NADH-quinone oxidoreductase: PSST subunit couples electron transfer from iron-sulfur cluster N2 to quinone.

The proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.3) is the largest and least understood enzyme complex of the respiratory chain. The mammalian mitochondrial enzyme (also called complex I) contains more than 40 subunits, whereas its structurally simpler bacterial counterpart (NDH-1) in Paracoccus denitrificans and Thermus thermophilus HB-8 consists of 14 subunits. A major unsolved question is the location and mechanism of the terminal electron transfer step from iron-sulfur cluster N2 to quinone. Potent inhibitors acting at this key region are candidate photoaffinity probes to dissect NADH-quinone oxidoreductases. Complex I and NDH-1 are very sensitive to inhibition by a variety of structurally diverse toxicants, including rotenone, piericidin A, bullatacin, and pyridaben. We designed (trifluoromethyl)diazirinyl[3H]pyridaben ([3H]TDP) as our photoaffinity ligand because it combines outstanding inhibitor potency, a suitable photoreactive group, and tritium at high specific activity. Photoaffinity labeling of mitochondrial electron transport particles was specific and saturable. Isolation, protein sequencing, and immunoprecipitation identified the high-affinity specifically labeled 23-kDa subunit as PSST of complex I. Immunoprecipitation of labeled membranes of P. denitrificans and T. thermophilus established photoaffinity labeling of the equivalent bacterial NQO6. Competitive binding and enzyme inhibition studies showed that photoaffinity labeling of the specific high-affinity binding site of PSST is exceptionally sensitive to each of the high-potency inhibitors mentioned above. These findings establish that the homologous PSST of mitochondria and NQO6 of bacteria have a conserved inhibitor-binding site and that this subunit plays a key role in electron transfer by functionally coupling iron-sulfur cluster N2 to quinone.

Comparative studies of O,O-dialkyl-O-chloromethylchloroformimino phosphates: interaction with neuropathy target esterase and acetylcholinesterase.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and neuropathy target esterase (neurotoxic esterase, NTE) are two major target enzymes for organophosphorus (OP) esters. The relative potency of an OP ester to react with AChE or with NTE in vitro correlates with its relative potency in vivo to cause acute toxicity (death) or organopohosphate-induced delayed neurotoxicity (OPIDN). On this basis extrapolation from in vitro to in vivo data now seems justifiable to predict risk of OPIDN. The kinetics of NTE and AChE inhibition by experimental pesticides of the general formula (RO)2P(O)ON=CClCH2Cl, where R = methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, propyl, isobutyl, butyl, pentyl, has been studied. Compounds with short R (methyl, ethyl) were shown to be far more potent inhibitors of AChE than NTE. Both anti-NTE activity, selectivity for NTE and, correspondingly, the propensity of compounds to cause OPIDN rise with increasing their hydrophobicity. A high value of ki(NTE)/ki(AChE) for R = pentyl suggests that this compound would have the potential to cause OPIDN at doses lower than the LD50. A quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) analysis indicated that NTE and AChE have different structural and electronic requirements for their respective OP inhibitors.

Isolation and characterization of an evolutionary precursor of human monoamine oxidases A and B.

An interesting flavoprotein-type monoamine oxidase (MAO) was recently isolated from Aspergillus niger and cloned [Schilling, B. & Lerch, K. (1995a) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1243, 529-537; Schilling, B. & Lerch, K. (1995b) Mol. Gen. Genet. 247, 430-438]. The properties of this MAO, as well as a substantial part of its amino acid sequence, resemble those of both MAO A and B from higher animals, raising the possibility that it may be an evolutionary precursor of these mitochondrial enzymes. It differs from MAO A and B in several respects, however, including the fact that it is soluble and of peroxisomal location and that the FAD is non-covalently attached. We have overexpressed the fungal enzyme (MAO-N) in Escherichia coli and isolated it in pure form. Since several of the observations of previous workers on MAO-N could not be reproduced, we have reexamined its substrate specificity, interaction with reversible and irreversible inhibitors and other catalytic and molecular properties. MAO-N has a considerably higher turnover number on many aliphatic and aromatic amines than either form of the mammalian enzyme. Some aspects of the substrate specificity resemble those of MAO B, while others are similar to MAO A, including biphasic kinetics in double reciprocal plots. Contrary to a previous report [Schilling, B. & Lerch, K. (1995a) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1243, 529-537], however, the fungal enzyme does not oxidize serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine or other biogenic amines. MAO-N is irreversibly inhibited by stoichiometric amounts of both (-)deprenyl and clorgyline in a mechanism-based reaction, forming flavocyanine adducts with N5 of the FAD, like the mammalian enzymes, but inactivation is much faster with clorgyline than deprenyl, suggesting a closer resemblance to MAO A than B. The dissociation constants for a large number of reversible competitive inhibitors have been determined for MAO-N and comparison with similar values for MAO A and B again pointed to a greater similarity to the former than the latter.

