James L. Sudmeier

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) glucuronidation in vitro : assay development, human liver microsome activities and species differences

1. The main purpose was to develop a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based method to assay serotonin glucuronidation activity using liver microsomal fractions. Application of this method was then demonstrated by determining serotonin UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzyme kinetics using human liver microsomes and recombinant human UGT1A6. Interspecies differences were also evaluated using liver microsomes from 10 different mammalian species. 2. Incubation of liver microsomes with serotonin, UDP-glucuronic acid and magnesium resulted in the formation of a single product peak using HPLC with fluorescence and ultraviolet absorbance detection. This peak was confirmed as serotonin glucuronide based on sensitivity to β-glucuronidase and by obtaining the expected mass of 352 with positive-ion mass spectrometry. 3. Following a preparative HPLC isolation, the structure of this metabolite was established as serotonin-5- O -glucuronide by 1 H-NMR spectroscopy. 4. Enzyme kinetic studies showed apparent K m and V max of 8.8 ±0.3 mM and 43.4 ±0.4 nmoles min <1 mg <1 protein, respectively, for human liver microsomes, and 5.9 ±0.2 mM and 15.8 ±0.2 nmoles min <1 mg <1, respectively, for recombinant UGT1A6. 5. The order of serotonin-UGT activities in animal liver microsomes was rat > mouse > human > cow > pig > horse > dog > rabbit > monkey > ferret. Cat livers showed no serotonin-UGT activity. Heterozygous and homozygous mutant Gunn rat livers had 40 and 13%, respectively, of the activity of the normal Wistar rat, indicating a significant contribution by a rat UGT1A isoform to serotonin glucuronidation. 6. This assay provides a novel sensitive and specific technique for the measurement of serotonin-UGT activity in vitro.

Dipeptide boronic acid inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase IV: determinants of potency and in vivo efficacy and safety.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV; E.C. 3.4.14.5), a serine protease that degrades the incretin hormones GLP-1 and GIP, is now a validated target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Dipeptide boronic acids, among the first, and still among the most potent DPP-IV inhibitors known, suffer from a concern over their safety. Here we evaluate the potency, in vivo efficacy, and safety of a selected set of these inhibitors. The adverse effects induced by boronic acid-based DPP-IV inhibitors are essentially limited to what has been observed previously for non-boronic acid inhibitors and attributed to cross-reactivity with DPP8/9. While consistent with the DPP8/9 hypothesis, they are also consistent with cross-reactivity with some other intracellular target. The results further show that the potency of simple dipeptide boronic acid-based inhibitors can be combined with selectivity against DPP8/9 in vivo to produce agents with a relatively wide therapeutic index (>500) in rodents.

Tautomerism, acid-base equilibria, and H-bonding of the six histidines in subtilisin BPN by NMR

We have determined by 15N, 1H, and 13C NMR, the chemical behavior of the six histidines in subtilisin BPN′ and their PMSF and peptide boronic acid complexes in aqueous solution as a function of pH in the range of from 5 to 11, and have assigned every 15N, 1H, Cε1, and Cδ2 resonance of all His side chains in resting enzyme. Four of the six histidine residues (17, 39, 67, and 226) are neutrally charged and do not titrate. One histidine (238), located on the protein surface, titrates with pKa = 7.30 ± 0.03 at 25°C, having rapid proton exchange, but restricted mobility. The active site histidine (64) in mutant N155A titrates with a pKa value of 7.9 ± 0.3 and sluggish proton exchange behavior, as shown by two‐site exchange computer lineshape simulation. His 64 in resting enzyme contains an extremely high Cε1‐H proton chemical shift of 9.30 parts per million (ppm) owing to a conserved Cε1‐H…O=C H‐bond from the active site imidazole to a backbone carbonyl group, which is found in all known serine proteases representing all four superfamilies. Only His 226, and His 64 at high pH, exist as the rare Nδ1‐H tautomer, exhibiting 13Cδ1 chemical shifts ∼9 ppm higher than those for Nε2‐H tautomers. His 64 in the PMSF complex, unlike that in the resting enzyme, is highly mobile in its low pH form, as shown by 15N‐1H NOE effects, and titrates with rapid proton exchange kinetics linked to a pKa value of 7.47 ± 0.02.

Identification of selective and potent inhibitors of fibroblast activation protein and prolyl oligopeptidase.

Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is a serine protease selectively expressed on reactive stromal fibroblasts of epithelial carcinomas. It is widely believed to play a role in tumor invasion and metastasis and therefore to represent a potential new drug target for cancer. Investigation into its biological function, however, has been hampered by the current unavailability of selective inhibitors. The challenge has been in identifying inhibitors that are selective for FAP over both the dipeptidyl peptidases (DPPs), with which it shares exopeptidase specificity, and prolyl oligopeptidase (PREP), with which it shares endopeptidase specificity. Here, we report the first potent FAP inhibitor with selectivity over both the DPPs and PREP, N-(pyridine-4-carbonyl)-d-Ala-boroPro (ARI-3099, 6). We also report a similarly potent and selective PREP inhibitor, N-(pyridine-3-carbonyl)-Val-boroPro (ARI-3531, 22). Both are boronic acid based inhibitors, demonstrating that high selectivity can be achieved using this electrophile. The inhibitors are stable, easy to synthesize, and should prove to be useful in helping to elucidate the biological functions of these two unique and interesting enzymes, as well as their potential as drug targets.

