Bovine Lens Leucine Aminopeptidase Research Articles

Phosphonic Acid Analogues of Phenylglycine as Inhibitors of Aminopeptidases: Comparison of Porcine Aminopeptidase N, Bovine Leucine Aminopeptidase, Tomato Acidic Leucine Aminopeptidase and Aminopeptidase from Barley Seeds.

The inhibitory activity of 14 racemic phosphonic acid analogs of phenylglycine, substituted in aromatic rings, towards porcine aminopeptidase N (pAPN) and barley seed aminopeptidase was determined experimentally. The obtained patterns of the inhibitory activity against the two enzymes were similar. The obtained data served as a basis for studying the binding modes of these inhibitors by pAPN using molecular modeling. It was found that their aminophosphonate fragments were bound in a highly uniform manner and that the difference in their affinities most likely resulted from the mode of substitution of their phenyl rings. The obtained binding modes towards pAPN were compared, with these predicted for bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP) and tomato acidic leucine aminopeptidase (tLAPA). The performed studies indicated that the binding manner of the phenylglycine analogs to biLAP and tLAPA are significantly similar and differ slightly from that predicted for pAPN.

ChemInform Abstract: Mechanisms of Peptide Hydrolysis by Aspartyl and Metalloproteases

AbstractReview: 125 refs.

Theoretical insights into the functioning of metallopeptidases and their synthetic analogues.

CONSPECTUS: The selective hydrolysis of a peptide or amide bond (-(O═)C-NH-) by a synthetic metallopeptidase is required in a wide range of biological, biotechnological, and industrial applications. In nature, highly specialized enzymes known as proteases and peptidases are used to accomplish this daunting task. Currently, many peptide bond cleaving enzymes and synthetic reagents have been utilized to achieve efficient peptide hydrolysis. However, they possess some serious limitations. To overcome these inadequacies, a variety of metal complexes have been developed that mimic the activities of natural enzymes (metallopeptidases). However, in comparison to metallopeptidases, the hydrolytic reactions facilitated by their existing synthetic analogues are considerably slower and occur with lower catalytic turnover. This could be due to the following reasons: (1) they lack chemical properties of amino acid residues found within enzyme active sites; (2) they contain a higher metal coordination number compared with naturally occurring enzymes; and (3) they do not have access to second coordination shell residues that provide substantial rate enhancements in enzymes. Additionally, the critical structural and mechanistic information required for the development of the next generation of synthetic metallopeptidases cannot be readily obtained through existing experimental techniques. This is because most experimental techniques cannot follow the individual chemical steps in the catalytic cycle due to the fast rate of enzymes. They are also limited by the fact that the diamagnetic d(10) Zn(II) center is silent to electronic, electron spin resonance, and (67)Zn NMR spectroscopies. Therefore, we have employed molecular dynamics (MD), quantum mechanics (QM), and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) techniques to derive this information. In particular, the role of the metal ions, ligands, and microenvironment in the functioning of mono- and binuclear metal center containing enzymes such as insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) and bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (BILAP), respectively, and their synthetic analogues have been investigated. Our results suggested that in the functioning of IDE, the chemical nature of the peptide bond played a role in the energetics of the reaction and the peptide bond cleavage occurred in the rate-limiting step of the mechanism. In the cocatalytic mechanism used by BILAP, one metal center polarized the scissile peptide bond through the formation of a bond between the metal and the carbonyl group of the substrate, while the second metal center delivered the hydroxyl nucleophile. The Zn(N3) [Zn(His, His, His)] core of matrix metalloproteinase was better than the Zn(N2O) [Zn(His, His, Glu)] core of IDE for peptide hydrolysis. Due to the synergistic interaction between the two metal centers, the binuclear metal center containing Pd2(μ-OH)([18]aneN6)](4+) complex was found to be ∼100 times faster than the mononuclear [Pd(H2O)4](2+) complex. A successful small-molecule synthetic analogue of a mononuclear metallopeptidase must contain a metal with a strong Lewis acidity capable of reducing the pKa of its water ligand to less than 7. Ideally, the metal center should include three ligands with low basicity. The steric effects or strain exerted by the microenvironment could be used to weaken the metal-ligand interactions and increase the activity of the metallopeptidase.

