Title: Mutants of human butyrylcholinesterase with organophosphate hydrolase activity; evidence that His117 is a general base catalyst for hydrolysis of echothiophate Schopfer LM, Boeck AT, Broomfield CA, Lockridge O Ref: Journal of Medicinal Chemistryical Biology Radiol Def, 2:1, 2004 : PubMed
Human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE, EC 3.1.1.8) is an efficient scavenger of nerve agents and organophosphorus (OP) pesticides; one molecule of BChE inactivates one molecule of OP in a suicide reaction that irreversibly inhibits BChE. By contrast the BChE mutant, G117H, inactivates many molecules of OP. The OP makes a covalent bond with the active site serine and then the serine is dephosphorylated by the action of His117. In an effort to understand the mechanism by which is 117 achieves dephosphorylation, 62 new mutants of human BChE were tested for OP hydrolase activity, using a new screening assay. It was found that not only G117H, but also G117D, G117E, and L286H mutants were OP hydrolases. These results support the hypothesis that a hydrogen-bond acceptor acts as a general base t activate a water molecule which in turn dephosphorylates the active site serine The screening assay provides a convenient means for identifying cholinesterase mutants with OP hydrolase activity.
Organophosphorus toxicants (OP) include chemical nerve agents and pesticides. The goal of this work was to find out whether an animal could be made resistant to OP toxicity by genetic engineering. The human butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) mutant G117H was chosen for study because it has the unusual ability to hydrolyze OP as well as acetylcholine, and it is resistant to inhibition by OP. Human G117H BChE, under the control of the ROSA26 promoter, was expressed in all tissues of transgenic mice. A stable transgenic mouse line expressed 0.5 microg/ml of human G117H BChE in plasma as well as 2 microg/ml of wild-type mouse BChE. Intestine, kidneys, stomach, lungs, heart, spleen, liver, brain, and muscle expressed 0.6-0.15 microg/g of G117H BChE. Transgenic mice were normal in behavior and fertility. The LD50 dose of echothiophate for wild-type mice was 0.1 mg/kg sc. This dose caused severe cholinergic signs of toxicity and lethality in wild-type mice, but caused no deaths and only mild toxicity in transgenic animals. The mechanism of protection was investigated by measuring acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and BChE activity. It was found that AChE and endogenous BChE were inhibited to the same extent in echothiophate-treated wild type and transgenic mice. This led to the hypothesis that protection against echothiophate toxicity was not explained by hydrolysis of echothiophate. In conclusion, the transgenic G117H BChE mouse demonstrates the factors required to achieve protection from OP toxicity in a vertebrate animal.
Title: DNA sequence of butyrylcholinesterase from the rat: expression of the protein and characterization of the properties of rat butyrylcholinesterase Boeck AT, Schopfer LM, Lockridge O Ref: Biochemical Pharmacology, 63:2101, 2002 : PubMed
The rat is the model animal for toxicity studies. Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), being sensitive to inhibition by some organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides, is a biomarker of toxic exposure. The goal of this work was to characterize the purified rat BChE enzyme. The cDNA sequence showed eight amino acid differences between the active site gorge of rat and human BChE, six clustered around the acyl binding pocket and two below the active site serine. A prominent difference in rat was the substitution of arginine for leucine at position 286 in the acyl pocket. Wild-type rat BChE, the mutant R286L, wild-type human BChE, and the mutant L286R were expressed in CHO cells and purified. Arg286 was found responsible for the resistance of rat BChE to inhibition by Triton X-100. Replacement of Arg286 with leucine caused the affinity for Triton X-100 to increase 20-fold, making it as sensitive as human BChE to inhibition by Triton X-100. Wild-type rat BChE had an 8- to 9-fold higher K(m) for the positively charged substrates butyrylthiocholine, acetylthiocholine, propionylthiocholine, benzoylcholine, and cocaine compared with wild-type human BChE. Wild-type rat BChE catalyzed turnover 2- to 7-fold more rapidly than human BChE, showing the highest turnover with propionylthiocholine (201,000 min(-1)). Human BChE does not reactivate spontaneously after inhibition by echothiophate, but rat BChE reactivates with a half-life of 4.3hr. Human serum contains 5mg/L of BChE and 0.01mg/L of AChE. Male rat serum contains 0.2mg/L of BChE and approximately 0.2mg/L of AChE.
Title: Naturally occurring mutation, Asp70his, in human butyrylcholinesterase Boeck AT, Fry DL, Sastre A, Lockridge O Ref: Annals of Clinical Biochemistry, 39:154, 2002 : PubMed
BACKGROUND: People with genetic variants of butyrylcholinesterase can have hours of prolonged apnoea after a normal dose of succinylcholine or mivacurium. METHODS: Serum samples from 308 persons living in mid-USA were phenotyped to identify the atypical and fluoride variants. 308 samples were analysed for the K variant by DNA amplification, digestion with Mae III and gel electrophoresis. Amplified DNA from 16 samples was sequenced to identify the D70G, T243M and D70H mutations. Values for kcat and Km were determined for the D70H mutant BChE expressed in 293T cells. RESULTS: A new mutation, Asp70His, was identified. This mutation is located in the peripheral anionic site of butyrylcholinesterase, where it causes a 10-fold decrease in binding affinity for positively charged substrates. CONCLUSION: People homozygous for the Asp70His mutation are expected to have prolonged apnoea in response to succinylcholine or mivacurium, similar to people with the Asp70Gly mutation.
