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Biomedical subjects

R B Freedman

Publications and source records attributed to R B Freedman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Site-directed mutations that alter the inhibitory activity of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1: importance of the N-terminal region between cysteine 3 and cysteine 13.

The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) was subjected to single-site mutations within the N-terminal three loops using an oligonucleotide-directed polymerase chain reaction method. All the histidines, and a number of other residues conserved between TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, were individually modified and the mutant TIMPs expressed in mammalian cells. Purified mutant TIMPs were shown to be correctly folded by measuring the effect of guanidine hydrochloride on intrinsic fluorescence. Kinetic analyses of mutants using a quenched fluorescent peptide substrate and the metalloproteinase PUMP indicated that mutation of His7 and Gln9 caused an increase in the apparent dissociation constant, largely due to an increase in the rate of dissociation of complexes. The data indicate that the anchored sequence between Cys 3 and Cys 13 is a key region for interaction of TIMP-1 with metalloproteinases.

Amino Acid Sequence

Cell-free synthesis of enzymically active tissue-type plasminogen activator. Protein folding determines the extent of N-linked glycosylation.

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is synthesized in mammalian cells as a mixture of two forms that differ in their extent of N-linked glycosylation. We have investigated the mechanism underlying this variation in glycosylation, using a cell-free system that consists of a rabbit reticulocyte lysate optimized for the formation of disulphide bonds and supplemented with dog pancreas microsomal membranes. Molecules of human t-PA synthesized in vitro are enzymically active and responsive to natural activators and inhibitors, and are glycosylated in a pattern identical with that of the protein produced in vivo. This demonstrates that t-PA synthesized in vitro folds into the same conformation as the protein synthesized in vivo. We show that the extent of glycosylation of individual t-PA molecules is dependent on the state of folding of the polypeptide chain, since the probability of addition of an oligosaccharide side chain at Asn-184 is decreased under conditions that promote the formation of enzymically active molecules. This variation in glycosylation is independent of the rate of protein synthesis.

Amino Acid Sequence

Folding in vitro of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor in the presence of proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum.

The rates of folding and disulfide bond formation in reduced BPTI were measured in vitro in the presence and absence of total protein from the endoplasmic reticulum. The rates were increased substantially by the endoplasmic reticulum proteins, but only to the extent expected from the known content and activity of protein-disulfide-isomerase. No effects of added ATP or Ca2+ were observed, even though protein-disulfide-isomerase binds Ca2+ tightly.

Adenosine Triphosphate

Protein disulfide isomerase is essential for viability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is an enzyme involved in the catalysis of disulfide bond formation in secretory and cell-surface proteins. Using an oligodeoxyribonucleotide designed to detect the conserved 'thioredoxin-like' active site of vertebrate PDIs, we have isolated a gene encoding PDI from the lower eukaryote, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The nucleotide sequence and deduced open reading frame of the cloned gene predict a 530-amino-acid (aa) protein of Mr 59,082 and a pI of 4.1, physical properties characteristic of mammalian PDIs. Furthermore, the aa sequence shows 30-32% identity with mammalian and avian PDI sequences and has a very similar overall organisation, namely the presence of two approx. 100-aa segments, each of which is repeated, with the most significant homologies to mammalian and avian PDIs being in the regions (a, a') that contain the conserved 'thioredoxin-like' active site. The N-terminal region has the characteristics of a cleavable secretory signal sequence and the C-terminal four aa (-His-Asp-Glu-Leu) are consistent with the protein being a component of the S. cerevisiae endoplasmic reticulum. Transformants carrying multiple copies of this gene (designated PDI1) have tenfold higher levels of PDI activity and overproduce a protein of the predicted Mr. The PDI1 gene is unique in the yeast genome and encodes a single 1.8-kb transcript that is not found in stationary phase cells. Disruption of the PDI1 gene is haplo-lethal indicating that the product of this gene is essential for viability.

Amino Acid Sequence

The reactivities and ionization properties of the active-site dithiol groups of mammalian protein disulphide-isomerase.

1. The number of reactive thiol groups in mammalian liver protein disulphide-isomerase (PDI) in various conditions was investigated by alkylation with iodo[14C]acetate. 2. Both the native enzyme, as isolated, and the urea-denatured enzyme contained negligible reactive thiol groups; the enzyme reduced with dithiothreitol contained two groups reactive towards iodoacetic acid at pH 7.5, and up to five reactive groups were detectable in the reduced denatured enzyme. 3. Modification of the two reactive groups in the reduced native enzyme led to complete inactivation, and the relationship between the loss of activity and the extent of modification was approximately linear. 4. Inactivation of PDI by alkylation of the reduced enzyme followed pseudo-first-order kinetics; a plot of the pH-dependence of the second-order rate constant for inactivation indicated that the essential reactive groups had a pK of 6.7 and a limiting second-order rate constant at high pH of 11 M-1.s-1. 5. Since sequence data on PDI show the presence within the polypeptide of two regions closely similar to thioredoxin, the data strongly indicate that these regions are chemically and functionally equivalent to thioredoxin. 6. The activity of PDI in thiol/disulphide interchange derives from the presence of vicinal dithiol groups in which one thiol group of each pair has an unusually low pK and high nucleophilic reactivity at physiological pH.

