Visualization of penicillin G acylase in bacteria and high-throughput screening of natural inhibitors using a ratiometric fluorescent probe.

A ratiometric fluorescent probe (PNA) was developed to sense and image endogenous bacterial penicillin G acylase (PGA). Oleanolic acid was discovered as a potential natural inhibitor of PGA using high-throughput screening techniques based on PNA.

Redirecting the inactivation pathway of penicillin amidase and increasing amoxicillin production via a thermophilic molecular chaperone.

We have previously shown that a single-subunit thermosome from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (rTHS) can stabilize enzymes in semi-aqueous media (Bergeron et al., 2008b). In the present study, rTHS was used to stabilize penicillin amidase (PGA) in methanol-water mixtures. Including methanol in the reaction medium for amoxicillin synthesis can suppress unwanted hydrolysis reactions but inactivate PGA. Inactivation and reactivation pathways proposed for PGA illustrate the predictability of enzyme stabilization by rTHS in co-solvents. Calcium was necessary for reversible dissociation of the two PGA subunits in methanol-water and the presence of calcium resulted in an enhancement of chaperone-assisted stabilization. rTHS also acted as a stabilizer in the enzymatic synthesis of the beta-lactam antibiotic amoxicillin. rTHS stabilized PGA, increasing its half-life in 35% methanol by fivefold at 37 degrees C. Stabilization by rTHS was enhanced but did not require the presence of ATP. Including rTHS in fed-batch reactions performed in methanol-water resulted in nearly 4 times more amoxicillin than when the reaction was run without rTHS, and over threefold higher selectivity towards amoxicillin synthesis compared to aqueous conditions without rTHS. The thermosome and other thermophilic chaperones may thus be generally useful for stabilizing enzymes in their soluble form and expanding the range of conditions suitable for biocatalysis.

The role of hydrophobic interactions on alcohol binding in the active center of penicillin acylases.

Inhibition of penicillin acylases from Escherichia coli and Alcaligenes faecalis by aliphatic and aromatic alcohols was studied. It was shown that the inhibition of both enzymes has competitive nature and they bind the alcohols at the acyl group binding site of the enzyme active center. The free energy of alcohol sorption was shown to be linearly dependent on the hydrophobicity of the inhibitor with slopes of 1.6 and 1.7, demonstrating extremely effective hydrophobic interactions. To rationalize the observed distinctions in the inhibiting properties of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols beginning with butanol, it was suggested that the loss of entropy occurring on the interaction of the ligand with the tightly restricted hydrophobic pocket of the active center makes an essential contribution to the overall energetics of complex formation.

Activity of penicillin acylase from E. coli in the reversed-micelle system AOT--H2O--octane.

The behavior of a penicillin acylase from E. coli was studied in the reversed-micelle system AOT--H2O--octane. Kinetic studies of the enzymatic hydrolysis of the m-carboxy-p-nitroanilide of phenylacetic acid, titration of the penicillin acylase active site with an irreversible specific inhibitor (phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride), sedimentation analysis at different hydration degrees, and chemical modification showed that the enzyme loses no more than 20% of its initial activity during 3-4 h in the reversed-micelle systems of different hydration degrees and retains its catalytically active structure.

The use of chromogenic reference substrates for the kinetic analysis of penicillin acylases.

Determination of kinetic parameters of penicillin acylases for phenylacetylated compounds is complicated due to the low K(m) values for these substrates, the lack of a spectroscopic signal, and the strong product inhibition by phenylacetic acid. To overcome these difficulties, a spectrophotometric method was developed, with which kinetic parameters could be determined by measuring the effects on the hydrolysis of the chromogenic reference substrate 2-nitro-5-[(phenylacetyl)amino]benzoic acid (NIPAB). To that end, spectrophotometric progress curves with NIPAB in the absence and presence of the phenylacetylated substrates and their products were measured and analyzed by numerical fitting to the appropriate equations for competing substrates with product inhibition. This analysis yielded kinetic constants for phenylacetylated substrates such as penicillin G, which are in close agreement with those obtained in independent initial velocity experiments. Using NIPAB analogs with lower k(cat)/K(m) values, kinetic parameters for the hydrolysis of cephalexin and penicillin V were determined. This method was suitable for determining the kinetic constants of penicillin acylases in periplasmic extracts from Escherichia coli, Alcaligenes faecalis, and Kluyvera citrophila. The use of chromogenic reference substrates thus appears to be a rapid and reliable method for determining kinetic constants with various substrates and enzymes.

