Catalytic properties of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase-2 (NQO2), a dihydronicotinamide riboside dependent oxidoreductase.

Human NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase-2 (NQO2) has been prepared using an Escherichia coli expression method. NQO2 is thought to be an isoform of DT-diaphorase (EC 1.6.99.2) [also referred to as NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase] because there is a 49% identity between their amino acid sequences. The present investigation has revealed that like DT-diaphorase, NQO2 is a dimer enzyme with one FAD prosthetic group per subunit. Interestingly, NQO2 uses dihydronicotinamide riboside (NRH) rather than NAD(P)H as an electron donor. It catalyzes a two-electron reduction of quinones and oxidation-reduction dyes. One-electron acceptors, such as potassium ferricyanide, cannot be reduced by NQO2. This enzyme also catalyzes a four-electron reduction, using methyl red as the electron acceptor. The NRH-methyl red reductase activity of NQO2 is 11 times the NADH-methyl red reductase activity of DT-diaphorase. In addition, through a four-electron reduction reaction, NQO2 can catalyze nitroreduction of cytotoxic compound CB 1954 [5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide]. NQO2 is 3000 times more effective than DT-diaphorase in the reduction of CB 1954. Therefore, NQO2 is a NRH-dependent oxidoreductase which catalyzes two- and four-electron reduction reactions. NQO2 is resistant to typical inhibitors of DT-diaphorase, such as dicumarol, Cibacron blue, and phenindone. Flavones are inhibitors of NQO2. However, structural requirements of flavones for the inhibition of NQO2 are different from those for DT-diaphorase. The most potent flavone inhibitor tested so far is quercetin (3,5,7,3',4'-. 6pentahydroxyflavone). It has been found that quercetin is a competitive inhibitor with respect to NRH (Ki = 21 nM). NQO2 is 43 amino acids shorter than DT-diaphorase, and it has been suggested that the carboxyl terminus of DT-diaphorase plays a role in substrate binding (S. Chen et al., Protein Sci. 3, 51-57, 1994). In order to understand better the basis of catalytic differences between NQO2 and DT-diaphorase, a human NQO2 with 43 amino acids from the carboxyl terminus of human DT-diaphorase (i.e., hNQO2-hDT43) has been prepared. hNQO2-hDT43 still uses NRH as an electron donor. In addition, the chimeric enzyme is inhibited by quercetin but not dicumarol. These results suggest that additional region(s) in these enzymes is involved in differentiating NRH from NAD(P)H.

Molecular basis of the catalytic differences among DT-diaphorase of human, rat, and mouse.

DT-diaphorase (EC 1.6.99.2), also referred to as NAD(P)H:(quinone-acceptor) oxidoreductase, is involved in the reductive activation process of several cytotoxic antitumor quinones and nitrobenzenes. It has been observed in our and other laboratories that the rat enzyme is significantly more effective in activating these drugs than the human and mouse enzymes. These results indicate that the available cytotoxic drugs are better substrates for the rat enzyme and are not the most ideal prodrugs for activation by DT-diaphorase in human tumors. In this study, using site-directed mutagenesis to replace residues in the rat enzyme with the human sequences and residues in the human enzyme with the rat sequences, we have found that residue 104 (Tyr in the rat enzyme and Gln in the human and mouse enzymes) is an important residue responsible for the catalytic differences between the rat and the human (and mouse) enzymes. With an exchange of a single amino acid, the rat mutant Y104Q behaved like the wild-type human enzyme, and the human mutant Q104Y behaved like the wild-type rat enzyme in their ability to reductively activate the cytotoxic drug CB 1954 (5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide). The study also confirms the conclusion of the x-ray structural analysis of rat enzyme that residue 130 (Thr in the rat enzyme and Ala in the human and mouse enzymes) is positioned near the binding region of the nicotinamide portion of NAD(P)H. This structural information is very important for designing suitable drugs and approaches for human cancer chemotherapy mediated by DT-diaphorase.

A site-directed mutagenesis study at Lys-113 of NAD(P)H:quinone-acceptor oxidoreductase: an involvement of Lys-113 in the binding of the flavin adenine dinucleotide prosthetic group.

