The membrane spanning enzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GT; EC 2.3.2.2) catalyses the breakdown of the tripeptide glutathione and uses free amino acids (AA) to form gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GT) AA that become transported into cells and converted back into free AA. gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase activity has been shown to be important for mammary AA uptake in rodent systems, and while gamma-GT activity is high in lactating bovine mammary tissue, the role of this enzyme in milk protein synthesis of the ruminant has not been defined. The present study shows that gamma-GT activity in the ovine mammary gland, like that of rodents, increases during pregnancy and peaks early in lactation. Acivicin, a well-known inhibitor of gamma-GT, decreased gamma-GT activity in acini isolated from the ovine mammary gland and did not have secondary toxicity effects on cell viability or the uptake of radiolabeled amino-isobutyric acid. Isolated ovine acini were incubated in the presence of radiolabeled leucine, and incorporation of label into secreted protein increased during incubation. Incubation of acini with acivicin decreased milk protein secretion by 75%, indicating that gamma-GT plays an important role in milk protein production in the ruminant. Acivicin did not inhibit secretion of specific caseins but caused a global decrease in individual proteins suggesting that gamma-GT may be responsible for providing a complement of AA for milk protein synthesis.

Human lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein with a bilobal structure. Each lobe contains a high-affinity binding site for a single Fe(3+) ion and an associated CO(3)(2-) ion. Although iron binds very tightly, it can be released at low pH, with an accompanying conformational change in which the two domains move apart. The Arg121Asp (R121D) mutant of the N-lobe half-molecule of human lactoferrin was constructed in order to test whether the Asp121 side chain could substitute for the CO(3)(2-) ion at the iron-binding site. The R121D mutant protein was crystallized in its apo form as it lost iron during crystallization. The crystals were also merohedrally twinned, with a twin fraction close to 0.5. Starting from the initial molecular-replacement solution [Breyer et al. (1999), Acta Cryst. D55, 129-138], the structure has been refined at 3.0 A resolution to an R factor of 13.9% (R(free) of 19.9%). Despite the moderate resolution, the high solvent content and non-crystallographic symmetry contributed to electron-density maps of excellent quality. Weakened iron binding by the R121D mutant is explained by occlusion of the anion-binding site by the Asp side chain. The opening of the two domains in the apoR121D structure (a rotation of 54 degrees ) closely matches that of the N-lobe in full-length lactoferrin, showing that the extent of the conformational change depends on properties inherent to the N-lobe. Differences in the C-terminal portion of the N-lobe (residues 321-332) for apoR121D relative to the closed wild-type iron-bound structure point to the importance of this region in stabilizing the open form.

The mammalian iron-binding proteins lactoferrin (Lf) and transferrin (Tf) bind iron very tightly, but reversibly. Despite homologous structures and essentially identical iron binding sites, Tf begins to release iron at pH 6.0, whereas Lf retains iron to pH approximately 3.5. This difference in iron retention gives the two proteins different biological roles. Two lysine residues, Lys 206 and Lys 296, which form a hydrogen-bonded dilysine pair in human Tf, have been shown to strongly influence iron release from the N-lobe. The equivalent residues in human Lf are Arg 210 and Lys 301, and we have here mutated Arg 210 in the N-lobe half-molecule of human lactoferrin, Lf(N), to probe its role in iron release. The Lf(N) mutants R210G, R210E, and R210L were expressed, purified, and crystallized, and their crystal structures were determined and refined at resolutions of 1.95 A (R210G), 2.2 A (R210E), and 2.0 A (R210L). The overall structures are very similar to that of wild-type Lf(N), but with small differences in domain orientations. In each of the mutants, however, Lys 301 (equivalent to Lys 296 in Tf) changes its conformation to fill the space occupied by Arg 210 Neta2 in wild-type Lf(N), interacting with the two tyrosine ligands Tyr 92 and Tyr 192. By comparison with other Lf and Tf structures, we conclude that Lys 301 (or Lys 296 in Tf) only occupies this site when residue 210 (206 in Tf) is nonpositive (neutral as in R210G and R210L or negative as in R210E). Thus, Lys 206 in the Tf dilysine pair is identified as having a depressed pK(a). Three specific sites are variably occupied by polar groups in the Lf mutants and other Lf and Tf proteins, and when coupled with iron-release data, these give new insights into the factors that most influence iron retention at low pH.

