Title: Rates and equilibria for a photoisomerizable antagonist at the acetylcholine receptor of Electrophorus electroplaques Krouse ME, Lester HA, Wassermann NH, Erlanger BF Ref: Journal of General Physiology, 86:235, 1985 : PubMed
Voltage-jump and light-flash experiments have been performed on isolated Electrophorus electroplaques exposed simultaneously to nicotinic agonists and to the photoisomerizable compound 2,2'-bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]-azobenzene (2BQ). Dose-response curves are shifted to the right in a nearly parallel fashion by 2BQ, which suggests competitive antagonism; dose-ratio analyses show apparent dissociation constants of 0.3 and 1 microM for the cis and trans isomers, respectively. Flash-induced trans----cis concentration jumps produce the expected decrease in agonist-induced conductance; the time constant is several tens of milliseconds. From the concentration dependence of these rates, we conclude that the association and dissociation rate constants for the cis-2BQ-receptor binding are approximately 10(8) M-1 s-1 and 60 s-1 at 20 degrees C; the Q10 is 3. Flash-induced cis----trans photoisomerizations produce molecular rearrangements of the ligand-receptor complex, but the resulting relaxations probably reflect the kinetics of buffered diffusion rather than of the interaction between trans-2BQ and the receptor. Antagonists seem to bind about an order of magnitude more slowly than agonists at nicotinic receptors.
These experiments employ the photoisomerizable compound, 3,3'-bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (Bis-Q), to study the response to muscarinic agents in frog myocardium. In homogenates from the heart, trans-Bis-Q blocks the binding of [3H]-N-methylscopolamine to muscarinic receptors. In voltage-clamped atrial trabeculae, trans-Bis-Q blocks the agonist-induced potassium conductance. The equilibrium dose-response curve for carbachol is shifted to the right, suggesting competitive blockade. Both the biochemical and electrophysiological data yield a dissociation constant of 4-5 microM for trans-Bis-Q; the cis configuration is severalfold less potent as a muscarinic blocker. Voltage-clamped preparations were exposed simultaneously to carbachol and Bis-Q and were subjected to appropriately filtered flashes (less than 1 ms duration) from a xenon flashlamp. Trans leads to cis and cis leads to trans photoisomerizations cause small (less than 20%) increases and decreases, respectively, in the agonist-induced current. The relaxation follows an S-shaped time course, including an initial delay or period of zero slope. The entire waveform is described by [1 - exp(-kt)]n. At 23 degrees C, k is approximately 3 s-1 and n is 2. Neither k nor n is affected when: (a) [Bis-Q] is varied between 5 and 100 microM; (b) [carbachol] is varied between 1 and 50 microM; (c) carbachol is replaced by other agonists (muscarine, acetylcholine, or acetyl-beta-methylcholine); or (d) the voltage is varied between the normal resting potential and a depolarization of 80 mV. However, in the range of 13-30 degrees C, k increases with temperature; the Q10 is between 2 and 2.5. In the same range, n does not change significantly. Like other investigators, we conclude that the activation kinetics of the muscarinic K+ conductance are not determined by ligand-receptor binding, but rather by a subsequent sequence of two (or more) steps with a high activation energy.
Title: A covalently bound photoisomerizable agonist: comparison with reversibly bound agonists at Electrophorus electroplaques Lester HA, Krouse ME, Nass MM, Wassermann NH, Erlanger BF Ref: Journal of General Physiology, 75:207, 1980 : PubMed
After disulphide bonds are reduced with dithiothreitol, trans-3- (alpha-bromomethyl)-3'-[alpha- (trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (trans-QBr) alkylates a sulfhydryl group on receptors. The membrane conductance induced by this "tethered agonist" shares many properties with that induced by reversible agonists. Equilibrium conductance increases as the membrane potential is made more negative; the voltage sensitivity resembles that seen with 50 [mu]M carbachol. Voltage- jump relaxations follow an exponential time-course; the rate constants are about twice as large as those seen with 50 muM carbachol and have the same voltage and temperature sensitivity. With reversible agonists, the rate of channel opening increases with the frequency of agonist-receptor collisions: with tethered trans-Qbr, this rate depends only on intramolecular events. In comparison to the conductance induced by reversible agonists, the QBr-induced conductance is at least 10-fold less sensitive to competitive blockade by tubocurarine and roughly as sensitive to "open-channel blockade" bu QX-222. Light-flash experiments with tethered QBr resemble those with the reversible photoisomerizable agonist, 3,3',bis-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene (Bis-Q): the conductance is increased by cis {arrow} trans photoisomerizations and decreased by trans {arrow} cis photoisomerizations. As with Bis-Q, ligh-flash relaxations have the same rate constant as voltage-jump relaxations. Receptors with tethered trans isomer. By comparing the agonist-induced conductance with the cis/tans ratio, we conclude that each channel's activation is determined by the configuration of a single tethered QBr molecule. The QBr-induced conductance shows slow decreases (time constant, several hundred milliseconds), which can be partially reversed by flashes. The similarities suggest that the same rate-limiting step governs the opening and closing of channels for both reversible and tethered agonists. Therefore, this step is probably not the initial encounter between agonist and receptor molecules.