NAD(P)H: quinone-acceptor oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2), also referred to as DT-diaphorase, is a flavoprotein that catalyzes the two-electron reduction of quinones and quinonoid compounds to hydroquinones, using either NADH or NADPH as the electron donor. Using an Escherichia coli expression system developed previously, we prepared three mutants of the rat liver quinone reductase. These mutants are Lys-113-His (K113H), Lys-113-Asp (K113D), and Lys-113-Ala (K113A). While the mutant K113H was readily purified using the same procedure as for the purification of the wild-type quinone reductase and found to have an activity similar to that of the wild-type enzyme, K113D and K113A were purified only in very small quantities, mainly in the form of apoprotein, and had very low activities. The results suggest that a positively charged amino acid at this position is important for the binding of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) prosthetic group. Flavin spectral studies of 6-mercapto-FAD-reconstituted mutants revealed that mutation at Lys-113 affects the protein environment around position-6 of the isoalloxazine ring.

Catalytic properties of NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase: study involving mouse, rat, human, and mouse-rat chimeric enzymes.

NAD(P):quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (quinone reductase) (DT-diaphorase, EC 1.6.99.2) is involved in the process of reductive activation of cytotoxic antitumor quinones and nitrobenzenes. In this study, we initially examined the relative abilities of mouse, rat, and human quinone reductases to reduce two prodrugs, CB 1954 [5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide] and EO9 [5-(1-aziridinyl)-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2-(3-hydroxy-1-propenyl)-1- methyl-1H-indole-4,7-dione]. By using Escherichia coli-expressed quinone reductases and evaluating them under identical conditions, we confirmed previous finding showing that the human enzyme is not as effective as the rat enzyme in reducing CB 1954 and EO9, although the two enzymes have similar NAD(P)H-menadione reductase activities. Interestingly, although the amino acid sequence of mouse quinone reductase is more homologous to that of the rat enzyme, we found that the mouse enzyme behaves similarly to the human enzyme in its ability to reduce these compounds and to generate drug-induced DNA damage. To determine the region of quinone reductase that is responsible for the catalytic differences, two mouse-rat chimeric enzymes were generated. MR-P, a chimeric enzyme that has mouse amino-terminal and rat carboxy-terminal segments of quinone reductase, was shown to have catalytic properties resembling those of rat quinone reductase, and RM-P, a chimeric enzyme that has rat amino-terminal and mouse carboxyl-terminal segments of quinone reductase, was shown to have catalytic properties resembling those of mouse quinone reductase. In addition, MR-P and RM-P were found to be inhibited by flavones with Ki values similar to those for rat and mouse quinone reductases, respectively. Based on these results, we propose that the carboxyl-terminal portion of the enzyme plays an important role in the reduction of cytotoxic drugs and the binding of flavones.

Interaction of flavones and their bromoacetyl derivatives with NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase.

Flavones are a new type of inhibitor of NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (DT-diaphorase, EC 1.6.99.2). To further characterize the flavone binding site, three bromoacetyl derivatives of flavones, i.e., 7-bromoacetylflavone, 5-hydroxyl-7-bromoacetylflavone, and 7,8-dibromoacetylflavone, have been synthesized. These compounds have been found to be potent inhibitors that inactivate the rat quinone reductase in a time-dependent manner, suggesting that they can be used as affinity labels for the enzyme. Among the three bromoacetyl derivatives, 7,8-dibromoacetylflavone is the most potent inhibitor; however, its labeling of the quinone reductase is the least stable, so that the enzyme regains activity after a short incubation. In contrast, the inactivation of the quinone reductase by 5-hydroxyl-7-bromoacetylflavone is stable. Accordingly, this flavone derivative is the most suitable compound for labeling the flavone binding site of the enzyme. Electrospray mass spectrometry has been applied to demonstrate that 5-hydroxyl-7-bromoacetylflavone labels this enzyme in a stoichiometric manner.

Mouse liver NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase: protein sequence analysis by tandem mass spectrometry, cDNA cloning, expression in Escherichia coli, and enzyme activity analysis.

