Search

Mucin-related carbohydrates are overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells, providing a disease-specific target for cancer immunotherapy. Here, we describe the design and construction of peptide-free multivalent glycosylated nanoscale constructs as potential synthetic cancer vaccines that generate significant titers of antibodies selective for aberrant mucin glycans. A polymerizable version of the Tn-antigen glycan was prepared and converted into well-defined glycopolymers by Reversible Addition–Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The polymers were then conjugated to gold nanoparticles, yielding ‘multicopy-multivalent’ nanoscale glycoconjugates. Immunological studies indicated that these nanomaterials generated strong and long-lasting production of antibodies that are selective to the Tn-antigen glycan and cross-reactive toward mucin proteins displaying Tn. The results demonstrate proof-of-concept of a simple and modular approach toward synthetic anticancer vaccines based on multivalent glycosylated nanomaterials without the need for a typical vaccine protein component.

NADH is transferred directly from one dehydrogenase enzyme site to another without intervention of the aqueous solvent whenever the two dehydrogenases are of opposite chiral specificity as regards the C4 H of NADH which is transferred in the catalyzed reduction reaction. When both enzymes catalyze the transfer of hydrogen from the same face of the nicotinamide ring, direct enzyme-enzyme transfer of NADH is not possible [Srivastava, D. K., & Bernhard, S. A. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 4538-4545; Srivastava, D. K., & Bernhard, S. A. (1985) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. Utilizing an advanced computer graphics facility, and the known three-dimensional coordinates for three dehydrogenases, we have investigated the feasibility of various aspects of the direct transfer of dinucleotide from the site of one enzyme to the site of the other. The facile passage of the coenzyme through the first enzyme site requires an open protein conformation, characteristic of the apoenzyme rather than the holoenzyme structure. Since two dehydrogenases of the same chirality bind coenzyme in the same conformation, the direct transfer of coenzyme from one site to the other is impossible due to the restriction in molecular rotation of the coenzyme in the path of transfer from one binding site to the other; therefore, coenzyme can only be transferred from one dehydrogenase site to another site via the intermediate dissociation of coenzyme into the aqueous milieu. In contrast, when an A dehydrogenase and a B dehydrogenase are juxtaposed, it is stereochemically feasible to transfer the nicotinamide ring from its specific binding site in one enzyme to the site in the other.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The direct transfer of NADH between A-B pairs of dehydrogenases and also the dissociation of NADH from individual E-NADH complexes have been investigated by transient stopped-flow kinetic techniques. Such A-B transfers of NADH occur without the intermediate dissociation of coenzyme into the aqueous solvent environment [Srivastava, D.K., & Bernhard, S.A. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 623-628]. The equilibrium distributions of limiting NADH among aqueous solvent and A and B dehydrogenase sites have also been determined. At sufficiently high but realizable concentrations of dehydrogenases, both the transfer rate and the equilibrium distribution of bound NADH are virtually independent of the excessive enzyme concentrations; at excessive E2 concentration, substantial NADH is bound to the E1 site. These results further substantiate earlier kinetic arguments for the preferential formation of an EA-NADH-EB complex, within which coenzyme is directly transferred between sites. The unimolecular specific rates of coenzyme transfer from site to site are nearly invariant among different A-B dehydrogenase pairs. The equilibrium constants for the distribution of coenzyme within the EA X EB complexes are near unity. At high [E2] and for [E2] greater than [E1] greater than [NADH], E1-NADH X E2 and E1 X NADH-E2 are virtually the only coenzyme-contained species. In contrast to the nearly invariant unimolecular NADH transfer rates within EA X EB complexes, unimolecular specific rates of dissociation of NADH from E-NADH into aqueous solution are highly variable.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A fundamental problem for biochemistry is the determination of the linear sequence of amino acids in proteins. This paper describes a computer-oriented logic for obtaining such determination. The logic applies successively stronger decision rules to extract the required information on the protein sequence.

Kinetic experiments should be designed to answer specific questions about a reaction mechanism. The present paper is intended to show how a number of specific questions have been answered. Chymotrypsin and trypsin are mainly used to illustrate the different approaches, but many of the arguments used are equally applicable to the reactions of other hydrolytic enzymes with serine-OH or cysteine-SH at the active site. T he recognition of serine-OH and cysteine-SH as essential groups at the active sites of different hydrolytic enzymes did not rest on kinetic evidence. This was deduced from the correlation of enzyme activity with the extent of modification of specially reactive groups. The investigation of proton dissociation equilibria and the assignment of dissociation constants to groups with specified functions in substrate binding, catalysis or protein conformation was the first objective of serious kinetic studies of enzyme reactions. Steady state rate measurements over a wide range of pH showed that groups with p K 6.25 and 6.85 respectively are involved in the catalytic activity of trypsin and chymotrypsin with certain specific substrates (Hammond & Gutfreund 1955). In the case of chymotrypsin it was also shown by Hammond & Gutfreund (1955) that a group with a more alkaline pK is involved in substrate binding. This latter group was subsequently identified and its function was elucidated through the elegant experiments of Oppenheimer, Labouresse & Hess (1966). The identification of histidine as the group with p K A near neutrality, involved in the catalytic mechanism of trypsin and chymotrypsin, was subsequently confirmed by direct chemical methods by Schoelmann & Shaw (1963). Only kinetic analysis can demonstrate the involvement of proton donors or acceptors with specific properties in enzyme-substrate interaction or in catalysis. The clear identification of chemical groups capable of performing such functions is coming from the crystallographic analysis of the three-dimensional structure at the site of enzyme-substrate interaction, as illustrated in other papers presented in this discussion. Very interesting chemical information is obtained when the effect of structure on reactivity is synthesized from the composite of crystallographic and kinetic data.

The pathway for the transfer of NADH from one dehydrogenase (E1) to another dehydrogenase (E2) has been investigated by studying the E2-catalyzed reduction of S2 by NADH. The experimental conditions are that the concentration of E1 exceeds that of NADH, which in turn is very much greater than E2; hence, the concentration of free (aqueous) NADH is exceedingly low. The rate of reduction of S2 will hence be very slow if unliganded aqueous NADH is required for the E2-catalyzed reaction. Our results with eight dehydrogenases are entirely consistent with the direct transfer of NADH between E1 and E2 whenever the two enzymes transfer hydrogen via opposite faces (A and B) of the nicotinamide ring. Whenever the two enzymes are both A or both B, NADH transfer occurs only via the aqueous solvent. Some mechanistic inferences and their possible physiological significance are discussed.

This paper deals with the transfer of metabolites (M) from one enzyme site (E1), the site of synthesis, to another enzyme site (E2), the site of utilization. Some such metabolite transfers have already been demonstrated to proceed by the direct interaction of a pair of enzymes involved in sequential steps of a metabolic pathway (Weber and Bernhard, 1982; Srivastava and Bernhard, 1984, 1985, 1986a, b). In such transfers the common metabolite is not exposed to an intermediate “solvent” environment. This direct transfer process is in contrast to the usually implicit model of metabolite transfer via dissociation from E1 and subsequent arrival at E2 via random diffusion through the aqueous environment (Eq. 1).

Recently a great deal of attention has been focused on subunit interactions in polymeric enzymes. Following Adair’s original discovery of cooperative 02 binding in hemoglobin (1), a large and growing list of proteins have been found to exhibit some type of subunit interaction (2,3). Several very elegant models have been pronosed to explain these effects but it now appears that no one model can adequately describe all of the varied behavior observed.