Primary structure of potato Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor

The serine proteinase inhibitor (PSPI-51) isolated from potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum L,) comprises two protein species with pi 5.2 and 6.3, denoted as PSPI-21-5.2 and PSPI-21-6.3, respectively. They were separated by anion exchange chromatography on a Mono Q FPLC column. Both species tightly inhibit human leukocyte elastase, whereas their interaction with trypsin and chymotrypsin is substantially weaker. The sequences of both PSPI-21-5.2 and PSPI-21-6.3 were determined by analysis of overlapping peptides obtained from the oxidized or reduced and S-pyridylethylated proteins after digestion with trypsin or pepsin, Both species of PSPI-21 are composed of two chains, named chains A and B, which are linked by a disulfide bridge between Cys(146) and Cys(157). The other disulfide bridge is located within the A chains between Cys(48) and Cys(97). The amino acid sequences of the large A chains of the two forms, consisting of 150 amino acids residues each, differ in a single residue at position 52. The small chains B, containing 37 and 36 residues in PSPI-21-6.3 and PSPI-21-5.2, respectively, have nine different residues. The entire amino acid sequences of the two inhibitors show a high degree of homology to the other Kunitz-type proteinase inhibitors from plants

Assessment of the protein interaction between coagulation factor XII and corn trypsin inhibitor by molecular docking and biochemical validation

Background: Corn trypsin inhibitor (CTI) has selectivity for serine proteases coagulation factor XII (FXII) and trypsin. CTI is in widespread use as a reagent that specifically inhibits the intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation but not the extrinsic pathway. Objectives: To investigate the molecular basis of FXII inhibition by CTI. Methods: We performed molecular docking of CTI, using its known crystal structure, with a model of the activated FXII (FXIIa) protease domain. The interaction model was verified using a panel of recombinant CTI variants tested for their ability to inhibit FXIIa enzymatic activity using a substrate cleavage assay. Results: The docking predicted that (i) the CTI central inhibitory loop P1 Arg34 side chain forms a salt bridge to the FXIIa S1 pocket Asp189 side chain (ii) residue Trp22 from the CTI helix α1 interacts with the FXIIa S3 pocket (iii) Arg43 from CTI helix α2 forms a salt bridge to FXIIa H1 pocket Asp60A. CTI amino acid substitution R34A negated all inhibitory activity whereas variants G32W, L35A, W22A or R42A-R43A reduced activity by a large degree of 108, 41, 158 and 100-fold respectively, with R27A, W37A, W39A, R42A having no effect. Synthetic peptides spanning CTI residues 20-44 had inhibitory activity 3-4000-fold less than full-length CTI. Conclusions: The data confirm the validity of a canonical model of the FXIIa-CTI interaction with helix α1 (Trp22), central inhibitory loop (Arg34) and helix α2 (Arg43) of CTI required for effective binding by contacting the S1, S3 and H1 pockets of FXIIa, respectively

Obesity and cancer: existing and new hypotheses for a causal connection

Existing explanations of obesity-associated cancer emphasise direct mutagenic effects of dietary components or hormonal imbalance. Some of these hypotheses are reviewed briefly, but recent evidence suggests a major role for chronic inflammation in cancer risk, possibly involving dietary content. These ideas include the inflammation-induced activation of the kynurenine pathway and its role in feeding and metabolism by activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and by modulating synaptic transmission in the brain. Evidence for a role of the kynurenine pathway in carcinogenesis then provides a potentially major link between obesity and cancer. A second new hypothesis is based on evidence that serine proteases can deplete cells of the tumour suppressors Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC) and neogenin. These enzymes include mammalian chymotryptic proteases released by pro-inflammatory neutrophils and macrophages. Blood levels of chymotrypsin itself increase in parallel with food intake. The mechanistically similar bacterial enzyme subtilisin is widespread in the environment, animal probiotics, meat processing and cleaning products. Simple public health schemes in these areas, with selective serine protease inhibitors and AHR antagonists and could prevent a range of intestinal and other cancers

Elucidating the role of serine protease kallikrein 6 in oligodendrocyte maturation & myelination