Analyses of the Interaction between the Origin Binding Domain from Simian Virus 40 T Antigen and Single-Stranded DNA Provide Insights into DNA Unwinding and Initiation of DNA Replication

ABSTRACT DNA helicases are essential for DNA metabolism; however, at the molecular level little is known about how they assemble or function. Therefore, as a model for a eukaryotic helicase, we are analyzing T antigen (T-ag) the helicase encoded by simian virus 40. In this study, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods were used to investigate the transit of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) through the T-ag origin-binding domain (T-ag OBD). When the residues that interact with ssDNA are viewed in terms of the structure of a hexamer of the T-ag OBD, comprised of residues 131 to 260, they indicate that ssDNA passes over one face of the T-ag OBD and then transits through a gap in the open ring structure. The NMR-based conclusions are supported by an analysis of previously described mutations that disrupt critical steps during the initiation of DNA replication. These and related observations are discussed in terms of the threading of DNA through T-ag hexamers and the initiation of viral DNA replication.

Synthesis and characterization of constrained peptidomimetic dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors: amino-lactam boroalanines.

We describe here the epimerization-free synthesis and characterization of a new class of conformationally constrained lactam aminoboronic acid inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV; E.C. 3.4.14.5). These compounds have the advantage that they cannot undergo the pH-dependent cyclization prevalent in most dipeptidyl boronic acids that attenuates their potency at physiological pH. For example, D-3-amino-1-[L-1-boronic-ethyl]-pyrrolidine-2-one (amino-D-lactam-L-boroAla), one of the best lactam inhibitors of DPP IV, is several orders of magnitude less potent than L-Ala-L-boroPro, as measured by Ki values (2.3 nM vs 30 pM, respectively). At physiological pH, however, it is actually more potent than L-Ala-L-boroPro, as measured by IC50 values (4.2 nM vs 1400 nM), owing to the absence of the potency-attenuating cyclization. In an interesting and at first sight surprising reversal of the relationship between stereochemistry and potency observed with the conformationally unrestrained Xaa-boroPro class of inhibitors, the L-L diastereomers of the lactams are orders of magnitude less effective than the D-L lactams. However, this interesting reversal and the unexpected potency of the D-L lactams as DPP IV inhibitors can be understood in structural terms, which is explained and discussed here.

Direct NMR Observation and pKa Determination of the Asp102 Side Chain in a Serine Protease

The pK(a) value of aspartic acid in the catalytic triad of serine proteases has been a pivotal element in essentially every mechanism proposed for these enzymes over the past 40 years, but has, until now, eluded direct determination. Here, we have used the multinuclear 3D-NMR pulse programs HCACO and HCCH-TOCSY to directly identify and study the side-chain resonances of the aspartate and glutamate residues in uniformly (13)C-labeled α-lytic protease. Resonances from four of the six residues were detected and assigned, including that of Asp(102), which is notably the weakest of the four. pH titrations have shown all of the carboxylate (13)C signals to have unusually low pK(a) values: 2.0, 3.2, and 1.7 for Glu(129), Glu(174), and Glu(229), respectively, and an upper limit of 1.5 for Asp(102). The multiple H-bonds to Asp(102), long known from X-ray crystal studies, probably account for its unusually low pK(a) value through preferential stabilization of its anionic form. These H-bonds probably also contribute to the weakness of the NMR resonances of Asp(102) by restricting its mobility. The Asp(102)(13)C(γ) atom responds to the ionization of His(57) in the resting enzyme and to the inhibitor-derived oxyanion in a chloromethyl ketone complex, observations that strongly support the assignment. The low pK(a) value of Asp(102) would appear to be incompatible with mechanisms involving strong Asp(102)-His(57) H-bonds or high pK(a) values, but is compatible with mechanisms involving normal Asp(102)-His(57) H-bonds and moving His(57) imidazole rings, such as the reaction-driven ring flip.

4-Substituted boro-proline dipeptides: synthesis, characterization, and dipeptidyl peptidase IV, 8, and 9 activities.

The boroProline-based dipeptidyl boronic acids were among the first DPP-IV inhibitors identified, and remain the most potent known. We introduced various substitutions at the 4-position of the boroProline ring regioselectively and stereoselectively, and incorporated these aminoboronic acids into a series of 4-substituted boroPro-based dipeptides. Among these dipeptidyl boronic acids, Arg-(4S)-boroHyp (4q) was the most potent inhibitor of DPP-IV, DPP8 and DPP9, while (4S)-Hyp-(4R)-boroHyp (4o) exhibited the most selectivity for DPP-IV over DPP8 and DPP9.

Microscopic Acid-Base Equilibra of Alanyl-boroAlanine

The in vivo introduction of DPP IV specific inhibitors has been shown to enhance the levels of intact endogeneous peptides, creating a new therapeutic paradigm in diabetes treatment. Ala-boroAla (AbA) belongs to a class of very potent serine protease inhibitors known as “peptide boronic acids”. Their high affinities for proteases are derived from close mimicry of boronyl-serine adducts to tetrahedral transition states in enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Preliminary studies of AbA as a DPP IV inhibitor in our lab showed that the degree of inhibition was dependent upon the pH (either 2 or 8) and time duration (up to 24 hrs) of the pre-incubation, i.e. time prior to enzyme addition. This prompted us to use NMR to elucidate the various components, both active and inactive, of AbA at various pH values and their dissociation constants. A study of the titration behavior of Ala-Ala showed the N-terminal methyl group to be the most reliable reporter of ionization in the dipeptide, because of its large intensity and large protonation shift (~0.30 ppm), affected only by its proximal functional group. That is, the methyl resonance on the C-terminal residue was somewhat affected by N-terminal ionization, and the alpha proton of the N-terminal residue was somewhat influenced by C-terminal ionization. In Ala-Ala the two acid-base dissociation steps were