Binding structure of the leucine aminopeptidase inhibitor microginin FR1

Natural bioactive compounds are of general interest for pharmaceutical research because they may serve as leads in drug development campaigns. Among them, microginins are linear peptides known to inhibit various exopeptidases. The crystal structure of microginin FR1 from Microcystis sp. bound to bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase was established at 1.73Å resolution. The observed binding structure could be beneficial for the design of potent aminopeptidase inhibitors.

On the origin of the broad-band selectivity of bovine-lens-leucine-aminopeptidase

Detailed DFT (B3LYP) calculations on the mode of action of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP), a binuclear zinc enzyme that hydrolyzes the N-terminal residue of a peptide chain, provide first explanations for the unusual coordination sphere at Zn(1) as well as the presence of a second water channel. The unusual architecture of the active site promotes the spontaneous generation of a water sluice that continually regenerates a series of species capable of acting as active nucleophiles. We now demonstrate that this sluice mechanism is coupled with substrate docking. Both possibilities lead to a complicated hypersurface in which a multitude of stable intermediates and possible nucleophilic species are generated which are in thermodynamic equilibrium with each other. The hypersurface is characterized by very low barriers for interconversion between the intermediates – all of which possess similar stabilities - and thus provides a first explanation for the broad-band activity of blLAP which is capable of hydrolyzing all amino acids except for proline and arginine. Most steric and electronic constraints in the substrate can be overcome by simply selecting a different pathway on the hypersurface. First calculations indicate that a “classical” twostep hydrolysis over a gem-diol/diolate intermediate has a prohibitively high barrier and is thus a probable dead-end on the hypersurface. Alternatively, a non-classical mechanism in which the nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl bond as well as the C-N bond cleavage occurs simultaneously over a chair-like ring transition structure is postulated.

A Water Sluice Is Generated in the Active Site of Bovine Lens Leucine Aminopeptidase

Nature has provided the binuclear zinc based active site of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP) with two water channels: one for substrate docking and a much smaller one (function unknown) above Zn1. In addition, Zn1 possesses an unusual pentacoordinate geometry with a loosely bound carbonyl ligand (Ala333). Extensive DFT calculations on a model of the active site provide first mechanistic implications for these structural features. The weakly bound carbonyl ligand is capable of functioning as a "traffic cop" to direct water molecules coming from the small channel into the heart of the active site. A water sluice is thus generated that is capable of repeatedly providing a series of nucleophilic active "Zn-OH" functionalities.

The Reaction Mechanism of Bovine Lens Leucine Aminopeptidase.

We present a quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) study using the AM1 Hamiltonian and a flexible MM part on the mode of action of the bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP), a cytosolic exopeptidase that catalyzes the cleavage of the N-terminal amide bond of peptides. The reaction mechanism of this ubiquitous enzyme has not yet been clarified completely, although some suggestions based on crystallographic data have been made. One path of the several possibilities investigated was found to be clearly the most favorable and in good agreement with experimental results. Besides the elucidation of the functional roles of active-site residues, an estimation of the environment effects is given.

Development of a Working Model of the Active Site in Bovine Lens Leucine Aminopeptidase: A Density Functional Investigation

The first coordination sphere geometry of a bimetallic enzyme, bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase, is reproduced in a model (shown in the picture) small enough for mechanistic studies of the active site to be carried out by using density functional theory. The minimalistic model is compared with the X-ray crystal structure for the native enzyme.

Computer-aided design and activity prediction of leucine aminopeptidase inhibitors.

