S-Nitrosation destabilizes glutathione transferase P1-1

Biochemistry. 2013 Dec 23;52(51):9394-402. doi: 10.1021/bi401414c. Epub 2013 Dec 2.

Abstract

Protein S-nitrosation is a post-translational modification that regulates the function of more than 500 human proteins. Despite its apparent physiological significance, S-nitrosation is poorly understood at a molecular level. Here, we investigated the effect of S-nitrosation on the activity, structure, stability, and dynamics of human glutathione transferase P1-1 (GSTP1-1), an important detoxification enzyme ubiquitous in aerobes. S-Nitrosation at Cys47 and Cys101 reduces the activity of the enzyme by 94%. Circular dichroism spectroscopy, acrylamide quenching, and amide hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry experiments indicate that the loss of activity is caused by the introduction of local disorder at the active site of GSTP1-1. Furthermore, the modification destabilizes domain 1 of GSTP1-1 against denaturation, smoothing the unfolding energy landscape of the protein and introducing a refolding defect. In contrast, S-nitrosation at Cys101 alone introduces a refolding defect in domain 1 but compensates by stabilizing the domain kinetically. These data elucidate the physical basis for the regulation of GSTP1-1 by S-nitrosation and provide general insight into the consequences of S-nitrosation on protein stability and dynamics.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Catalytic Domain / drug effects
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Cysteine / chemistry
  • Cysteine / metabolism
  • Deuterium Exchange Measurement
  • Down-Regulation* / drug effects
  • Glutathione S-Transferase pi / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Glutathione S-Transferase pi / chemistry
  • Glutathione S-Transferase pi / genetics
  • Glutathione S-Transferase pi / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Indicators and Reagents / pharmacology
  • Kinetics
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Nitrates / metabolism*
  • Nitrosation / drug effects
  • Protein Conformation / drug effects
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational*
  • Protein Refolding / drug effects
  • Protein Stability / drug effects
  • Protein Unfolding / drug effects
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • S-Nitrosoglutathione / pharmacology
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence

Substances

  • Indicators and Reagents
  • Nitrates
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • S-Nitrosoglutathione
  • GSTP1 protein, human
  • Glutathione S-Transferase pi
  • Cysteine