Christian Lherbet

Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism.

The enzyme gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) is critical to cellular detoxification and leukotriene biosynthesis processes, as well as amino acid transport in kidneys. GGT has also been implicated in many important physiological disorders, including Parkinsons disease and inhibition of apoptosis. It binds glutathione as donor substrate and initially forms a gamma-glutamyl enzyme that can then react with a water molecule or an acceptor substrate (usually an amino acid or a dipeptide) to form glutamate or a product containing a new gamma-glutamyl isopeptide bond, respectively, thus regenerating the free enzyme. Given the importance of GGT in human physiology, we have undertaken studies of its substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism. In the course of these studies, we have developed methods for the indirect evaluation of donor substrate affinity and stereospecificity and applied others for the measurement of steady state and pre-steady state kinetics and linear free-energy relationships. These methods and the pertinent results obtained with them are presented herein.

Probing the stereochemistry of the active site of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase using sulfur derivatives of L-glutamic acid

Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) catalyses the transfer of a gamma-glutamyl moiety from a donor substrate to different acceptors, such as amino acids and water. GGT is known to display relatively low stereospecificity with respect to the alpha-stereocentre of its donor substrates. In this study we have studied its stereospecificity with respect to the stereocentre at the delta-position of different analogues of L-glutamic acid. Notably, L-methionine sulfoxide is well-recognised whereas L-methionine sulfone and L-methionine sulfoximine are not. Furthermore, when the synthetic gamma-diastereoisomers of L-methionine sulfoxide were separated and tested, it was discovered that GGT shows remarkable stereospecificity at the gamma-position, binding the S(C)S(S) diastereoisomer with a K(i) of 3.5 mM, whereas the S(C)R(S) diastereoisomer is not recognised. Finally, using a sulfoxide as a new pharmacophore for GGT, we have synthesized and tested an analogue of glutathione to obtain a very promising competitive inhibitor with a K(i) of (53 +/- 3) microM.

Mapping of the active site of rat kidney γ-glutamyl transpeptidase using activated esters and their amide derivatives

The enzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), implicated in many physiological processes, catalyses the transfer of a gamma-glutamyl from a donor substrate to an acyl acceptor substrate, usually an amino acid or a peptide. In order to investigate which moieties of the donor substrate are necessary for recognition by GGT, the structure of the well-recognized substrate L-gamma-glutamyl-p-nitroanilide was modified. Several activated esters and their amide derivatives were synthesized and used as substrates. Kinetic (K(m) and V(max)) and inhibition constants (K(i)) were measured and reveal that almost the entire gamma-glutamyl moiety is necessary for recognition in the binding site of the donor substrate. The implied presence of certain complementary amino acids in this substrate binding site will allow the more rational design of various substrate analogues and inhibitors.

Synthesis of aza and oxaglutamyl-p-nitroanilide derivatives and Their kinetic studies with γ-Glutamyltranspeptidase

A new series of L-glutamic acid p-nitroanilide analogues has been synthesized and tested as substrates and inhibitors of rat kidney gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT). Kinetic parameters (K(m) and k(cat)) were determined for each analogue and provide insight into the scope and limits of GGT catalytic efficiency.

Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of Trypanosoma brucei phosphofructokinase

Phosphofructokinase from Trypanosoma brucei (TbPFK) was purified from a recombinant expression system in Escherichia coli by metal-affinity chromatography via its N-terminal His tag. The yield was 15-20 mg of pure enzyme per litre of culture. M(r) was shown to be 55 585 by mass spectrometry. Crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis were obtained by the hanging-drop method of vapour diffusion with sodium formate as the precipitating agent. Monoclinic crystals of the apoenzyme grew within one week, as did orthorhombic crystals of PFK in the presence of enzymic reaction products or an active-site inhibitor. Initial attempts to solve the structure by molecular replacement with bacterial PFK structures as search models proved unrewarding, but a multiple-copy search with a polyalanine model was successful. In addition, heavy-atom soaking with platinum and mercury has yielded derivatives suitable for X-ray diffraction. A combination of the phase information from the molecular-replacement solution and the heavy-atom derivatives should allow structure solution of TbPFK. The availability of this first eukaryotic PFK structure will be of particular significance for structure-based drug design and will also provide important additional structural evidence for the allosteric control of PFK activity.