Hydrolases substrate specificity

Boger, D.L., Fecik, R.A., Patterson, J.E., Miyachi, H., Patricelh, M.P., and Cravatt, B.F. 2000. Fatty acid amide hydrolase substrate specificity. Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 10 2613-6. 

Table 3.25. Purified potato acyl hydrolase substrate specificity...

Cholinesterases (ChEs), polymorphic carboxyles-terases of broad substrate specificity, terminate neurotransmission at cholinergic synapses and neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Being sensitive to inhibition by organophosphate (OP) poisons, ChEs belong to the serine hydrolases (B type). ChEs share 65% amino acid sequence homology and have similar molecular forms and active centre structures [1]. Substrate and inhibitor specificities classify ChEs into two subtypes ... 

Drugs may also undergo hydrolysis by intestinal esterases (hydrolases), more specifically carboxylesterases (EC 3.1.1.1) in the intestinal lumen and at the brush border membrane [58, 59]. It has been shown that intestinal hydrolase activity in humans was closer to that of the rat than the dog or Caco-2 cells [60]. In these studies, six propranolol ester prodrugs and p-nitrophenylacetate were used as substrates, and the hydrolase activity found was ranked in the order human > rat Caco-2 cells > dog for intestinal microsomes. The rank order in hydrolase activity for the intestinal cytosolic fraction was rat > Caco-2 cells = human > dog. The hydrolase activity towards p-nitrophenylacetate and tenofovir disoproxil has also been reported in various intestinal segments from rats, pigs and humans. The enzyme activity in intestinal homogenates was found to be both site-specific (duodenum > jejunum > ileum > colon) and species-dependent (rat > man > Pig)-... 

S. Except for oxido-reductases, transferases, and hydrolases, most ligases (enzymes that catalyze bond formation) are entirely substrate specific. Thus, fumarate hydratase (or fumarase) reversibly and stereospecifically adds water to fumaric acid to produce (S)-( — )-malic acid only (8) (Figure 1), and another enzyme, mesaconase, adds water to mesaconic acid to form (+ )-citramalic acid (9) (Figure 2). Although no extensive studies are available, it appears that neither fumarase nor mesaconase will add water stereospecifically to any other a,(3-unsaturated acid. 

Second, esterases have broad (or even very broad) and overlapping substrate specificities. For example, carboxylesterase (EC 3.1.1.1) also catalyzes reactions characteristic of a number of other hydrolases. The discovery that individual isoenzymes of carboxylesterases may be identical to or closely related to acylglycerol lipase, acylcamitine hydrolase, and palmitoyl-CoA hydrolase (see Sect. 2.4.3) has increased the confusion surrounding esterase classification [59], Many esterases are able to hydrolyze amides, thiolesters,... 

A number of rat liver carboxylesterases identified by their pI values are listed in Table 2.6 [73] five nonspecific carboxylesterases were purified from rat liver and were characterized according to their p/ values [61]. They appeared to be isoenzymes, since they had similar substrate specificities toward phenyl and naphthyl esters and monooleylglycerol. Subsequent studies, however, revealed different specificities with respect to their physiological substrates. The pI 5.2 and 5.6 enzymes were shown to be acylcamitine hydrolases (EC 3.1.1.28), and a p/ 6.0 enzyme an octanoylglycerol lipase. The p/... 

Three isoenzymes of carboxylesterase were purified from rat liver micro-somes and were named RL1, RL2, and RH1. These differ from each other in their response to hormone treatment, inducibility, substrate specificity, and immunological properties [75], It was shown that RL1, RL2, and RH1 resemble hydrolases p/ 6.2/6.4, pI 6.0, and pI 5.6, respectively. Enzyme RL2 was found to be identical to egasyn, a protein with esterase activity found in the endoplasmic reticulum [76], The role of egasyn is to stabilize glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31) by noncovalent binding to the microsomal membrane. 

Investigations of the hydrolysis of diesters has unveiled a wealth of information on various aspects of the specificity of hydrolases, in particular their substrate and product enantiospecificities, which are discussed in this section. But, first, the substrate specificity of these enzymes will be briefly introduced. 

