| 61. |
- Zhang, Jie, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and Characterization of a Series of Highly Fluorogenic Substrates for Glutathione Transferases, a General Strategy
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 133:35, s. 14109-14119
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glutathione transferases (GSTs) are used in biotechnology applications as fusion partners for facile purification and are also overexpressed in certain tumors. Consequently, there is a need for sensitive detection of the enzymes. Here we describe a general strategy for the synthesis and characterization of novel fluorogenic substrates for GSTs. The substrates were synthesized by introducing an electrophilic sulfonamide linkage to fluorescent molecules containing an amino group [e.g., 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonamide (DNs) derivatives of coumarin, cresyl violet, and rhodamine]. The derivatives were essentially nonfluorescent, and upon GST catalyzed cleavage of the dinitrobenzenesulfonamide, free fluorophore is released (and 1-glutathionyl-2,4-dinitrobenzene + SO(2)). All the coumarin-, cresyl violet- and rhodamine-based fluorogenic probes turned out to be good substrates for most GSTs, especially for GSTA(1-1), in terms of strong fluorescence increases (71-1200-fold), high k(cat)/K(m) values (10(4)-10(7) M(-1) s(-1)) and significant rate enhancements (10(6)-10(9)-fold). The substrates were successfully applied to quantitate very low levels of GST activity in cell extracts and DNs-cresyl violet was also successfully applied to the imaging of microsomal MGST(1) activity in living cells. The cresyl violet stained cells retained their fluorescence after fixation, which is a very useful property. In summary, we describe a general and versatile strategy to generate fluorogenic GST substrates, some of them providing the most sensitive assays so far described for GSTs.
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| 62. |
- Zhang, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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An improved dual-tube megaprimer approach for multi-site saturation mutagenesis
- 2013
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Ingår i: World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0959-3993 .- 1573-0972. ; 29:4, s. 667-672
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Saturation mutagenesis is a powerful tool in protein engineering. Even though QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis method is dominantly used in laboratories, it could not be successfully applied to the generation of a focused mutant library of human glutathione transferase A2-2. In the present study, we further developed an improved versatile dual-tube approach of randomizing difficult-to-amplify targets, exhibiting significant improvement towards equal distribution of nucleotides at randomized sites compared to other published methods.
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| 63. |
- Zhang, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Differences among allelic variants of human glutathione transferase A2-2 in the activation of azathioprine
- 2010
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Ingår i: Chemico-Biological Interactions. - : Elsevier BV. - 0009-2797 .- 1872-7786. ; 186:2, s. 110-117
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Azathioprine has been clinically used for decades in connection with organ transplantation, autoimmune disease, and treatment of cancer. Toxic side-reactions are common and have been linked to the liberation of excessively high concentrations of 6-mercaptopurine and corresponding toxic metabolites. An allelic variant of thiopurine methyltransferase with low activity is associated with elevated concentrations of 6-mercaptopurine. However, other genetic markers remain to be identified in order to fully account for adverse reactions and efficacy failure. In the present study, we studied the five known allelic variants of human glutathione transferase A2-2 (GST A2-2) (EC2.5.1.18), abundantly expressed in liver and efficiently catalyzing the bioactivation of azathioprine to release 6-mercaptopurine. All five variants exhibited high activity with azathioprine, but allelic variant E of GST A2-2 displayed a 3-4-fold elevated catalytic efficiency compared to the other variants. High GST activity can lead to overproduction of 6-mercaptopurine, and the nature of the multiple forms of GSTs in a patient will obviously affect the metabolism of azathioprine. In addition to GST A2-2, the polymorphic GST M1-1 is also highly active with azathioprine. Considering our findings, it appears that the genotypic and phenotypic variations in the GST complement may influence the presentation of adverse reactions in patients treated with azathioprine. Clinical trials will be required to clarify the impact of the GST expression in comparison with the established biomarker thiopurine methyltransferase as predictors of adverse reactions.