Active sites residues of beef liver carnitine octanoyltransferase (COT) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT-II).

The carnitine acyltransferases which catalyse the reversible transfer of fatty acyl groups between carnitine and coenzyme A have been proposed to contain a catalytic histidine. Here, the chemical reactivity of active site groups has been used to demonstrate differences between the active sites of beef liver carnitine octanoyltransferase (COT) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-II (CPT-II). Treatment of CPT-II with the histidine-selective reagent, diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC), resulted in simple linear pseudo-first-order kinetics. The reversal of the inhibition by hydroxylamine and the pKa (7.1) of the modified residue indicated that the residue was a histidine. The order of the inactivation kinetics showed that 1mol of histidine was modified per mol of CPT-II. When COT was treated with DEPC the kinetics of inhibition were biphasic with an initial rapid loss of activity followed by a slower loss of activity. The residue reacting in the faster phase of inhibition was not a histidine but possibly a serine. The modification of this residue did not lead to complete loss of activity suggesting that a direct role in catalysis is unlikely. It was deduced that the residue modified by DEPC in the slower phase was a lysine and indeed fluorodinitrobenzene (FDNB) inactivated COT with linear pseudo-first-order kinetics. The COT peptide containing the FDNB-labelled lysine was isolated and sequenced. Alignment of this sequence placed it 10 amino acids downstream of the putative active-site histidine.

Inhibitor probes of the quinone binding sites of mammalian complex II and Escherichia coli fumarate reductase.

The structural and catalytic properties of beef heart succinate dehydrogenase (succinate-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, complex II) and Escherichia coli fumarate reductase are remarkably similar. One exception is that whereas electron exchange between the mammalian enzyme and its quinone pool is inhibited by thenoyltrifluoroacetone and carboxanilides, the enzyme from E. coli is not sensitive to these inhibitors. The lack of good inhibitors has seriously hampered the elucidation of the mechanism of quinone oxidation/reduction in the E. coli enzyme. We have previously reported (Tan, A. K., Ramsay, R. R., Singer, T. P., and Miyoshi, H. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 19328-19333) that 2-alkyl-4,6-dinitrophenols inhibit mammalian complexes I, II, and III, but with different potencies and kinetic characteristics. Based on these studies we have selected a series of 2-alkyl-4,6-dinitrophenols which proved to be very effective noncompetitive inhibitors of mammalian complex II, particularly when acting in the direction of quinone reduction, the physiological event. These compounds turned out to be even more potent inhibitors of E. coli fumarate reductase, particularly when acting in the direction of quinol oxidation, again, the physiological event. Kinetic analysis revealed that with both enzymes 2 inhibitor binding sites seem to be involved in the oxidation of succinate by quinone, but one seems to be functioning when fumarate is reduced by external quinol. Since the E. coli enzyme can be modified by site-directed mutagenesis, these studies were extended to four mutants of fumarate reductase, impaired by single amino acid substitutions at either of the putative quinone binding sites (QA or QB) of the enzyme. The results were analyzed in terms of the model of these dual sites of quinone binding in fumarate reductase, as well as the nature of the substituent in the 2-position of the dinitrophenol inhibitors.

Inhibition of NADH oxidation by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium analogs as the basis for the prediction of the inhibitory potency of novel compounds.

Inhibition of NADH dehydrogenase (Complex I) of the mitochondrial respiratory chain by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) and its analogs results in dopaminergic cell death. In the present study, the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration and of NADH oxidation in inverted inner membrane preparations by the oxidation products of N-methyl-stilbazoles (N-methyl-styrylpyridiniums) are characterized. These nonflexible MPP+ analogs were found to be considerably more potent inhibitors than the corresponding MPP+ derivatives. The IC50 values for these compounds and previously published figures for MPP+ analogs were then used to select a computer model based on structural parameters to predict the inhibitory potency of other compounds that react at the "rotenone site" in Complex I. A series of 12 novel inhibitors different in structure from the basic set were used to test the predictive capacity of the models selected. Despite major structural differences between the novel test compounds and the MPP+ and styrylpyridinium analogs on which the models were based, substantial agreement was found between the predicted and experimentally determined IC50 values. The value of this technique lies in the potential for the prediction of the inhibitory potency of other drugs and toxins which block mitochondrial respiration by interacting at the rotenone sites.