The Ligand Design (LUDI) approach has been used in order to design leucine aminopeptidase inhibitors, predict their activity and analyze their interactions with the enzyme. The investigation was based on the crystal structure of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) complexed with its inhibitor--the phosphonic acid analogue of leucine (LeuP). More than 50 potential leucine aminopeptidase inhibitors have been obtained, including the most potent aminophosphonic LAP inhibitors with experimentally known activity, which have been the subject of more detailed studies. A reasonable agreement between theoretical and experimental activities has been obtained for most of the studied inhibitors. Our results confirm that LUDI is a powerful tool for the design of enzyme inhibitors as well as in the prediction of their activity. In addition, for inhibitor-active site interactions dominated by the electrostatic effects it is possible to improve binding energy estimates by using a more accurate description of inhibitor charge distribution.

X-ray structure of aminopeptidase A from Escherichia coli and a model for the nucleoprotein complex in Xer site-specific recombination.

The structure of aminopeptidase A (PepA), which functions as a DNA-binding protein in Xer site-specific recombination and in transcriptional control of the carAB operon in Escherichia coli, has been determined at 2.5 A resolution. In Xer recombination at cer, PepA and the arginine repressor (ArgR) serve as accessory proteins, ensuring that recombination is exclusively intramolecular. In contrast, PepA homologues from other species have no known DNA-binding activity and are not implicated in transcriptional regulation or control of site-specific recombination. PepA comprises two domains, which have similar folds to the two domains of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (LAP). However, the N-terminal domain of PepA, which probably plays a significant role in DNA binding, is rotated by 19 degrees compared with its position in LAP. PepA is a homohexamer of 32 symmetry. A groove that runs from one trimer face across the 2-fold molecular axis to the other trimer face is proposed to be the DNA-binding site. Molecular modelling supports a structure of the Xer complex in which PepA, ArgR and a second PepA molecule are sandwiched along their 3-fold molecular axes, and the accessory sequences of the two recombination sites wrap around the accessory proteins as a right-handed superhelix such that three negative supercoils are trapped.

Streptomyces griseus aminopeptidase: X-ray crystallographic structure at 1.75 Å resolution

The X-ray crystal structure of the enzyme Streptomyces griseus aminopeptidase (SGAP) has been determined in its double zinc form to 1.75 Å resolution, in its apo-enzyme form (zinc removed) to 2.1 Å resolution, and as a mercury replaced derivative to 2.1 Å resolution. The structure solution was achieved by single isomorphous replacement with phasing from anomalous scattering (SIRAS), followed by density modification with histogram matching. The protein consists of a central β-sheet made up of eight parallel and antiparallel strands, surrounded by helices on either side. The active site is located at the carbonyl ends of two middle strands of the β-sheet region. Two sections of the chain that could not be traced were Glu196 to Arg202, which borders the active site, and the final seven C-terminal residues starting with Gly278. The active site contains two zinc cations, each with similar ligands, at a distance of 3.6 Å from each other. An unknown molecule appears to be bound to both zinc ions in the active site at partial occupancy and has been modelled as a phosphate ion. A calcium binding site has also been identified, consistent with the observations that calcium modulates the activity of the enzyme, and increases its heat stability. The mechanism by which the calcium cation modulates enzyme activity is not apparent, since the location of the calcium binding site is ∼25 Å distant from the active site zinc ions. Comparison of the structure of SGAP to other known aminopeptidases shows that the enzyme is most similar to Aeromonas proteolytica aminopeptidase (AAP). Both enzymes share a similar topology, although the overall sequence identity is very low (24% in aligned regions). The coordination of the two active site zinc cations in SGAP resembles that of AAP. These two microbial enzymes differ from bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) in both overall structure and in coordination of the two zinc ions.

Two-metal ion mechanism of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase: active site solvent structure and binding mode of L-leucinal, a gem-diolate transition state analogue, by X-ray crystallography.