[Inhibition of penicillin acylase from Escherichia coli by benzylalkylketones and benzylalkylcarbinols]. / Ingibirovanie benzilalkilketonami i benzilalkilkarbinolami penitsillinatsilazy iz Escherichia coli.

A number of benzylalkylketones and benzylalkylcarbinols have been synthesized as non-hydrolizable substrate analogues of penicillin acylase (EC 3.5.1.11), and their affinity to the enzyme has been studied. The compounds with plane trigonal carbonyl group (ketones) were established to has bind to the enzyme 20-40 times more tightly than their tetrahedral counterparts with a hydroxyl function (carbinols). 4-Oxo-5-phenylpentanoic acid was found to be one of the most potent reversible competitive inhibitors of penicillin acylase with Ki-31 microM.

[Phosphorus-containing inhibitors of penicillin acylase. 4. Irreversible inhibition of penicillin acylase from Escherichia coli by monoaryl esters of benzylphosphonic acid]. / Fosfor-soderzhashchie ingibitory penitsillinatsilazy. 4. Neobratimoe ingibirovanie penitsillinatsilazy iz Escherichia coli monoarilovymi éfirami benzilfosfonovoi kisloty.

Monoaryl of benzylphosphonic acid have been synthesized and studied as the inhibitors of penicillin acylase. These compounds were found to be effective and selective irreversible inhibitors of the enzyme. The kinetic parameters of enzyme inactivation are determined, and possible mechanism of the inhibition is discussed. These phosphonates should be useful as both penicillin acylase active site titrants and the tools for the enzyme function study. Benzylchloromethyl keton has been also prepared and it is an irreversible inhibitor of penicillin acylase.

[Penicillin acylase from Escherichia coli: catalytically active subunits]. / Penitsillinatsilaza iz Escherichia coli: kataliticheski aktivnye sub''edinitsy.

Gel filtration under denaturing conditions was used to isolate the alpha- and beta-subunits of penicillin acylase (PA). Refolded subunits were obtained through removing urea by dialysis. Both renatured subunits were catalytically active during hydrolysis of phenylacetic acid p-nitroanilide; this activity decreased after addition of a serine-specific inhibitor--phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride. The subunits were also active in reversed micelles of Aerosol OT (AOT) in octane, the optimum hydration degree being 11.9 and 17.5 for the light (alpha) and heavy (beta) subunits, respectively. The positions of the maxima were consistent with both theoretically calculated optimum hydration degrees and the earlier reported profile of enzymatic activity for native PA in reversed micelles.

Purification and characterization of extracellular penicillin V acylase from Fusarium sp. SKF 235.

Penicillin V acylase from Fusarium sp. SKF 235 culture filtrate was purified to homogeneity. The enzyme was a glycoprotein and composed of single polypeptide chain with molecular weight of 83,200 Daltons. The pH and temperature optima were 6.5 and 55 degrees C, respectively. The KM for penicillin V was 10 mM but the enzyme was inhibited by penicillin V at concentrations above 50 mM. Products of reaction, 6-aminopenicillanic acid and phenoxyacetic acid inhibited the enzyme competitively and noncompetitively with Ki values of 18 mM and 45 mM, respectively. The enzyme specifically hydrolyzed penicillin V, cephalosporanic acid V and penicillin V sulphoxide. Other phenoxy acetyl amides studied were not hydrolysed. It is proposed that phenoxyacetyl moiety alone is not recognized by the penicillin V acylase and in addition, the beta-lactam structure contributes in formation of enzyme-substrate complex.

Revealing active site on the light subunit of penicillin acylase.

Serine-specific irreversible inhibitor phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) inactivates penicillin acylase subunits, which were chromatographically separated under denaturing conditions and refolded by dialysis, in aqueous solution and Aerosol OT reversed micelles. The activities of both alpha and beta subunits decrease with increasing PMSF concentration but the dependence is no longer linear, in contrast with the native enzyme. The enzyme inactivated in aqueous solution, when solubilized in the micellar system at Wo = 12, exhibits an additional activity, which can be further inhibited by PMSF.

New insights on the specificity of penicillin acylase.

In contrast with the general thought that penicillin G acylases (PGAs) were only able to hydrolyse amides or esters of higly hydrophobic acids, we have demonstrated that the PGA from Kluyvera citrophila catalysed the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl esters of acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids. Values of kcat. and kcat./Km were greatest for the first compound and less than values for benzylpenicillin by factors of 30 and 7, respectively. 4-Nitrophenyl acetate was hydrolysed faster than 2-nitrophenyl acetate but slower than phenyl acetate. The pH dependence of the reaction was similar to that of benzylpenicillin. Several experiments showed that hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate was not catalysed by contaminating esterase activity. The implications for the structural basis of substrate binding are discussed. These substrates open, for the first time, a way to investigate the kinetic parameters of PGA at the presteady-state and provides a new perspective about the role of PGA in nature.

