Ann M. Valentine

Hydrolytic metal with a hydrophobic periphery: titanium(IV) complexes of naphthalene-2,3-diolate and interactions with serum albumin.

Serum albumin, the most abundant protein in human plasma (700 microM), binds diverse ligands at multiple sites. While studies have shown that serum albumin binds hard metals in chelate form, few have explored the trafficking of these metals by this protein. Recent work demonstrated that serum albumin may play a pivotal role in the transport and bioactivity of titanium(IV) complexes, including the anticancer drug candidate titanocene dichloride. The current work explores this interaction further by using a stable Ti(IV) complex that presents a hydrophobic surface to the protein. Ti(IV) chelation by 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (H2L1) and 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene-6-sulfonate (H2L2) affords water soluble complexes that protect Ti(IV) from hydrolysis at pH 7.4 and bind to bovine serum albumin (BSA). The solution and solid Ti(IV) coordination chemistry were explored by aqueous spectropotentiometric titrations and X-ray crystallography, respectively, and with complementary electrochemistry, mass spectrometry, and IR and NMR spectroscopies. Four Ti(IV) species of L2, TiLH0, TiL2H0, TiL3H0, and TiL3H(-1), adequately represent the pH-dependent speciation. The isolation of Ti(C10H6O2)2 x 1.75 H2O at pH approximately 3 and K2[Ti(C10H6O2)3] x 3 H2O and Cs5[Ti(C10H5O5S)3] x 2.5 H2O at pH approximately 7 correlates well with the solution studies. At pH 7.4 and micromolar concentrations, the TiL3H0 species are favored. The Ti(naphthalene-2,3-diolate)3(2-) complex binds with moderate affinity to multiple sites of BSA. The primary site (K = 2.05 +/- 0.34 x 10(6) M(-1)) appears to be hydrophobic as indicated by competition studies with different ligands and a hydrophilic Ti(IV) complex. The Ti(naphthalene-2,3-diolate)3(2-) interaction with the Fe(III)-binding protein human serum transferrin (HsTf), a protein also important for Ti(IV) transport, and DNA was examined. The complex does not deliver Ti(IV) to HsTf and while it does bind to DNA, no cleavage promotion activity is observed. This investigation provides insight into the use of ligands to direct metal binding at different sites of albumin, which may facilitate transport to distinct targets.

Cytotoxicity of a Ti(IV) compound is independent of serum proteins

Titanium(IV) compounds are excellent anticancer drug candidates, but they have yet to find success in clinical applications. A major limitation in developing further compounds has been a general lack of understanding of the mechanism governing their bioactivity. To determine factors necessary for bioactivity, we tested the cytotoxicity of different ligand compounds in conjunction with speciation studies and mass spectrometry bioavailability measurements. These studies demonstrated that the Ti(IV) compound of N,N′-di(o-hydroxybenzyl)ethylenediamine-N,N′-diacetic acid (HBED) is cytotoxic to A549 lung cancer cells, unlike those of citrate and naphthalene-2,3-diolate. Although serum proteins are implicated in the activity of Ti(IV) compounds, we found that these interactions do not play a role in [TiO(HBED)]− activity. Subsequent compound characterization revealed ligand properties necessary for activity. These findings establish the importance of the ligand in the bioactivity of Ti(IV) compounds, provides insights for developing next-generation Ti(IV) anticancer compounds, and reveal [TiO(HBED)]− as a unique candidate anticancer compound.

