Kerstin S. Broo

Caged fluorescent haptens reveal the generation of cryptic epitopes in allergic contact dermatitis.

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is the most prevalent form of human immunotoxicity. It is caused by skin exposure to haptens, i.e., protein-reactive, low-molecular-weight chemical compounds, which form hapten-protein complexes (HPCs) in the skin, triggering the immune system. These immunogenic HPCs are elusive. In this study a series of thiol-reactive caged fluorescent haptens, i.e., bromobimanes, were deployed in combination with two-photon fluorescence microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and proteomics to identify possible hapten targets in proteins in human skin. Key targets found were the basal keratinocytes and the keratins K5 and K14. Particularly, cysteine 54 of K5 was found to be haptenated by the bromobimanes. In addition, elevated levels of anti-keratin antibodies were found in the sera of mice exposed to bromobimanes in vivo. The results indicate a general mechanism in which thiol-reactive haptens generate cryptic epitopes normally concealed from the immune system. In addition, keratinocytes and keratin seem to have an important role in the mechanism behind ACD, which is a subject for further investigations.

Designed four-helix bundle catalysts--the engineering of reactive sites for hydrolysis and transesterification reactions of p-nitrophenyl esters.

Four-helix bundle proteins have been designed that catalyze the hydrolysis and transesterification reactions of p-nitrophenyl esters by a cooperative nucleophilic and general acid mechanism. The catalysts consist of two 42-residue peptides that fold into helix-loop-helix motifs and dimerise. They have previously been shown to recognize anionic and hydrophobic substrates and to follow saturation kinetics. The catalytic entity is a HisH(+)-His pair in a helical segment spaced i, i+4, which can be supplemented by arginines and lysines in the adjacent helix. The binding residues have now been optimized for the catalysis of mono-p-nitrophenyl fumarate hydrolysis and found to vary with the location of the site. The catalytic efficiency of the HisH(+)-His site in helix II in positions 30 and 34 is enhanced by the introduction of arginine and or lysine residues in positions 11 and 15, but not in 8 and 11 or in 15 and 19. The most efficient catalyst using this site, JNIIR11K15, catalyses the reaction with a second-order rate constant of 0.134 M(-1) s(-1) in aqueous solution at pH 5.1 and 290 K. The second-order rate constant is larger than those of the corresponding sites with longer and shorter binding residues. Similar experiments have shown that the efficiency and selectivity of catalysts based on a HisH(+)-11-His-15 site in helix I are enhanced the most by the introduction of Lys-30 and Arg-34.

Reduced Sensitizing Capacity of Epoxy Resin Systems: A Structure—Activity Relationship Study

Epoxy resins can be prepared from numerous chemical compositions. Until recently, alternatives to epoxy resins based on diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol A (DGEBA) or bisphenol F (DGEBF) monomers have not received commercial interest, but are presently doing so, as epoxy resins with various properties are desired. Epoxy resin systems are known to cause allergic contact dermatitis because of contents of uncured monomers, reactive diluents, and hardeners. Reactive diluents, for example, glycidyl ethers, which also contain epoxide moieties, are added to reduce viscosity and improve polymerization. We have investigated the contact allergenic properties of a series of six analogues to phenyl glycidyl ether (PGE), all with similar basic structures but with varying carbon chain lengths and degrees of saturation. The chemical reactivity of the compounds in the test series toward the hexapeptide H-Pro-His-Cys-Lys-Arg-Met-OH was investigated. All epoxides were shown to bind covalently to both cysteine and proline residues. The percent depletion of nonreacted peptide was also studied resulting in 88% depletion when using PGE and 46% when using butyl glycidyl ether (5) at the same time point, thus revealing a large difference between the fastest and the slowest reacting epoxide. The skin sensitization potencies of the epoxides using the murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) were evaluated in relation to the observed physicochemical and reactivity properties. To enable determination of statistical significance between structurally closely related compounds, a nonpooled LLNA was performed. It was found that the compounds investigated ranged from strong to weak sensitizers, congruent with the reactivity data, indicating that even small changes in chemical structure result in significant differences in sensitizing capacity.

Oximes: Metabolic Activation and Structure?Allergenic Activity Relationships

Metabolic activation of chemicals (prohaptens) in the skin can cause allergic contact dermatitis. We have explored structure-allergenic activity relationships for seven potential oxime prohaptens using the local lymph node assay and a GSH trapping screen with liver microsomes. The general structure-allergenic activity relationships found were that an alpha,beta-unsaturation is necessary for an oxime to be a prohapten and that increased steric hindrance around this double bond leads to reduction in sensitizing capacity. We also found that sensitizing oximes can be distinguished in vitro from nonsensitizers by monitoring of mono-oxidized (+16 Da) GSH conjugates in the GSH trapping screen. However, care should be taken when interpreting data from GSH trapping screens, as nonsensitizers may also form GSH conjugates via alternative mechanisms. This investigation emphasizes the importance of considering cutaneous bioactivation in toxicity assessment of chemicals used in contact with the skin.

