Homocysteine impairs the nitric oxide synthase pathway: role of asymmetric dimethylarginine.

BACKGROUND: Hyperhomocysteinemia is a putative risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which also impairs endothelium-dependent vasodilatation. A number of other risk factors for cardiovascular disease may exert their adverse vascular effects in part by elevating plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase. Accordingly, we determined if homocysteine could increase ADMA levels. METHODS AND RESULTS: When endothelial or nonvascular cells were exposed to DL-homocysteine or to its precursor L-methionine, ADMA concentration in the cell culture medium increased in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. This effect was associated with the reduced activity of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), the enzyme that degrades ADMA. Furthermore, homocysteine-induced accumulation of ADMA was associated with reduced nitric oxide synthesis by endothelial cells and segments of pig aorta. The antioxidant pyrrollidine dithiocarbamate preserved DDAH activity and reduced ADMA accumulation. Moreover, homocysteine dose-dependently reduced the activity of recombinant human DDAH in a cell free system, an effect that was due to a direct interaction between homocysteine and DDAH. CONCLUSION: Homocysteine post-translationally inhibits DDAH enzyme activity, causing ADMA to accumulate and inhibit nitric oxide synthesis. This may explain the known effect of homocysteine to impair endothelium-mediated nitric oxide-dependent vasodilatation.

Structural, functional analysis and localization of the human CAP18 gene.

CAP18 is an antimicrobial protein found in specific granules of PMNs. The human CAP18 (HCAP18) gene was cloned from a human genomic phage library. Sequence analysis revealed the HCAP18 gene to have 4 exons spanning 3 kb, including 700 bp of upstream DNA. Using 3' RACE no homologs of human HCAP18 were found in human bone marrow or leukocyte populations. By PCR analysis of a somatic cell mapping panel and fluorescence in situ hybridization of a genomic clone to metaphase chromosomes the gene was mapped to chromosome band 3p21.3. Like several other genes expressed late in PMN development the CAP18 gene did not contain typical TATA box or CCAAT sequences. Expression in Cos 7 cells permitted limited mapping of the promoter function in upstream fragments of the HCAP18 gene. Western blot, Northern blot and RT-PCR analysis show HCAP18 to be produced specifically in granulocytes. This work forms the groundwork for future analysis of the genetic regulation of this antimicrobial protein during PMN differentiation.

Identification of functional and structural amino-acid residues by parsimonious mutagenesis.

For in vitro evolution of protein function, we previously proposed using parsimonious mutagenesis (PM), a technique where mutagenic oligodeoxynucleotides (oligo) are designed to minimize coding sequence redundancy and limit the number of amino acid (aa) residues which do not retain parental structural features. For this work, PM was used to increase the affinity of C6.5, a human single-chain Fv (scFv) that binds the glycoprotein tumor antigen, c-erbB-2. A phage antibody library was created where 19 aa located in three of the heavy (H) and light (L) chain antigen-binding loops (L1, L3 and H2) were simultaneously mutated. After four rounds of selection, 50% of scFv had a lower dissociation rate constant (koff) than the parental scFv. The Kd of these scFv ranged from twofold (Kd=7.0 x 10(-9) M) to sixfold (Kd=2.4 x 10(-9) M) lower than the parental scFv (Kd=1.6 x 10(-8) M). In higher affinity scFv, substitutions occurred at 10/19 of the positions, with 21/28 substitutions occurring at only four positions, two in H2, and one each in L1 and L3. Only the wild type (wt) aa was observed at 9/19 aa. Based on a model of C6.5, seven of the nine conserved aa have a structural role in the variable domain, either in maintaining the main chain conformation of the loop, or in packing on the H-chain variable domain. Two of the conserved aa are solvent exposed, suggesting they may play a critical role in recognition. Thus, PM identified three types of aa: structural aa, functional aa which modulate affinity, and functional aa, which are critical for recognition. Since the sequence space was not completely sampled, higher affinity scFv could be produced by subjecting functional aa which modulate affinity to a higher rate of mutation. Furthermore, PM could prove useful for modifying function in other proteins that belong to structurally related families.

