Mutation Report for: W543A/F547A/W550A/Y553A/W557A/F561A/Y564A/C571A_human-BCHE

Human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is composed predominantly of tetramers. Our laboratory has shown that up to 40 carboxy terminal residues of each subunit contribute to the stabilization of tetramers (R.M. Blong, E. Bedows, O. Lockridge, The tetramerization domain of butyrylcholinesterase is at the carboxy-terminus, Biochem. J. 327 (1997) 747-757). To better define the residues which participate in tetramer stabilization, the in vivo interaction of the BChE C-terminus 46 residue peptide was quantitated for wild type and mutant BChE using the yeast two-hybrid system. The wild type C-terminal peptides interacted with one another in this system. The K-variant (A539T) and C571A peptides showed interaction similar to that of the wild type. However, only 11.7% of the interaction seen with the wild type peptide was observed with the mutant in which seven conserved aromatic residues (Trp 543, Phe 547, Trp 550, Tyr 553, Trp 557, Phe 561, and Tyr 564) had been altered to alanines (aromatics off mutant). When these seven mutations were incorporated into the complete BChE molecule and expressed in 293T cells, only monomers and dimers were observed. The addition of poly-L-proline to the medium of 293T cells expressing wild type BChE resulted in the increase of the tetrameric form, similar to that observed by Bon et al. (S. Bon, F. Coussen, J. Massoulie, Quaternary associations of acetylcholinesterase II. The polyproline attachment domain of the collagen tail, J. Biol. Chem. 272 (1997) 3016-3021) for acetylcholinesterase expressed in COS cells. However, no increase in tetramers was observed with poly-L-proline addition to the medium of 293T cells expressing the aromatics off BChE mutant. These observations suggest that the stabilization of BChE tetramers is mediated through the interaction of the seven conserved aromatic residues, Trp 543, Phe 547, Trp 550, Tyr 553, Trp 557, Phe 561, and Tyr 564, and that the poly-L-proline induced increase in tetrameric BChE is mediated through these seven aromatic residues.

Human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in serum is composed predominantly of tetramers. The tetramerization domain of each subunit is contained within 40 C-terminal residues. To identify key residues within this domain participating in tetramer stabilization, the interaction between C-terminal 46 residue peptides was quantitated in the yeast two-hybrid system. The wild-type peptide interacted strongly with another wild-type peptide in the yeast two-hybrid system. The C571A mutant peptides interacted to a similar degree as the wild-type. However, the mutant in which seven conserved aromatic residues (Trp 543, Phe 547, Trp 550, Tyr 553, Trp 557, Phe 561, and Tyr 564) and C571 were altered to alanines showed only 12% of the interaction seen with the wild-type peptide. The seven mutations (aromatics-off) were incorporated into the complete BChE molecule, with or without the C571A mutation, and expressed in 293T and CHO-K1 cells. Expression of wild-type BChE in these cell lines yielded 10% tetramers. The aromatics-off mutant formed dimers and monomers but no tetramers. The aromatics-off/C571A mutant yielded only monomers. Addition of poly-L-proline to culture medium, or coexpression with the N-terminus of COLQ including the proline-rich attachment domain (Q(N)PRAD), increased the amount of tetrameric wild-type BChE from 10 to 70%, but had no effect on the G534stop (lacking 41 C-terminal residues) and the aromatics-off mutants. Recombinant BChE produced by coexpression with Q(N)PRAD was purified by column chromatography. The purified tetramers contained the FLAG-tagged Q(N)PRAD peptide. These observations suggest that the stabilization of BChE tetramers is mediated through the interaction of the seven conserved aromatic residues and that poly-L-proline and PRAD act through these aromatic residues to induce tetramerization.