Tripeptide Self-Assembly into Bioactive Hydrogels: Effects of Terminus Modification on Biocatalysis

Bioactive hydrogels based on the self-assembly of tripeptides have attracted great interest in recent years. In particular, the search is active for sequences that are able to mimic enzymes when they are self-organized in a nanostructured hydrogel, so as to provide a smart catalytic (bio)material whose activity can be switched on/off with assembly/disassembly. Within the diverse enzymes that have been targeted for mimicry, hydrolases find wide application in biomaterials, ranging from their use to convert prodrugs into active compounds to their ability to work in reverse and catalyze a plethora of reactions. We recently reported the minimalistic l-His–d-Phe–d-Phe for its ability to self-organize into thermoreversible and biocatalytic hydrogels for esterase mimicry. In this work, we analyze the effects of terminus modifications that mimic the inclusion of the tripeptide in a longer sequence. Therefore, three analogues, i.e., N-acetylated, C-amidated, or both, were synthesized, purified, characterized by several techniques, and probed for self-assembly, hydrogelation, and esterase-like biocatalysis. This work provides useful insights into how chemical modifications at the termini affect self-assembly into biocatalytic hydrogels, and these data may become useful for the future design of supramolecular catalysts for enhanced performance.     

碳纳米管固定化酶

在固定化酶技术中,载体材料的选择至关重要,碳纳米管作为一种新型高效的酶固定化载体,具有较大的比表面积、有序的纳米孔道结构、良好的力学/电学/热学性能、突出的化学稳定性、生物相容性和可控的表面官能化修饰等优良特性,应用日益广泛。本文重点介绍了水解酶、氧化还原酶等具有重要工业应用价值的酶在碳纳米管上的固定化研究现状,探讨了载体的表面修饰和固定化方式对固定化酶的酶学性质的影响,并对碳纳米管固定化酶的发展前景进行了展望。     

Copper ions inactivate S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase

S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase isan enzyme that regulates biomethylation and some otherphysiological processes. Recombinant AdoHcy hydrolase wasoverexpressed in E. coli JM109 and purified with ion ex-change and gel filtration chromatographies. The effects ofcopper ions (Cu2+) on the activity of AdoHcy hydrolase wereinvestigated and the results showed that Cu2+ inhibited theenzyme's activity by a concentration and time-dependentprocess. The inhibition constant (Ki) and the apparent rateconstant (kapp) were calculated to be (14 + 4) nmol @ L-1 and(1.08 + 0.15) min-1, respectively. The existence of the naturalsubstrate Ado could to some extent prevent Cu2+ from inac-tivating the enzyme, suggesting that copper ions possiblycould compete with the natural substrate on enzyme's sub-strate binding site. Further studies on the mechanism of in-hibition are being carried out.     

Cloning and expression of ophc2, a new organphosphorus hydrolase gene

The amino acid sequences of N-terminal and internal peptide of OPHC2, purified from Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes strain C2-1 in our lab, are determined. The full-length organphosphorus hydrolase gene ophc2 is cloned by PCR using the degenerate primers designed according to the sequences and future inverse PCR. The ophc2 gene is 975 bp long with G C content of 63%, comprising one open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 324 amino acids with a molecular weight of 36 kD. The nucleotide sequence of ophc2 shows low homologies with those organphosphorus hydrolase genes deposited in GenBank, one of which exhibits the highest homology of 46.4% with ophc2. The organphosphorus hydrolase protein expressed in E. coli bears normal bioactivity.     

Molecular Tools for the Study of ADP-Ribosylation: A Unified and Versatile Method to Synthesise Native Mono-ADP-Ribosylated Peptides

ADP-ribosylation (ADPr), as a post-translational modification, plays a crucial role in DNA-repair, immunity and many other cellular and physiological processes. Serine is the main acceptor for ADPr in DNA damage response, whereas the physiological impact of less common ADPr-modifications of cysteine and threonine side chains is less clear. Generally, gaining molecular insights into ADPr recognition and turn-over is hampered by the availability of homogeneous, ADP-ribosylated material, such as mono-ADP-ribosylated (MARylated) peptides. Here, a new and efficient solid-phase strategy for the synthesis of Ser-, Thr- and Cys-MARylated peptides is described. ADP-ribosylated cysteine, apart from being a native post-translational modification in its own right, proved to be suitable as a stabile bioisostere for ADP-ribosylated serine making it a useful tool to further biochemical research on serine ADP-ribosylation. In addition, it was discovered that the Streptococcus pyogenes encoded protein, SpyMacroD, acts as a Cys-(ADP-ribosyl) hydrolase.     