Lactoferrin (Lf) and serum transferrin (Tf) combine high-affinity iron binding with an ability to release this iron at reduced pH. Lf, however, retains iron to significantly lower pH than Tf, giving the two proteins distinct functional roles. In this paper, we compared the Ii-on-release profiles for human Lf, Tf, and their N-lobe half-molecules Lf(N) and Tf-N and showed that half of the difference in iron retention at low pH (similar to 1.3 pH units) results from interlobe interactions in Lf. To probe factors intrinsic to the N-lobes, we further examined the specific role of two basic residues that are proposed to form a pH-sensitive dilysine trigger for iron release in the N-lobe of Tf [Dewan, J. C., Mikami, B., Hirose, M., and Sacchettini, J. C, (1993) Biochemistry 32, 11963-11968] by mutating Arg 210 to Lys in the N-lobe half-molecule LfN. The R210K mutant was expressed, purified, and crystallized, and its crystal structure was determined and refined at 2.0-Angstrom resolution to a final R factor (R-free) of 19.8% (25.0%). The structure showed that Lys 210 and Lys 301 in R210K do not form a dilysine interaction like that between Lys 206 and Lys 296 in human Tf. The R210K mutant retained iron to lower pH than Tf-N, consistent with the absence of the dilysine interaction but released iron at approximately 0.7 pH units higher than Lf(N). We conclude that (i) the ability of Lf to retain iron to significantly lower pH than Tf is due equally to interlobe interactions and to the absence in Lfs of an interaction analogous to the dilysine pair in Tfs, even when two lysines are present at the corresponding sequence positions, and (ii) an appropriately positioned basic residue (Arg 210 in human Lf) modulates iron release by inhibiting protonation of the N-lobe iron ligands, specifically His 253.

Lactoferrin has many demonstrated activities. Some of these undoubtedly correspond to important in vivo functions; others may only apply in vitro, but may nevertheless lead to possible uses for lactoferrin in medicine or in biotechnology. In either case, the key to understanding the molecular basis of these activities, and ultimately being able to manipulate them, resides in the three-dimensional structure of the protein.

The contribution of the conserved His ligand to iron binding in transferrins has been addressed by site-directed mutagenesis and X-ray crystallographic analysis. His 253 in the N-terminal half-molecule of human lactoferrin, LfN (residues 1-333), has been changed to Gly, Ala, Pro, Thr, Leu, Phe, Met, Tyr, Glu, Gln, and Cys by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. The proteins have been expressed in baby hamster kidney cells, at high levels, and purified. The results show that the His ligand is essential for the stability of the iron binding site. All of the substitutions destabilized iron binding irrespective of whether the replacements were potential iron ligands or not. Iron was lost below pH approximately 6 for the Cys, Glu, and Tyr mutants and below pH 7 or higher for the others, compared with pH 5.0 for LfN. The destabilization is attributed to both steric and electronic effects. The importance of electronic effects has been shown by the crystal structure of the H253M mutant, which has been determined at an effective resolution of 2.5 A and refined to a final R factor of 0.173. The iron atom is changed from six-coordinate to five-coordinate; the Met 253 side chain is not bound to iron even though there appears to be no steric barrier. This is attributed to the poorer affinity of the thioether ligand for Fe(III) compared with imidazole nitrogen. The decreased stability of the iron binding is attributed solely to the loss of the His ligand as the protein conformation and interdomain interactions are unchanged.

Human lactoferrin (lactoferrin) has been shown to bind to receptors present in the human small intestine and on various other types of cells. Little is known about the structural features of the lactoferrin molecule that are needed for receptor recognition. The lactoferrin gene has been cloned and sequenced and recombinant lactoferrin has been expressed in baby hamster kidney cells. The recombinant lactoferrin has been shown to have normal iron-binding properties, but glycosylation of the recombinant lactoferrin appears to differ from that of the native lactoferrin. This expression system has also made it possible to use site-directed mutagenesis to produce variants of human lactoferrin. In this study, we analyze the physical characteristics as well as the receptor binding properties of recombinant lactoferrin and its structural variants, including the N-lobe, N-lobe treated with PNGase, and the N-lobe with its glycosylation site (N137A) mutated. Laser-induced desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry is used to evaluate differences between the predicted and observed molecular mass values as a function of posttranslational modification. Competitive binding experiments are conducted with both native and recombinant human lactoferrin to assess receptor binding properties using human brush-border membranes. Each of the recombinant lactoferrin proteins competes effectively with native lactoferrin for receptor binding. The N-lobe alone appears to have a greater affinity for the binding sites than does the intact native lactoferrin. We conclude from these studies that the presence of glycans is not essential fur receptor recognition and that the N-lobe of lactoferrin is both necessary and probably sufficient to allow normal binding to the receptor(s).