Green fluorescent protein: untapped potential in immunotechnology.

Many invertebrates produce bioluminescence using green-fluorescent proteins (GFPs) as energy-transfer acceptors. GFPs fluoresce in vivo upon receiving energy from either a luciferase-oxyluciferin excited-state complex or a Ca(2+)-activated photoprotein depending upon the organism. These highly fluorescent proteins are unique due to the chemical nature of their chromophore, which is comprised of modified amino acid residues within the polypeptide chain. Recently GFP was sequenced and cloned. GFP, GFP mutants or related proteins with altered spectra will have widespread use as a markers of gene expression and as a protein tags in cell culture and in multicellular organisms. Many of the uses of fluorescent-labeled proteins or antibodies in immunotechnology will be improved by the use of GFP. Many new applications were discussed at a recent international symposium [1].

Variable region sequence modulates periplasmic export of a single-chain Fv antibody fragment in Escherichia coli.

Using PCR, we have cloned antibody heavy and light chain variable region (VH and VL) coding sequences specific for a recombinant hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and assembled these for expression as single-chain Fv (scFv) fragments in Escherichia coli periplasm using the ompA signal peptide. The vectors also encoded N- or C-terminal His6 extensions to allow for the purification of the expressed proteins using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). We found that the VH-linker-VL configuration of the scFv was not exported to the periplasm but remained associated with cellular insoluble material, from which it could be extracted, renatured to its active form by gentle dialysis and purified using IMAC. The molecular size of the scFv suggests that the ompA signal peptide was not processed. Based on previous reports, we hypothesized that the arginine in framework 1 (FR1) of the VH might interfere with translocation to the periplasm by means of the signal peptide. Because no arginines are present in FR1 of VL, we reversed the order of the V-regions in the scFv and observed efficient export of the active scFv to the periplasm. Furthermore, when the arginine in FR1 of VH was mutated to glycine in the original VH-linker-VL construct, active scFv was also exported to the periplasm. Thus, exposed positive charges near the signal peptide may account for at least some of the often-encountered difficulties in bacterial scFv expression.

Protease-dependent streptomycin sensitivity in E. coli--a system for protease inhibitor selection.

We have developed a bacterial cell system in which the activity of an expressed heterologous protease confers a dominant streptomycin-sensitive (strs) phenotype on the cell. This phenotype owes its high selectivity to the fact that streptomycin (strep) resistance, which is conferred on E. coli by mutants of ribosomal protein S12, is highly recessive to strep sensitivity. Thus, when strep-resistant (strr) strains of E. coli are transformed to co-express the wild-type allele of S12 in addition to the mutant allele, their sensitivity to strep increases by a factor of 100-1000. Similarly, we found that when the same strr strains were transformed to co-express a heterologous protease and an inactive fusion of S12 with a substrate of the protease, the strep sensitivity of the cells increased approximately 100-fold. This effect was strictly dependent on correct cleavage of the S12 precursor, required only modest levels of expression of protease and substrate, and could be competitively inhibited by co-expression of an alternative substrate gene. This system thus appears to be well-suited to the identification of protease inhibitors, either by selection from libraries of endogenously expressed random peptide-encoding genes, or by screening synthetic or natural products libraries. Protease-dependent dominant phenotypes may be more sensitive and appropriate than the more commonly used recessive phenotypes for proteases which are activating enzymes.

Human CAP18: a novel antimicrobial lipopolysaccharide-binding protein.