Photonic crystal sensor for organophosphate nerve agents utilizing the organophosphorus hydrolase enzyme

We developed an intelligent polymerized crystalline colloidal array (IPCCA) photonic crystal sensing material which reversibly senses the organophosphate compound methyl paraoxon at micromolar concentrations in aqueous solutions. A periodic array of colloidal particles is embedded in a poly-2-hydroxyethylacrylate hydrogel. The particle lattice spacing is such that the array Bragg-diffracts visible light. We utilize a bimodular sensing approach in which the enzyme organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) catalyzes the hydrolysis of methyl paraoxon at basic pH, producing p-nitrophenolate, dimethylphosphate, and two protons. The protons lower the pH and create a steady-state pH gradient. Protonation of the phenolates attached to the hydrogel makes the free energy of mixing of the hydrogel less favorable, which causes the hydrogel to shrink. The IPCCA’s lattice constant decreases, which blueshifts the diffracted light. The magnitude of the steady-state diffraction blueshift is proportional to the concentration of methyl paraoxon. The current detection limit is 0.2 μmol methyl paraoxon per liter.     

Syntheses of imidazolium-bridged cyclodextrin dimers and their catalytic properties in the hydrolytic cleavage of p-nitrophenyl alkanoates

Two imidazolium-bridged cyclodextrin dimers 3a and 3b were prepared by reacting 6-deoxy-6-N-imidazolyl-β-CD (2) with bis(bromomethyl)benzene. The catalytic properties of 2, 3a and 3b in the hydrolytic cleavage of p-nitrophenyl alkanoates, in the form of acetate (PNPA) , butanoate (PNPB) , hexanoate (PNPH) and octanoate (PNPO), were examined. CD dimeis showed middling rate enhancements around neutrality. Catalytic rate constants ( kc) in the presence of 3a or 3b did not vary much with chain length of esters. In contrast, dissociation constants ( Kd) and selectivity factors (kc/Kd) for "long-chain" esters were much smaller and significantly larger than those for short-chain ones respectively, indicating CD dimers 3a and 3b have good dimensional recognition ability and substrate selectivity in the hydrolytic cleavage of p-nitrophenyl alkanoates . Their kinetic consequences are briefly interpreted.     

Enzymatic Synthesis of Novel Vitexin Glucosides

Vitexin is a C-glucoside flavone that exhibits a wide range of pharmaceutical activities. However, the poor solubility of vitexin limits its applications. To resolve this limitation, two glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and four glycosyltransferases (GTs) were assayed for glycosylation activity toward vitexin. The results showed that BtGT_16345 from the Bacillus thuringiensis GA A07 strain possessed the highest glycosylation activity, catalyzing the conversion of vitexin into new compounds, vitexin-4′-O-β-glucoside (1) and vitexin-5-O-β-glucoside (2), which showed greater aqueous solubility than vitexin. To our knowledge, this is the first report of vitexin glycosylation. Based on the multiple bioactivities of vitexin, the two highly soluble vitexin derivatives might have high potential for pharmacological usage in the future.     

Novel Carboxyl Esterase Preparations for the Resolution of Linalyl Acetate

Summary.  Biocatalytic resolution of the tertiary terpene alcohol (±)-linalool was accomplished via hydrolysis of its corresponding acetate ester using two highly enantiospecific enzymes (E > 100). The latter were identified in a crude cell-free extract of Rhodococcus ruber DSM 43338 and could be separated by (partial) protein purification. Since they showed opposite enantiopreference, they were termed (R)- and (S)-linalyl acetate hydrolase (LAH). The activity and selectivity of the enzyme preparations was markedly dependent on the fermentation conditions. Received November 18, 1999. Accepted January 21, 2000     

Yeast GH30 Xylanase from Sugiyamaella lignohabitans Is a Glucuronoxylanase with Auxiliary Xylobiohydrolase Activity

Xylanases are the enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of the main hemicellulose present in plant cell walls. They have attracted attention due to their biotechnological potential for the preparation of industrially interesting products from lignocellulose. While many xylanases have been characterized from bacteria and filamentous fungi, information on yeast xylanases is scarce and no yeast xylanase belonging to glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 30 has been described so far. Here, we cloned, expressed and characterized GH30 xylanase SlXyn30A from the yeast Sugiyamaella lignohabitans. The enzyme is active on glucuronoxylan (8.4 U/mg) and rhodymenan (linear β-1,4-1,3-xylan) (3.1 U/mg) while its activity on arabinoxylan is very low (0.03 U/mg). From glucuronoxylan SlXyn30A releases a series of acidic xylooligosaccharides of general formula MeGlcA²Xyl_n. These products, which are typical for GH30-specific glucuronoxylanases, are subsequently shortened at the non-reducing end, from which xylobiose moieties are liberated. Xylobiohydrolase activity was also observed during the hydrolysis of various xylooligosaccharides. SlXyn30A thus expands the group of glucuronoxylanases/xylobiohydrolases which has been hitherto represented only by several fungal GH30-7 members.