We have previously reported the expression of both full-length recombinant lactoferrin and the recombinant N-lobe half-molecule in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells (Stowell et al., 1991; Day et al., 1992). The properties of the full-length recombinant protein produced in this system were virtually indistinguishable from those of the native protein isolated from human milk, except for an increased resistance of a minor fraction of the protein to deglycosylation by PNGase. The N-lobe recombinant protein has been characterized (Day et al., 1992) and the structure determined by X-ray crystallography (Day et al., 1993).These studies have shown the utility of the BHK cell system as a means of producing recombinant lactoferrins. We have now extended our work on recombinant human lactoferrin by the construction and expression of cDNAs for a number of mutant forms of the protein, both in the full-length molecule as well as in the N-lobe half-molecule. These mutants fall into a number of classes and have been designed to address questions related to various aspects of the structure and function of the protein. Some of these mutant classes are summarized below.Iron binding ligand mutations have mostly been introduced into the N-lobe half-molecule with the ultimate objective of producing an N-lobe protein that is no longer capable of binding iron. Our strategy has largely been to Introduce the corresponding residues found in the nonfunctional C-lobe of melanotransferrin (Baker et al., 1992). However, a number of other iron ligand mutants have been made.For nonglycosylated lactoferrins, the single site for N-glycosylation in the N-lobe half-molecule has been changed in two mutants (LfN:N(137)A and N137S). Two of the three potential sites in the full-length molecule have been mutated (hLf:N(137)A; N(478)A) These residues have been suggested (Spik et al., 1985) as the two sites for glycosylation in the native protein. The cDNA for expression of the triple mutant (hLf:N(137)A; N(478)A; N(623)A) has also been prepared.

Two features of the functional properties of lactoferrin are its ability to bind iron exceptionally tightly and the coupling of rigid-body domain movements to iron binding and release. The latter cause transitions between open and closed forms of the protein. Using site-directed mutagenesis and X-ray crystallography we have examined the importance of selected residues, including the iron ligands Asp 60 and His 253, the anion-binding Arg 121, and Pro 251 in the hinge region. Five mutants, D60S, R121S, R121E, H253M, and P251A, have been prepared in the context of the N-terminal half-molecule of human lactoferrin, LfN, and three-dimensional structures have been determined in each case. In D60S the mutation leads to weakened iron binding because a water molecule binds to the iron atom in place of Asp 60. Interdomain interactions are also weakened, and the loss of the Asp side-chain causes a significant change in domain closure; the domains move closer together by 7 degrees in the mutant. The R121S and R121E mutants show altered anion binding and very small changes in domain orientations. The H253M and P251A mutants show identical domain closure to wild-type LfN, but the iron site is altered in Hi253M; the Met 253 side-chain is not bound to iron, leaving a 5-coordinate site. These results are interpreted in terms of the roles of each of the residues in iron binding and release.

Accumulation of lactoferrin mRNA in mammary tissue from virgin, pregnant, lactating, and involuting ewes and cows was localized using 35S-labeled cRNA probes. Expression of lactoferrin was low in the glands of virgin animals. In the glands of animals in early pregnancy, very high expression occurred in the ducts and immature alveoli, but expression tended to decrease as the alveoli matured. In the lactating and involuting gland, expression was generally low or absent in actively secreting alveoli and high in alveoli that had an accumulation of vesicles in the lumen and secretory epithelium, which was indicative of stasis. Occasionally, expression of lactoferrin was seen in cells that appeared to be secretory, particularly in involuting glands. Lactoferrin mRNA was expressed not only at different sites from other milk protein genes, such as alpha-lactalbumin and alpha s1-casein, but also during different stages of mammary development, supporting the view that the expression of lactoferrin is regulated differently from that of other milk proteins. For all ewes and cows, lactoferrin mRNA was detected in the epithelial ducts of the mammary parenchyma and the teat in a gradient that increased in ducts nearer the teats. The expression of lactoferrin in the ductal epithelium close to the teat was consistent with the antibacterial role of lactoferrin.