The three-dimensional structures of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP) complexed with L-leucinal and of the unliganded enzyme have been determined at crystallographic resolutions of 1.9 and 1.6 A, respectively. Leucinal binds as a hydrated gem-diol to the active site of b1LAP), resembling the presumed gem-diolated intermediate in the catalytic pathway. One hydroxyl group bridges the two active site metal ions, and the other OH group is coordinated to Zn1. The high-resolution structure of the unliganded enzyme reveals one metal-bound water ligand, which is bridging both zinc ions. Together, these structures support a mechanism in which the bridging water ligand is the attacking hydroxide ion nucleophile. The gem-diolate intermediate is probably stabilized by four coordinating bonds to the dizinc center and by interaction with Lys-262 and Arg-336. In the mechanism, Lys-262 polarizes the peptide carbonyl group, which is also coordinated to Zn1. The Arg-336 side chain interacts with the substrate and the gem-diolate intermediate via water molecules. Near Arg-336 in the b1LAP-leucinal structure, an unusually short hydrogen bond is found between two active site water molecules.

Transition state analogue L-leucinephosphonic acid bound to bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase: X-ray structure at 1.65 A resolution in a new crystal form.

The three-dimensional structure of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP) complexed with L-Leucinephosphonic acid (LeuP) has been determined by molecular replacement using the structure of native blLAP as a starting model. Cocrystallization of the enzyme with the inhibitor yielded a new crystal form of space group P321 which has cell dimensions a = 130.4 A and c = 125.4 A. Refinement of the model against data from 7.0 to 1.65 A resolution resulted in a final structure with a crystallographic residual of 0.160 (R(free) = 0.191). The N-terminal amino group of LeuP is coordinated to Zn-489, one phosphoryl oxygen atom bridges both metal ions, and another phosphoryl oxygen atom is coordinated to Zn-488. The side chain of Arg-336 interacts with the inhibitor via three water molecules. LeuP resembles the presumed tetrahedral gem-diolate transition state after direct attack of a water or hydroxide ion nucleophile on the scissile peptide bond. On the basis of the LeuP binding mode and the previous structural and biochemical data, three plausible reaction pathways are evaluated. The two-metal ion mechanisms discussed herein share as common features a metal-bound hydroxide ion nucleophile and polarization of the carbonyl group by the zinc ions. Possible catalytic roles of Arg-336 and Lys-262 in the direct or indirect (through H2O) protonation of the leaving group, in the stabilization of a zinc-bound OH- nucleophile and in the stabilization of the negatively charged intermediate, are discussed. A site 3 metal ion approximately 12 A away from the active site 2 zinc ion probably serves a structural role.

Structure and mechanism of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase.

Structure and mechanism of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase.

X-ray crystallographic determination of the structure of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase complexed with amastatin: formulation of a catalytic mechanism featuring a gem-diolate transition state.

The structure of the complex of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP) with the slow-, tight-binding inhibitor amastatin has been determined by X-ray crystallography. X-ray diffraction data were collected at -150 degrees C from a single blLAP-amastatin crystal which under the data collection conditions was of the space group P6(3)22 with unit cell parameters a = 130.3 A and c = 121.9 A. The structure of the blLAP-amastatin complex was determined by molecular replacement, using the structure of native blLAP as the starting model. Refinement of the blLAP-amastatin model plus 132 water molecules against data from 10.0- to 2.4-A resolution resulted in a final structure with a crystallographic residual of 0.198. The binding mode of amastatin is similar to that of bestatin, the structure of whose complex with blLAP has previously been determined. Of particular note, the N-terminus-to-C-terminus orientation of the two bound inhibitors is the same. The two N-terminal residues of amastatin and bestatin occupy the same binding sites, which are most likely S1 and S'1. The slow binding of amastatin and bestatin may be partially attributable to a binding mechanism in which the two active site metals are sequentially coordinated by the P1 amino and hydroxyl groups of these inhibitors. A catalytic mechanism for blLAP is proposed based on the binding modes of amastatin and bestatin and plausible binding modes of a dipeptide substrate and its putative gem-diolate transition state which were modeled into the active site of blLAP after the binding mode of amastatin. The proposed catalytic mechanism invokes roles for the catalytic metals in binding and activating the substrate and in stabilizing the transition state. The mechanism also includes roles for Asp-255 as a general base, Arg-336 as an additional electrophilic substrate activator and transition state stabilizer, and Lys-262 as a proton shuttle.

