Oxidation of sulfhydryl groups of ribonuclease inhibitor in epithelial cells is sufficient for its intracellular degradation.

Ribonuclease inhibitor (RI) is a cytoplasmic protein (50 kDa) that inhibits a variety of pancreatic type RNases. The porcine inhibitor contains 30 cysteine residues, all of which occur in the reduced state. It is well known that in vitro modification of the thiol groups inactivates the protein and greatly increases its susceptibility to proteolysis. Here we show that oxidation of thiol groups in RI can also occur within the cell. Induction of an oxidative insult in cultured LLC-PK1 cells, either with a general oxidant, H2O2, or with a thiol-specific oxidant, diamide, led to the loss of RI activity. By using specific antibodies it was demonstrated that the decrease correlated with a decline in the amount of RI protein in the cells. Furthermore, analysis of RI mRNA levels and half-life of the protein excluded inhibition of the synthesis of RI as the cause of its depletion. The results indicate that oxidation of thiol groups in RI is sufficient to cause its rapid inactivation and disappearance from the cell. Most likely this results from intracellular degradation of the protein.

Inactivation of ribonuclease inhibitor by thiol-disulfide exchange.

Porcine ribonuclease inhibitor (RI) contains 30 1/2-cystinyl residues, all of which occur in the reduced form. Reaction of the native protein with 5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) resulted in the release of 30 mol of the product 5-mercapto-2-nitrobenzoate, and the loss of the RNase inhibitory activity. A linear relationship between the degree of modification and inactivation was observed. The rate of modification was greatly increased in the presence of 6 M guanidinium HCl. Reaction with substoichiometric amounts of 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) was found to yield a mixture of fully reduced active molecules, and fully oxidized inactive ones, but no partially oxidized forms were detected. This suggests that an "all-or-none" type of modification and inactivation took place. All 1/2-cystinyl residues in the inactive, monomeric inhibitor had formed disulfide bridges, judged by the absence of either free thiol groups or mixed disulfides with 5-mercapto-2-nitrobenzoate. This fully disulfide-cross-linked molecule had an open conformation compared to the native one, as shown by gel filtration and limited proteolysis. Reaction of phenylarsinoxide with vicinal dithiols yields products that are much more stable than those with monothiols. Titration of RI with this reagent yielded complete inactivation at a reagent/thiol ratio of 0.5. Taken together, these observations suggest that the thiol groups in RI have a diminished reactivity due to three-dimensional constraints. After the initial modification of a small number of thiol groups, a conformational change occurs which causes an increase in reactivity of the remaining thiols. The thiol groups are situated close enough together to permit the formation of 15 disulfide bridges in the inactive molecule.

Theoretical treatment of tight-binding inhibition of an enzyme. Ribonuclease inhibitor as special case.

A general treatment of very tight-binding inhibition is described. It was applied to purified endogenous RNAase inhibitor from rat testis. This treatment discriminates among the different types of inhibition and allows for calculation of the inhibition parameters. When very tight-binding inhibitions are studied at similar molar concentrations of both enzyme and inhibitor, a further approach is required. This is also described and applied to the RNAase inhibitor. A Ki value of 3.2 x 10(-12) M was found for this inhibitor protein. On the basis of this result, it was considered inappropriate to classify this type of inhibitor in terms of competitive or non-competitive, as has been done for such inhibitors so far. Functional consequences of this analysis are discussed for the RNAase-RNAase inhibitor system.

Ribonuclease-RNAase inhibitor complex from rat testis. Purification of the RNAase inhibitor.

The RNAase inhibitor from rat testis has been purified to homogeneity. The purified protein appeared as a single spot after two-dimensional electrophoresis. The calculated Mr value is 48,000 which coincides with that obtained for the native protein on gel filtration chromatography, thus indicating a single polypeptide chain. The amino acid composition and the characteristics of the inhibitor activity are reported and compared to those of other RNAase inhibitors from mammalian tissues. The naturally occurring ribonuclease-RNAase inhibitor complex from rat testis has also been studied and compared with the rat testis inhibitor-RNAase A as model complex. The ribonuclease released from the natural rat testis complex showed heterogeneity of size. The significance of the rat testis ribonuclease/RNAase inhibitor system is discussed in terms of the important functionality of this organ.

Purification, molecular and enzymic characterization of an acid RNase from the insect Ceratitis capitata.

An acid ribonuclease has been purified from the insect Ceratitis capitata. The specific activity of the purified enzyme is 580 units/mg. This enzyme is a single polypeptide chain of about 35.5 kDa, containing only one disulfide bridge and no free -SH groups. The A0.1%1cm at 280 nm is 1.90. The hydrodynamic radius of the native enzyme is 2.5 nm. The secondary structure of this RNase is composed of 10% alpha-helix, 31% beta-structure and 59% aperiodic conformation with an average number of residues per helical segment of 10, based on circular dichroic measurements. Optimum parameters for the enzyme activity are pH 5.5, 0.15 M ionic strength and 40 degrees C. Divalent cations are not required for the enzymic catalysis. This enzyme has been characterized as cyclizing endoribonuclease.

On the degradation of intracellular RNA by ribonucleases.

The kinetic and the specificity of two RNases purified from the insect. C. capitata have been studied. These two enzymes exhibit preference to degrade large polynucleotides. The alkaline enzyme is located in the soluble cellular fraction and the acid enzyme is also associated to microsomes and lysosomes. A hypothesis about the physiological role of these two insect enzymes in the degradation of the intracellular RNA is proposed.