Browsing by Author "Burke, Jonathan"

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    Arginine 15 stabilizes an SNAr reaction transition state and the binding of anionic ligands at the active site of human glutathione transferase A1-1
    (Elsevier, 2010) Gildenhuys, Samantha; Dobreva, Marina; Kinsley, Nichole; Sayed, Yasien; Burke, Jonathan; Pelly, Stephen; Gordon, Graeme P; Sayed, Muhammed
    Arg15, conserved in class Alpha GSTs (glutathione transferases), is located at the interface between the G- and H-sites of the active site where its cationic guanidinium group might play a role in catalysis and ligand binding. Arg15 in human GSTA1-1 was replaced with a leucine and crystallographic, spectroscopic, thermodynamic and molecular docking methods were used to investigate the contribution made by Arg15 towards (i) the binding of glutathione (GSH) to the G-site, (ii) the pKa of the thiol group of GSH, (iii) the stabilization of an analog of the anionic transition state of the SNAr reaction between 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and GSH, and, (iv) the binding of the anionic non-substrate ligand 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulphonate (ANS) to the H-site. While the R15L mutation substantially diminishes the CDNB–GSH conjugating activity of the enzyme, it has little effect on protein structure and stability. Arg15 does not contribute significantly towards the enzyme's affinity for GSH but does determine the reactivity of GSH by reducing the thiol's pKa from 7.6 to 6.6. The anionic σ-complex formed between GSH and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene is stabilized by Arg15, suggesting that it also stabilizes the transition state formed in the SNAr reaction between GSH and CDNB. The trinitrocyclohexadienate moiety of the σ-complex binds the H-site where the catalytic residue, Tyr9, was identified to hydrogen bond to an o-nitro group of the σ-complex. The affinity for ANS at the H-site is decreased about 3-fold by the R15L mutation implicating the positive electrostatic potential of Arg15 in securing the organic anion at this site.
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    The role of a topologically conserved isoleucine in glutathione transferase structure, stability and function
    (International Union of Crystallography, 2010) Achilonu, Ikechukwu; Gildenhuys, Samantha; Fisher, Loren; Burke, Jonathan; Fanucchi, Sylvia; Sewell, B Trevor; Fernandes, Manuel; Dirr, Heini W
    The common fold shared by members of the glutathione-transferase (GST) family has a topologically conserved isoleucine residue at the N-terminus of helix 3 which is involved in the packing of helix 3 against two β-strands in domain 1. The role of the isoleucine residue in the structure, function and stability of GST was investigated by replacing the Ile71 residue in human GSTA1-1 by alanine or valine. The X-ray structures of the I71A and I71V mutants resolved at 1.75 and 2.51 Å, respectively, revealed that the mutations do not alter the overall structure of the protein compared with the wild type. Urea-induced equilibrium unfolding studies using circular dichroism and tryptophan fluorescence suggest that the mutation of Ile71 to alanine or valine reduces the stability of the protein. A functional assay with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene shows that the mutation does not significantly alter the function of the protein relative to the wild type. Overall, the results suggest that conservation of the topologically conserved Ile71 maintains the structural stability of the protein but does not play a significant role in catalysis and substrate binding.