De novo designed polypeptide catalysts with adopted folded structures

Designed polypeptide catalysts have been shown to catalyze hydrolysis and transesterification reactions of p-nitrophenyl esters by a mechanism that includes the nucleophilic attack by an unprotonated histidine and general-acid catalysis by a flanking protonated histidine. The catalysis is cooperative and exhibits rate enhancements of three orders of magnitude over that of the 4-methylimidazole catalyzed reaction. Substrate recognition by residues introduced in the adjoining helix was demonstrated for the negatively charged substrate mono-p-nitrophenyl fumarate. The results have been compared to those obtained for other designed polypeptide catalysts with similar efficiency, and it was concluded that the hallmarks of naturally occurring biocatalysts have now been demonstrated in polypeptide catalyzed reactions, although with considerably less efficiency than native enzymes. It was found that so far the most severe limitation of folded polypeptide catalysts is the efficiency obtained in the bond-making and bond-breaking steps, whereas the binding of substrates, even on the surface of helical structures in aqueous solution, is of comparable strength to that which occurs in nature.

Site-selective control of the reactivity of surface-exposed histidine residues in designed four-helix-bundle catalysts

BACKGROUNDnThe structure and function of native proteins often depend on the interplay between ionisable residues with physical properties that have been fine tuned by interactions with neighbouring groups. Here, we systematically vary the environment of histidines in designed helix-loop-helix motifs to modulate histidine pKa values and reactivities.nnnRESULTSn25 helix-loop-helix motifs were designed in which surface-exposed histidine residues were flanked by neutral, negatively charged and positively charged groups and the histidines proximity to the hydrophobic core was varied. The 57 histidine pKa values were determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy and found to be in the interval 5.2-7.2 with changes ranging from a decrease of 1.3 pKa units to an increase of 0.7 pKa units compared with the pKa for an unperturbed histidine residue.nnnCONCLUSIONSnA decrease in the pKa of His34 by 1.3 units was accomplished by placing it in close proximity to the hydrophobic core and flanking it by positively charged residues in positions (i, i + 3) and (i, i - 4). Flanking a histidine residue with a lysine or a histidine in positions (i, i + 3), (i, i + 4) or (i, i - 4) resulted in pKa depressions of approximately 0.5 pKa units per residue and additivity was observed. The increase of the histidine pKa by glutamate residues was the most efficient in position (i, i + 3), but less efficient in position (i, i + 4). These principles should be useful in the engineering of novel catalysts.

Modification and expulsion of keratins by human epidermal keratinocytes upon hapten exposure in vitro.

Allergic contact dermatitis is the most prevalent form of human immunotoxicity. It is caused by reactive low molecular weight chemicals, that is, haptens, coming in contact with the skin where hapten-peptide complexes are formed, activating the immune system. By using sensitizing fluorescent thiol-reactive haptens, that is, bromobimanes, we show how keratinocytes respond to hapten exposure in vitro and reveal, for the first time in a living system, an exact site of haptenation. Rapid internalization and reaction of haptens with keratin filaments were visualized. Subsequently, keratinocytes respond in vitro to hapten exposure by release of membrane blebs, which contain haptenated keratins 5 and 14. Particularly, cysteine 54 of K5 was found to be a specific target. A mechanism is proposed where neoepitopes, otherwise hidden from the immune system, are released after hapten exposure via keratinocyte blebbing. The observed expulsion of modified keratins by keratinocytes in vitro might play a role during hapten sensitization in vivo and should be subject to further investigations.

Combinatorial Chemical Reengineering of the Alpha Class Glutathione Transferases

Previously, we discovered that human glutathione transferases (hGSTs) from the alpha class can be rapidly and quantitatively modified on a single tyrosine residue (Y9) using thioesters of glutathione (GS-thioesters) as acylating reagents. The current work was aimed at exploring the potential of this site-directed acylation using a combinatorial approach, and for this purpose a panel of 17 GS-thioesters were synthesized in parallel and used in screening experiments with the isoforms hGSTs A1-1, A2-2, A3-3, and A4-4. Through analytical HPLC and MALDI-MS experiments, we found that between 70 and 80% of the reagents are accepted and this is thus a very versatile reaction. The range of ligands that can be used to covalently reprogram these proteins is now expanded to include functionalities such as fluorescent groups, a photochemical probe, and an aldehyde as a handle for further chemical derivatization. This site-specific modification reaction thus allows us to create novel functional proteins with a great variety of artificial chemical groups in order to, for example, specifically tag GSTs in biological samples or create novel enzymatic function using appropriate GS-thioesters.

A promiscuous glutathione transferase transformed into a selective thiolester hydrolase.

Human glutathione transferase A1-1 (hGST A1-1) can be reengineered by rational design into a catalyst for thiolester hydrolysis with a catalytic proficiency of 1.4 x 10(7) M(-1). The thiolester hydrolase, A216H that was obtained by the introduction of a single histidine residue at position 216 catalyzed the hydrolysis of a substrate termed GSB, a thiolester of glutathione and benzoic acid. Here we investigate the substrate requirements of this designed enzyme by screening a thiolester library. We found that only two thiolesters out of 18 were substrates for A216H. The A216H-catalyzed hydrolysis of GS-2 (thiolester of glutathione and naphthalenecarboxylic acid) exhibits a k(cat) of 0.0032 min(-1) and a KM of 41 microM. The previously reported catalysis of GSB has a k(cat) of 0.00078 min(-1) and KM of 5 microM. The k(cat) for A216H-catalyzed hydrolysis of GS-2 is thus 4.1 times higher than for GSB. The catalytic proficiency (k(cat)/KM)/k(uncat) for GS-2 is 3 x 10(6) M(-1). The promiscuous feature of the wt protein towards a range of different substrates has not been conserved in A216H but we have obtained a selective enzyme with high demands on the substrate.