| 1. |
- Mazari, Aslam M. A., et al.
(författare)
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Overexpression of Glutathione Transferase E7 in Drosophila Differentially Impacts Toxicity of Organic Isothiocyanates in Males and Females
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Organic isothiocyanates (ITCs) are allelochemicals produced by plants in order to combat insects and other herbivores. The compounds are toxic electrophiles that can be inactivated and conjugated with intracellular glutathione in reactions catalyzed by glutathione transferases (GSTs). The Drosophila melanogaster GSTE7 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and purified for functional studies. The enzyme showed high catalytic activity with various isothiocyanates including phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) and allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), which in millimolar dietary concentrations conferred toxicity to adult D. melanogaster leading to death or a shortened life-span of the flies. In situ hybridization revealed a maternal contribution of GSTE7 transcripts to embryos, and strongest zygotic expression in the digestive tract. Transgenesis involving the GSTE7 gene controlled by an actin promoter produced viable flies expressing the GSTE7 transcript ubiquitously. Transgenic females show a significantly increased survival when subjected to the same PEITC treatment as the wild-type flies. By contrast, transgenic male flies show a significantly lower survival rate. Oviposition activity was enhanced in transgenic flies. The effect was significant in transgenic females reared in the absence of ITCs as well as in the presence of 0.15 mM PEITC or 1 mM AITC. Thus the GSTE7 transgene elicits responses to exposure to ITC allelochemicals which differentially affect life-span and fecundity of male and female flies.
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| 2. |
- Zhang, Wei
(författare)
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Directed Evolution of Glutathione Transferases with Altered Substrate Selectivity Profiles : A Laboratory Evolution Study Shedding Light on the Multidimensional Nature of Epistasis
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Directed evolution is generally regarded as a useful approach in protein engineering. By subjecting members of a mutant library to the power of Darwinian evolution, desired protein properties are obtained. Numerous reports have appeared in the literature showing the success of tailoring proteins for various applications by this method. Is it a one-way track that protein practitioners can only learn from nature to enable more efficient protein engineering? A structure-and-mechanism-based approach, supplemented with the use of reduced amino acid alphabets, was proposed as a general means for semi-rational enzyme engineering. Using human GST A2-2*E, the most active human enzyme in the bioactivation of azathioprine, as a parental enzyme to test this approach, a L107G/L108D/F222H triple-point mutant of GST A2-2*E (thereafter designated as GDH) was discovered with 70-fold increased activity, approaching the upper limit of specific activity of the GST scaffold. The approach was further experimentally verified to be more successful than intuitively choosing active-site residues in proximity to the bound substrate for the improvement of enzyme performance. By constructing all intermediates along all putative mutational paths leading from GST A2-2*E to mutant GDH and assaying them with nine alternative substrates, the fitness landscapes were found to be “rugged” in differential fashions in substrate-activity space. The multidimensional fitness landscapes stemming from functional promiscuity can lead to alternative outcomes with enzymes optimized for other features than the selectable markers that were relevant at the origin of the evolutionary process. The results in this thesis suggest that in this manner an evolutionary response to changing environmental conditions can readily be mounted. In summary, the thesis demonstrates the attractive features of the structure-and-mechanism-based semi-rational directed evolution approach for optimizing enzyme performance. Moreover, the results gained from the studies show that laboratory evolution may refine our understanding of evolutionary process in nature.
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| 3. |
- Ajayi, Abiodun
(författare)
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Study of molecular mechanism(s) underlying neurodegeneration in SCA7 disease : Role of NOX enzymes and oxidative stress
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG trinucleotide expansion in the SCA7/ATXN7 gene resulting in progressive ataxia and retinal dystrophy. SCA7 belongs to a group of neurodegenerative disorders called polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, that share the common feature of glutamine tract expansions within otherwise unrelated proteins. Common suggested mechanisms by which polyQ disorders induce toxicity include aggregation and induction of oxidative stress.In this work, we examined the connection between oxidative stress and toxicity in SCA7 disease. We showed that expression of mutant ataxin-7 (ATXN7) results in elevated level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress, leading to toxicity. Our results also revealed that the oxidative stress further contributes to mutant ATXN7 aggregation. We showed, for the first time, that the source of the ROS in mutant ATXN7 cells is thorough the activation of the NOX1 enzyme. Interestingly, our results further revealed that the increased level of NOX1 activity and expression by mutant ATXN7 results in a metabolic shift similar to the Warburg effect. Treatments with antioxidants or a NOX1 specific inhibitor decreased the ROS level, restored the metabolic shift and ameliorated the ATXN7 induced toxicity. Taken together, we suggest that mutant ATXN7 specifically activate NOX1 enzyme and that antioxidants treatment or NOX1 specific inhibition could be a potential therapeutic strategy for SCA7.
