INHIBITOR EFFECTOR

There are many examples of competitive inhibition by compounds that bear no structural relationship to the substrate. The inhibitor is generally an end product or near end product of a metabolic pathway the enzyme is one that catalyzes an early reaction (or a branch-point reaction) in the pathway. The phenomenon is called feedback inhibition. The inhibitor (effector, modulator, or regulator) combines with the enzyme at a position other than the active (substrate) site. The combination of the inhibitor with the enzyme causes a change in the conformation (tertiary or quaternary structure) of the enzyme that distorts the substrate site and thereby prevents the substrate from binding (Model 5). 

Surfaces 2. Precipitant type 2. Ligands, inhibitors, effectors... 

The reversible binding of small molecules (substrates. Inhibitors, effectors etc.) to enzyi es or related proteins has been a subject of intense studies by HD method. Selected recent examples can be found in refs. 64-77. Almost an equal number of publications concern the evaluation of binding parameters in higher order assemblies, such as receptors, membranes, protein aggregates etc, (refs. 78-89 see also Chapter 14). Reports of binding of metal ions to proteins (ref. 19,48,81-83, 90-92) and those vhich involve nucleid acids (ref. 49,93-95) should be mentioned. Applications of HD method to three-interacting component systems (such as metal ions and phosphates) are found in refs. 1-3,14,45,46,54-56,96-98 and in Chapter 4. 

Molybdate is also known as an inhibitor of the important enzyme ATP sulfurylase where ATP is adenosine triphosphate, which activates sulfate for participation in biosynthetic pathways (56). The tetrahedral molybdate dianion, MoO , substitutes for the tetrahedral sulfate dianion, SO , and leads to futile cycling of the enzyme and total inhibition of sulfate activation. Molybdate is also a co-effector in the receptor for steroids (qv) in mammalian systems, a biochemical finding that may also have physiological implications (57). 

The two states have the same affinity for ATP but differ with respect to their affinity for the substrate F6P, the allosteric effector ADP and the inhibitor PEP. Because of these differences in affinity, ligand binding can shift the equilibrium between the R and T states to favor one or the other state depending on which ligand is bound. 

The basic kinetic properties of this allosteric enzyme are clearly explained by combining Monod s theory and these structural results. The tetrameric enzyme exists in equilibrium between a catalytically active R state and an inactive T state. There is a difference in the tertiary structure of the subunits in these two states, which is closely linked to a difference in the quaternary structure of the molecule. The substrate F6P binds preferentially to the R state, thereby shifting the equilibrium to that state. Since the mechanism is concerted, binding of one F6P to the first subunit provides an additional three subunits in the R state, hence the cooperativity of F6P binding and catalysis. ATP binds to both states, so there is no shift in the equilibrium and hence there is no cooperativity of ATP binding. The inhibitor PEP preferentially binds to the effector binding site of molecules in the T state and as a result the equilibrium is shifted to the inactive state. By contrast the activator ADP preferentially binds to the effector site of molecules in the R state and as a result shifts the equilibrium to the R state with its four available, catalytically competent, active sites per molecule. 

First draw both Lineweaver-Burk plots and Hanes-Woolf plots for the following a Monod-Wyman-Changeux allosteric K enzyme system, showing separate curves for the kinetic response in (1) the absence of any effectors (2) the presence of allosteric activator A and (3) the presence of allosteric inhibitor I. Then draw a similar set of curves for a Monod-Wyman-Changeux allosteric Uenzyme system. 

Active caspases 8, 9 and 10 can convert caspase-3, the most abundant effector caspase from its pro-form to its active cleaved form. Cleavage of a number of different substrates by caspase-3 and also by caspase-6 and -7 which are two other executioner caspases besides caspase-3 then results in the typical morphology which is characteristic of apoptosis. Yet, the activation of caspase-3 and also of caspase-9 can be counteracted by IAPs, so called inhibitor of apoptosis proteins. However, concomitantly with cytochrome C also other proteins are released from mitochondria, including Smac/DIABLO. Smac/DIABLO and potentially other factors can interact with IAPs and thereby neutralize their caspase-inhibitory activity. This releases the breaks on the cell death program and allows apoptosis to ensue. 

Besides direct apoptosis effectors, there are a number of other diugs which influence the above explained apoptosis pathways more indirectly. This class of diugs includes molecules which inhibit survival pathways like e.g. the Ras/Raf kinase pathway, the NF-kB pathway and many others. Also inhibitors of survival cytokines which are sometimes produced by cancer cells in an autocrine fashion can render cells susceptible to apoptosis and, hence, effective cancer therapy. These include, but are not limited to, ligands for dependence receptors and cytokines like e.g. interleukin-4. 

Sorafenib is a multitargeted cancer therapy that inhibits VEGFR, PDGFR, KIT, fetal liver tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT-3), and the serine/threonine kinase RAF. RAF kinase is a key downstream effector of Ras in the MAPK/Ras signal-transduction pathway that has been linked to various cancers. Sorafenib is both a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and serine/threonine signal-transduction inhibitor. Sorafenib has been approved in renal cancer. 

Furthermore, peptidomimetic SH2 domain inhibitors for Src, such as AP-22408 have been designed that interfere with effector binding and thereby disrupt signal transduction. AP-22408 decreases bone resorption in animal studies and may be a promising drug to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases, such as Paget s disease and osteolytic bone metastasis. 

The lack of structural similarity between a feedback inhibitor and the substrate for the enzyme whose activity it regulates suggests that these effectors are not isosteric with a substrate but allosteric ( occupy another space ). Jacques Monod therefore proposed the existence of allosteric sites that are physically distinct from the catalytic site. Allosteric enzymes thus are those whose activity at the active site may be modulated by the presence of effectors at an allosteric site. This hypothesis has been confirmed by many lines of evidence, including x-ray crystallography and site-directed mutagenesis, demonstrating the existence of spatially distinct active and allosteric sites on a variety of enzymes. 

The most potent positive allosteric effector of phospho-ffuctokinase-1 and inhibitor of fructose-1,6-bisphos-phatase in liver is fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. It relieves inhibition of phosphofructokinase-1 by ATP and increases affinity for fructose 6-phosphate. It inhibits fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by increasing the for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Its concentration is under both substrate (allosteric) and hormonal control (covalent modification) (Figure 19-3). 

Activators (Guanine Nucleotide Exchanger) Inhibitors (GTPase) Effectors... 

L. L. Kiessling, J. K. Pontrello, and M. C. Schuster, Synthetic multivalent carbohydrate ligands as effectors or inhibitors of biological processes, in C.-H. Wong, (Ed.), Carbohydrate-Based Drug Discovery, Wiley-VCH Weinheim, Germany, 2003, pp. 575-608. 

---