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic central nervous system disease featuring exacerbations of inflammation and demyelination that cause progressively debilitating clinical effects over time. Current treatments for multiple sclerosis are limited in their ability to impact overall disease progression. Research aimed at generation of novel potential therapeutics for MS is needed. Recently, kallikrein 6 (KLK6), a member of the kallikrein (KLK) family of secreted serine proteases, was found to be elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid and brain of MS patients. The fifteen known tissue-based KLKs cleave proteins through a similar mechanism, but have different binding pocket specificity, diverse localization in human tissues, and multiple biological functions. KLKs have been linked to normal human physiology (e.g. KLK4, enamel formation) and disease (e.g. KLK3, prostate cancer). KLK6 is one of the highest expressed serine proteases in the healthy human brain and is expressed predominately in mature oligodendrocytes in both human and mouse brain. The role of KLK6 in oligodendrocyte maturation, myelination, and disease is not fully understood. To evaluate the role of KLK6 in oligodendrocyte maturation, I used a pluripotent in vitro primary cell system to assess the impact of exogenous KLK6 and modulators of the KLK6 pathway on oligodendrocyte maturation. I demonstrate that signaling through KLK6 decreases the number of mature oligodendrocytes in culture, whereas blockade of KLK6 signaling increases the number of mature oligodendrocytes in culture in the presence of triiodothyronine higher than either agent alone. This work suggests that KLK6 modulation impacts oligodendrocyte maturation. To understand the potential impact of KLK6 pathway inhibition on remyelination, I used the toxin cuprizone to induce demyelination in mice. I found that animals treated with a KLK6 inhibitor had increased myelin staining in the corpus callosum compared to vehicle-treated. This work suggests that KLK6 modulates oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination and may be relevant for improving myelin-related therapeutic outcomes, particularly in multiple sclerosis.2019-06-12T00:00:00

Three genes expressing Kunitz domains in the epididymis are related to genes of WFDC-type protease inhibitors and semen coagulum proteins in spite of lacking similarity between their protein products

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We have previously identified a locus on human chromosome 20q13.1, encompassing related genes of postulated WFDC-type protease inhibitors and semen coagulum proteins. Three of the genes with WFDC motif also coded for the Kunitz-type protease inhibitor motif. In this report, we have reinvestigated the locus for homologous genes encoding Kunitz motif only. The identified genes have been analyzed with respect to structure, expression and function.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified three novel genes; <it>SPINT3, SPINT4 </it>and <it>SPINT5</it>, and the structure of their transcripts were determined by sequencing of DNA generated by rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Each gene encodes a Kunitz domain preceded by a typical signal peptide sequence, which indicates that the proteins of 7.6, 8.7, and 9.7 kDa are secreted. Analysis of transcripts in 26 tissues showed that the genes predominantly are expressed in the epididymis. The recombinantly produced proteins could not inhibit the amidolytic activity of trypsin, chymotrypsin, plasmin, thrombin, coagulation factor Xa, elastase, urokinase and prostate specific antigen, whereas similarly made bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) had the same bioactivity as the protein isolated from bovine pancreas.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The similar organization, chromosomal location and site of expression, suggests that the novel genes are homologous with the genes of WFDC-type protease inhibitors and semen coagulum proteins, despite the lack of similarity in primary structure of their protein products. Their restricted expression to the epididymis suggests that they could be important for male reproduction. The recombinantly produced proteins are presumably bioactive, as demonstrated with similarly made BPTI, but may have a narrower spectrum of inhibition, as indicated by the lacking activity against eight proteases with differing specificity. Another possibility is that they have lost the protease inhibiting properties, which is typical of Kunitz domains, in favor of hitherto unknown functions.</p

Field-based Proteochemometric Models Derived from 3D Protein Structures : A Novel Approach to Visualize Affinity and Selectivity Features