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| 64. |
- Zhang, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of the active site of human glutathione transferase A2-2 for enhanced activity with dietary isothiocyanates
- 2015
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Ingår i: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - General Subjects. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-4165 .- 1872-8006. ; 1850:4, s. 742-749
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Organic isothiocyanates (ITCs) are produced by plants, in which they are released from glucosinolates by myrosinase. ITCs are generally toxic and serve as a chemical defense against herbivorous insects and against infections by microorganisms. In mammalian tissues subtoxic concentrations of ITCs can provide protective effects against cancer and other diseases partially by induction of glutathione transferases (GSTs) and other detoxication enzymes. Thus, human consumption of edible plants rich in ITCs is presumed to provide health benefits. ITCs react with intracellular glutathione to form dithiocarbamates, catalyzed by GSTs. Formation of glutathione conjugates is central to the biotransformation of ITCs and leads to a route for their excretion. Clearly, the emergence of ITC conjugating activity in GSTs is essential from the biological and evolutionary perspective. Methods: In the present investigation an active-site-focused mutant library of GST A2-2 has been screened for enzyme variants with enhanced ITC activity. Results: Significantly superior activities were found in 34 of the approximately 2000 mutants analyzed, and the majority of the superior GSTs featured His and Gly residues in one of the three active-site positions subjected to mutagenesis. Conclusions: We explored the propensity of GSTs to obtain altered substrate selectivity and moreover, identified a specific pattern of mutagenesis in GST for enhanced PEITC detoxification, which may play an important role in the evolution of adaptive responses in organisms subjected to ITCs. General significance: The facile acquisition of enhanced ITC activity demonstrates that this important detoxication function can be promoted by numerous evolutionary trajectories in sequence space.
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| 65. |
- Zhang, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Multidimensional epistasis and fitness landscapes in enzyme evolution
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochemical Journal. - 0264-6021 .- 1470-8728. ; 445, s. 39-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The conventional analysis of enzyme evolution is to regard one single salient feature as a measure of fitness, expressed in a milieu exposing the possible selective advantage at a given time and location. Given that a single protein may serve more than one function, fitness should be assessed in several dimensions. In the present study we have explored individual mutational steps leading to a triple-point-mutated human GST (glutathione transferase) A2-2 displaying enhanced activity with azathioprine. A total of eight alternative substrates were used to monitor the diverse evolutionary trajectories. The epistatic effects of the imitations on catalytic activity were variable in sign and magnitude and depended on the substrate used, showing that epistasis is a multidimensional quality. Evidently, the multidimensional fitness landscape can lead to alternative trajectories resulting in enzymes optimized for features other than the selectable markers relevant at the origin of the evolutionary process. In this manner the evolutionary response is robust and can adapt to changing environmental conditions.
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| 66. |
- Zhang, Wei, et al.
(författare)
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Structure-based redesign of GST A2-2 for enhanced catalytic efficiency with azathioprine
- 2012
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Ingår i: Chemistry and Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1074-5521 .- 1879-1301. ; 19:3, s. 414-421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glutathione transferase (GST) A2-2 is the most efficient human enzyme in the biotransformation of the prodrug azathioprine (Aza). The activation of Aza has therapeutic potential for possible use of GSTs in targeted enzyme-prodrug treatment of diseases. Based on the assumed catalytic mechanism and computational docking of Aza to the active site of the enzyme, active-site residues were selected for construction of focused mutant libraries, which were thereafter screened for Aza activity. Mutants with elevated Aza activity were identified, DNA sequenced, and the proteins purified. The two most active mutants showed up to 70-fold higher catalytic efficiency than the parental GST A2-2. The structure of the most active triple mutant (L107G/L108D/F222H) enzyme was determined by X-ray crystallography demonstrating significant changes in the topography of the active site facilitating productive binding of Aza as a substrate.
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