The amino acid sequence of mouse liver NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2) has been determined by tandem mass spectrometry and deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the cDNA encoding for the enzyme. The electrospray mass spectral analyses revealed, as previously reported (Prochaska HJ, Talalay P, 1986, J Biol Chem 261:1372-1378), that the 2 forms--the hydrophilic and hydrophobic forms--of the mouse liver quinone reductase have the same molecular weight. No amino acid sequence differences were found by tandem mass spectral analyses of tryptic peptides of the 2 forms. Moreover, the amino-termini of the mouse enzymes are acetylated as determined by tandem mass spectrometry. Further, only 1 cDNA species encoding for the quinone reductase was found. These results suggest that the 2 forms of the mouse quinone reductase have the same primary sequences, and that any difference between the 2 forms may be attributed to a labile posttranslational modification. Analysis of the mouse quinone reductase cDNA revealed that the enzyme is 273 amino acids long and has a sequence homologous to those of rat and human quinone reductases. In this study, the mouse quinone reductase cDNA was also ligated into a prokaryotic expression plasmid pKK233.2, and the constructed plasmid was used to transform Escherichia coli strain JM109. The E. coli-expressed mouse quinone reductase was purified and characterized. Although mouse quinone reductase has an amino acid sequence similar to those of the rat and human enzymes, the mouse enzyme has a higher NAD(P)H-menadione reductase activity and is less sensitive to flavones and dicoumarol, 2 known inhibitors of the enzyme.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A two-domain structure for the two subunits of NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase.

NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2) (DT-diaphorase) is a FAD-containing reductase that catalyzes a unique 2-electron reduction of quinones. It consists of 2 identical subunits. In this study, it was found that the carboxyl-terminal portion of the 2 subunits can be cleaved by various proteases, whereas the amino-terminal portion cannot. It was also found that proteolytic digestion of the enzyme can be blocked by the prosthetic group FAD, substrates NAD(P)H and menadione, and inhibitors dicoumarol and phenindione. Interestingly, chrysin and Cibacron blue, 2 additional inhibitors, cannot protect the enzyme from proteolytic digestion. The results obtained from this study indicate that the subunit of the quinone reductase has a 2-domain structure, i.e., an amino-terminal compact domain and a carboxyl-terminal flexible domain. A structural model of the quinone reductase is generated based on results obtained from amino-terminal and carboxyl-terminal protein sequence analyses and electrospray mass spectral analyses of hydrolytic products of the enzyme generated by trypsin, chymotrypsin, and Staphylococcus aureus protease. Furthermore, based on the data, it is suggested that the binding of substrates involves an interaction between 2 structural domains.

Inhibition of NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase by flavones: a structure-activity study.

A structure-activity study was carried out to determine the important regions of baicalein and oroxylin A, two flavones isolated from the Chinese herb Scutellariae radix, in inhibiting NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2; DT-diaphorase). This quinone reductase is a vitamin K reductase. It is a target for and has been used as a model enzyme to investigate the mode of action of oral anticoagulants. The two flavones were found to inhibit this quinone reductase in nanomolar ranges. The 5-hydroxyl, 7-hydroxyl, 8-hydroxyl, and 2-phenyl groups of these flavones were found to be important for their inhibition of the enzyme. The inhibition profiles of the flavones on the NADH-menadione reductase activity, the NADH-potassium ferricyanide reductase activity, and the NADH-methyl red reductase activity of this enzyme were different. Therefore, even though the flavones were found to be competitive inhibitors with respect to NADH, they probably did not inhibit the enzyme by binding to the nicotinamide nucleotide binding site. Inhibition kinetic studies which indicated that these compounds bound to different sites than those for dicoumarol and phenindone were performed. These results indicate that these flavones are a new type of inhibitor of NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase and potentially useful as anticoagulant drugs.

Expression of rat liver NAD(P)H:quinone-acceptor oxidoreductase in Escherichia coli and mutagenesis in vitro at Arg-177.

