Publications

• Glutathionylspermidine metabolism in Escherichia coli. Purification, cloning, overproduction, and characterization of a bifunctional glutathionylspermidine synthetase/amidase.

  Bollinger J.M. Jr., Kwon D.S., Huisman G.W., Kolter R., Walsh C.T.

  Glutathionylspermidine (GSP) synthetases of Trypanosomatidae and Escherichia coli couple hydrolysis of ATP (to ADP and Pi) with formation of an amide bond between spermidine (N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diaminobutane) and the glycine carboxylate of glutathione (gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly). In the pathogenic tryp ... >> More

  Glutathionylspermidine (GSP) synthetases of Trypanosomatidae and Escherichia coli couple hydrolysis of ATP (to ADP and Pi) with formation of an amide bond between spermidine (N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diaminobutane) and the glycine carboxylate of glutathione (gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly). In the pathogenic trypanosomatids, this reaction is the penultimate step in the biosynthesis of the antioxidant metabolite, trypanothione (N1,N8-bis-(glutathionyl)spermidine), and is a target for drug design. In this study, GSP synthetase was purified to near homogeneity from E. coli B, the gene encoding it was isolated and sequenced, the enzyme was overexpressed and purified in quantity, and the recombinant enzyme was characterized. The 70-kDa protein was found to have an unexpected second catalytic activity, glutathionylspermidine amide bond hydrolysis. Thus, the bifunctional GSP synthetase/amidase catalyzes opposing amide bond-forming and -cleaving reactions, with net hydrolysis of ATP. The synthetase activity is selectively abrogated by proteolytic cleavage 81 residues from the C terminus, suggesting that the two activities reside in distinct domains (N-terminal amidase and C-terminal synthetase). Proteolysis at this site is facile in the absence of substrates, but is inhibited in the presence of ATP, glutathione, and Mg2+. A series of analogs was used to probe the spermidine-binding site of the synthetase activity. The activity of diaminopropane as a substrate, inactivity of the C4-C8 diaminoalkanes, and greater loss of specificity for analogs modified in the 3-aminopropyl moiety than for those modified in the 4-aminobutyl moiety indicate that the enzyme recognizes predominantly the diaminopropane portion of spermidine and corroborate N-1 (the aminopropyl N) as the site of glutathione linkage (Tabor, H. and Tabor, C. W. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 2648-2654). Trends in Km and kcat for a set of difluorosubstituted spermidine derivatives suggest that the enzyme may bind the minor, deprotonated form of the amine nucleophile. << Less

  J. Biol. Chem. 270:14031-14041(1995) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

  This publication is cited by 1 other entry.

• Dual binding sites for translocation catalysis by Escherichia coli glutathionylspermidine synthetase.

  Pai C.H., Chiang B.Y., Ko T.P., Chou C.C., Chong C.M., Yen F.J., Chen S., Coward J.K., Wang A.H., Lin C.H.

  Most organisms use glutathione to regulate intracellular thiol redox balance and protect against oxidative stress; protozoa, however, utilize trypanothione for this purpose. Trypanothione biosynthesis requires ATP-dependent conjugation of glutathione (GSH) to the two terminal amino groups of sperm ... >> More

  Most organisms use glutathione to regulate intracellular thiol redox balance and protect against oxidative stress; protozoa, however, utilize trypanothione for this purpose. Trypanothione biosynthesis requires ATP-dependent conjugation of glutathione (GSH) to the two terminal amino groups of spermidine by glutathionylspermidine synthetase (GspS) and trypanothione synthetase (TryS), which are considered as drug targets. GspS catalyzes the penultimate step of the biosynthesis-amide bond formation between spermidine and the glycine carboxylate of GSH. We report herein five crystal structures of Escherichia coli GspS in complex with substrate, product or inhibitor. The C-terminal of GspS belongs to the ATP-grasp superfamily with a similar fold to the human glutathione synthetase. GSH is likely phosphorylated at one of two GSH-binding sites to form an acylphosphate intermediate that then translocates to the other site for subsequent nucleophilic addition of spermidine. We also identify essential amino acids involved in the catalysis. Our results constitute the first structural information on the biochemical features of parasite homologs (including TryS) that underlie their broad specificity for polyamines. << Less

  EMBO J. 25:5970-5982(2006) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Dissection of glutathionylspermidine synthetase/amidase from Escherichia coli into autonomously folding and functional synthetase and amidase domains.

  Kwon D.S., Lin C.H., Chen S., Coward J.K., Walsh C.T., Bollinger J.M. Jr.

  The bifunctional glutathionylspermidine synthetase/amidase from Escherichia coli catalyzes both the ATP-dependent formation of an amide bond between N1 of spermidine (N-(3-amino)propyl-1, 4-diaminobutane) and the glycine carboxylate of glutathione (gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly) and the opposing hydrolysis of ... >> More

  The bifunctional glutathionylspermidine synthetase/amidase from Escherichia coli catalyzes both the ATP-dependent formation of an amide bond between N1 of spermidine (N-(3-amino)propyl-1, 4-diaminobutane) and the glycine carboxylate of glutathione (gamma-Glu-Cys-Gly) and the opposing hydrolysis of this amide bond (Bollinger, J. M., Jr., Kwon, D. S., Huisman, G. W., Kolter, R., and Walsh, C. T. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 14031-14041). In our previous work describing its initial characterization, we proposed that the 619-amino acid (70 kDa) protein might possess separate amidase (N-terminal) and synthetase (C-terminal) domains. In the present study, we have confirmed this hypothesis by expression of independently folding and functional amidase and synthetase modules. A fragment containing the C-terminal 431 amino acids (50 kDa) has synthetase activity only, with steady-state kinetic parameters similar to the full-length protein. A fragment containing the N-terminal 225 amino acids (25 kDa) has amidase activity only and is significantly activated relative to the full-length protein for hydrolysis of glutathionylspermidine analogs. This observation suggests that the amidase activity in the full-length protein is negatively autoregulated. The amidase active site catalyzes hydrolysis of amide and ester derivatives of glutathione (e.g. glutathione ethyl ester and glutathione amide) but lacks activity toward acetylspermidine (N1 and N8) and acetylspermine (N1), indicating that glutathione provides the primary recognition determinants for glutathionylspermidine amide bond cleavage. No metal ion is required for the amidase activity. A tetrahedral phosphonate analogue of glutathionylspermidine, designed as a mimic of the proposed tetrahedral intermediate for either reaction, inhibits the synthetase activity (Ki approximately 10 microM) but does not inhibit the amidase activity. << Less

  J. Biol. Chem. 272:2429-2436(1997) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]