Identification of Rabggtase Inhibitors and Mechanistic Studies of Rab Gtpase Prenylation
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Identification of RabGGTase inhibitors and mechanistic studies of Rab GTPase prenylation and recycling using fluorescent sensors Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.) des Fachbereichs Chemie der Technischen Universität Dortmund Angefertigt am Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Physiologie in Dortmund vorgelegt von Yaowen Wu aus China Dortmund, Dezember 2007 1. Gutachter : Prof. Dr. R.S. Goody 2. Gutachter : Prof. Dr. H. Waldmann Erklärung/Declaration Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde in der Zeit von August 2004 bis December 2007 am Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Physiologie in Dortmund unter der Anleitung von Prof. Dr. Roger S. Goody, Dr. Kirill Alexandrov und Prof. Dr. Herbert Waldmann durchgeführt. Hiermit versichere ich an Eides statt, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbständig und nur mit den angegebenen Hilfsmitteln angefertigt habe The present work was accomplished from August 2004 to Dezember 2007 at Max- Planck-Institute for molecular physiology in Dortmund under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Roger S. Goody, Dr. Kirill Alexandrov and Prof. Dr. Herbert Waldmann. I hereby declare that I performed the work presented independently and did not use any other but the indicated aids. Dortmund, December 2007 Yaowen Wu Contents Abbreviations V Zusammenfassung VII 1. Abstract 1 2. Introduction 5 2.1 Protein prenylation and prenyltransferases .......................................................... 5 2.1.1 Discovery of protein prenylation............................................................ 5 2.1.2 Protein prenyltransferases and their substrates.................................... 7 2.1.3 Mechanism of protein prenylation ....................................................... 10 2.1.4 Post-prenylation modification .............................................................. 12 2.2 Function of small GTPases..................................................................................16 2.2.1 GTPase cycle...................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 The structural basis of Rab GTPases function.................................... 18 2.2.3 Rabs function in vesicular transport .................................................... 24 2.2.4 Regulation of Rab membrane localization and recycling..................... 33 2.3 Protein prenyltransferase inhibitors .....................................................................39 2.3.1 Farnesyl transferase inhibitors (FTIs).................................................. 39 2.3.2 Mechanism of FTIs action ................................................................... 40 2.3.3 GGTase-I and RabGGTase as therapeutic targets............................. 43 2.4 Chemical protein ligation .....................................................................................46 2.4.1 Native chemical ligation ...................................................................... 46 2.4.2 Expressed protein ligation................................................................... 47 2.4.3 Protein trans-splicing........................................................................... 49 3. Aims of this work 53 4. Results and Discussion 57 I 4.1 Development of fluorescent sensors for Rab prenylation ....................................57 4.1.1 Strategy for the construction of fluorescent sensors based on Rab proteins ........................................................................................................ 58 4.1.2 Semi-synthesis of Rab7 fluorescent conjugates.................................. 61 4.1.2.1 Expression and purification of Rab7 C-terminal α-thioesters..... 61 4.1.2.2 Characterization of Rab7 α-thioesters ....................................... 64 4.1.2.3 Fluorophore conjugation and protein ligation ............................. 69 4.1.2.4 Characterization of Rab7 fluorescent conjugates....................... 79 4.1.3 NBD-FPP as a sensitive fluorescent sensor for Rab prenylation ........ 88 4.1.3.1 A sensitive, real-time fluorometric assay for RabGGTase activity ............................................................................................................... 88 4.1.3.2 Characterization of NBD-farnesyltation...................................... 92 4.1.3.3 Steady-state kinetics of the NBD-farnesylation reaction .......... 101 4.2 Identification of RabGGTase inhibitors ..............................................................105 4.2.1 High-throughput screening for RabGGTase inhibitors ...................... 105 4.2.2 In silico screening of RabGGTase inhibitors ..................................... 107 4.2.3 Structure and activity relationship (SAR) analysis of peptide inhibitors for RabGGTase.......................................................................................... 110 4.2.4 Quantitative analysis of the interaction of identified inhibitors with prenyltransferases...................................................................................... 116 4.2.5 Selectivity of inhibitors towards RabGGTase, FTase and GGTase-I 121 4.2.6 Inhibition of RabGGTase in vivo by peptide inhibitors....................... 126 4.3 The mechanistic basis of Rab prenylation .........................................................129 4.3.1 Simulation of the Rab C-terminus in the ternary protein complex ..... 129 4.3.2 Rab C-terminus plays multiple roles in Rab prenylation.................... 131 4.3.2.1 Engineering of the Rab C-terminus based on simulation and binary complex structures.................................................................... 131 4.3.2.2 CBR interacting motif is essential for Rab prenylation in vitro.. 135 4.3.2.3 Effects of sequence downstream CIM on Rab prenylation ...... 138 4.3.2.4 Rab C-terminus modulates affinity of Rab:REP binary complex and Rab:REP:RabGGTase ternary complex ....................................... 140 4.4 The thermodynamic basis of Rab recycling.......................................................149 4.4.1 The functional segregation of REP and GDI ..................................... 149 II 4.4.2 Development of a fluorescent sensor for the interaction of prenylated Rab with REP and GDI .............................................................................. 151 4.4.3 Construction and solubilization of semi-synthetic geranylgeranylted Rab7 .......................................................................................................... 158 4.4.4 Quantitative analysis of the interaction of mono- and digeranylgeranylated Rab7 with REP and GDI .......................................... 165 4.4.5 A model for Rab recycling ................................................................. 170 5. Materials and Methods 175 5.1 Materials............................................................................................................175 5.1.1 Chemicals ......................................................................................... 175 5.1.2 Other chemicals from collaborators................................................... 177 5.1.3 Other materials.................................................................................. 178 5.1.4 Instruments ....................................................................................... 179 5.1.5 Buffers and growth media ................................................................. 180 5.2 Molecular cloning methods................................................................................181 5.2.1 Plasmids and bacterial strains........................................................... 181 5.2.2 Preparation of competent cells.......................................................... 182 5.2.3 Preparative PCR ............................................................................... 183 5.2.4 Purification of PCR products by agarose gel electrophoresis ........... 184 5.2.5 Subcloning ........................................................................................ 184 5.2.6 Chemical transformation ................................................................... 185 5.2.7 Colony PCR screen........................................................................... 186 5.2.8 Preparation of plasmid DNA.............................................................. 186 5.2.9 DNA sequencing ............................................................................... 187 5.2.10 Transformation by electroporation................................................... 188 5.3 Protein expression and purification methods.....................................................189 5.3.1. Expression and purification of RabGGTase, REP-1, RabGDI, Rab7wt and Rab7 mutants...................................................................................... 189 5.3.2 Expression and purification of Rab-thioester proteins ....................... 191 5.4 Analytical methods ............................................................................................193 5.4.1 Denaturing SDS-PAGE ..................................................................... 193 5.4.2 MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry ....................................................... 194 III 5.4.3 LC-ESI-mass spectrometry ............................................................... 194 5.4.4 Analytical reversed-phase (RP)- and gel filtration (GF)-HPLC .......... 195 5.4.5 Ion exchange chromatography.......................................................... 196 5.5 Biochemical methods.........................................................................................197