33 research outputs found

    The angiotensin metabolite His-Leu is a strong copper chelator forming highly redox active species

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    His-Leu is a hydrolytic byproduct of angiotensin metabolism, whose concentration in the bloodstream could be at least micromolar. This encouraged us to investigate its Cu(II) binding properties and the concomitant redox reactivity. The Cu(II) binding constants were derived from isothermal titration calorimetry and potentiometry, while identities and structures of complexes were obtained from ultraviolet–visible, circular dichroism, and room-temperature electronic paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies. Four types of Cu(II)/His-Leu complexes were detected. The histamine-like complexes prevail at low pH. At neutral and mildly alkaline pH and low Cu(II):His-Leu ratios, they are superseded by diglycine-like complexes involving the deprotonated peptide nitrogen. At His-Leu:Cu(II) ratios of ≥2, bis-complexes are formed instead. Above pH 10.5, a diglycine-like complex containing the equatorially coordinated hydroxyl group predominates at all ratios tested. Cu(II)/His-Leu complexes are also strongly redox active, as demonstrated by voltammetric studies and the ascorbate oxidation assay. Finally, numeric competition simulations with human serum albumin, glycyl-histydyl-lysine, and histidine revealed that His-Leu might be a part of the low-molecular weight Cu(II) pool in blood if its abundance is >10 μM. These results yield further questions, such as the biological relevance of ternary complexes containing His-Leu

    Aβ5−xPeptides: N‑Terminal Truncation Yields Tunable Cu(II)Complexes

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    The Aβ5−x peptides (x = 38, 40, 42) are minor Aβ species in normal brains but elevated upon the application of inhibitors of Aβ processing enzymes. They are interesting from the point of view of coordination chemistry for the presence of an Arg-His metal binding sequence at their N-terminus capable of forming a 3-nitrogen (3N) three-coordinate chelate system. Similar sequences in other bioactive peptides were shown to bind Cu(II) ions in biological systems. Therefore, we investigated Cu(II) complex formation and reactivity of a series of truncated Aβ5−x peptide models comprising the metal binding site: Aβ5−9, Aβ5−12, Aβ5−12Y10F, and Aβ5−16. Using CD and UV−vis spectroscopies and potentiometry, we found that all peptides coordinated the Cu(II) ion with substantial affinities higher than 3 × 1012 M−1 at pH 7.4 for Aβ5−9 and Aβ5−12. This affinity was elevated 3-fold in Aβ5−16 by the formation of the internal macrochelate with the fourth coordination site occupied by the imidazole nitrogen of the His13 or His14 residue. A much higher boost of affinity could be achieved in Aβ5−9 and Aβ5−12 by adding appropriate amounts of the external imidazole ligand. The 3N Cu-Aβ5−x complexes could be irreversibly reduced to Cu(I) at about −0.6 V vs Ag/AgCl and oxidized to Cu(III) at about 1.2 V vs Ag/AgCl. The internal or external imidazole coordination to the 3N core resulted in a slight destabilization of the Cu(I) state and stabilization of the Cu(III) state. Taken together these results indicate that Aβ5−x peptides, which bind Cu(II) ions much more strongly than Aβ1−x peptides and only slightly weaker than Aβ4−x peptides could interfere with Cu(II) handling by these peptides, adding to copper dyshomeostasis in Alzheimer brains

    Designed Metal-ATCUN Derivatives: Redox- and Non-redox-Based Applications Relevant for Chemistry, Biology, and Medicine

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    UID/QUI/50006/2019The designed "ATCUN'' motif (amino-terminal copper and nickel binding site) is a replica of naturally occurring ATCUN site found in many proteins/peptides, and an attractive platform for multiple applications, which include nucleases, proteases, spectroscopic probes, imaging, and small molecule activation. ATCUN motifs are engineered at periphery by conjugation to recombinant proteins, peptides, fluorophores, or recognition domains through chemically or genetically, fulfilling the needs of various biological relevance and a wide range of practical usages. This chemistry has witnessed significant growth over the last few decades and several interesting ATCUN derivatives have been described. The redox role of the ATCUN moieties is also an important aspect to be considered. The redox potential of designed M-ATCUN derivatives is modulated by judicious choice of amino acid (including stereochemistry, charge, and position) that ultimately leads to the catalytic efficiency. In this context, a wide range of M-ATCUN derivatives have been designed purposefully for various redox- and non-redox-based applications, including spectroscopic probes, target-based catalytic metallodrugs, inhibition of amyloid-beta toxicity, and telomere shortening, enzyme inactivation, biomolecules stitching or modification, next-generation antibiotic, and small molecule activation.publishersversionpublishe

    Metal assisted peptide bond hydrolysis: Chemistry, biotechnology and toxicological implications