Differentiation and identification of the two catalytic metal binding sites in bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase by x-ray crystallography.

The tightly binding and readily exchanging metal binding sites in the active site of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP; EC 3.4.11.1) have been differentiated and identified by x-ray crystallography. In native blLAP,Zn2+ occupies both binding sites. In solution, site 1 readily exchanges Zn2+ for other divalent cations, including Mg2+. The Zn2+ in site 2 is unavailable for metal exchange under conditions which allow exchange at site 1. The Zn2+/Mg2+ metal hybrid of blLAP (Mg-blLAP) was prepared in solution and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data to 2.9-A resolution were collected at -150 degrees C from single crystals of Mg-blLAP and native blLAP. Comparisons of omit maps calculated from the Mg-blLAP data with analogous maps calculated from the native blLAP data show electron density in one of the metal binding sites in Mg-blLAP which is much weaker than the electron density in the other binding site. Since there are fewer electrons associated with Mg2+ than with Zn2+, the difference in electron density between the two metal binding sites is consistent with occupancy of the weaker electron density site by Mg2+ and identifies this metal binding site as site 1, defined as the readily exchanging site. The present identification of the metal binding sites reverses the previous presumptive assignment of the metal binding sites which was based on the structure of native blLAP [Burley, S. K., David, P. R., Sweet, R. M., Taylor, A. & Lipscomb, W. N. (1992) J. Mol. Biol. 224, 113-140]. According to the residue-numbering convention of native blLAP, the new assignment of the metal binding sites identifies the readily exchanging site 1 with Zn-488, which is within interaction distance of one side-chain carboxylate oxygen from each of Asp-255, Asp-332, and Glu-334 and the main-chain carbonyl oxygen of Asp-332. The more tightly binding site 2 is identified with Zn-489, which is within interaction distance of one side-chain carboxylate oxygen from each of Asp-255, Asp-273, and Glu-334 and the side-chain amine nitrogen of Lys-250.

Inhibition of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase by bestatin: number of binding sites and slow binding of this inhibitor

Aminopeptidases catalyze the hydrolysis of amino acid residues from the amino terminus of peptide substrates. Their activity has been implicated in myriad fundamental biochemical and physiological processes, and alterations in aminopeptidase activity have been correlated with a variety of pathologies. Nevertheless, information about this group of proteases is less well developed. Bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP) can be considered prototypical of many enzymes in this family of peptidases. It shows common features of (1) requiring divalent metal ions for activity, (2) having a relatively large size, and (3) having slow, relatively tight binding of bestatin, a transition-state analog of the substrate PheLeu. Bovine lens LAP is the only bestatin-inhibitable aminopeptidase for which structural and mechanistic data are available. However, full exploitation of these data required knowledge of the number of inhibitor molecules bound per subunit. Independent direct binding experiments and kinetic determinations indicate that one bestatin is bound per subunit in blLAP. Ki and Ki* for formation of the initial and final complexes are approximately 1.1 x 10(-7) and 1.3 x 10(-9) M, respectively. The mode of binding is slow and competitive. The t1/2 for formation and deformation of the final enzyme-inhibitor complex is approximately 30 and 22 min, respectively, with 10(-8) M bestatin. To perform these measures, a new assay using physiological peptides (LeuGlyGly) as substrate was adapted. Taken together with prior NMR, photoaffinity labeling, and crystallographic data, these binding data allow us to propose a mechanism of the blLAP-catalyzed hydrolysis of peptides.

Induction of leucine aminopeptidase by interferon-gamma. Identification by protein microsequencing after purification by preparative two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

The protein previously called "Mr approximately 50/pI approximately 6.9," which we observed to be induced by the immunoregulatory cytokine interferon (IFN)-gamma in human fibroblasts, was purified from a total cell lysate by preparative two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identified by partial amino-terminal sequencing as leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), a 53-kDa cytosolic exopeptidase. Induction of LAP protein by IFN-gamma, confirmed by immunoblotting with an antiserum raised against bovine lens LAP, is a consequence of induction of LAP mRNA and occurs in all four human cell lines examined: HS153 fibroblasts, ACHN renal carcinoma, A549 lung carcinoma, and A375 melanoma. Induction of LAP mRNA is a secondary response to IFN-gamma, blocked by inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide.