A conserved arginine residue helps to form the synergistic anion binding site in transferrins. To probe the importance of this residue for anion binding and iron binding, Arg 121 has been mutated to Ser and Glu in N-terminal half-molecule of human lactoferrin. The two mutants, R121S and R121E, have been expressed, purified, and crystallized. Their three-dimensional structures have been determined by X-ray diffraction at 2.3 and 2.5 A resolution, respectively. The structures were determined by molecular replacement and were refined by restrained least squares methods to final R values of 0.185 and 0.204. Both mutants still bind iron but with decreased stability. The crystal structures show that destabilization of iron binding probably results from disruption of the anion binding site; mutation of Arg 121 removes one wall of the anion binding pocket and causes the synergistic carbonate ion to be displaced 0.5 A from its position in the wild-type protein. In the process it becomes partially detached from the helix N-terminus that forms the rest of the anion binding site.

The urease from the ascomycetous fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe was purified about 4000-fold (34% yield) to homogeneity by acetone precipitation, ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose ion-exchange column chromatography, and if required, Mono-Q ion-exchange fast protein liquid chromatography. The enzyme was intracellular and only one species of urease was detected by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The native enzyme had a M(r) of 212 kDa (Sepharose CL6B-200 gel filtration) and a single subunit was detected with a M(r) of 102 kDa (PAGE with sodium dodecyl sulfate). The subunit stoichiometry was not specifically determined, but the molecular mass estimations indicate that the undissociated enzyme may be a dimer of identical subunits. The specific activity was 700-800 micromols urea.min-1.mg protein-1, the optimum pH for activity was 8.0, and the Km for urea was 1.03 mM. The sequence of the amino terminus was Met-Gln-Pro-Arg-Glu-Leu-His-Lys-Leu-Thr-Leu-His-Gln-Leu-Gly-Ser-Leu-Ala and the sequence of two tryptic peptides of the enzyme were Phe-Ile-Glu-Thr-Asn-Glu-Lys and Leu-Tyr-Ala-Pro-Glu-Asn-Ser-Pro-Gly-Phe-Val-Glu-Val-Leu-Glu-Gly-Glu-Ile- Glu- Leu-Leu-Pro-Asn-Leu-Pro. The N-terminal sequence and physical and kinetic properties indicated that S. pombe urease was more like the plant enzymes than the bacterial ureases.

The crystal structure of a site-specific mutant of the N-terminal half-molecule of human lactoferrin, LfN, in which the iron ligand Asp60 has been mutated to Ser, has been determined at 2.05 Å resolution in order to determine the effects of the mutation on iron binding and domain closure. Yellow monoclinic crystals of the D60S mutant, in its iron-bound form, were prepared, and have unit cell dimensionsa=110.2 Å,b=57.0 Å,c=55.2 Å, β=97.6°, space groupC2, with one molecule of 333 residues in the asymmetric unit. The structure was determined by molecular replacement, using the wild-type LfNas search model, and was refined by restrained least-squares methods. The final model, comprising 2451 protein atoms (from residues 2 to 315) one Fe3 +and one CO32−, and 107 water molecules, gives anR-factor of 0.175 for all data in the resolution range 20.0 to 2.05 Å. The model conforms well with standard geometry, having root-mean- square deviations of 0.014 Å and 1.2° from standard bond lengths and angles. The structure of the D60S mutant deviates in two important respects from the parent LfNmolecule. At the mutation site the Ser side-chain neither binds to the iron atom nor makes any interdomain contact as the substituted Asp does; instead a water molecule fills the iron coordination site and participates in interdomain hydrogen bonding. The domain closure is also changed, with the D60S mutant having a more closed conformation. Consideration of crystal packing suggests that the altered domain closure is a genuine molecular property but both the iron coordination and interdomain contacts are consistent with weakened iron binding in the mutant. The implications for iron binding in transferrins generally are discussed.

Sheep liver cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase (AIDH) has been studied extensively by others from this department (reviewed in Blackwell et al., 1989). In order to extend these studies using site-directed mutagenesis it was necessary first to isolate and sequence the cDNA for this form of the enzyme. The cDNA sequences for the human liver cytosolic (Hsu et al., 1989) and mitochondrial iso-forms of AIDH (Hsu et al., 1988) were used to design a probe which would allow specific identification of cytosolic AIDH. We report here the isolation and sequencing of a full-length clone for sheep liver cytosolic AIDH.