On the evolutionary significance and metal-binding characteristics of a monolobal transferrin from Ciona intestinalis

Transferrins are a family of proteins that bind and transport Fe(III). Modern transferrins are typically bilobal and are believed to have evolved from an ancient gene duplication of a monolobal form. A novel monolobal transferrin, nicatransferrin (nicaTf), was identified in the primitive ascidian species Ciona intestinalis that possesses the characteristic features of the proposed ancestral Tf protein. In this work, nicaTf was expressed in Pichia pastoris. Extensive solution studies were performed on nicaTf, including UV-vis, fluorescence, CD, EPR and NMR spectroscopies, and electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The expressed protein is nonglycosylated, unlike the protein isolated from the organism. This property does not affect its ability to bind Fe(III). However, Fe(III)-bound nicaTf displays important spectral differences from other Fe(III)-bound transferrins, which are likely the consequence of differences in metal coordination. Coordination differences could also account for the weaker affinity of nicaTf for Fe(III) (log K = 18.5) compared with bilobal human serum transferrin (HsTf) (log K = 22.5 and 21.4). The Fe–nicaTf complex is not labile, as indicated by slow metal removal kinetics by the high-affinity chelator tiron at pH 7.4. The protein alternatively binds up to one equivalent of Ti(IV) or V(V), which suggests that it may transport nonferric metals. These solution studies provide insight into the structure and function of the primitive monolobal transferrin of C. intestinalis for comparison with higher order bilobal transferrins. They suggest that a major advantage for the evolution of modern transferrins, dominantly of bilobal form, is stronger Fe(III) affinity because of cooperativity.

Titanium biomaterials: titania needles in the test of the foraminiferan Bathysiphon argenteus.

Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive microanalysis confirms the rare occurrence of a titanium mineral in the test of an organism.

Redox potentials of Ti(IV) and Fe(III) complexes provide insights into titanium biodistribution mechanisms

Transferrin, the human iron transport protein, binds Ti(IV) even more tightly than it binds Fe(III). However, the fate of titanium bound to transferrin is not well understood. Here we present results which address the fate of titanium once bound to transferrin. We have determined the redox potentials for a series of Ti(IV) complexes and have used these data to develop a linear free energy relationship (LFER) correlating Ti(IV) <==> Ti(III) redox processes with Fe(III) <==> Fe(II) redox processes. This LFER enables us to compare the redox potentials of Fe(III) complexes and Ti(IV) complexes that mimic the active site of transferrin and allows us to predict the redox potential of titanium-transferrin. Using cyclic voltammetry and discontinuous metalloprotein spectroelectrochemistry (dSEC) in conjunction with the LFER, we report that the redox potential of titanium-transferrin is lower than -600 mV (lower than that of iron-transferrin) and is predicted to be ca. -900 mV vs. NHE (normal hydrogen electrode). We conclude that Ti(IV)/Ti(III) reduction in titanium-transferrin is not accessible by biological reducing agents. This observation is discussed in the context of current hypotheses concerning the role of reduction in transferrin mediated iron transport.

Titanium(IV) and vitamin C: aqueous complexes of a bioactive form of Ti(IV).

Ascorbic acid is among the biorelevant ligands that render Ti(IV) stable in aqueous solution. A series of pH-dependent titanium(IV) coordination complexes of L-ascorbic acid is described. Directed by spectropotentiometric methods, important aspects of the aqueous interactions in this system are investigated, including ligand binding mode, pH-dependent metal-ligand stoichiometry, and the importance of metal ion-promoted hydrolysis and the binding of hydroxide. Stability constants are determined for all metal ion-ligand-proton complexes by a process of model optimization and nonlinear least-squares fitting of the combined spectropotentiometric titration data to the log β(MLH) values in the model. A speciation diagram is generated from the set of stability constants described in the model. In the range pH 3-10, the aqueous speciation is characterized by the sequential appearance of the following complexes as a function of added base: Ti(asc)(2)(0) → Ti(asc)(3)(2-) → Ti(asc)(2)(OH)(2)(2-) → Ti(asc)(OH)(4)(2-). These species dominate the speciation at pH < 3, pH 4-5, pH ~ 8, and pH > 10, respectively, with minimum log stability constants (β values) of 25.70, 36.91, 16.43, and -6.91. Results from electrospray mass spectrometry, metal-ligand binding experiments, and kinetics measurements support the speciation, which is characterized by bidentate chelation of the ascorbate dianion to the titanium(IV) ion via proton displacement, and a pH-dependent metal-ligand binding motif of ligand addition followed by metal ion-promoted hydrolysis, stepwise ligand dissociation, and the concomitant binding of hydroxide ion. Additionally, the kinetics of ligand exchange of titanium ascorbate with citrate are reported to understand better the possible fate of titanium ascorbate under biologically relevant conditions.

