Determining Protease Substrate Selectivity and Inhibition by Label-Free Supramolecular Tandem Enzyme Assays

An analytical method has been developed for the continuous monitoring of protease activity on unlabeled peptides in real time by fluorescence spectroscopy. The assay is enabled by a reporter pair comprising the macrocycle cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) and the fluorescent dye acridine orange (AO). CB7 functions by selectively recognizing N-terminal phenylalanine residues as they are produced during the enzymatic cleavage of enkephalin-type peptides by the metalloendopeptidase thermolysin. The substrate peptides (e.g., Thr-Gly-Ala-Phe-Met-NH2) bind to CB7 with moderately high affinity (K ≈ 104 M–1), while their cleavage products (e.g., Phe-Met-NH2) bind very tightly (K \u3e 106 M–1). AO signals the reaction upon its selective displacement from the macrocycle by the high affinity product of proteolysis. The resulting supramolecular tandem enzyme assay effectively measures the kinetics of thermolysin, including the accurate determination of sequence specificity (Ser and Gly instead of Ala), stereospecificity (d-Ala instead of l-Ala), endo- versus exopeptidase activity (indicated by differences in absolute fluorescence response), and sensitivity to terminal charges (−CONH2 vs −COOH). The capability of the tandem assay to measure protease inhibition constants was demonstrated on phosphoramidon as a known inhibitor to afford an inhibition constant of (17.8 ± 0.4) nM. This robust and label-free approach to the study of protease activity and inhibition should be transferable to other endo- and exopeptidases that afford products with N-terminal aromatic amino acids

A water-soluble supramolecular complex that mimics the heme/copper hetero-binuclear site of cytochrome c oxidase

In mitochondria, cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) catalyses the reduction of oxygen (O2) to water by using a heme/copper hetero-binuclear active site. Here we report a highly efficient supramolecular approach for the construction of a water-soluble biomimetic model for the active site of CcO. A tridentate copper(II) complex was fixed onto 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphinatoiron(III) (FeIIITPPS) through supramolecular complexation between FeIIITPPS and a per-O-methylated β-cyclodextrin dimer linked by a (2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridyl)copper(II) complex (CuIITerpyCD2). The reduced FeIITPPS/CuITerpyCD2 complex reacted with O2 in an aqueous solution at pH 7 and 25 °C to form a superoxo-type FeIII–O2−/CuI complex in a manner similar to CcO. The pH-dependent autoxidation of the O2 complex suggests that water molecules gathered at the distal Cu site are possibly involved in the FeIII–O2−/CuI superoxo complex in an aqueous solution. Electrochemical analysis using a rotating disk electrode demonstrated the role of the FeTPPS/CuTerpyCD2 hetero-binuclear structure in the catalytic O2 reduction reaction