A prokaryotic expression plasmid, pKK-DT2, containing the cDNA of rat liver NAD(P)H:quinone-acceptor oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2; DT-diaphorase) was constructed and used to transform Escherichia coli strain JM109. The rat liver quinone reductase was expressed in strain in JM109 and was inducible with isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). The expressed rat protein was purified by affinity chromatography and had kinetic and physical properties identical with the protein purified from rat liver in that it could utilize either NADH or NADPH as the electron donor and its activity was inhibited by dicoumarol. In addition, we have generated four mutants, Arg-177----His (R177H), Arg-177----Ala (R177A), Arg-177----Cys (R177C) and Arg-177----Leu (R177L), using this expression system. Several of the mutants behaved anomalously on SDS/PAGE, but all of the mutant proteins had the expected M(r) as determined by electrospray m.s. These results and those obtained from enzyme kinetic analysis, u.v./visible absorption spectral analysis, and flavin and tryptophan fluorescence analysis of the wild-type enzyme and four mutants indicated that mutations at Arg-177 changed the conformation of the enzyme, resulting in a decrease in enzyme activity. Replacing Arg-177 with leucine altered the protein conformation and decreased FAD incorporation.

Photodependent inhibition of rat liver NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase by (A)-2-azido-NAD+ and (A)-8-azido-NAD.

Two photoaffinity analogues of NAD+, (A)-2-azido-NAD+ [nicotinamide 2-azidoadenine dinucleotide] and (A)-8-azido-NAD+ [nicotinamide 8-azidoadenine dinucleotide], have been synthesized, and their reactivities with the rat liver NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase have been investigated. The reduce nicotinamide nucleotide probes, (A)-2-azido-NADH and (A)-8-azido-NADH, were shown to be substrates of the quinone reductase. This enzyme was inhibited by (A)-8-azido-NADH, were shown to be substrates of the quinone reductase. This enzyme was inhibited by (A)-2-azido-NAD+ and (A)-8-azido-NAD+ in a photodependent manner, and the inhibition of the enzyme could be prevented by the presence of nicotinamide nucleotide substrates during photolysis. (A)-2-Azido-NAD+ was demonstrated to be a more potent inhibitor than (A)-8-azido-NAD+. In addition, the photodependent inhibition by (A)-8-azido-NAD+ increased when menadione, the substrate of the enzyme, was present during the photolysis, while menadione protected the enzyme from the photodependent inhibition by (A)-2-azido-NAD+. These results indicate that these two NAD+ analogues can be used to identify the nicotinamide nucleotide binding site of this quinone reductase and that they probably bind to the enzyme in different fashions.

N-arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+, a new NAD+ photoaffinity analogue. Synthesis and labeling of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase.

N-Arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+ [N3'-O-(3-[N-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)amino]propionyl)NAD+] has been prepared by alkaline phosphatase treatment of arylazido-beta-alanyl-NADP+ [N3'-O-(3-[N-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)amino]propionyl)NADP+]. This NAD+ analogue was found to be a potent competitive inhibitor (Ki = 1.45 microM) with respect to NADH for the purified bovine heart mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.99.3). The enzyme was irreversibly inhibited as well as covalently labeled by this analogue upon photoirradiation. A stoichiometry of 1.15 mol of N-arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+ bound/mol of enzyme, at 100% inactivation, was determined from incorporation studies using tritium-labeled analogue. Among the three subunits, 0.85 mol of the analogue was bound to the Mr = 51,000 subunit, and each of the two smaller subunits contained 0.15 mol of the analogue when the dehydrogenase was completely inhibited upon photolysis. Both the irreversible inactivation and the covalent incorporation could be prevented by the presence of NADH during photolysis. These results indicate that N-arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+ is an active-site-directed photoaffinity label for the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase, and are further evidence that the Mr = 51,000 subunit contains the NADH binding site. Previous studies using A-arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+ [A3'-O-(3-[N-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl)amino]propionyl)NAD+] demonstrated that the NADH binding site is on the Mr = 51,000 subunit [Chen, S., & Guillory, R. J. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 8318-8323]. Results are also presented to show that N-arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+ binds the dehydrogenase in a more effective manner than A-arylazido-beta-alanyl-NAD+.