Publications

• Trihydroxynaphthalene reductase from Magnaporthe grisea: realization of an active center inhibitor and elucidation of the kinetic mechanism.

  Thompson J.E., Basarab G.S., Andersson A., Lindqvist Y., Jordan D.B.

  Active trihydroxynaphthalene reductase (3HNR) is essential for the biosynthesis of fungal melanin by Magnaporthe grisea and is a focus of inhibitor design studies directed toward control of blast disease in rice. Tricyclazole, a preventative fungicide against rice blast, has been previously charac ... >> More

  Active trihydroxynaphthalene reductase (3HNR) is essential for the biosynthesis of fungal melanin by Magnaporthe grisea and is a focus of inhibitor design studies directed toward control of blast disease in rice. Tricyclazole, a preventative fungicide against rice blast, has been previously characterized as inhibiting 3HNR noncompetitively [Viviani, F., Vors, J. P., Gaudry, M., & Marquet, A. (1993) Bull. Soc. Chem. Fr. 136, 395-404] with respect to its naphthol substrate. Our steady-state kinetic and fluorescence titration studies show that instead the inhibitor binds competitively with respect to the naphthol substrate and that it binds to 3HNR forms with the preferences 3HNR.NADPH > 3HNR.NADP+ > 3HNR (unliganded): Kt = 15 nM, 0.56 microM, and Kd = 8.5 microM, respectively. Analysis of the frontier molecular orbitals of tricyclazole and NADP(H) provides a basis for the affinity differences of tricyclazole for 3HNR.NADP(H) enzyme forms. Fluorescence titrations show that NADPH and naphthol substrates form binary complexes with 3HNR [Kd(NADP+) = 38 microM and Kd(U7278, an alternate naphthol-like substrate) = 220 microM]. However, the overwhelmingly preferred order of productive binding is NADPH followed by naphthol substrate, as shown by the uncompetitive inhibition of 3HNR by tricyclazole with respect to NADPH. Consistent with this mechanism, the K(m)'s for the naphthol substrates U7278 and scytalone (5 and 6 microM, respectively) are much lower than the Kd's of the binary complexes. The partition ratio of U7278 and a physiological substrate (scytalone) was 95:1 and unchanged on varying 3HNR.NADP+/3HNR(unliganded), which is also consistent with the ordered mechanism. The pH dependence of the hydride transfer rate from U7278 to NADP+ was measured, as was the pH dependence of Kcat/K(m)(NADP+). Hydride transfer had a pH dependence which suggests a single deprotonated residue (pKa = 6.0) is required for catalysis. Khyd, the rate constant for hydride transfer, was 9-fold larger than Kcat with U7278 as a substrate. A burst in the pre-steady-state suggests that release of one or both of the products is rate limiting to Kcat at pH 7.0. The pH dependence of Kcat/K(m)(NADP+) indicates a requirement for a single deprotonated group and this ionization is assigned to the 2' phosphate of NADP+. 3HNR was found to be 800-fold more specific for NADP+ relative to NAD+. Analysis of sequence and structure [Anderson, A., Jordan, D. B., Schneider. G., & Lindqvist. Y. (1996) Structure 4, 1161-1170] reveals that 3HNR is a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase superfamily of enzymes. << Less

  Biochemistry 36:1852-1860(1997) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Towards the first inhibitors of trihydroxynaphthalene reductase from Curvularia lunata: synthesis of artificial substrate, homology modelling and initial screening.

  Brunskole M., Stefane B., Zorko K., Anderluh M., Stojan J., Lanisnik Rizner T., Gobec S.

  Trihydroxynaphthalene reductase (3HNR) is an essential enzyme in the biosynthesis of fungal melanin and it represents an emerging target for the development of new fungicides and antimicotics. To promote the discovery of new inhibitors, an improved chemical synthesis of the artificial substrate 2, ... >> More

  Trihydroxynaphthalene reductase (3HNR) is an essential enzyme in the biosynthesis of fungal melanin and it represents an emerging target for the development of new fungicides and antimicotics. To promote the discovery of new inhibitors, an improved chemical synthesis of the artificial substrate 2,3-dihydro-2,5-dihydroxy-4H-benzopyran-4-one (DDBO) was developed. A series of compounds were screened on 3HNR from Curvularia lunata, a known plant pathogen and an opportunistic human pathogen, and several structurally diverse hits were obtained. Homology modelling of 3HNR from C. lunata can explain their binding modes and will enable further structure-based design of new and improved inhibitors. << Less

  Bioorg Med Chem 16:5881-5889(2008) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Structures of trihydroxynaphthalene reductase-fungicide complexes: implications for structure-based design and catalysis.

  Liao D.-I., Basarab G.S., Gatenby A.A., Valent B., Jordan D.B.

  <h4>Background</h4>Trihydroxynaphthalene reductase catalyzes two intermediate steps in the fungal melanin biosynthetic pathway. The enzyme, a typical short-chain dehydrogenase, is the biochemical target of three commercial fungicides. The fungicides bind preferentially to the NADPH form of the enz ... >> More

  <h4>Background</h4>Trihydroxynaphthalene reductase catalyzes two intermediate steps in the fungal melanin biosynthetic pathway. The enzyme, a typical short-chain dehydrogenase, is the biochemical target of three commercial fungicides. The fungicides bind preferentially to the NADPH form of the enzyme.<h4>Results</h4>Three X-ray structures of the Magnaporthe grisea enzyme complexed with NADPH and two commercial and one experimental fungicide were determined at 1.7 A (pyroquilon), 2.0 A (2,3-dihydro-4-nitro-1H-inden-1-one, 1), and 2.1 A (phthalide) resolutions. The chemically distinct inhibitors occupy similar space within the enzyme's active site. The three inhibitors share hydrogen bonds with the side chain hydroxyls of Ser-164 and Tyr-178 via a carbonyl oxygen (pyroquilon and 1) or via a carbonyl oxygen and a ring oxygen (phthalide). Active site residues occupy similar positions among the three structures. A buried water molecule that is hydrogen bonded to the NZ nitrogen of Lys-182 in each of the three structures likely serves to stabilize the cationic form of the residue for participation in catalysis.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The pro S hydrogen of NADPH (which is transferred as a hydride to the enzyme's naphthol substrates) is directed toward the carbonyl carbon of the inhibitors that mimic an intermediate along the reaction coordinate. Modeling tetrahydroxynaphthalene and trihydroxynaphthalene in the active site shows steric and electrostatic repulsion between the extra hydroxyl oxygen of the former substrate and the sulfur atom of Met-283 (the C-terminal residue), which accounts, in part, for the 4-fold greater substrate specificity for trihydroxynaphthalene over tetrahydroxynaphthalene. << Less

  Structure 9:19-27(2001) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]