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| 4. |
- Aslam, Muhammad
(författare)
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The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster GSTE6 and E7; characterization, immobilization and transgenic overexpression
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Glutathione transferases (GSTs) are multifunctional enzymes that are universally distributed in most eukaryotes and prokaryotes. They play a pivotal role in the metabolism and detoxication of numerous endogenous and exogenous electrophiles by conjugating them with ubiquitous tripeptide glutathione. In this study we have immobilized two heterologously expressed and purified Epsilon-class enzymes, GSTE6 and GSTE7, from of Drosophila melanogaster on nanoporous alumina membranes. The membranes were derivatized with 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane and the amino groups were activated with carbonyldiimidazole to allow coupling of the enzymes. Kinetic analyses of the immobilized enzymes were carried out in a circulating flow system using CDNB (1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene) as substrate, followed by specificity screening with alternative substrates. A good correlation was observed between the substrate screening data for immobilized enzyme and corresponding data for the enzymes in solution. The stability of the immobilized enzymes was virtually identical to that for the enzymes in solution and no leakage of enzyme from the matrix could be observed.Additionally, we have investigated the catalytic activities of GSTE7 with organic isothiocyanates (ITCs). These reactive compounds are strong electrophilic molecules produced in plants by the hydrolysis of glucosinolates and exert toxicity in biological tissues. Our in vitro studies, showed high catalytic activity of GSTE7 towards ITCs. We have then explored the in vivo effect of phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) and allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) in transgenic fruit flies overexpressing GSTE7. A concentration of 0.25 mM PEITC in standard fly food was shown to be toxic to flies and significantly shortened the lifespan. We noticed that overexpression of GSTE7 could protect females from the initial acute toxic effects, but had no positive effect on long term exposure. The effect on males seems to be the opposite to that of females, where a higher mortality was seen in fly males overexpressing GST E7 after one week of exposure. On the other hand 1mM concentration of AITC showed no toxic effects, but dramatically reduced the oviposition activity of wild-type flies in comparison to the transgenic flies.
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| 5. |
- Balogh, Larissa M., et al.
(författare)
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Substrate Specificity Combined with Stereopromiscuity in Glutathione Transferase A4-4-Dependent Metabolism of 4-Hydroxynonenal
- 2010
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 49:7, s. 1541-1548
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conjugation to glutathione (GSH) by glutathione transferase A4-4 (GSTA4-4) is a major route of elimination for the lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE), a toxic compound that contributes to numerous diseases. Both enantiomers of HNE are presumed to be toxic, and GSTA4-4 has negligible stereoselectivity toward them, despite its high catalytic chemospecificity for alkenals. In contrast to the highly flexible, and substrate promiscuous, GSTA1-1 isoform that has poor catalytic efficiency with HNE, GSTA4-4 has been postulated to be a rigid template that is preorganized for HNE metabolism. However, the combination of high substrate chemoselectivity and low substrate stereoselectivity is intriguing. The mechanism by which GSTA4-4 achieves this combination is important, because it must metabolize both enantiomers of HNE to efficiently detoxify the biologically formed mixture. The crystal structures of GSTA4-4 and ail engineered variant of GSTA1-1 with high catalytic efficiency toward HNE, cocrystallized with a GSH-HNE conjugate analogue, demonstrate that GSTA4-4 undergoes no enantiospecific induced fit; instead, the active site residue Arg15 is ideally located to interact with the 4-hydroxyl group of either HNE enantiomer. The results reveal an evolutionary strategy for achieving biologically useful stereopromiscuity toward a toxic racemate, concomitant with high catalytic efficiency and substrate specificity toward ail endogenously formed toxin.
