Synthesis and kinetic studies of diphenyl 1-(N-peptidylamino)alkanephosphonate esters and their biotinylated derivatives as inhibitors of serine proteases and probes for lymphocyte granzymes.

Diphenyl 1-(N-peptidylamino)alkanephosphonate esters are highly reactive, specific, and aqueously stable irreversible inhibitors which can be used to probe the functions of many serine proteases, including the lymphocyte granzymes. We synthesized 16 peptide phosphonates with Ala, Met, Phe, or Val P1 amino acid residues, including two biotinylated derivatives for future functional and biochemical characterization of granzymes. The reactivity of the inhibitors was characterized with human leukocyte elastase (HLE), porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE), bovine chymotrypsin, and the granzymes of natural killer (NK) cells, which include a number of proteolytic activities (Asp-ase, Met-ase, etc.) that cleave peptide substrates with these residues in the P1 position. The reactivity and specificity of the phosphonates depended on the length and sequence of the peptidyl moiety and on the leaving group. Z-Ala-Ala-AlaP(OPh)2 was a good inhibitor of HLE and PPE (k(obsd)/[I] = 38 and 30 M(-1) s(-1), respectively) and had little reactivity with chymotrypsin. Z-Phe-Pro-Phe-P(OPh)2 was a good inhibitor of chymotrypsin (k(obsd)/[I] = 17,000 M(-1) s(-1)) and had little reactivity with the elastases. The leaving group of Z-MetP(OPh-4-Cl)2 made it a more effective chymotrypsin inhibitor than Z-MetP(OPh)2 (k(obsd)/[I] values of 142 and 30 M(-1) s(-1), respectively). With granzymes, the compounds reacted with a fraction of the Met-ase, chymase, and Ser-ase activities and lacked reactivity with Asp-ase and tryptase. Z-MetP(OPh-4-Cl)2 was an excellent inhibitor of Met-ase 1. Bi-Aca-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2 appears to react specifically with one chymase while leaving other chymases untouched. Perforin-dependent lysis mediated by cytotoxic lymphocyte granules was inactivated by Z-Ala-Ala-AlaP(OPh)2, Z-MetP(OPh-4-Cl)2, Z-Leu-PheP(OPh)2, and Bi-Aca-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2. The biochemical properties and biological efficacy of these inhibitors make them suitable for cellular and physiological studies of granzyme function.

Determination of activable proacrosin/acrosin in bovine sperm using an irreversible isocoumarin serine protease inhibitor.

The activable proacrosin/acrosin levels in bovine sperm were examined using fluorescent staining and flow cytometry. The proportion of sperm with active acrosin were determined using the biotinylated isocoumarin serine protease inhibitor, Bi-Aca-Aca-OMe-IC (BIC). The presence of bound inhibitor on sperm was then determined by secondary labeling with avidin fluorescein conjugate. The proportion of sperm with activable proacrosin/acrosin was assessed by using detergent treatment to expose the active acrosin in intact sperm. The difference between untreated and detergent-treated aliquots was used to estimate the proportion of sperm with activable proacrosin/acrosin. In the 24-h stored samples from six bulls, the mean proportion of sperm with activable proacrosin/acrosin was 78.8 +/- 2.8%, whereas the mean proportion with exposed acrosin after cryopreservation of these samples was 55.8 +/- 4.1%. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found among bulls in the proportion of sperm with activable proacrosin/acrosin both before and after cryopreservation. Activable proacrosin/acrosin levels in samples of cryopreserved sperm from five bulls were not correlated with fertility. These results do indicate, however, that the irreversible isocoumarin serine protease inhibitor BIC can be used to determine the proportion of sperm cells that retain activable proacrosin/acrosin after cryopreservation and thawing.

Chymase-directed serine protease inhibitor that reacts with a single 30-kDa granzyme and blocks NK-mediated cytotoxicity.

