AMINO-ACID DIFFERENCES AT POSITION-10, POSITION-11, AND POSITION-104 EXPLAIN THE PROFOUND CATALYTIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 2 MURINE PI-CLASS GLUTATHIONE S-TRANSFERASES
Tk. Bammler et al., AMINO-ACID DIFFERENCES AT POSITION-10, POSITION-11, AND POSITION-104 EXPLAIN THE PROFOUND CATALYTIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 2 MURINE PI-CLASS GLUTATHIONE S-TRANSFERASES, Biochemistry, 34(28), 1995, pp. 9000-9008
The glutathione S-transferases play a pivotal role in the detoxificati
on of toxic and carcinogenic electrophiles. We have previously reporte
d the isolation of two actively transcribed murine pi-class glutathion
e S-transferase genes. In this study the two proteins encoded by these
genes, Gst p-1 and Gst p-2, were expressed in Escherichia coli and fo
und to exhibit profoundly different catalytic activities, the activity
of Gst p-2 toward a panel of electrophilic substrates being 1-3 order
s of magnitude lower than that of Gst p-1. In. order to establish the
basis for the difference between these highly homologous proteins, mut
ants were generated where specific amino acids had been exchanged. Kin
etic analysis of the wild-type and mutant enzymes revealed that the am
ino acid differences occurring at positions 10 (Val/Ser), 11 (Arg/Pro)
, and 104 (Val/Gly) are responsible for the reduced enzymatic activity
of Gst p-2. This analysis together with computer graphics modeling fo
r Gst p-2 indicated that these changes affected both substrate and glu
tathione binding to the enzyme.