Alkylation

Redox properties and cross-linking of the dithiol/disulphide active sites of mammalian protein disulphide-isomerase.

1. The redox properties of the active-site dithiol/disulphide groups of PDI were determined by equilibrating the enzyme with an excess of GSH + GSSG, rapidly alkylating the dithiol form of the enzyme to inactivate it irreversibly, and determining the proportion of the disulphide form by measuring the residual activity under standard conditions. 2. The extent of reduction varied with the applied redox potential; to a first approximation, the data fitted a model in which all the enzyme dithiol/disulphide groups are independent and equivalent and the equilibrium constant between these sites and the GSH/GSSG redox couple is 42 microM at pH 7.5. 3. The standard redox potential for PDI active-site dithiol/disulphide couples was calculated from this result and found to be -0.11 V; hence PDI is a stronger oxidant and weaker reductant than GSH, nicotinamide cofactors, thioredoxin and dithiothreitol. 4. The redox equilibrium data for PDI with the GSH/GSSG redox couple showed sigmoidal deviations from linearity. The sigmoidicity could be modelled closely by assuming a Hill coefficient of 1.5. 5. This evidence of co-operative interactions between the four active sites in a PDI dimer was extended by studying the reaction between PDI and homobifunctional alkylating agents with various lengths between the reactive groups. A species whose electrophoretic mobility suggested it contained an intrachain cross-link was observed in all cases, whereas there was no evidence for cross-linking between the chains of the PDI homodimer. Most effective cross-linking was achieved with reagents containing five or more methylene spacer groups, implying a minimum distance of 1.6 nm (16 A) between the active-site reactive groups within the two thioredoxin-like domains of the PDI polypeptide.

Acetamides

Comparison of the activities of protein disulphide-isomerase and thioredoxin in catalysing disulphide isomerization in a protein substrate.

1. The activities of protein disulphide-isomerase (PDI) and thioredoxin in catalysing disulphide bond isomerization in a protein substrate were compared by using the standard assay, namely the re-activation of 'scrambled' RNAase. 2. The specific activity of PDI was 25-fold greater than that of thioredoxin. 3. The greater efficiency of PDI compared with thioredoxin is considered to be due more to the presence of multiple catalytic domains in PDI than to differences in their active-site sequences. 4. Data and procedures were defined for expressing enzyme activity in standard units, i.e. mumol of active RNAase generated/min.

Amino Acid Sequence

Source of heterogeneity in secreted interferon-gamma. A study on products of translation in vitro.

A cDNA clone coding for human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was subcloned into a transcription-translation vector. When the mRNA transcribed in vitro was added to a rabbit reticulocyte-lysate system, two polypeptides were synthesized: one corresponding in Mr to pre-IFN-gamma (18,000) and one with a lower Mr (12,000) which corresponds to a polypeptide arising from incorrect initiation of translation. When microsomal vesicles isolated from dog pancreas or Chinese-hamster ovary (CHO) cells were added to the translation system, translocation of the pre-IFN-gamma occurred, as judged by protection from exogenous proteinases. The resultant changes in the Mr of the translation products were indicative of signal-peptide cleavage and heterogeneous core glycosylation. When translation products were treated with N-glycanase, the higher-Mr products were no longer observed, consistent with removal of all oligosaccharide side chains, leaving a single core polypeptide. Glycosylation of the synthesized protein yielded both singly and doubly glycosylated products compatible with the glycosylation variants seen in secreted IFN-gamma. Quantitative differences were seen in the relative amounts of singly and doubly glycosylated products synthesized by dog pancreatic compared with CHO-derived microsomes. These data indicate that the relative amounts of IFN-gamma glycosylation variants are determined at an early stage in protein synthesis and that product variants may occur when IFN-gamma is expressed in cells derived from different tissues.

Animals

A gel filtration approach to the study of ribosome-membrane interactions.

1. Gel filtration on agarose can be used to investigate ribosome-membrane interactions without exposing the materials to the high, and possibly perturbing, hydrostatic pressures experienced during centrifugation procedures to separate free ribosomes from membrane vesicles. 2. After treatment of microsomes with degranulating agents, degranulated membranes are isolated from Sepharose 2B columns at the void volume, while displaced ribosomes elute at the total column volume. This provides a convenient method for monitoring degranulation in vitro. 3. Centrifugation of rough microsomes or ribosomes into dense pellets or layers, followed by resuspension, leads to preparations which will not pass rapidly or quantitatively through Sepharose 2B columns. 4. Methods are described for the isolation of degranulated microsomes and ribosomes which are eluted rapidly from Sepharose 2B at the void volume and total column volume, respectively. These materials are suitable for the investigation of ribosome-membrane binding in vitro, using a gel filtration separation to monitor binding. 5. Incubation of 3H-labelled ribosomes with degranulated microsomes in vitro, leads to specific binding, demonstrated by the elution of the bound ribosomes at the void volume.

Animals