CAP18 (18-kDa cationic antimicrobial protein) is a protein originally identified and purified from rabbit leukocytes on the basis of its capacity to bind and inhibit various activities of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Here we report the cloning of human CAP18 and characterize the anti-LPS activity of the C-terminal fragment. Oligonucleotide probes designed from the rabbit CAP18 cDNA were used to identify human CAP18 from a bone marrow cDNA library. The cDNA encodes a protein composed of a 30-amino-acid signal peptide, a 103-amino-acid N-terminal domain of unknown function, and a C-terminal domain of 37 amino acids homologous to the LPS-binding antimicrobial domain of rabbit CAP18, designated CAP18(104-140). A human CAP18-specific antiserum was generated by using CAP18 expressed as a fusion protein with the maltose-binding protein. Western blots (immunoblots) with this antiserum showed specific expression of human CAP18 in granulocytes. Synthetic human CAP18(104-140) and a more active truncated fragment, CAP18(104-135), were shown to (i) bind to erythrocytes coated with diverse strains of LPS, (ii) inhibit LPS-induced release of nitric oxide from macrophages, (iii) inhibit LPS-induced generation of tissue factor, and (iv) protect mice from LPS lethality. CAP18(104-140) may have therapeutic utility for conditions associated with elevated concentrations of LPS.

Antibody engineering by parsimonious mutagenesis.

The human monoclonal antibody (humAb) problem has largely been solved with the aid of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [Larrick et al., Bio/Technology 7 (1989a) 934-938; Larrick et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 160 (1989b) 1250-1256; Chiang et al., BioTechniques 7 (1989) 360-366]. Phage display has now made it possible to recover humAb with primary response level affinities (approx. 10(6) M-1) for virtually any antigen (including self antigens) from comprehensive libraries of B-cell repertoires from non-immunized humans [Marks et al., J. Mol. Biol. 222 (1991) 581-597; Marks et al., Bio/Technology 10 (1992) 779-783; Griffiths et al., EMBO J. 12 (1993) 725-734]. This means that the goal of therapeutic humAb without immunization is within reach. However, in order to achieve the affinities generally required for therapeutic use (> or = 10(9) M-1), reliable methods will be needed to complete the affinity maturation process in vitro. Available X-ray crystallographic data and energy calculations indicate that only a fraction of the substantial contact surface between the Ab and protein antigens contribute significantly to affinity. Thus, the remaining contact surface presents multiple opportunities to develop additional high-affinity contacts, needing only a means to identify them. To this end, we have developed a computer-assisted method for oligodeoxyribonucleotide-directed scanning mutagenesis, called parsimonious mutagenesis (PM), whereby all three complementarity-determining regions (CDR) of a variable region (V-region) gene can be simultaneously and thoroughly searched for improved variants in libraries of manageable size. These libraries are made with low-redundancy 'doping' codons and biased nucleotide (nt) mixtures designed to maximize the abundance of combining sites with predetermined proportions of preselected sets of alternative amino acids (aa). This allows the library to 'probe' the surface of the antigen one or a few aa residues at a time with a wide selection of aa side chains to search out and identify new high-affinity contacts. In addition to affinity maturation in vitro, PM can also be used to remove unwanted cross-reactivities and to 'reshape' rodent mAb for human therapeutic use.

A novel variety of 4.5 S RNA from Codium fragile chloroplasts.

An unusual new chloroplast RNA has been isolated and sequenced in the siphonous green alga, Codium fragile. This RNA is 94 nucleotides in length, has an unusually high A + U content (73%), contains no modified residues, and is as abundant as a single chloroplast tRNA species. Although this RNA is 4.5 S in size, it bears little sequence homology to the widely found and highly conserved 4.5 S RNAs present in the chloroplasts of higher plants. Nevertheless, this RNA may indeed by analogous to the higher plant 4.5 S RNAs, since the Codium 4.5 S RNA has the potential to form a secondary structure which in many respects is remarkably similar to that of known chloroplast 4.5 S RNAs, and hybridization data strongly suggests that the 4.5 S RNA is part of the ribosomal RNA operon, as is the case in higher plant chloroplasts.