Contrasting synergistic anion effects in vanadium(V) binding to nicatransferrin versus human serum transferrin.

Some ascidians sequester vanadium and other metal ions that are bound and transported in higher organisms by transferrin. The ascidian Ciona intestinalis has a monolobal transferrin (nicatransferrin) in its plasma. The binding of vanadium(V) to nicatransferrin was investigated by using isothermal titration calorimetry and UV-vis spectroscopy, in the presence and absence of NaHCO(3), and was compared with human serum transferrin. Nicatransferrin and serum transferrin bind V(V) with similar strengths [K = (2.0 +/- 0.6) x 10(5) M(-1) for nicatransferrin]; however, nicatransferrin requires a synergistic anion for V(V) binding, whereas serum transferrin does not. Spectroscopy supports a different kind of coordination site.

Principles of small molecule activation by metalloenzymes as exemplified by the soluble methane monooxygenase from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath)

Many metalloenzymes activate small molecules in a manner that is unique to natural systems. In this Perspective we discuss the soluble methane monooxygenase protein system from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath), which uses a mixed-function oxidase to convert methane selectively to methanol. Through a series of biophysical studies, theoretical calculations, synthetic model studies and mechanistic biochemical experiments, the respective roles of the carboxylate-bridged non-heme diiron center and the protein environment in controlling the enzyme mechanism have been delineated. These results are used to identify themes common among metalloenzymes that activate small molecules and to identify future directions for the study of this protein system.

Pharmaceutical formulation affects titanocene transferrin interactions

Since the discovery of the anticancer activity of titanocene dichloride (TDC), many derivatives have been developed and evaluated. MKT4, a soluble, water-stable formulation of TDC, was used for both Phase I and Phase II human clinical trials. This formulation is investigated here by using (1)H and (13)C NMR, FT-ICR mass spectrometry, and UV/vis-detected pH-dependent speciation. DFT calculations are also utilized to assess the likelihood of proposed species. Human serum transferrin has been identified as a potential vehicle for the Ti anticancer drugs; these studies examine whether and how formulation of TDC as MKT4 may influence its interactions, both thermodynamic and kinetic, with human serum transferrin by using UV/vis absorption and fluorescence quenching. MKT4 binds differently than TDC to transferrin, showing different kinetics of binding as well as a different molar absorptivity of binding (7500 M(-1) cm(-1) per site). Malate, used in the buffer for MKT4 administration, acts as a synergistic anion for Ti binding, shifting the tyrosine to Ti charge transfer energy and decreasing the molar absorptivity to 5000 M(-1) cm(-1) per site. These differences may have had consequences after the change from TDC to MKT4 in human clinical trials.

Beyond bilobal: transferrin homologs having unusual domain architectures.

BACKGROUND Most transferrin family proteins have a familiar bilobal structure, the result of an ancient gene duplication, with an iron binding site in each of two homologous lobes. Scattered throughout the evolutionary tree from algae to mammals, though, are transferrin homologs having other kinds of domain architectures. SCOPE OF REVIEW This review covers a variety of unusual transferrin forms, including monolobals, bilobals with one or both iron-binding sites abrogated, bilobals accessorized with long insertions or with membrane anchors, and even trilobals. The monolobal transferrin homologs from marine invertebrate ascidians are especially highlighted here. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS Unusual transferrin homologs appear scattered through much of the evolutionary tree. For some of these proteins, iron binding and/or iron transport appear to be the primary roles; for others they clearly are not. Many are incompletely or not at all studied. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Taken together, these proteins begin to offer a glimpse into how the transferrin architecture has been repurposed for a diversity of applications. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Transferrins: Molecular mechanisms of iron transport and disorders.