Cytotoxic NK and T lymphocytes kill virally infected cells within minutes without causing damage to themselves or bystander cells. One mechanism of killing involves exocytosis of granules containing serine proteases and perforin. Serine protease inhibitors block killing of target cells mediated by the cytotoxic lymphocytes. There are at least five different serine protease activities in cytolytic granules. Ten different serine protease sequences have been identified with the use of cDNA-specific clones. It is not known whether only one or several of these serine proteases are essential for cytolytic activity. In this study we show that an irreversible serine protease inhibitor, biotinyl-Aca-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2, selectively inhibits a chymotrypsin-like (chymase) serine protease activity of rat RNK-16 granule extracts. Under the same conditions, only one 30-kDa (reduced) band was detected on protein blots. Furthermore, only one of three chymase peaks separated by hydrophobic interaction chromatography was inhibited. When this granzyme was inhibited, granule-mediated lysis of erythrocytes was diminished. NK cell killing was completely blocked when biotinyl-Aca-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2 was added to cytotoxicity assays at 200 microM with rat splenocytes as effectors. By confocal fluorescence microscopy, we show that this inhibitor localizes to distinct regions within RNK-16 cells and rat NK cells. Inhibitor treatment of intact cells inactivated the chymase activity and reduced lysis found in their dense organelles. Together these data indicate that biotinyl-Aca-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2 inhibits a granule chymase that is essential to cytolytic activity of NK cells.

Fluorescent derivatives of diphenyl [1-(N-peptidylamino)alkyl]phosphonate esters: synthesis and use in the inhibition and cellular localization of serine proteases.

Three fluorescein- and one Texas Red-labeled derivatives of [1-(N-dipeptidylamino)alkyl]phosphonate diphenyl esters were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of serine proteases. The two fluorophores, FITC and TXR, were attached to the peptide phosphonates via an epsilon-aminocaproyl unit that acts as a spacer group and facilitates the binding of the phosphonate inhibitor to the targeted enzymes. These derivatives are potent and specific inhibitors of chymotrypsin, porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE), and human leukocyte elastase (HLE). FTC-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2 (3) inhibited chymotrypsin very potently (k(obsd)/[I] = 9500 M-1 s-1) and 600-fold better than it did PPE (k(obsd)/[I] = 16 M-1 s-1). FTC-Aca-Ala-Ala-MetP(OPh)2 (1) was a more effective inhibitor of chymotrypsin (k(obsd)/[I] = 190 M-1 s-1) than PPE and HLE (k(obsd)/[I] = 13 and 22 M-1 s-1, respectively). Only HLE and PPE were inhibited by FTC-Aca-Ala-Ala-AlaP(OPh)2 (2) (k(obsd)/[I] = 41 and 22 M-1 s-1, respectively). The specificity of these inhibitors toward the targeted serine proteases depends on the sequence of the tripeptide portion and was not affected by the presence of the fluorescent label. Trypsin, for instance, was not inhibited by any of these compounds. In some cases, the inhibitory potency was increased by the fluorescent label. For example, chymotrypsin was inhibited by the fluorescent compounds, FTC-Aca-Ala-Ala-MetP(OPh)2 (1) and FTC-Aca-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2 (3), more potently than by the nonfluorescent compounds, Boc-Ala-Ala-MetP(OPh)2 (5) and Z-Phe-Leu-PheP(OPh)2 (7).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biotinylated isocoumarins, new inhibitors and reagents for detection, localization, and isolation of serine proteases.

Eight new biotinylated, mechanism-based isocoumarin serine protease inhibitors have been designed and synthesized to detect, localize, and isolate serine proteases. Isocoumarins that contain a 4-chloro group, a biotinylated substituent at the 7-position, and different 3-alkoxy groups are inhibitors of various serine proteases including human leukocyte elastase (HLE), porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE), trypsin, human recombinant granzyme A, chymotrypsin, and cathepsin G. Insertion of spacers between the isocoumarin moiety and the biotin moiety enhanced enzyme inhibitory potency and may also promote binding of the enzyme-inhibitor complex to avidin. The 3-alkoxy groups conferred selectivity toward different serine proteases with chymotrypsin being inhibited effectively by compounds with 3-phenylethoxy groups while derivatives with 3-methoxy, ethoxy, or propoxy groups were potent inhibitors of HLE and moderate inhibitors of PPE. Full enzymatic activity was regained after the immediate addition of hydroxylamine to the inactivated chymotrypsin and PPE derivatives, which indicated that a simple acyl enzyme derivative is formed initially in the inhibition reaction. Egg avidin did not effect the rate of spontaneous enzyme reactivation rate while streptavidin accelerated the reactivation reaction. PPE inhibited by 7-[[6-(biotinylamino)caproyl]amino]-4-chloro-3- ethoxyisocoumarin (BIC 5) or 7-[[6-[[6-(biotinylamino)caproyl]amino] caproyl]amino]-4-chloro-3-methoxyisocoumarin (BIC 7) was bound to immobilized avidin columns. Most of inhibited PPE could be eluted from the monomeric or tetrameric avidin columns but only a portion (40-70%) of the enzyme was active due to the partial formation of a stable alkylated enzyme derivative during the isolation process.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)