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Three crystal structures are presented of nematode thymidylate synthases (TS), including Caenorhabditis elegans (Ce) enzyme without ligands and its ternary complex with dUMP and Raltitrexed, and binary complex of Trichinella spiralis (Ts) enzyme with dUMP. In search of differences potentially relevant for the development of species-specific inhibitors of the nematode enzyme, a comparison was made of the present Ce and Ts enzyme structures, as well as binary complex of Ce enzyme with dUMP, with the corresponding mammalian (human, mouse and rat) enzyme crystal structures. To complement the comparison, tCONCOORD computations were performed to evaluate dynamic behaviors of mammalian and nematode TS structures. Finally, comparative molecular docking combined with molecular dynamics and free energy of binding calculations were carried out to search for ligands showing selective affinity to T. spiralis TS. Despite an overall strong similarity in structure and dynamics of nematode vs mammalian TSs, a pool of ligands demonstrating predictively a strong and selective binding to TsTS has been delimited. These compounds, the E63 family, locate in the dimerization interface of TsTS where they exert species-specific interactions with certain non-conserved residues, including hydrogen bonds with Thr174 and hydrophobic contacts with Phe192, Cys191 and Tyr152. The E63 family of ligands opens the possibility of future development of selective inhibitors of TsTS and effective agents against trichinellosis.

We describe the adsorption behaviour and rheological properties of a calf skin type I collagen, and of its hydrolysates obtained using a Clostridium histolyticum collagenase (CHC) under moderate conditions (pH 7, 37°C). The effect of CHC concentration (2×10(-9)-2×10(-6)M) and incubation time (35-85min) was studied and optimised to achieve the highest decrease of surface tension and the highest dilational surface viscoelasticity of the adsorbed layers. SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) were used to characterise the hydrolysis products. The results show that even simple modifications (heat treatment, pH change, partial hydrolysis) of collagen enhances its surface properties, especially in terms of surface dilational elasticity modulus. The use of low enzyme concentration (CHC-to-collagen molar ratio of 4×10(-3)) and short incubation time (

In view of previous crystallographic studies, N4-hydroxy-dCMP, a slow-binding thymidylate synthase inhibitor apparently caused “uncoupling” of the two thymidylate synthase-catalyzed reactions, including the N5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate one-carbon group transfer and reduction, suggesting the enzyme's capacity to use tetrahydrofolate as a cofactor reducing the pyrimidine ring C(5) in the absence of the 5-methylene group. Testing the latter interpretation, a possibility was examined of a TS-catalyzed covalent self-modification/self-inactivation with certain pyrimidine deoxynucleotides, including 5-fluoro-dUMP and N4-hydroxy-dCMP, that would be promoted by tetrahydrofolate and accompanied with its parallel oxidation to dihydrofolate. Electrophoretic analysis showed mouse recombinant TS protein to form, in the presence of tetrahydrofolate, a covalently bound, electrophoretically separable 5-fluoro-dUMP-thymidylate synthase complex, similar to that produced in the presence of N5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate. Further studies of the mouse enzyme binding with 5-fluoro-dUMP/N4-hydroxy-dCMP by TCA precipitation of the complex on filter paper showed it to be tetrahydrofolate-promoted, as well as to depend on both time in the range of minutes and the enzyme molecular activity, indicating thymidylate synthase-catalyzed reaction to be responsible for it. Furthermore, the tetrahydrofolate- and time-dependent, covalent binding by thymidylate synthase of each 5-fluoro-dUMP and N4-hydroxy-dCMP was shown to be accompanied by the enzyme inactivation, as well as spectrophotometrically confirmed dihydrofolate production, the latter demonstrated to depend on the reaction time, thymidylate synthase activity and temperature of the incubation mixture, further documenting its catalytic character.

In search of an activity-preserving protein thiophosphorylation method, with thymidylate synthase recombinant protein used as a substrate, potassium thiophosphoramidate and diammonium thiophosphoramidate salts in Tris- and ammonium carbonate based buffer solutions were employed, proving to serve as a non-destructive environment. Using potassium phosphoramidate or diammonium thiophosphoramidate, a series of phosphorylated and thiophosphorylated amino acid derivatives was prepared, helping, together with computational (using density functional theory, DFT) estimation of (31)P NMR chemical shifts, to assign thiophosphorylated protein NMR resonances and prove the presence of thiophosphorylated lysine, serine and histidine moieties. Methods useful for prediction of (31)P NMR chemical shifts of thiophosphorylated amino acid moieties, and thiophosphates in general, are also presented. The preliminary results obtained from trypsin digestion of enzyme shows peak at m/z 1825.805 which is in perfect agreement with the simulated isotopic pattern distributions for monothiophosphate of TVQQQVHLNQDEYK where thiophosphate moiety is attached to histidine (His(26)) or lysine (Lys(33)) side-chain.