Industrial design of enzymic processes catalysed by very active immobilized derivatives: utilization of diffusional limitations (gradients of pH) as a profitable tool in enzyme engineering.

We have developed integrated studies of enzyme reaction engineering for the hydrolysis of penicillin G catalysed by very active penicillin G acylase (PGA) derivatives. We have studied the distinct effect of a key variable (pH) on different industrial parameters (e.g. activity/stability parameters). In this way we have demonstrated, in contrast with that proposed by other authors, that the generation of gradients of pH inside the porous structure of very active enzyme derivatives may be not a problem but a 'very profitable tool' to improve the whole set of industrial parameters. In this way we can establish two distinct 'optimal pH values': (i) the one inside the particle of the biocatalyst and (ii) the one in the bulk solution. The use of an external pH of 8.0 associated with the promotion of a controlled decrease in internal pH (e.g. around a mean value of 5.5) was very useful to simultaneously obtain interesting values of all industrial parameters: (i) very high hydrolytic yields (higher than 97%); (ii) a very important increase on the stability of PGA derivatives (higher than a 50-fold factor); and (iii) a very small decrease in operational activity (approximately 15%) as compared with the one of soluble enzyme at pH 8.0 with no diffusional hindrances.

[Phosphorus-containing inhibitors of penicillin acylase. 3. Inhibition of Escherichia coli penicillin acylase by phosphonate analogs of substrates]. / Fosforsoderzhashchie ingibitory penitsillinatsilazy. 3. Ingibirovanie penitsillinatsilazy Escherichia coli fosfonatnymi analogami substratov.

Phosphonic analogues of penicillin acylase substrates are found to be selective reversible competitive inhibitors of the enzyme from E. coli (EC 3.5.1.11). The mode of binding of the inhibitors to the enzyme and the influence of the stereoelectronic parameters of the phosphonic inhibitors on their affinity to the enzyme are discussed.

[Phosphorus-containing inhibitors of penicillin acylase. 2. Design, synthesis and study of the hydrolytic stability of phosphonic acid derivatives as potential inhibitors of penicillin acylase]. / Fosforsoderzhashchie ingibitory penitsillinatsilazy. 2. Dizain, sintez i izuchenie gidroliticheskoi stabil'nosti proizvodnykh fosfonovykh kislot kak potentsial'nykh ingibitorov penitsillinatsilazy.

Phosphonate and phosphonoamidate derivatives of benzylphosphonic acids were synthesized as potential inhibitors of penicillin acylase (EC 3.5.1.11) proceeding from the concept of transition-state analogues. The compounds obtained are not the substrates of the enzyme and they are stable under conditions of enzyme activity testing.

pH studies to elucidate the chemical mechanism of penicillin acylase from Kluyvera citrophila.

The variation with pH of the kinetic parameters of penicillin acylase from Kluyvera citrophila has been used to gain information about the chemical mechanism of the reaction catalysed by the enzyme. The pH-dependence of log (V/Km) for penicillin G showed that a group with a pK value over 4.7 must be deprotonated and that a group with a pK value over 9.7 must be protonated in the free enzyme for activity. The solvent perturbation and temperature studies indicated that these groups are respectively of cationic and neutral acid type with ionization enthalpies of 29.7 and 111 kJ/mol. It was proved that penicillin G sulphoxide is a reversible linear competitive inhibitor with respect to the hydrolysis of penicillin G. The similarity of the pH profile and the magnitude of the pK values derived from the dissociation constant, Ki, suggest that both groups are concerned with the binding of penicillin G and its analogues to the enzyme. It is proposed that binding of substrate involves the formation of hydrogen bonds between the substrate and the essential ionizable groups in the enzyme which lie within the hydrophobic environment of the active site of penicillin acylase. This suggestion is supported by the finding that the profile of V (Vmax.) is similar to the V/Km profile, except that the low and high pK values are respectively shifted downward and upward due to the entry of substrate. Moreover, the bell shape of the V profile indicated that they are also essential in the catalytic steps subsequent to binding.

Inactivation of penicillin acylase from Kluyvera citrophila by N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline: a case of time-dependent non-covalent enzyme inhibition.

