title: Identification of residues critical for activity of the wound-induced leucine aminopeptidase (LAP-A) of tomato.
abstract: The importance of two putative Zn2+-binding (Asp347, Glu429) and two catalytic (Arg431, Lys354) residues in the tomato leucine aminopeptidase (LAP-A) function was tested. The impact of substitutions at these positions, corresponding to the bovine LAP residues Asp255, Glu334, Arg336, and Lys262, was evaluated in His6-LAP-A fusion proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. Sixty-five percent of the mutant His6-LAP-A proteins were unstable or had complete or partial defects in hexamer assembly or stability. The activity of hexameric His6-LAP-As on Xaa-Leu and Leu-Xaa dipeptides was tested. Most substitutions of Lys354 (a catalytic residue) resulted in His6-LAP-As that cleaved dipeptides at slower rates. The Glu429 mutants (a Zn2+-binding residue) had more diverse phenotypes. Some mutations abolished activity and others retained partial or complete activity. The E429D His6-LAP-A enzyme had Km and kcat values similar to the wild-type His6-LAP-A. One catalytic (Arg431) and one Zn-binding (Asp347) residue were essential for His6-LAP-A activity, as most R431 and D347 mutant His6-LAP-As did not hydrolyze dipeptides. The R431K His6-LAP-A that retained the positive charge had partial activity as reflected in the 4.8-fold decrease in kcat. Surprisingly, while the D347E mutant (that retained a negative charge at position 347) was inactive, the D347R mutant that introduced a positive charge retained partial activity. A model to explain these data is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0124, USA.
authors.forename: Yong-Qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Walling
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D017931:DNA Primers; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D007931:Leucyl Aminopeptidase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000201:enzymology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D007931:Leucyl Aminopeptidase