This document describes biophysical studies of Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) variants. TPMT is an enzyme that metabolizes thiopurine drugs used to treat conditions like leukemia. The document identifies several naturally occurring TPMT variants with reduced or intermediate enzyme activity. It then details experiments analyzing the structure, stability, and activity of wild type and variant TPMT proteins using techniques like circular dichroism, thermal unfolding, limited proteolysis, and enzyme activity assays. The results provide insights into how common TPMT variants alter the protein's structure and function, affecting thiopurine drug metabolism.
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Biophysical studies of Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) variants
1. Biophysical studies of Thiopurine
S-methyltransferase (TPMT)
variants
Paolo Dametto
September 2009
2. TPMT
? TPMT (thiopurine S-methyltransferase) is a cytosolic
enzyme that catalyzes the S-methylation of aromatic
and heterocyclic sulfhydril compounds, including
drugs such as thiopurines.
6. Position of TPMT*2, *3C, *5 mutations
*2 (Ala80★Pro)
*3C (Tyr240★Cys)
*5 (Leu49★Ser)
7. Purification¨s step´´
1. TPMT large scale expression in BL21/DE3 cells
2. Sonication
3. His-Tag purification using Ni-NTA column
4. Removing His-Tag sequence with Biotinylated Thrombin
5. His-Tag purification
6. Gel Filtration chromatography
8. CD: circular dichroism
The FAR-UV (190 ‖ 260 nm) CD spectrum can reveal
important characteristics of proteins.
? estimation of secondary structure
? molecule changes in the secondary structure as a
function of temperature or of the concentration of
denaturing agents
? thermodynamic information such as ?G and Tm
12. ANS
?The aromatic chromophore
1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate
(ANS) is feebly fluorescent in water
but the intensity is dramatically
increased in nonpolar solvent or
when it binds to nonpolar sites of
proteins.
?ANS was used to check if the TPMT
variants showed some hydrophobic
pattern, according to their enhanced
thermodynamic instability. In this
case, the ANS signal would be
stronger than that of TPMT*1.
13. ANS fluorescence measurements at 478 nm
with a gradient of GdnCl
12500
11500
!
10500
Fluorescence Intensity
9500
8500
TPMT*1
TPMT*2
TPMT*3C
7500
TPMT*5
6500
5500
4500
3500
2500
1500
500
-500 0
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
1.25
1.5
GdnCl [M]
1.75
2
2.25
2.5
2.75
18. ANS fluorescence measurements of TPMT*1
at different concentrations of SAM
10500000
0 ?M SAM
100 ?M SAM
8500000
200 ?M SAM
7500000
Fluorescence intesity
9500000
1 mM SAM
6500000
3 mM SAM
5500000
4500000
3500000
2500000
1500000
500000
-500000 400
420
440
460
480
500
Wavelength [nm]
520
540
560
580
600
22. ANS fluorescent measurements
11500000
10500000
TPMT*1 no SAM
8500000
Fluorescence intensity
9500000
TPMT*2 no SAM
TPMT*3C no SAM
7500000
TPMT*5 no SAM
6500000
5500000
4500000
3500000
2500000
1500000
500000
-500000 400
420
440
460
480
500
520
Wavelength [nm]
540
560
580
600
24. Limited proteolysis
Limited proteolysis can be used to probe conformational
features of protein.
? Limited proteolysis and matrix-assisted laser
desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) was
applied to probe protease-accessible sites of TPMT.
? Fragments were analyzed using the software MTMDAT.
28. Considerations
? The TPMT protein can broaden our
understanding of the mechanisms by which
common polymorphisms can lead to
functional effects.
? TPMT protein represents one of the most
striking example of the science named
Pharmacogenomics.