Insights into the serine protease mechanism based on structural observations of the conversion of a peptidyl serine protease inhibitor to a substrate

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BackgroundSerine proteases are one of the most studied group of enzymes. Despite the extensive mechanistic studies, some crucial details remain controversial, for example, how the cleaved product is released in the catalysis reaction. A cyclic peptidyl inhibitor (CSWRGLENHRMC, upain-1) of a serine protease, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), was found to become a slow substrate and cleaved slowly upon the replacement of single residue (W3A). MethodsBy taking advantage of the unique property of this peptide, we report the high-resolution structures of uPA in complex with upain-1-W3A peptide at four different pH values by X-ray crystallography. ResultsIn the structures obtained at low pH (pH4.6 and 5.5), the cyclic peptide upain-1-W3A was found to be intact and remained in the active site of uPA. At 7.4, the scissile bond of the peptide was found cleaved, showing that the peptide became a uPA substrate. At pH9.0, the C-terminal part of the substrate was no longer visible, and only the P1 residue occupying the S1 pocket was identified. ConclusionsThe analysis of these structures provides explanations why the upain-1-W3A is a slow substrate. In addition, we clearly identified the cleaved fragments of the peptide at both sides of the scissile bond in the active site of the enzyme, showing a slow release of the cleaved peptide. General significanceThis work indicates that the quick release of the cleaved P′ fragment after the first step of hydrolysis may not always be needed for the second hydrolysis.