Penicillin acylase (PA) from Kluyvera citrophila was inhibited by N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ), a specific carboxy-group-reactive reagent. Enzyme activity progressively decreased to a residual value depending on EEDQ concentration. Neither enzymic nor non-enzymic decomposition of EEDQ is concomitant with PA inactivation. Moreover, enzyme re-activation is achieved by chromatographic removal of EEDQ, pH increase or displacement of the reagent with penicillin G. It was then concluded that PA inactivation is due to an equilibrium reaction. The kinetics of enzyme inactivation was analysed by fitting data to theoretical equations derived in accordance with this mechanism. Corrections for re-activation during the enzyme assay were a necessary introduction. The pH-dependence of the rate constant for EEDQ hydrolysis either alone or in the presence of enzyme was studied by u.v. spectroscopy. It turned out to be coincident with the pH-dependence of the forward and reverse rate constants for the inactivation process. It is suggested that previous protonation of the EEDQ molecule is required for these reactions to occur. The thermodynamic values associated with the overall reaction showed little change. Finally it is proposed that the inactivation of PA by EEDQ proceeds through a two-step reaction. The initial and rapid reversible binding is followed by a slow, time-dependent, non-covalent, reversible inactivating step. The expected behaviour in the case of enzyme modification by covalent activation of carboxy residues is also reviewed.

Enzymatic synthesis of ampicillin: a chemometric optimization.

Statistical methods of optimization were applied to the enzymatic semisynthesis of ampicillin catalyzed by penicillin acylase. Since the traditional approach fails in determining both the presence of interactions between the variables and their magnitude, the reaction was reconsidered by means of chemometric techniques. In this work we determined the interaction between temperature and pH for the first time.

Site-directed chemical conversion of serine to cysteine in penicillin acylase from Escherichia coli ATCC 11105. Effect on conformation and catalytic activity.

Penicillin acylase (EC 3.5.1.11) was completely inactivated with equimolar phenylmethane [35S]sulphonyl fluoride (PhMe35SO2F); the stability of the sulphonyl group in the modified protein was determined by measurement of the radioactivity in ultrafiltrates. In 8 M urea, the rate of loss of the sulphonyl group was similar to that observed in PhMeSO2F-inactivated chymotrypsin [Gold, A.M. & Fahrney, D. (1964) Biochemistry 3, 783-791]. Incubation of the PhMeSO2F-inactivated acylase with 0.7 M potassium thioacetate yielded an acetylthiol enzyme which was subsequently converted to a thiol-enzyme during incubation with 10 mM 6-aminopenicillanic acid. 4-Pyridyl-ethylcysteine was released by acid hydrolysis after reaction of the thiol-protein with 4-vinylpyridine. The rates of reaction of thiol-penicillin acylase with iodoacetic acid and 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide were consistent with the presence of an incompletely accessible cysteinyl sidechain. After carboxymethylating the thiol-enzyme with iodo[2-3H]acetic acid, the label was shown by SDS/PAGE and sequencing analysis to be associated exclusively with the beta-chain NH2-terminal residue, indicating conversion of Ser290 to S-carboxymethyl-cysteine. Near-ultraviolet CD spectra showed the conformation of thiol-penicillin acylase to be indistinguishable from that of the native protein but the catalytic activity was less than 0.02% of that of the normal enzyme. The possibility that Ser290 acts as a nucleophile in catalysis is discussed.

Stabilizing effect of penicillin G sulfoxide, a competitive inhibitor of penicillin G acylase: its practical applications.

We have found that penicillin G sulfoxide (pen G SO) behaves as a general stabilizing agent of two bacterial penicillin G acylases (PGAs) from E. coli and from K. citrophila), and this role is related to a strong inhibitory effect on the enzymes. The stabilizing effect has been observed during two different inactivation processes: (i) thermal inactivation of soluble enzymes at alkaline pH, and (ii) inactivation of immobilized enzymes as a consequence of covalent multiinteraction with highly activated agarose aldehyde gels. At the same time, pen G SO behaves as a strong competitive inhibitor of these two enzymes. The inhibition constant is more than 10-fold lower than the one corresponding to another smaller competitive inhibitor, phenylacetic acid (PAA), the structure of which is exactly the acyl donor moiety corresponding to pen G SO. In turn, PAA hardly exerts any stabilizing effect on PGAs. The stabilizing effect of pen G SO allowed the preparation of derivatives of these PGAs preserving full catalytic activity in spite of being 1,400- and 650-fold more stable than the corresponding soluble or one-point attached immobilized enzymes.