141 and Met308. The reduction of nitrate into nitrite occurs in the second step of the mechanism where the two dimethyl‐dithiolene ligands have a key role in spreading the excess of negative charge near the Mo atom to make it available for the chemical reaction. The reaction involves the oxidation of the sulfur atoms and not of the molybdenum as previously suggested. The mechanism involves a molybdenum and sulfur‐based redox chemistry instead of the currently accepted redox chemistry based only on the Mo ion. The second part of the mechanism involves two protonation steps that are promoted by the presence of Mo^V species. Mo^VI intermediates might also be present in this stage depending on the availability of protons and electrons. Once the water molecule is generated only the Mo^VI species allow water molecule dissociation, and, the concomitant enzymatic turnover. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2009     

A Highly Sensitive Fluorescence Probe for Fast Thiol‐Quantification Assay of Glutathione Reductase

Fast detection of cellular thiols in aqueous medium was achieved using a newly developed fluorescence probe (see picture). Based on this probe, a high‐throughput fluorescence assay for glutathione reductase was developed.

     

Efforts Toward the Direct Experimental Characterization of Enzyme Microenvironments: Tyrosine100 in Dihydrofolate Reductase

State secrets : Site‐specific deuteration and FTIR studies reveal that Tyr100 in dihydrofolate reductase plays an important role in catalysis, with a strong electrostatic coupling occuring between Tyr100 and the charge that develops in the hydride‐transfer transition state (see picture, NADP⁺ purple, Tyr100 green). However, relaying correlated motions that facilitate catalysis from distal sites of the protein to the hydride donor may also be involved.

     

Determination of the DeltapKa between the active site cysteines of thioredoxin and DsbA

Thioredoxin superfamily members share a considerable degree of structural similarity, with a conserved CX(i)X(j)C motif at the active site, where C stand for two cysteines that alternate between a reduced thiol and oxidized disulfide states, and X(i)and X(j) are two amino acids different in each family member. Despite these similarities, they display very different redox potentials and pKas for the active site dithiol, and fulfill different physiological roles. Thioredoxin, for example, promotes the reduction of disulfide bonds, while DsbA promotes their oxidation in prokaryotic cells. The factors that promote these differences are still not fully understood. However, it is generally accepted that the different stabilities of the redox active disulfide bond depends on the degree of stabilization, in the reduced state, of the thiolate of one of the active site cysteines (nucleophilic cysteine). In this work we have used QM/MM methods to compare and characterize the active site dithiols of both enzymes, and to shed some light on the structural features responsible for the large differences in pKa and redox potential between two homologous enzymes, thioredoxin and DsbA. We have also analyzed the main factors pointed out in the literature as responsible for their different properties. We obtained the value of 4.5 for pKa difference (DeltapKa) between the nucleophilic cysteines of both enzymes, which is in excellent agreement with most of the experimental values. Additionally, we found that the principal differentiating factor responsible for this observed DeltapKa are the alpha2-alpha helices, which greatly contribute to the mentioned value, by stabilizing the DsbA thiolate in a much greater extend than the thioredoxin thiolate. A double mutation of the conserved residues Asp26 and Lys57, in thioredoxin, and Glu24 Lys58, in DsbA, by alanines did not change the DeltapKa value; this supports the hypothesis that these residues are not involved in the differentiation of the properties of the active centre dithiol. However, we found out that these residues are important for the stabilization of the nucleophilic thiolate. The X(i) and X(j) residues also do not seem to promote the stabilization of the thiolates. In fact, the corresponding double alanine mutants are more stable than the wild-type enzymes. However, these residues are involved in the differentiation between thioredoxin and DsbA, stabilizing the DsbA thiolate by a larger extent than the thioredoxin thiolate.     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Gem‐Difluoromethylenated Statin Derivatives as Highly Potent HMG‐CoA Reductase Inhibitors

HMG‐CoA reductase inhibitors were widely used as lipid‐lowing agents through effectively blocking the rate‐limiting step of cholesterol biosynthesis. 8 analogs of Rosuvastatin were firstly prepared with different distance and functional group between the O5‐hydroxyl group and terminal COOH group in the hydrophilic side‐chain. In primary and secondary screening of the inhibitory activities against human HMG‐CoA reductase, gem‐difluoromethylenated derivatives exhibited more than 50% inhibition rate. Then 4 compounds with gem‐difluoro group were further synthesized and evaluated in vitro, three compounds among them exhibited low single digital nmol/L IC₅₀ values against HMG‐CoA reductase. Molecular docking also well explained the observed special contribution of the gem‐difluoro group.     

Biochemical evaluation of sulfur and nitrogen assimilation potential of mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern. & Coss.) under application of slow-release sulfur fertilizer

Pot experiments were conducted to study the efficacy of a slow sulfur-releasing fertilizer, sulfur glass fritz (SGF 1), on growth, photosynthesis, and sulfur, and nitrogen assimilation potentials of brown mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern. & Coss. cv. Pusa Jaikisan). Growth as indicated by biomass accumulation slowed down in response to the application of sulfur glass fritz. A similar trend was observed in the case of photosynthesis rate. The activity of two marker enzymes, ATP-sulfurylase and nitrate reductase, showed very low levels of activity, indicating poor assimilation of sulfur and nitrogen by the plant under sulfur glass fritz. It is therefore concluded that the release of sulfur by sulfur glass fritz is too slow and that the initial nonavailability of sulfur to the plants could lead to suboptimization of both sulfur- and nitrogen-assimilating enzymes. These factors may contribute to low rates of photosynthesis and poor growth.