Ribonuclease structure studies

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. 

Riehm, J.P., and Scheraga, H.A. (1965) Structural studies of ribonuclease. XVII. A reactive carboxyl group in ribonuclease. Biochemistry 4, 772. 

Ribonuclease H is a small, single domain protein that eleaves RNA from RNA-DNA hybrids. RNase H from E. coli T = 66 °C) has been structurally studied by NMR spectroscopy.Hydrogen exchange NMR experiments have been used to examine the structural distribution of stability in RNase H from T. thermophiliis = 86 °C) and to compare its stability with that of the homologous RNase H from the mesophilic E. The general distribution... 

Reported applications of DMA include the cross-linking of bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A (Hartman and Wold, 1967), treatment of erythrocyte membranes to reduce the effects of sickle cell anemia (Waterman et al., 1975), conjugation and analysis of the outer membrane proteins of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Newhall et al., 1980), protein structural studies of bovine a-crystalline (Siezen et al., 1980), cross-linking of hemoglobin S (Pennathur-Das et al., 1982), and forming S-carbomethoxy-valeramidine during hydrolysis of DMA (Mentzer et al., 1982). 

The great specificity of tyrosinase, the simplicity of monitoring its action spectrally, and in some cases, the discrimination shown among the several tyrosyl groups of a protein [it oxidizes only one of the six tyrosyl groups of ribonuclease (Yasuiiobu and Dandliker, 1957)] appear to recommend its serious consideration as a tool in protein structure studies. 

However, there are a number of other miscellaneous biological roles played by this complex. The [Co(NH3)6]3+ ion has been shown to inhibit the hammerhead ribozyme by displacing a Mn2+ ion from the active site.576 However, [Co(NH3)6]3+ does not inhibit ribonuclease H (RNase),577 topoisomerase I,578 or hairpin ribozyme,579 which require activation by Mg2+ ions. The conclusions from these studies were that an outer sphere complex formation between the enzyme and Mgaq2+ is occuring rather than specific coordination of the divalent ion to the protein. These results are in contrast to DNase I inhibition by the same hexaammine complex. Inhibition of glucose-induced insulin secretion from pancreatic cells by [Co(NH3)6]3+ has been found.580 Intracellular injection of [Co(NH3)6]3+ into a neurone has been found to cause characteristic changes to the structure of its mitochondria, and this offers a simple technique to label neuronal profiles for examination of their ultrastructures.581... 

This technique has been described as a general method of studying protein-protein interactions as well as a method for investigating the three-dimensional structure of individual proteins (Muller et al., 2001 Back et al., 2003 Dihazi and Sinz, 2003 Sinz, 2003 Sinz, 2006). It also has been used for the study of the interactions of cytochrome C and ribonuclease A (Pearson et al., 2002), to investigate the interaction of calmodulin with a specific peptide binder (Kalkhof et al., 2005a Schmidt et al., 2005), and for probing laminin self-interaction (Kalkhof et al., 2005b). 

Despite considerable biochemical work, high-resolution crystal structure determination of native RNase A and S, and some medium-resolution studies of RNase A-inhibitor complexes, a number of questions existed concerning the details of the catalytic mechanism and the role of specific amino acids. Study of the low-temperature kinetics and three-dimensional structures of the significant steps of the ribonuclease reaction was designed to address the following questions. 

The preceding summary and Fig. 20 present a frame-by-frame account of the pathway for ribonuclease catalysis, based predominandy on knowledge of the structures of the various intermediates and transition states involved. The ability to carry out such a study is dependent on three critical features (1) crystals of the enzyme which diffract sufficiently well to permit structural resolution to at least 2 A (2) compatibility of the enzyme, its crystals, and its catalytic kinetic parameters with cryoenzymology so as to permit the accumulation and stabilization of enzyme-substrate complexes and intermediates at subzero temperatures in fluid cryosolvents with crystalline enzyme and (3) the availability of suitable transition state analogs to mimic the actual transition states which are, of course, inaccessible due to their very short lifetimes. The results from this investigation demonstrate that this approach is feasible and can provide unparalleled information about an enzyme at work. 

The ultimate objective of an X-ray cryoenzymological study is the mapping of the structures of all kinetically significant species along the reaction pathway. In the case of ribonuclease A this has been largely achieved, as described above. Other enzymatic reactions now await application of the same techniques. Unfortunately, not all crystalline enzymes lend themselves to study by this method. In some cases it may be impossible to find a suitable cryoprotective mother liquor in others, the reaction may occur too rapidly at ordinary temperature. A reaction with Acat of 10 seconds and an activation enthalpy of —6 kcal mol will not be quenched even at — 75°C. The approach we have described in this article can be applied to only a small number of enzymes. Two likely candidates for successors to ribonuclease are the enzymes yeast triosephosphate isomerase and porcine pancreatic elastase. 

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