Haruhiko Tamaoki

Synthesis of endothelin-1 analogues, endothelin-3, and sarafotoxin S6b: Structure - activity relationships

Summary Two disulfide analogues (types A and B) of endothelin-3 (ET-3; formerly, rat ET), sarafotoxin S6b, and apamin, were synthesized to determine their disulfide structures as in the case of endothelin-1 (ET-1; formerly human and porcine ET). The disulfide structures of ET-3 and sarafotoxin S6b were found to be identical with that of ET-1 (type A) but distinct from that of apamin (type B). The vasoconstricting activities of ET-3 and sarafotoxin S6b were about one-60th and one-third that of ET-1, respectively. Such different biological potencies between endothelins and sarafotoxin S6b could be largely attributed to the sequence heterogeneity at the N-terminal portion. ET-1 analogues were also synthesized to clarify the structure-activity relationships. The opening of any disulfide bond in the ET-1 molecule extremely decreased the activity, while oxidation of the Met residue did not alter it. Amidation of the terminal COOH group and extension of the Lys-Arg sequence to the N-terminus led to 16-and 540-fold decreases in activity, respectively. Removal of the C-terminal Trp residue resulted in complete loss of the activity. The other disulfide analogues (type B and C) of ET-1 showed markedly lower activity than the parent molecule (type A). These results indicated the importance of the whole molecule with the proper double cyclic structure for determining its active conformation.

A new α-helical motif in membrane active peptides

A comparative analysis of the primary and secondary structures of the neurotoxins mast cell degranulating peptide apamin and charybdotoxin, and of the hormone endothelin revealed a strikingly homologous structural element consisting of an ?-helical stretch spanning the sequence portion Cys X-X-X Cys and stabilized by disulfide bridging to a second consensus sequence Cys X Cys, itself folded in a ?-type structure. This structural motif generates a certain degree of amphiphilicity for the folded molecules which may be correlated with the bioactivities of the neurotoxins at the membrane level. The presence of the identical structural motif in endothelin raises the question of whether it may represent, even for this hormone, the clue for its biological activity.

Improvement in the oxidative folding of endothelin-1 by a lys-Arg extension at the amino terminus: Implication of a salt bridge between Arg−1 and Asp8

An amino-terminal extension of endothelin-l by the lys-Arg dipeptide in the prosequence (KR-ET-1) greatly increased the ratio of native-type to non-native-type disulfide isomer (96/4 versus 71/29) during the oxidative folding reaction. This improvement was completely abolished by substituting Asn for Asp at position 8 (D8N-KR-ET-1), whereas most of it was maintained with similar carboxamide analogues replaced at Glu10 or Asp18. Structure analyses by circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that (i) in the carboxylate state, the α-helical content of the native-type isomer of KR-ET-l is higher than that of the native-type isomer of ET-1, while such a variation is not observed in the corresponding non-native-type isomer of KR-ET-l; and (ii) the enhanced α-helicity resulting from the Lys-Arg extension is largely diminished in D8N-KR-ET-l. From these results and our previous findings that the helical structure in KR-ET-l is stabilized by a particular salt bridge between the extended Arg−1 basic moiety and either the Asp8 or Glu10 acidic side chain in Et-1 [Aumelas, A. et al., Biochemistry, 34 (1995) 4546], we conclude that the formation of a specific salt bridge between the side chains of Arg−1 and Asp8 in KR-ET-1 is critical for the predominant generation of the native-type disulfide isomer, probably because it stabilizes the helical structure of parental ET-1.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of rat liver acyl-CoA oxidase

A recombinant form of the flavoenzyme acyl-CoA oxidase from rat liver has been crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique using PEG 20 000 as a precipitating agent. The crystals grew as yellow prisms, with unit-cell parameters a = 71.05, b = 87.29, c = 213.05 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees. The crystals exhibit the symmetry of space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and are most likely to contain a dimer in the asymmetric unit, with a V(M) value of 2.21 A(3) Da(-1). The crystals diffract to a resolution of 2.5 A at beamline BL6A of the Photon Factory. Two heavy-atom derivatives have been identified.

FT-IR Spectroscopic Studies on the Molecular Mechanism for Substrate Specificity/Activation of Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase

The interactions of acyl-CoA with medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (MCADs) reconstituted with artificial FADs-i.e. 8-CN-, 7,8-Cl(2)-, 8-Cl-, 8-OCH(3)- and 8-NH(2)-FAD-were investigated by UV-visible absorption and FT-IR measurements. Although 8-NH(2)-FAD-MCAD did not oxidize acyl-CoA the wavelength of the absorption maximum of the flavin was altered by acyl-CoAs binding. Thus, 8-NH(2)-FAD-MCAD is one of the attractive materials for investigation of enzyme-substrate (ES) interaction in ES complex (the complex of oxidized MCAD with acyl-CoA). FT-IR difference spectra between non-labelled and [1-(13)C]-labelled acyl-CoA free in solution and bound to oxidized 8-NH(2)-FAD-MCAD were obtained. The broad 1668-cm(-1) band of free octanoyl-CoA assigned to the C(1) = O stretching vibration appeared as a sharp signal at 1626 cm(-1) in the case of the complex. The downward shift indicates a large polarization of C(1) = O, and the sharpness suggests that the orientation of the C(1) = O in the active-site cavity is fairly limited. The hydrogen-bond enthalpy change responsible for the polarization on the transfer of the substrate from aqueous solution to the active site of MCAD was estimated to be approximately 15 kcal/mol. The 1626-cm(-1) band is noticeably weakened in the case of acyl-CoA with acyl chains longer than C12 which are poor substrates for MCAD, suggesting that C(1) = O is likely to exist in multiple orientations in the active-site cavity, whence the band becomes obscured. A band identical to that of bound C8-CoA was observed in the case of C4-CoA which is a poor substrate, indicating the strong hydrogen bond at C(1) = O.