Designing drugs that are selective is crucial in pharmaceutical research to avoid unwanted side effects. To decipher selectivity of drug targets, computational approaches that utilize the sequence and structural information of the protein binding pockets are frequently exploited. In addition to methods that rely only on protein information, quantitative approaches such as proteochemometrics (PCM) use the combination of protein and ligand descriptions to derive quantitative relationships with binding affinity. PCM aims to explain cross-interactions between the different proteins and ligands, hence facilitating our understanding of selectivity. The main goal of this dissertation is to develop and apply field-based PCM to improve the understanding of relevant molecular interactions through visual illustrations. Field-based description that depends on the 3D structural information of proteins enhances visual interpretability of PCM models relative to the frequently used sequence-based descriptors for proteins. In these field-based PCM studies, knowledge-based fields that explain polarity and lipophilicity of the binding pockets and WaterMap-derived fields that elucidate the positions and energetics of water molecules are used together with the various 2D / 3D ligand descriptors to investigate the selectivity profiles of kinases and serine proteases. Field-based PCM is first applied to protein kinases, for which designing selective inhibitors has always been a challenge, owing to their highly similar ATP binding pockets. Our studies show that the method could be successfully applied to pinpoint the regions influencing the binding affinity and selectivity of kinases. As an extension of the initial studies conducted on a set of 50 kinases and 80 inhibitors, field-based PCM was used to build classification models on a large dataset (95 kinases and 1572 inhibitors) to distinguish active from inactive ligands. The prediction of the bioactivities of external test set compounds or kinases with accuracies over 80% (Matthews correlation coefficient, MCC: ~0.50) and area under the ROC curve (AUC) above 0.8 together with the visual inspection of the regions promoting activity demonstrates the ability of field-based PCM to generate both predictive and visually interpretable models. Further, the application of this method to serine proteases provides an overview of the sub-pocket specificities, which is crucial for inhibitor design. Additionally, alignment-independent Zernike descriptors derived from fields were used in PCM models to study the influence of protein superimpositions on field comparisons and subsequent PCM modelling.Lääketutkimuksessa selektiivisten lääkeaineiden suunnittelu on ratkaisevan tärkeää haittavaikutusten välttämiseksi. Kohdeselektiivisyyden selvittämiseen käytetään usein tietokoneavusteisia menetelmiä, jotka hyödyntävät proteiinien sitoutumiskohtien sekvenssi- ja rakennetietoja. Proteiinilähtöisten menetelmien lisäksi kvantitatiiviset menetelmät kuten proteokemometria (proteochemometrics, PCM) yhdistävät sekä proteiinin että ligandin tietoja muodostaessaan kvantitatiivisen suhteen sitoutumisaffiniteettiin. PCM pyrkii selittämään eri proteiinien ja ligandien vuorovaikutuksia ja näin auttaa ymmärtämään selektiivisyyttä. Väitöstutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kehittää ja hyödyntää kenttäpohjaista proteokemometriaa, joka auttaa ymmärtämään relevantteja molekyylitasoisia vuorovaikutuksia visuaalisen esitystavan kautta. Proteiinin kolmiulotteisesta rakenteesta riippuva kenttäpohjainen kuvaus helpottaa PCM-mallien tulkintaa, etenkin usein käytettyihin sekvenssipohjaisiin kuvauksiin verrattuna. Näissä kenttäpohjaisissa PCM-mallinnuksissa käytettiin tietoperustaisia sitoutumistaskun polaarisuutta ja lipofiilisyyttä kuvaavia kenttiä ja WaterMap-ohjelman tuottamia vesimolekyylien sijaintia ja energiaa havainnollistavia kenttiä yhdessä lukuisten ligandia kuvaavien 2D- ja 3D-deskriptorien kanssa. Malleja sovellettiin kinaasien ja seriiniproteaasien selektiivisyysprofiilien tutkimukseen. Tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä osassa kenttäpohjaista PCM-mallinnusta sovellettiin proteiinikinaaseihin, joille selektiivisten inhibiittorien suunnittelu on haastavaa samankaltaisten ATP sitoutumistaskujen takia. Tutkimuksemme osoitti menetelmän soveltuvan kinaasien sitoutumisaffiniteettia ja selektiivisyyttä ohjaavien alueiden osoittamiseen. Jatkona 50 kinaasia ja 80 inhibiittoria käsittäneelle alkuperäiselle tutkimukselle rakensimme kenttäpohjaisia PCM-luokittelumalleja suuremmalle joukolle kinaaseja (95) ja inhibiittoreita (1572) erotellaksemme aktiiviset ja inaktiiviset ligandit toisistaan. Ulkoisen testiyhdiste- tai testikinaasijoukon bioaktiivisuuksien ennustaminen yli 80 % tarkkuudella (Matthews korrelaatiokerroin, MCC noin 0,50) ja ROC-käyrän alle jäävä ala (AUC) yli 0,8 yhdessä aktiivisuutta tukevien alueiden visuaalisen tarkastelun kanssa osoittivat kenttäpohjaisen PCM:n pystyvän tuottamaan sekä ennustavia että visuaalisesti ymmärrettäviä malleja. Tutkimuksen toisessa osassa metodin soveltaminen seriiniproteaaseihin tuotti yleisnäkemyksen sitoutumistaskun eri osien spesifisyyksistä, mikä on ensiarvoisen tärkeää inhibiittorien suunnittelulle. Lisäksi kentistä johdettuja, proteiinien päällekkäinasettelusta riippumattomia Zernike-deskriptoreita hyödynnettiin PCM-malleissa arvioidaksemme proteiinien päällekkäinasettelun vaikutusta kenttien vertailuun ja sen jälkeiseen PCM-mallinnukseen