Leucine aminopeptidase from Arabidopsis thaliana. Molecular evidence for a phylogenetically conserved enzyme of protein turnover in higher plants.

Leucine aminopeptidases are exopeptidases which are presumably involved in the processing and regular turnover of intracellular proteins; however, their precise function in cellular metabolism remains to be established. Towards this goal, a full-length complementary DNA encoding a plant leucine aminopeptidase was isolated from a cDNA library of Arabidopsis thaliana and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence showed 49.5% identity to the Escherichia coli xerB-encoded leucine aminopeptidase. Sequence analysis revealed that the cDNA encodes a polypeptide of 520 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 54,506 Da. The C-terminal part (amino acids 200-520) of the deduced amino acid sequence showed 43.8% sequence identity to the xerB-encoded leucine aminopeptidase and 42.6% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.11.1). No sequence similarity (not even over short sequence elements) was observed with any other known peptidase or proteinase sequence. The cDNA was expressed as a fusion protein from the lacZ promoter in E. coli. Enzymatic analysis proved that the cloned cDNA encoded an active leucine aminopeptidase. The properties of this enzyme, including metal requirements, inhibitor sensitivity, pH optimum and the remarkable temperature stability, are very similar to those reported for leucine aminopeptidases from other tissues. Amino acids involved in metal and substrate binding in bovine lens aminopeptidase are completely conserved in the plant enzyme as well as in the XerB protein. Our results show that leucine aminopeptidases form a superfamily of highly conserved enzymes, spanning the evolutionary period from the bacteria to animals and higher plants. This is the first aminopeptidase cloned from a plant.

Structure determination and refinement of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase and its complex with bestatin

The three-dimensional structure of bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.11.1) complexed with bestatin, a slow-binding inhibitor, has been solved to 3·0 Å resolution by the multiple isomorphous replacement method with phase combination and density modification. In addition, this structure and the structure of the isomorphous native enzyme have been refined at 2·25 and 2·32 Å resolution, respectively, with crystallographic R-factors of 0·180 and 0·159, respectively. The current structural model for the enzyme includes the two zinc ions and 481 of the 487 amino acid residues comprising the asymmetric unit. The enzyme is physiologically active as a hexamer, which has 32 symmetry, and is triangular in shape with a triangle edge length of 115 Å and maximal thickness of 90 Å. Monomers are crystallographically equivalent. Each is folded into two unequal α β domains connected by an α-helix to give a comma-like shape with approximate maximal dimensions of 90 Å × 55 Å × 55 Å. The secondary structural composition is 35% α-helix and 23% β-strand. The N-terminal domain (160 amino acid residues) mediates trimer-trimer interactions and does not appear to participate directly in catalysis, while the C-terminal domain (327 amino acid residues) is responsible for catalysis and binds the two zinc ions, which are less than 3 Å apart. These two metal ions are located near the edge of an eightstranded, saddle-shaped β-sheet. The zinc ion that has the lower temperature factor is co-ordinated by one carboxylate oxygen atom from each of Asp255, Asp332 and Glu334, and the carbonyl oxygen of Asp332. The other zinc ion, presumed to be readily exchangeable, is co-ordinated by one carboxylate oxygen atom of each of Asp273 and Glu334 and the side-chain amino group of Lys250. The active site also contains two positively charged residues, Lys262 and Arg336. The six active sites are themselves located in the interior of the hexamer, where they line a disk-shaped cavity of radius 15 Å and thickness 10 Å. Access to this cavity is provided by solvent channels that run along the 2-fold symmetry axes. Bestatin binds to one of the active site zinc ions, and its phenylalanine and leucine side-chains occupy hydrophobic pockets adjacent to the active site. Finally, the relationship between bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase and tie homologous enzyme pep A from Excherichia coli is discussed.