Eukaryotic Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutases (SOD1s) are generally thought to acquire the essential copper cofactor and intramolecular disulfide bond through the action of the CCS copper chaperone. However, several metazoan SOD1s have been shown to acquire activity in vivo in the absence of CCS, and the Cu,Zn-SOD from Caenorhabditis elegans has evolved complete independence from CCS. To investigate SOD1 activation in the absence of CCS, we compared and contrasted the CCSindependent activation of C. elegans and human SOD1 to the strict CCS-dependent activation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae SOD1. Using a yeast expression system, both pathways were seen to acquire copper derived from cell surface transporters and compete for the same intracellular pool of copper. Like CCS, CCS-independent activation occurs rapidly with a preexisting pool of apo-SOD1 without the need for new protein synthesis. The two pathways, however, strongly diverge when assayed for the SOD1 disulfide. SOD1 molecules that are activated without CCS exhibit disulfide oxidation in vivo without oxygen and under copper-depleted conditions. The strict requirement for copper, oxygen, and CCS in disulfide bond oxidation appears exclusive to yeast SOD1, and we find that a unique proline at position 144 in yeast SOD1 is responsible for this disulfide effect. CCS-dependent and -independent pathways also exhibit differential requirements for molecular oxygen. CCS activation of SOD1 requires oxygen, whereas the CCS-independent pathway is able to activate SOD1s even under anaerobic conditions. In this manner, Cu,Zn-SOD from metazoans may retain activity over a wide range of physiological oxygen tensions.

The intramolecular disulfide bond in human Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1) plays a key role in maintaining the protein’s stability and quaternary structure. In mutant forms of SOD1 that cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), this disulfide bond is more susceptible to chemical reduction, which may lead to destabilization of the dimer and aggregation. During hSOD1 maturation, disulfide formation is catalyzed by the copper chaperone CCS1. Previous studies in yeast demonstrate that the yeast glutathione (GSH)/glutaredoxin redox system promotes reduction of the hSOD1 disulfide in the absence of CCS1. Herein, we further probe the interaction between hSOD1, GSH, and glutaredoxins to provide mechanistic insight into the redox kinetics and thermodynamics of the hSOD1 disulfide. We demonstrate that human glutaredoxin 1 (hGrx1) uses a monothiol mechanism to reduce the hSOD1 disulfide, and the GSH/hGrx1 system reduces ALS mutant SOD1 at a faster rate than WT hSOD1. However, redox potential measurements demonstrate that the thermodynamic stability of the disulfide is not consistently lower in ALS mutants compared to WT hSOD1. Furthermore, the presence of the metal cofactors does not influence the disulfide redox potential. Overall, these studies suggest that differences in the GSH/hGrx1 reaction rate with WT vs. ALS mutant hSOD1 and not the inherent thermodynamic stability of the hSOD1 disulfide bond may contribute to the greater pathogenicity of ALS mutant hSOD1.

Background:We previously proposed a mechanism for plasminogen (Pg) activation by streptokinase (SK). Results: We tested the mechanism using new discontinuous assays that resolved the full time courses of all the reaction species. Conclusion: Analysis of the results independently validates the proposed SK-Pg activation pathway. Significance: The assays can be applied to SK-Pg activation in other contexts.

The myeloablative agent busulfan (1,4-butane-diol dimethanesulfonate) is an old drug that is used routinely to eliminate cancerous bone marrow prior to hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The myeloablative activity and systemic toxicity of busulfan have been ascribed to its ability to cross-link DNA. In contrast, here we demonstrate that incubation of busulfan with the thiol redox proteins glutaredoxin or thioredoxin at pH 7.4 and 37 °C results in the formation of putative S-tetrahydrothiophenium adducts at their catalytic Cys residues, followed by β-elimination to yield dehydroalanine. Both proteins contain a second Cys, in their catalytic C-X-X-C motif, which reacts with the dehydroalanine, the initial Cys adduct with busulfan, or the S-tetrahydrothiophenium, to form novel intramolecular cross-links. The reactivity of the dehydroalanine (DHA) formed is further demonstrated by adduction with glutathione to yield a lanthionine and by a novel reaction with the reducing agent tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP), which yields a phosphine adduct via Michael addition to the DHA. Formation of a second quaternary organophosphonium salt via nucleophilic substitution with TCEP on the initial busulfan-protein adduct or on the THT+-Redoxin species is also observed. These results reveal a rich potential for reactions of busulfan with proteins in vitro, and likely in vivo. It is striking that several of the chemically altered protein products retain none of the atoms of busulfan, in contrast to typical drug-protein adducts or traditional protein modification reagents. In particular, the ability of a clinically used drug to convert Cys to dehydrolanine in intact proteins, and its subsequent reaction with biological thiols, is unprecedented.