Three dimensional studies of human lactoferrin (Anderson et al, 1989) have shown that like all other members of the transferrin family, lactoferrin is divided into two lobes; the N-terminal and the C-terminal lobes. Each lobe is capable of synergistically binding one Fe3+ ion and one anion. The cloning of the cDNA for human lactoferrin (hLf) and its subsequent expression in mammalian cells (Stowell et al, 1991) has provided an excellent system to probe the structure and function of hLf by site-directed mutagenesis. The first mutant to be cloned and expressed using this system was the N-terminal lobe (LfN) of hLf (Day et al, 1992). Recombinant protein concentrations of up to 30 mg/1 in the tissue culture medium have been obtained.

The full length copy DNA (cDNA) for human lactoferrin has been synthesised by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using sequence specific primers. The template was first strand cDNA, synthesised from human bone marrow RNA using oligo(dT) to prime DNA synthesis by MMLV reverse transcriptase. The full-length human lactoferrin cDNA has been expressed in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells using the expression vector pNUT. The protein expressed from the cloned cDNA is secreted into the culture medium and yields of up to 40 mg per litre have been obtained. A mutant protein corresponding to the N-lobe of human lactoferrin (LfN) has also been expressed in BHK cells. The cDNA coding for this protein was produced by the introduction of stop codons into the region of the cDNA corresponding to the helix linking the N- and C-lobes of the native protein. LfN is also expressed as a secreted protein and has been obtained in high yield. LfN binds iron and has UV/Vis and ESR spectra which are virtually identical to the native protein. However, the pH at which iron is released from LfN is quite different to the pH of iron release from the native and the full-length recombinant protein. A number of mutations have been introduced into LfN by site-directed mutagenesis and the mutant proteins expressed in BHK cells. These mutations involve the iron binding ligands and have been designed to introduce some of the changes found in the C-lobe of melanotransferrin into LfN. An attempt has been made to express a protein corresponding to the C-lobe of human lactoferrin (LfC) by attaching the sequence for the signal peptide of lactoferrin to the cDNA sequences coding for the C-lobe.

The three-dimensional structure of the N-terminal half-molecule of human lactoferrin, LfN, prepared by recombinant DNA methods, has been determined by X-ray crystallography at 2.0 A resolution. The protein is in its iron-bound form and is deglycosylated. X-ray diffraction data were obtained by diffractometry to 3.2 A resolution and synchrotron data collection, using Weissenberg photography with imaging plates, to 1.8 A resolution. The structure was solved by molecular replacement, using the N-lobe of native diferric human lactoferrin (Lf) as search model. Restrained least squares refinement (program TNT) has resulted in a model structure with an R-factor of 0.184 for all data 34,180 (reflections) in the resolution range 8.0 to 2.0 A. The model comprises 2490 protein atoms (residues 4 to 327), 1 Fe3+, 1 CO3(2-) and 180 solvent molecules, all regarded as water. The structure of LfN is essentially the same as that of the N-lobe of intact Lf, being folded into two similar alpha/beta domains, with the Fe3+ and CO3(2-) bound in a specific site in the interdomain cleft. These details are not affected by either deglycosylation or expression in a non-native system. At the C terminus, however, the conformation of residues 321 to 333 is changed. Whereas in Lf residues 321 to 332 form a helix crossing between the domains at the back of the iron site, in LfN residues 321 to 326 have an extended conformation, forming a third interdomain beta-strand, and residues 328 to 333 appear disordered. The conformational change is attributed to the loss of stabilizing interactions from the C-lobe and is mediated by two Gly residues, at positions 321 and 323. It is further proposed that the conformational change is responsible for the more facile iron release properties of LfN, by its effect on the hinge mechanism and increased solvent exposure of residues near the back of the iron site. Other details of the polypeptide chain conformation and the binding site have also been analysed. Two cis-proline residues are found at positions 71 and 142. The bidentate binding of the CO3(2-) to the metal ion is unambiguous, and a network of hydrogen bonds in and around the binding site links the two domains. Clearly-defined amino-aromatic hydrogen bonds are found for Arg210, near the metal site, and some 31 internal water molecules have been identified, 15 of them in essentially discrete sites, and 16 in a cluster filling a cavity in the interdomain cleft.