Substrate Report for: Resorufin-butyrate

The rise of multidrug-resistant and totally drug-resistant tuberculosis and the association with an increasing number of HIV-positive patients developing tuberculosis emphasize the necessity to find new antitubercular targets and drugs. The antigen 85 (Ag85) complex from Mycobacterium tuberculosis plays important roles in the biosynthesis of major components of the mycobacterial cell envelope. For this reason, Ag85 has emerged as an attractive drug target. Recently, ebselen was identified as an effective inhibitor of the Ag85 complex through covalent modification of a cysteine residue proximal to the Ag85 active site and is therefore a covalent, allosteric inhibitor. To expand the understanding of this process, we have solved the x-ray crystal structures of Ag85C covalently modified with ebselen and other thiol-reactive compounds, p-chloromercuribenzoic acid and iodoacetamide, as well as the structure of a cysteine to glycine mutant. All four structures confirm that chemical modification or mutation at this particular cysteine residue leads to the disruption of the active site hydrogen-bonded network essential for Ag85 catalysis. We also describe x-ray crystal structures of Ag85C single mutants within the catalytic triad and show that a mutation of any one of these three residues promotes the same conformational change observed in the cysteine-modified forms. These results provide evidence for active site dynamics that may afford new strategies for the development of selective and potent Ag85 inhibitors.

The gene encoding an esterase from Pseudomonas fluorescens (PFE) was subjected to random mutagenesis by error-prone PCR or by using the mutator strain Epicurian coli XL1-Red. Enzyme libraries were then created in microtiter plates by expression of PFE-variants in E. coli. These were assayed for improved enantioselectivity in a Beckman robot system using optically pure (R)- or (S)-3-phenylbutyric acid resorufin esters, resulting in the identification of several mutants showing up to almost two-fold enantioselectivity (E(true) = 5.2 to 6.6) compared to wild-type PFE (E(true) = 3.5).

Amplex Red is a fluorescent probe that is widely used to detect hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in a reaction where it is oxidised to resorufin by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a catalyst. This assay is highly rated amongst other similar probes thanks to its superior sensitivity and stability. However, we report here that Amplex Red is readily converted to resorufin by a carboxylesterase without requiring H2O2, horseradish peroxidase or oxygen: this reaction is seen in various tissue samples such as liver and kidney as well as in cultured cells, causing a serious distortion of H2O2 measurements. The reaction can be inhibited by Phenylmethyl sulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) at concentrations which do not disturb mitochondrial function nor the ability of the Amplex Red-HRP system to detect H2O2.In vitro experiments and in silico docking simulations indicate that carboxylesterases 1 and 2 recognise Amplex Red with the same kinetics as carboxylesterase-containing mitochondria. We propose two different approaches to correct for this problem and re-evaluate the commonly performed experimental procedure for the detection of H2O2 release from isolated liver mitochondria. Our results call for a serious re-examination of previous data.

The rise of multidrug-resistant and totally drug-resistant tuberculosis and the association with an increasing number of HIV-positive patients developing tuberculosis emphasize the necessity to find new antitubercular targets and drugs. The antigen 85 (Ag85) complex from Mycobacterium tuberculosis plays important roles in the biosynthesis of major components of the mycobacterial cell envelope. For this reason, Ag85 has emerged as an attractive drug target. Recently, ebselen was identified as an effective inhibitor of the Ag85 complex through covalent modification of a cysteine residue proximal to the Ag85 active site and is therefore a covalent, allosteric inhibitor. To expand the understanding of this process, we have solved the x-ray crystal structures of Ag85C covalently modified with ebselen and other thiol-reactive compounds, p-chloromercuribenzoic acid and iodoacetamide, as well as the structure of a cysteine to glycine mutant. All four structures confirm that chemical modification or mutation at this particular cysteine residue leads to the disruption of the active site hydrogen-bonded network essential for Ag85 catalysis. We also describe x-ray crystal structures of Ag85C single mutants within the catalytic triad and show that a mutation of any one of these three residues promotes the same conformational change observed in the cysteine-modified forms. These results provide evidence for active site dynamics that may afford new strategies for the development of selective and potent Ag85 inhibitors.

The gene encoding an esterase from Pseudomonas fluorescens (PFE) was subjected to random mutagenesis by error-prone PCR or by using the mutator strain Epicurian coli XL1-Red. Enzyme libraries were then created in microtiter plates by expression of PFE-variants in E. coli. These were assayed for improved enantioselectivity in a Beckman robot system using optically pure (R)- or (S)-3-phenylbutyric acid resorufin esters, resulting in the identification of several mutants showing up to almost two-fold enantioselectivity (E(true) = 5.2 to 6.6) compared to wild-type PFE (E(true) = 3.5).