Yoshio Taniyama

Engineering of the hydrophobic segment of the signal sequence for efficient secretion of human lysozyme by Saccharomycescerevisiae

To elucidate the structure-function relationship of the signal sequence for the secretion of human lysozyme by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have systematically engineered the hydrophobic segment using the signal sequence of chicken lysozyme. Replacement of Cys 10 with leucine caused a 1.6 times increase in the secretion of human lysozyme. An idealized signal sequence L10 in which 10 consecutive leucines were distributed from the 3rd to the 12th position was 1.8 times as effective as the native sequence. L10 can be generalized as Ln = Met-Arg-(Leu)n-Pro-Leu-Ala-Ala-Leu-Gly, where n = 10. We have also studied the secretory capability of Ln, where n = 6,8,12, and 14, and found that the length, as well as hydrophobicity, of the hydrophobic segment is an important factor in the secretion of human lysozyme by yeast.

Role of disulfide bonds in folding and secretion of human lysozyme in saccharomycescerevisiae

We examined folding and secretion of human lysozyme using four mutants each lacking two cysteines expressed in a yeast secretion system. Our results have revealed that the formation of the disulfide bond Cys6/Cys128 in human lysozyme is a prerequisite for correct folding in vivo in yeast. Substitution of Ala for Cys77 and Cys95 gave eight-fold greater secretion of a molecule with almost the same specific activity as that of the native enzyme. Substitutions of the other cysteines gave molecules that were secreted at a lower rate and had lower specific activities than the native enzyme. These are the first findings that the individual disulfide bonds of human lysozyme have different functions in folding and secretion in vivo.

Carbocyclic Purine Nucleosides Derived from Aristeromycin Through Two Key Intermediates, Carbocyclic 5-Amino-4-Imidazolecarboxamide Riboside and 2′-Deoxyriboside

Abstract Treating carbocyclic N1-methoxymethyl-inosine and -2′-deoxyinosine with 1N-NaOH/aq.EtOH gave carbocyclic 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside and 2′-deoxyriboside, respectively. Reactions of both the useful key intermediates with benzoylisothiocyanate afforded the corresponding 5-(N-benzoylisothiocarbamoyl) derivatives. Methylation of the sulfhydryl groups, followed by treatment with NaOH, led to the purine ring-closure (guanine, isoguanine, and 3-methylxanthine) reaction. The conformational difference between 2′-deoxyguanosine and carbocyclic 2′-deoxyguanosine is also discussed.

Structure of a glutathionylated human lysozyme: a folding intermediate mimic in the formation of a disulfide bond.

The three-dimensional structure of a mutant human lysozyme, C77A-a, in which the residue Cys77 is replaced by alanine, has been refined to an R value of 0.125 using 8230 reflections in the resolution range 10.0-1.8 A. It has been shown that C77A-a, in which the counterpart of Cys77 (Cys95) is modified with glutathione, has been shown to mimic an intermediate in the formation of the disulfide bond Cys77-Cys95 during the folding of human lysozyme [Hayano, Inaka, Otsu, Taniyama, Miki, Matsushima & Kikuchi (1993). FEBS Lett. 328, 203-208]. An earlier structure demonstrates that its overall structure is essentially identical to that of the wild-type protein and served as the starting model. The refined model includes atoms for all protein residues (1-130), 20 glutathione atoms and 113 water atoms. Further refinement shows more clearly the details of the protein, the bound glutathione molecule and solvent structure. However, the main-chain folding and the atomic thermal factors of the loop region from Thr70 to Leu79 were highly affected by the binding of the glutathione molecule, as compared with those of the wild-type protein. The bound glutathione shifted the main-chain atoms from Va174 to Ala77 by more than 6.0 A, and the temperature factors of the atoms in the loop region were quite high (more than 40 A(2)), indicating that the backbone conformation of this region is highly flexible and that the loop region is not folded in the specific conformation observed in the wild-type protein. These results strongly suggest that the loop structure in human lysozyme is folded later than the other regions of the protein in vivo, as observed in in vitro folding. Since the bound glutathione is efficiently and irreversibly dissociated by protein disulfide isomerase, the glutathione molecule may act as a protecting group to prevent the formation of an incorrect disulfide bond in the protein folding process in vivo.