Mercaptoethanol disulfide reduction

To further exploit the potential usefiilness of this new family of clusters, monoadduct 54 was saponified into 55 (0.05 M NaOH, quant) and condensed to L-lysine methyl ester using 2-ethoxy-l-ethoxycarbonyl-l,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ) to give extended dimer 56 in 50 % yield together with monoadduct in 15 % yield [75]. Additionally, tert-butyl thioethers 52 could be transformed into thiols by a two step process involving 2-nitrobenzenesulfenyl chloride (2-N02-PhSCl, HOAc, r.t, 3h, 84%) followed by disulfide reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol (60%). Curiously, attempts to directly obtain these thiolated telomers by reaction with thioacetic acid f ed. These telomers were slightly better ligands then lactose in inhibition of binding of peanut lectin to a polymeric lactoside [76]. 

The unique characteristics of DTT and DTE are mainly reflected in their ability to form intramolecular ring structures upon oxidation. Disulfide reductants such as 2-mercaptoethanol, 2-mercaptoethylamine, glutathione, thioglycolate, and 2,3-dimercaptopropanol cleave disulfide bonds in a two-step reaction that involves the II formation of a mixed disulfide (Fig. 66). In the second stage of the reducing process, the... 

Dissolve the macromolecule containing sulfhydryl groups to be blocked in a buffer having a pH of 6.5—7.5. Sodium phosphate (0.01—0.1 M) at pH 7.2 works well. Avoid amine-containing buffers, since an excess of amines may cause some reactivity with the maleimide groups. Also, avoid the presence of sulfhydryl-containing disulfide reductants such as DTT or 2-mercaptoethanol, which will rapidly react with NEM. 

FIGURE 5.18 Methods for cleavage of disulfide bonds in proteins, (a) Oxidative cleavage by reaction with performic acid, (b) Reductive cleavage with snlfliydryl compounds. Disulfide bridges can be broken by reduction of the S—S link with snlfliydryl agents such as 2-mercaptoethanol or dithiothreitol. Because reaction between the newly reduced —SH groups to re-establish disulfide bonds is a likelihood, S—S reduction must be followed by —SH modification (1) alkylation with iodoac-etate (ICH,COOH) or (2) modification with 3-bromopropylamine (Br— (CH,)3—NH,). 

Dithiothreitol (DTT) and dithioerythritol (DTE) are the trans and cis isomers of the compound 2,3-dihydroxy-1,4-dithiolbutane. The reducing potential of these versatile reagents was first described by Cleland in 1964. Due to their low redox potential (—0.33 V) they are able to reduce virtually all accessible biological disulfides and maintain free thiols in solution despite the presence of oxygen. The compounds are fully water-soluble with very little of the offensive odor of the 2-mercaptoethanol they were meant to replace. Since Cleland s original report, literally thousands of references have cited the use of mainly DTT for the reduction of cystine and other forms of disulfides. 

The reduction of disulfides by 2-mercaptoethanol proceeds through a mixed disulfide intermediate. 

Many extracellular proteins like immunoglobulins, protein hormones, serum albumin, pepsin, trypsin, ribonuclease, and others contain one or more indigenous disulfide bonds. For functional and structural studies of proteins, it is often necessary to cleave these disulfide bridges. Disulfide bonds in proteins are commonly reduced with small, soluble mercaptans, such as DTT, TCEP, 2-mercaptoethanol, thioglycolic acid, cysteine, etc. High concentrations of mercaptans (molar excess of 20- to 1,000-fold) are usually required to drive the reduction to completion. 

Cleland (1964) showed that DTT and DTE are superior reagents in reducing disulfide bonds in proteins (see previous discussion, this section). DTT and DTE have low oxidation-reduction potential and are capable of reducing protein disulfides at concentrations far below that required with 2-mercaptoethanol. However, even these reagents have to be used in approximately 20-fold molar excess in order to get close to 100 percent reduction of a protein. 

The disulfide bonds can be reductively cleaved by thiols (e.g., mercaptoethanol, HO-CH2-CH2-SH). If urea at a high concentration is also added, the protein unfolds completely. In this form (left), it is up to 35 nm long. Polar (green) and apolar (yellow) side chains are distributed randomly. The denatured enzyme is completely inactive, because the catalytically important amino acids (pink) are too far away from each other to be able to interact with each other and with the substrate. 

To avoid reduction of disulfide bonds, use 0.2 mg/ml tyrosin instead of 2-mercaptoethanol. 

Antigen unmasking on sections of paraffin-embedded tissues can be accomplished by reduction of disulfide bonds by treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol, followed by alkylation with sodium iodoacetate to prevent the bonds from reforming. This method has been used for unmasking a Kunitz protease inhibitory domain epitope of Alzheimer s amyloid precursor protein in human brain (Campbell et al., 1999). Sections are reduced with a mixture of 0.14 M 2-mercaptoethanol in 0.5 M Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) and 1 mM EDTA for 3 hr in the dark at room temperature. After being washed for 3 min in distilled water, the sections are treated with a mixture of 250 mg/ml iodoacetic acid in 0.1 M NaOH, diluted 1 10 in 0.5 M Tris-HCl (pH 8.0) and 1 mM EDTA for 20 min in the dark. 

A final problem is to determine which cysteines are connected by disulfide links. Usually, the disulfide bonds are broken by either oxidative cleavage with performic acid or reductive cleavage with 2-mercaptoethanol before initial sequencing is undertaken ... 

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