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J P Malthouse

Publications and source records attributed to J P Malthouse.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Evidence that binding to the s2-subsite of papain may be coupled with catalytically relevant structural change involving the cysteine-25-histidine-159 diad. Kinetics of the reaction of papain with a two-protonic-state reactivity probe containing a hydrophobic side chain.

A method is proposed by which site-specific reactivity probes that exhibit different reactivities in two ionization states can be used to detect association-activation phenomena that involve repositioning of acid/base groups in enzyme active centres. The pH-dependences of the apparent second-order rate constants (k) for the reactions of the thiol group of papain (EC 3.4.22.2) with a series of two-protonic-state reactivity probes are compared. The short-chain probes, 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide and n-propyl 2-pyridyl disulphide, react at pH6 in adsorptive complexes and/or transition states with geometries that do not permit hydrogen-bonding of the pyridyl nitrogen atom with the active-centre imidazolium ion, as evidenced by the rate minima at pH6 and the rate maxima at pH4 provided by reagent protonation. Only when the probe molecule, e.g. 4-(N-aminoethyl 2'-pyridyl disulphide)-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole [compound(III)], contains a long hydrophobic side chain is the reaction characterized by maximal rates at about pH6, as in the acylation step of the catalytic act (at pH6, k(compound III)/k(2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide) approximately 100). It is proposed that this striking difference in profile shape may result from binding of the hydrophobic side chain of compound (III) possibly in the S(2)-subsite of papain, which promotes a change in catalytic-site geometry involving repositioning of the imidazolium ion of histidine-159 and hydrogen-bonding with the N atom of the leaving group, as has been postulated to occur in the acylation step of substate hydrolysis.

2,2'-Dipyridyl↗
PubMed1979

Reactivities of neutral and cationic forms of 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide towards thiolate anions. Detection of differences between the active centres of actinidin, papain and ficin by a three-protonic-state reactivity probe.

The second-order rate constants (k) for the reactions of 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide (pKa2,45) with 2-mercaptoethanol (pKa9.6) and with benzimidazol-2-ylmethanethiol (pKa values 5.6 and 8.3) were determined at 25 degrees C at I 0.1 by stopped-flow spectral analysis over a wide range of pH. These were used to calculate the pH-independent second-order rate constants (k) for the reactions of neutral 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide and of its monocation with the 2-mercaptoethanol thiolate anion (associated pKa9.6) and with the benzimidazol-2-ylmethanethiol zwitterion (associated pKa5.6). For both thiolate ions, the rate-enhancement factor (kmonocation/kneutral disulphide) is about 1.5x10(3). The dependence on pH in acidic media of k for the reaction of 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide with actinidin, the thiol proteinase from Actinidia chinensis, was shown to differ from the forms of pH-dependence observed for the analogous reactions with papain (EC 3.4.22.2) and ficin (3.4.22.3). The reactivity of the 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide dication and its apparent sensitivity to the presence and location of a positive charge in the attacking thiol are discussed.

2,2'-Dipyridyl↗
PubMed1978

Mechanism of the reaction of papain with substrate-derived diazomethyl ketones. Implications for the difference in site specificity of halomethyl ketones for serine proteinases and cysteine proteinases and for stereoelectronic requirements in the papain catalytic mechanism.

The reactions of papain (EC 3.4.22.2) with substrate-derived diazomethyl ketones reported by Leary, Larsen, Watanabe & Shaw [Biochemistry (1977) 16, 5857--5861] are unusual in that (i) these reagents fail to react with low-molecular-weight thiols and (ii) the rate of reaction with the papain thiol group does not decrease to near-zero values across a pKa of 4 as the pH is decreased. Existing data are shown to suggest an interpretation involving neighbouring-group participation via transient thiohemiketal formation, rate-determining protonation by imidazolium ion and alkylation on sulphur via a three-membered cyclic transition state. Implications for (a) the difference in site-specificity exhibited by halomethyl ketones in their reactions with serine proteinases and cysteine proteinases and (b) stereoelectronic requirements in the mechanism of papain-catalysed hydrolysis are discussed. The possibility of two tetrahedral intermediates between adsorptive complex and acyl-enzyme is indicated.

Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones↗
PubMed1976

Preparation of fully active ficin from Ficus glabrata by covalent chromatography and characterization of its active centre by using 2,2'-depyridyl disulphide as a reactivity probe.

1. Fully active ficin (EC 3.4.22.3) containing 1 mol of thiol with high reactivity towards 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide (2-Py-S-S-2-Py) at pH4.5 per mol of protein was prepared from the dried latex of Ficus glabrata by covalent chromatography on a Sepharose-glutathione-2-pyridyl disulphide gel. 2. Ficin thus prepared is a mixture of ficins I-IV and ficin G, in which ficins II and III predominate. The various ficins exhibit similar reactivity characteristics towards 2-Py-S-S-2-Py. 3. Use of 2-Py-S-S-2-Py as a reactivity probe demonstrates (a) that in ficin, as in papain (EC 3.4.22.2), the active-centre thiol and imidazole groups interact to provide a nucleophilic state at pH values of approx. 6 additional to the uncomplicated thiolate ion that predominates at pH values over 9, and (b) a structural difference between ficin and papain that leads to a much higher rate of reaction of 2-Py-S-S-2-Py with ficin than with papain at pH values 3-4. This difference is suggested to include a lack in ficin of a carboxyl group conformationally equivalent to that of aspartic acid-158 in papain. 4. The high electrophilicity of the 2-Py-S-S-2PyH+ monocation allows directly the detection of the exposure of the buried thiol group of ficin at pH values below 4.

2,2'-Dipyridyl↗
PubMed1975

A reporter group delivery system with both absolute and selective specificity for thiol groups and an improved fluorescent probe containing the 7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole moiety.

1. 4-(N-2-Aminoethyl2'-pyridyl disulphide)-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (compound I) was synthesized and evaluated as a fluorescent labelling reagent for thiol groups. 2. The design of compound (I) as one example of a general type of reporter group delivery reagent (2-pyridyl-S-S-X, where X contains an environmentally sensitive spectroscopic probe) is discussed. 3. The electronic absorption spectrum of compound (I) was determined over a wide range of pH and the spectral changes that accompany its reaction with low-molecular-weight thiols, e.g. L-cysteine, and with papain (EC 3.4.22.2) and bovine serum albumin are discussed. 4. A new value of epsilon343 for 2-thiopyridone (Py-2-SH) was determined as 8.08 X 10(3) +/- 0.08 X 10(3)M-1-cm-1. 5. Spectral analysis of the reactions of compound (I) with L-cysteine and with papain (in the pH range 3.5-8.0) showed that even under equimolar conditions the reaction (thiol-disulphide interchange to release Py-2-SH) is essentially stoicheimoetric and probably proceeds by specific attack at the sulphur atom distal from the pyridyl ring of compound (I). 6. The fluorescence-emission spectra of compound (I) and of the products of its reaction with papain and with ficin (EC 3.4.22.3) were determined. Compound (I) is highly fluorescent in aqueous solution. Excitation within the intense visible absorption band (lambda max. 481 nm, epsilon max. 2.52 X 10(4)M-1-cm-1) provides green fluorescence with an emission maximum at 540 nm. Both papain and ficin labelled by reaction with compound (I) are characterized by fluorescence-emission maxima (535 nm and 530 nm respectively) of even higher intensity. The fluorescence emission of the product of the reaction of papain with compound (I) was shown to be 25 times more intense than that of the product of the reaction of papain with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (Nbd chloride). 7. The second-order rate constants (k2) for the reactions of compound (I) and of Nbd chloride with GSH, papain, albumin, ficin, 2-benzimidazolylmethanethiol and 2-benzimidazolylethanethiol were determined at 25.0 degrees C and various pH values. At pH4 the values of k2(compound I)/k2(Nbd chloride) are: GSH, 288; albumin, 36; papain 3 X 10(3); ficin, 3 X 10(4). 8. The pH-k2 profiles for the reactions of compound (I) and of Nbd chloride with the two 2-benzimidazolylalkanethiols were determined. Of the four profiles only that for the reaction of compound (I) with 2-benzimidazolylmethanethiol is characterized by a striking rate maximum in acidic media.

Benzimidazoles↗