Many studies have been performed in laboratory animals to better characterize the distribution, nature, regulation, kinetic properties, and substrate specificity of aspirin hydrolases, as they are sometimes designated (e.g., [41] [84-86]). 

Such examples bring additional evidence for the very broad substrate specificity and the catalytic versatility of hydrolases. 

Phosphatases are numerous and important enzymes (see also Chapt. 2). They are classified as phosphoric monoester hydrolases (phosphatases, EC 3.1.3), phosphoric diester hydrolases (phosphodiesterases, EC 3.1.4), triphosphoric monoester hydrolases (EC 3.1.5), diphosphoric monoester hydrolases (pyrophosphatases, EC 3.1.7), and phosphoric triester hydrolases (EC 3.1.8) [21] [63]. Most of these enzymes have a narrow substrate specificity restricted to endogenous compounds. However, some of these enzymes are active toward xenobiotic organophosphorus compounds, e.g., alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1), acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2), aryldialkylphosphatase (para-oxonase (PON1), EC 3.1.8.1) and diisopropyl-fluorophosphatase (tabunase, somanase, EC 3.1.8.2) [64 - 70]. However, such a classification is far from definitive and will evolve with further biochemical findings. Thus, a good correlation has been found in human blood samples between somanase and sarinase activities on the one hand, and paraoxonase (PON1) type Q isozyme concentrations on the other [71]. 

A number of enzymes known as sulfuric ester hydrolases (EC 3.1.6) are able to hydrolyze sulfuric acid esters. They comprise arylsulfatase (sulfatase, EC 3.1.6.1), steryl-sulfatase (steroid sulfatase, steryl-sulfate sulfohydrolase, arylsulfatase C, EC 3.1.6.2), choline-sulfatase (choline-sulfate sulfohydrolase, EC 3.1.6.6), and monomethyl-sulfatase (EC 3.1.6.16). Whereas mono-methyl-sulfatase is highly specific and does not act on higher homologues, arylsulfatase has a broad substrate specificity and is of particular significance in the hydrolysis of sulfate conjugates of phenols, be they endogenous compounds, drugs, or their metabolites [167-169],... 

According to biochemical separation, location, and substrate specificity, epoxide hydrolases (EH) have been divided into a number of groups. In mammals, the insoluble microsomal epoxide hydrolases and the soluble cytosolic epoxide hydrolases are enzymes of broad and complementary substrate specificity. 

In addition to these broadly acting enzymes, there exist epoxide hydrolases with narrow substrate specificities [20][48][53], namely ... 

Larsen, C. N., Krantz, B. A., and Wilkinson, K. D. Substrate specificity of deubiquitinating enzymes ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolases. Biochemistry, 1998, 37, 3358-68. 

Kim, I., Song, X., Vig, B.S., Mittal, S., Shin, H.-C., Lorenzi, P.J. and Amidon, G.L., A novel nucleoside prodrug-activating enzyme substrate specificity of biphenyl hydrolase-like protein. Mol. Pharm., 2004,1, 117-127. 

The resolution of a racemic substrate can be achieved with a range of hydrolases including lipases and esterases. Among them, two commercially available Upases, Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB trade name, Novozym-435) and Pseudomonas cepacia lipase (PCL trade name. Lipase PS-C), are particularly useful because they have broad substrate specificity and high enantioselectivity. They display satisfactory activity and good stability in organic media. In particular, CALB is highly thermostable so that it can be used at elevated temperature up to 100 °C. 

Hormone-treated pea seedlings generate two physically distinct cellulases (EC 3.2.1.4), with similar substrate specificities, Km values, and inhibitor sensitivities. They may be effectively separated by sequential extraction with buffer and salt and they appear to possess identical active sites but different apoprotein structures. The question arises of why this tissue should elaborate two hydrolases which catalyze the same reactions. The cellulase that forms first is synthesized by and accumulates in vesicles, where it would never encounter cellulose, while the other is concentrated on the inner wall microfibrils. It is suggested that only the latter cellulase functions to hydrolyze cellulose. A precursor/ product relationship between them could explain their distribution and developmental kinetics, but physical and chemical differences mitigate against this interpretation. 

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