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| 6. |
- Bocedi, Alessio, et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of Negative Cooperativity in Glutathione Transferase Enabled Preservation of Enzyme Function
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 291:52, s. 26739-26749
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Negative cooperativity in enzyme reactions, in which the first event makes subsequent events less favorable, is sometimes well understood at the molecular level, but its physiological role has often been obscure. Negative cooperativity occurs in human glutathione transferase (GST) GSTP1-1 when it binds and neutralizes a toxic nitric oxide adduct, the dinitrosyl-diglutathionyl iron complex (DNDGIC). However, the generality of this behavior across the divergent GST family and its evolutionary significance were unclear. To investigate, we studied 16 different GSTs, revealing that negative cooperativity is present only in more recently evolved GSTs, indicating evolutionary drift in this direction. In some variants, Hill coefficients were close to 0.5, the highest degree of negative cooperativity commonly observed (although smaller values of n(H) are theoretically possible). As DNDGIC is also a strong inhibitor of GSTs, we suggest negative cooperativity might have evolved to maintain a residual conjugating activity of GST against toxins even in the presence of high DNDGIC concentrations. Interestingly, two human isoenzymes that play a special protective role, safeguarding DNA from DNDGIC, display a classical half-of-the-sites interaction. Analysis of GST structures identified elements that could play a role in negative cooperativity in GSTs. Beside the well known lock-and-key and clasp motifs, other alternative structural interactions between subunits may be proposed for a few GSTs. Taken together, our findings suggest the evolution of self-preservation of enzyme function as a novel facility emerging from negative cooperativity.
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| 7. |
- Bolelli, K., et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and activity mechanism of some novel 2-substituted benzothiazoles as hGSTP1-1 enzyme inhibitors
- 2017
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Ingår i: SAR and QSAR in environmental research (Print). - 1062-936X .- 1029-046X. ; 28:11, s. 927-940
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human GSTP1-1 is one of the most important proteins, which overexpresses in a large number of human tumours and is involved in the development of resistance to several anticancer drugs. So, it has become an important target in cancer treatment. In this study, 12 benzothiazole derivatives were synthesized and screened for their in vitro inhibitory activity for hGSTP1-1. Among these compounds, two of them (compounds #2 and #5) have been found to be the leads when compared with the reference drug etoposide. In order to analyse the structure-activity relationships (SARs) and to investigate the binding side interactions of the observed lead compounds, a HipHop pharmacophore model was generated and the molecular docking studies were performed by using CDocker method. In conclusion, it is observed that the lead compounds #2 and #5 possessed inhibitory activity on the hGSTP1-1 by binding to the H-site as a substrate in which the para position of the phenyl ring of the benzamide moiety on the benzothiazole ring is important. Substitution at this position with a hydrophobic group that reduces the electron density at the phenyl ring is required for the interaction with the H side active residue Tyr108.
