A. Desideri

Active-Site Copper and Zinc Ions Modulate the Quaternary Structure of Prokaryotic Cu,Zn Superoxide Dismutase

The influence of the constitutive metal ions on the equilibrium properties of dimeric Photobacterium leiognathi Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase has been studied for the wild-type and for two mutant protein forms bearing a negative charge in the amino acid clusters at the dimer association interface. Depletion of copper and zinc dissociates the two mutant proteins into monomers, which reassemble toward the dimeric state upon addition of stoichiometric amounts of zinc. Pressure-dependent dissociation is observed for the copper-depleted wild-type and mutated enzymes, as monitored by the fluorescence shift of a unique tryptophan residue located at the subunit association interface. The spectral shift occurs slowly, reaching a plateau after 15-20 minutes, and is fully reversible. The recovery of the original fluorescence properties, after decompression, is fast (less than four minutes), suggesting that the isolated subunit has a relatively stable structure, and excluding the presence of stable intermediates during the dimer-monomer transition. The dimer dissociation process is still incomplete at 6.5 kbar for the copper-depleted wild-type and mutated enzymes, at variance with what is generally observed for oligomeric proteins that dissociate below 3 kbar. Measurement of the degree of dissociation, at two different protein concentrations, allows us to calculate the standard volume variation upon association, Delta V, and the dissociation constant K(d0), at atmospheric pressure, (25 ml/mol and 3 x 10(-7)M, respectively). The holoprotein is fully dimeric even at 6.5 kbar, which allows us to evaluate a lower Delta G degrees limit of 11.5 kcal/mol, corresponding to a dissociation constant K(d0)<10(-9)M.

Characterization of a novel CYP2C9 gene mutation and structural bioinformatic protein analysis in a warfarin hypersensitive patient

Warfarin (coumadin) is a worldwide-prescribed anticoagulant for the long-term treatment and prevention of thromboembolic events, presenting a great interindividual variability in the required dose. It is known that both environmental and genetic factors influence the dose necessary for the therapeutic effect. Herein we describe a pharmacogenetic study conducted on an Italian patient with warfarin hypersensitivity, who required a very low dosage to achieve therapeutic anticoagulation effect. We genotyped common polymorphisms in VKORC1, CYP2C9, and CYP4F2 genes, known to be involved in warfarin dosing. As the patient resulted in a mixture of low-dosing and high-dosing polymorphic variants, we searched for rare mutations by direct sequencing of the same genes. We identified in the CYP2C9 gene, a novel mutation in heterozygote status, c.374G>T, which produces the Arg125Leu substitution. We have observed, through an electrostatic analysis, that the new mutation produces an electrostatic alteration on the cytochrome surface.