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    Metal-assisted hydrolysis of peptide bond is a promising alternative for enzymatic cleavage of proteins with prospective applications in biochemistry and bioengineering. Many metal ions and complexes have been tested for such reactivity with a number of targets, from dipeptides through oligopeptides through proteins. The majority of reaction mechanisms reported so far is based on the Lewis acidity of a given metal ion. In the alternative hydrolysis reaction the metal ion, Cu(II), Ni(II) or Pd(II), plays a structural role by forming a square planar complex with Ser/Thr–His or Ser/Thr–Xaa–His sequence, which enables a N → O rearrangement of the acyl moiety in the peptide bond downstream from the Ser/Thr residue. Both Lewis acid and N → O acyl rearrangement reaction types are discussed in detail, including molecular mechanisms, the chemical character of hydrolytic agents, reaction conditions, and the origins of differences between the results obtained for peptide and protein models. Toxicological implications and practical applications of metal assisted peptide bond hydrolysis are also presented, with a focus on the Ni(II) assisted N → O acyl rearrangement in Ser/Thr–Xaa–His sequences

    cis-Urocanic acid as a potential nickel(ii) binding molecule in the human skin

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    cis-Urocanic acid, a derivative of histidine, is one of the essential components of human skin. We found that it can bind nickel(II) ions in a pH-dependent manner, with the dissociation constant in the low millimolar range, as revealed by potentiometry, and confirmed by isothermal titration calorimetry and UV-vis spectroscopy. The binding occurs within the physiological skin pH range. Considering the fact that cis-urocanic acid is present in the human skin in concentrations as high as millimolar, this molecule may be a physiologically important player in nickel trafficking in the human organism

    Cu(II) Binding to the N-Terminal Model Peptide of the Human Ctr2 Transporter at Lysosomal and Extracellular pH

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    Ni(II) ions cleave and inactivate human alpha-1 antitrypsin hydrolytically, implicating nickel exposure as a contributing factor in pathologies related to antitrypsin deficiency

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    Human alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is an abundant serum protein, present at a concentration of 1.0–1.5 g x L−1. AAT deficiency is a genetic disease, manifesting itself with emphysema and liver cirrhosis, due to accumulation of a misfolded AAT mutant in hepatocytes. Lung AAT amount is inversely correlated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a serious and often deadly condition, with increasing frequency in the aging population. Exposure to cigarette smoke and products of fossil fuel combustion aggravates AAT deficiency and COPD according to mechanisms that are not fully understood. Taking into account that these fumes contain particles that can release nickel to human airways and skin, we decided to investigate interactions of AAT with Ni(II) ions within the paradigm of Ni(II)-dependent peptide bond hydrolysis. We studied AAT protein derived from human blood using HPLC, SDS-PAGE, and mass spectrometry. These studies were aided by spectroscopic experiments on model peptides. As a result, we identified three hydrolysis sites in AAT. Two of them are present in the N-terminal part of the molecule next to each other (before Thr-13 and Ser-14 residues) and effectively form one N-terminal cleavage site. The single C-terminal cleavage is located before Ser-285. The N-terminal hydrolysis was more efficient than the C-terminal one, but both abolished the ability of AAT to inhibit trypsin in an additive manner. Nickel ions bound to hydrolysis products demonstrated an ability to generate ROS. These results implicate Ni(II) exposure as a contributing factor in AAT-related pathologies

    Copper transporters? glutathione reactivity of products of Cu-A beta digestion by Neprilysin

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    Aβ4–42 is the major subspecies of Aβ peptides characterized by avid Cu(II) binding via the ATCUN/NTS motif. It is thought to be produced in vivo proteolytically by neprilysin, but in vitro experiments in the presence of Cu(II) ions indicated preferable formation of C-terminally truncated ATCUN/NTS species including CuIIAβ4–16, CuIIAβ4–9, and also CuIIAβ12–16, all with nearly femtomolar affinities at neutral pH. Such small complexes may serve as shuttles for copper clearance from extracellular brain spaces, on condition they could survive intracellular conditions upon crossing biological barriers. In order to ascertain such possibility, we studied the reactions of CuIIAβ4–16, CuIIAβ4–9, CuIIAβ12–16, and CuIIAβ1–16 with reduced glutathione (GSH) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions using absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. We found CuIIAβ4–16 and CuIIAβ4–9 to be strongly resistant to reduction and concomitant formation of Cu(I)–GSH complexes, with reaction times ∼10 h, while CuIIAβ12–16 was reduced within minutes and CuIIAβ1–16 within seconds of incubation. Upon GSH exhaustion by molecular oxygen, the CuIIAβ complexes were reformed with no concomitant oxidative damage to peptides. These finding reinforce the concept of Aβ4–x peptides as physiological trafficking partners of brain copper

    Cysteine and glutathione trigger the Cu-Zn swap between Cu(ii)-amyloid-β4-16 peptide and Zn7-metallothionein-3

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    Cysteine and glutathione are able to reduce Cu(ii) coordinated to the peptide amyloidβ4-16, and shuttle the resulting Cu(i) to partially replace Zn(ii) in the protein Zn7-metallothionein-3. The released Zn(ii) in turn binds to amyloid-β4-16. Thus cysteine and glutathione are modulators of Cu/Zn-distribution between metallothionein-3 and amyloid-β4-16
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