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| 8. |
- Brunnström, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Biosynthesis of 14,15-Hepoxilins in Human L1236 Hodgkin Lymphoma Cells and Eosinophils
- 2011
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Ingår i: Lipids. - : Wiley. - 0024-4201 .- 1558-9307. ; 46:1, s. 69-79
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hepoxilins are epoxy alcohols synthesized through the 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO) pathway in animal cells. The epidermis is the principal source of hepoxilins in humans. Here we report on the formation of novel hepoxilin regioisomers formed by the 15-LO pathway in human cells. The Hodgkin lymphoma cell line L1236 possesses high 15-lipoxygenase-1 (15-LO-1) activity and incubation of L1236 cells with arachidonic acid led to the formation of 11(S)-hydroxy-14(S),15(S)-epoxy 5(Z),8(Z),12(E) eicosatrienoic acid (14,15-HxA(3) 11(S)) and 13(R)-hydroxy-14(S),15(S)-epoxy 5(Z),8(Z),11(Z) eicosatrienoic acid (14,15-HxB(3) 13 (R)). In addition, two hitherto unidentified products were detected and these products were collected and analyzed by positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. These metabolites were identified as 11(S),15(S)-dihydroxy-14(R)-glutathionyl-5(Z),8(Z),12(E)-eicosatrienoic acid (14,15-HxA(3)-C) and 11(S),15(S)-dihydroxy-14(R)-cysteinyl-glycyl-5(Z),8(Z),12(E)-eicosatrien oic acid (14,15-HxA(3)-D). Incubation of L1236 cells with synthetic 14,15-HxA(3) 11(S) also led to the formation of 14,15-HxA(3)-C and 14,15-HxA(3)-D. Several soluble glutathione transferases, in particular GST M1-1 and GST P1-1, were found to catalyze the conversion of 14,15-HxA(3) to 14,15-HxA(3)-C. L1236 cells produced approximately twice as much eoxins as cysteinyl-containing hepoxilins upon stimulation with arachidonic acid. Human eosinophils, nasal polyps and dendritic cells selectively formed 14,15-HxA(3) 11(S) and 14,15-HxB(3) 13(R) stereoisomers, but not cysteinyl-containing hepoxilins, after stimulation with arachidonic acid. Furthermore, purified recombinant 15-LO-1 alone catalyzed the conversion of arachidonic acid to 14,15-HxA(3) 11(S) and 14,15-HxB(3) 13(R), showing that human 15-LO-1 possesses intrinsic 14,15-hepoxilin synthase activity.
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| 9. |
- Brunnström, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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On the biosynthesis of 15-HETE and eoxin C-4 by human airway epithelial cells
- 2015
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Ingår i: Prostaglandins & other lipid mediators. - : Elsevier BV. - 1098-8823 .- 2212-196X. ; 121, s. 83-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several lines of evidence indicate that 15-lipoxygenase type 1 (15-LO-1) plays a pathophysiological role in asthma. The aim for this study was to investigate the 15-LO-1 expression and activity in primary human airway epithelial cells cultivated on micro-porous filters at air liquid interface. Incubation of human airway epithelial cells with arachidonic acid led to the formation of 15(S)-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) and exposing the cells to bacteria or physical injury markedly increased their production of 15-HETE. The cells were also found to convert arachidonic acid to eoxin C-4 (EXC4). Subcellular fractionation revealed that the conversion of EXA(4) to EXC4 was catalyzed by a soluble glutathione transferase (GST). The GST P1-1 enzyme was found to possess the highest activity of the investigated soluble GSTs. Following IL-4 treatment of airway epithelial cells, microarray analysis confirmed high expression of 15-LO-1 and GST P1-1, and immunohistochemical staining of bronchial biopsies revealed co-localization of 15-LO-1 and GST P1-1 in airway epithelial cells. These results indicate that respiratory infection and cell injury may activate the 15-LO pathway in airway epithelial cells. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that airway epithelial cells have the capacity to produce EXC4.
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| 10. |
- Cebula, Marcus, et al.
(författare)
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Catalytic Conversion of Lipophilic Substrates by Phase constrained Enzymes in the Aqueous or in the Membrane Phase
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both soluble and membrane-bound enzymes can catalyze the conversion of lipophilic substrates. The precise substrate access path, with regard to phase, has however, until now relied on conjecture from enzyme structural data only (certainly giving credible and valuable hypotheses). Alternative methods have been missing. To obtain the first experimental evidence directly determining the access paths (of lipophilic substrates) to phase constrained enzymes we here describe the application of a BODIPY-derived substrate (PS1). Using this tool, which is not accessible to cytosolic enzymes in the presence of detergent and, by contrast, not accessible to membrane embedded enzymes in the absence of detergent, we demonstrate that cytosolic and microsomal glutathione transferases (GSTs), both catalyzing the activation of PS1, do so only within their respective phases. This approach can serve as a guideline to experimentally validate substrate access paths, a fundamental property of phase restricted enzymes. Examples of other enzyme classes with members in both phases are xenobiotic-metabolizing sulphotransferases/UDP-glucuronosyl transferases or epoxide hydrolases. Since specific GSTs have been suggested to contribute to tumor drug resistance, PS1 can also be utilized as a tool to discriminate between phase constrained members of these enzymes by analyzing samples in the absence and presence of Triton X-100.
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