Biomedical subjects

K Hipler

Publications and source records attributed to K Hipler.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Role of the P2 residue in determining the specificity of serpins.

The importance of the P2 residue in determining serpin specificity was examined by making a series of substitutions in the P2 position of recombinant alpha 1-antichymotrypsin that contained an arginine P1 residue. The importance of the P2 residue in governing the association rate constant (Kon) of the serpin varied with the protease examined. For trypsin, the P2 residue played a relatively minor role, whereas the nature of this residue markedly influenced the rates of inhibition of thrombin, factor Xa, and APC. A 1000-fold difference in Kon values was observed between the fastest (P2 proline) and the slowest (P2 threonine) inhibitors of thrombin. Similar differences were observed with factor Xa; the best inhibitor (P2 glycine) displayed a 200-fold higher Kon value than the poorest (P2 threonine). The nature of the P2 residue also affected whether the interaction of the serpin with the protease resulted in inhibition of the protease or cleavage of the serpin; a P2 proline residue increased the rate of cleavage of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin by trypsin. By using mutants of thrombin, it was possible to show that the B-insertion loop, which partially occludes the active site, is important in determining the P2 specificity of this enzyme. Deletion of three amino acids from this loop yielded a protease (des-PPW) that became more like trypsin in its specificity. In addition, it was shown that Glu192 dramatically restricts thrombin's ability to accommodate a threonine in the P2 position. Taken together, the results demonstrated the importance of complementary interactions between the P2 residue of the serpin and the S2 binding site of the protease in regulating the specific interaction between serpin and protease.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Active site binding loop stabilization in the subtilisin inhibitor eglin c: structural and functional studies on specifically designed mutants in complex with subtilisin and the uncomplexed inhibitor.

As known from the x-ray crystal structure in complex with a proteinase and from NMR studies, the serine proteinase inhibitor eglin c has a wedge-like shape with a hydrophobic core and a solvent exposed active site binding loop which is stabilized by a network of non-covalent core-binding loop interactions. Previous studies implied a crucial role of the P1'-residue Asp-46 for binding loop stabilization and high inhibitory potency of eglin c towards serine proteinases such as subtilisin. In the present study, the formation of specific eglin core-binding loop interactions was modulated by replacing the wildtype Asp-46 by asparagine, glutarnate and glutamine. The x-ray crystal structures of these mutants were solved in complex with subtilisin, and the inhibitory potency towards this enzyme was determined. Our results imply a reduction of inhibitory potency with declining core-binding loop interactions. We succeeded in crystallizing free wildtype eglin c. The 1.95 angstroms x-ray crystal structure indicates that the transition from the free to the bound form of eglin is accompanied by a concerted conformational change in the binding loop, implying an induced fit to the accessible enzyme surface. Except for the binding loop domain and a few residues on the surface of eglin, the differences observed between the uncomplexed and bound form of the inhibitor are only small.

Binding Sites↗

PubMed1992

X-ray crystal structure of the serine proteinase inhibitor eglin c at 1.95 A resolution.

The crystal structure of eglin c, naturally occurring in the leech Hirudo medicinalis, is known from its complexes with various serine proteinases, but the crystallization of free eglin c has not yet been reported. A method is described for growing well-diffracting crystals of free eglin c from highly concentrated protein solutions (approximately 200 mg/ml). The space group of the orthorhombic crystals was determined to be P2(1)2(1)2(1) with unit cell parameters a = 32.6, b = 42.0, c = 44.1 A. The structure of free eglin c was resolved at 1.95 A resolution by Patterson search methods. The final model contains all 70 amino acids of eglin c and 125 water molecules. In comparison to the eglin structure known from its complexes with proteinases, only small differences have been observed in free eglin c. However, the reactive site-binding loop and a few residues on the surface of eglin have been found in different conformations due to crystal contacts. In contrast to the complex structures, the first seven amino acids of the highly flexible amino terminus can be located. Crystallographic refinement comprised molecular dynamics refinement, classical restrained least-squares refinement and individual isotropic atomic temperature refinement. The final R-factor is 15.8%.

Amino Acid Sequence↗