Targeted Disruption of Toxoplasma gondii Serine Protease Inhibitor 1 Increases Bradyzoite Cyst Formation In Vitro and Parasite Tissue Burden in Mice

As an intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii is likely to exploit proteases for host cell invasion, acquisition of nutrients, avoidance of host protective responses, escape from the parasitophorous vacuole, differentiation, and other activities. T. gondii serine protease inhibitor 1 (TgPI1) is the most abundantly expressed protease inhibitor in parasite tachyzoites. We show here that alternative splicing produces two TgPI1 isoforms, both of which are secreted via dense granules into the parasitophorous vacuole shortly after invasion, become progressively more abundant over the course of the infectious cycle, and can be detected in the infected host cell cytoplasm. To investigate TgPI1 function, the endogenous genomic locus was disrupted in the RH strain background. ΔTgPI1 parasites replicate normally as tachyzoites but exhibit increased bradyzoite gene transcription and labeling of vacuoles with Dolichos biflorus lectin under conditions promoting in vitro differentiation. The differentiation phenotype can be partially complemented by either TgPI1 isoform. Mice infected with the ΔTgPI1 mutant display ∼3-fold-increased parasite burden in the spleen and liver, and this in vivo phenotype is also complemented by either TgPI1 isoform. These results demonstrate that TgPI1 influences both parasite virulence and bradyzoite differentiation, presumably by inhibiting parasite and/or host serine proteases

Dipeptidyl peptidase 1 inhibition as a potential therapeutic approach in neutrophil-mediated inflammatory disease

Neutrophils have a critical role in the innate immune response to infection and the control of inflammation. A key component of this process is the release of neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs), primarily neutrophil elastase, proteinase 3, cathepsin G, and NSP4, which have essential functions in immune modulation and tissue repair following injury. Normally, NSP activity is controlled and modulated by endogenous antiproteases. However, disruption of this homeostatic relationship can cause diseases in which neutrophilic inflammation is central to the pathology, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, bronchiectasis, and cystic fibrosis, as well as many non-pulmonary pathologies. Although the pathobiology of these diseases varies, evidence indicates that excessive NSP activity is common and a principal mediator of tissue damage and clinical decline. NSPs are synthesized as inactive zymogens and activated primarily by the ubiquitous enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase 1, also known as cathepsin C. Preclinical data confirm that inactivation of this protease reduces activation of NSPs. Thus, pharmacological inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase 1 potentially reduces the contribution of aberrant NSP activity to the severity and/or progression of multiple inflammatory diseases. Initial clinical data support this view. Ongoing research continues to explore the role of NSP activation by dipeptidyl peptidase 1 in different disease states and the potential clinical benefits of dipeptidyl peptidase 1 inhibition.</p