Histidine functions

Deacylation of p-nitrophenyl esters of amino acids Histidine-functionalized micelles and synthetic vesicles. Rate enhancements and enantioselectivity observed Murakami et al., 1981 b... 

Deacylation of p-nitrophenyl esters of amino acids Synthetic vesicles + histidine-functionalized surfactant. Cholesterol increased rates and enantioselectivity Ueoka and Matsumoto, 1984... 

Comicelles of histidine functionalized surfactants. Rate comparisons... 

Chen, T.S., Liu, C.Y. Histidine-functionalized silica and its copper complex as stationary phases for capillary electrochromatography. Electrophoresis 22,2606—2015 (2001)... 

Zhang, Z.-Y., Dixon, J. E. Active site labeling of the yersinia protein tyrosine phosphatase The determination of the pKa of active site cysteine and the function of the conserved histidine 402. Biochem. 32 (1993) 9340-9345. 

Coagulation Factors II, III, VII, IX, X, XI, and Xlla fragments, thrombin, and plasmin are classified as serine proteases because each possesses a serine residue with neighboring histidine and asparagine residues at its enzymatically active site (Table 3). Factors II, VII, IX, and X, Protein C, Protein S, and Protein Z are dependent on the presence of vitamin K [84-80-0] for their formation as biologically functionally active procoagulant glycoproteins. 

The side chains of the 20 different amino acids listed in Panel 1.1 (pp. 6-7) have very different chemical properties and are utilized for a wide variety of biological functions. However, their chemical versatility is not unlimited, and for some functions metal atoms are more suitable and more efficient. Electron-transfer reactions are an important example. Fortunately the side chains of histidine, cysteine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid are excellent metal ligands, and a fairly large number of proteins have recruited metal atoms as intrinsic parts of their structures among the frequently used metals are iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. Several metallo proteins are discussed in detail in later chapters and it suffices here to mention briefly a few examples of iron and zinc proteins. 

Figure 1.9 Examples of functionally important intrinsic metal atoms in proteins, (a) The di-iron center of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase. Two iron atoms form a redox center that produces a free radical in a nearby tyrosine side chain. The iron atoms are bridged by a glutamic acid residue and a negatively charged oxygen atom called a p-oxo bridge. The coordination of the iron atoms is completed by histidine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid side chains as well as water molecules, (b) The catalytically active zinc atom in the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. The zinc atom is coordinated to the protein by one histidine and two cysteine side chains. During catalysis zinc binds an alcohol molecule in a suitable position for hydride transfer to the coenzyme moiety, a nicotinamide, [(a) Adapted from P. Nordlund et al., Nature 345 593-598, 1990.)...

Many proteins contain intrinsic metal atoms that are functionally important. The most frequently used metals are iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. These metal atoms are mainly bound to the protein through the side chains of cysteine, histidine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid residues. 

Certain amino acids and their derivatives, although not found in proteins, nonetheless are biochemically important. A few of the more notable examples are shown in Figure 4.5. y-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is produced by the decarboxylation of glutamic acid and is a potent neurotransmitter. Histamine, which is synthesized by decarboxylation of histidine, and serotonin, which is derived from tryptophan, similarly function as neurotransmitters and regulators. /3-Alanine is found in nature in the peptides carnosine and anserine and is a component of pantothenic acid (a vitamin), which is a part of coenzyme A. Epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), derived from tyrosine, is an important hormone. Penicillamine is a constituent of the penicillin antibiotics. Ornithine, betaine, homocysteine, and homoserine are important metabolic intermediates. Citrulline is the immediate precursor of arginine. 

Special attention has been given to the study of tautomeric equilibria in solutions of histidine 22 because the key functional role of such equilibria in proteins is recognized. In aqueous solutions the tautomers of histidine rapidly interconvert and only a single averaged signal is observed for each ring nitrogen (Scheme 10). 

The 20 common amino acids can be further classified as neutral, acidic, or basic, depending on the structure of their side chains. Fifteen of the twenty have neutral side chains, two (aspartic acid and glutamic acid) have an extra carboxylic acid function in their side chains, and three (lysine, arginine, and histidine) have basic amino groups in their side chains. Note that both cysteine (a thiol) and tyrosine (a phenol), although usually classified as neutral amino acids, nevertheless have weakly acidic side chains that can be deprotonated in strongly basic solution. 

The classical cadherins are translated as precursor because they are N-terminally cleaved to reveal the mature proteins. This processing is required to activate the cell adhesion function of cadherins. Cadherins interact in trans (i.e., from opposite cells) via the most N-terminal cadherin rqDeats. A short amino acid sequence within this repeat, histidine-alanine-valine (HAV), has been implicated in mediating cell-cell contacts as HAV peptides can disrupt cadherin-dependent cell adhesion. Besides the trans-interactions of cadherins, the extracellular domains are also capable of forming cis-dimers through lateral amino acid contacts between cadherin molecules on one cell. This dimerization again mainly involves the first cadherin repeat. A zipper model based on the pattern of alternating cis- and trans-dimers [1] for the adhesive interactions has been proposed. 

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