Title: Conformational properties of the acetylcholine receptor as revealed by studies with constrained depolarizing ligands Wassermann NH, Bartels E, Erlanger BF Ref: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 76:256, 1979 : PubMed
Conformational aspects of the acetylcholine receptor (AcChoR) of Electrophorus electricus have been examined by studies of its interaction with structurally related, constrained aromatic bis quaternary compounds. Among the compounds synthesized was 3,3'-bis[alpha-(trimethylammonium)-methyl]azobenzene dibromide (3,3'-bisQ). This compound is photochromic and can exist in a cis or trans isomeric form, both of which have now been isolated in pure form. Trans-3,3'-bisQ is the most potent activator known, producing a 60-mV depolarization at 0.2 muM and 50% activity at 0.06 muM. The cis isomer is less than 1% as active. Its high activity and constrained structure suggest that trans-3,3'-bisQ can be considered to be a template of the combining site of AcChoR, when the latter is in the activated state. The following conclusions can then be drawn concerning the AcChoR binding site. (i) Depolarization can occur by interaction with reagents that are essentially inflexible. (ii) The binding site has a planar hydrophobic region that interacts with methylene groups of acetylcholine and with hydrophobic areas in general. (iii) In the same plane as the hydrophobic area is a site that interacts with electron-donating functional groups including the carbonyl oxygen of acetylcholine and the azo nitrogens of trans-3,3'-bisQ. (iv) About 1.5 A out of the plane of the hydrophobic and the electron acceptor site is an anionic site; when the AcChoR is in the activated state, this site is separated from the electron acceptor site by 5.2 A and from another anionic site by 11 A. (v) The anionic sites are located within a cleft of limited size, sufficient to accommodate quaternary methyl groups. (vi) Although depolarization can occur with reagents that possess only hydrophobic and cationic groups if their geometric arrangement is proper, the highest activity resides in compounds capable of all of the interactions cited above.
Three photochromic reagents were synthesized and examined for their ability to inactivate acetylcholinesterase. They are: N-p-phenylazophenyl-N-phenylcarbamyl chloride (PAPCl), N-p-phenylazophenyl-N-phenylcarbamyl fluoride (PAPF), and N-p-phenylazophenyl-V-methylcarbamyl chloride (PAMCC1). These photochromic compounds can exist as cis and trans isomers that are interconvertible under the influence of light of selected wavelengths. In the trans configuration, the azobenzene portion of the molecule is planar; this is not so for the cis isomers. As a result, the two isomeric forms of each of the reagents acylated the enzyme acetylcholinesterase at different rates; deacylation rates also differed. In all cases, the cis isomers acylated the enzyme at faster rates than the trans isomers. The reverse was true for the deacylation reaction. The most active reagent was PAMCC1. Kinetic constants were evaluated and some observations were made on the utility of photochromic reagents as probes of the topography of biological systems having the property of specificity
Two photochromic activators of the electrogenic membrane of the electroplax of Electrophorus electricus are described. Trans-3,3'-bis[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene dibromide (Bis-Q), one of the most potent ever reported, is active at concentrations of less than 10(-7) M. Its cis isomer, which is obtained from the trans by exposure to light of 330 nm, is practically devoid of activity. Photoregulation of the potential of the membrane takes place in the presence of Bis-Q, presumably because of the conversion of the active trans isomer to the inactive cis isomer in the single-cell electroplax system. The second activator, 3-(alpha-bromomethyl)-3'-[alpha-(trimethylammonium)methyl]azobenzene bromide (QBr) can be covalently attached to the electroplax membrane after reduction of the membrane with dithiothreitol. Activation of the membrane is induced by the covalently linked reagent. Its cis isomer, obtained from the trans by exposure to light of 330 nm, is, like cis-Bis-Q, of very low activity. Both isomers of Bis-Q are equally active as inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, 50% inhibition occurring at a concentration of 10(-5) M. The possibility of using trans-Bis-Q and trans-QBr to characterize and isolate the receptor protein is discussed.
Title: Photoregulation of biological activity by photocromic reagents. II. Inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase Bieth J, Vratsanos SM, Wassermann N, Erlanger BF Ref: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 64:1103, 1969 : PubMed
The enzymic activity of acetylcholinesterase can be photoregulated through the mediation of photochromic inhibitors of the enzyme. N-p-phenylazophenyl-N-phenylcarbamyl fluoride, an irreversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, exists as two geometric isomers which are interconvertible through the action of light. The cis isomer, which predominates after exposure to light of 320 nm, is more active than the trans isomer, which results from exposure to light of 420 nm. It was possible, therefore, to use light energy to regulate the inactivation of the enzyme. Similarly, levels of acetylcholinesterase activity could be photo-regulated in a completely reversible manner by means of the photochromic reversible inhibitor p-phenylazophenyltrimethylammonium chloride. These experiments can serve as models for similar phenomena observed in nature, particularly in photoperiodic rhythms of higher animals.
Title: Photoregulation of biological activity by photochromic reagents. 3. Photoregulation of bioelectricity by acetylcholine receptor inhibitors Deal WJ, Erlanger BF, Nachmansohn D Ref: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 64:1230, 1969 : PubMed
The photochromic compounds N-p-phenylazophenyl-N-phenylcarbamylcholine chloride and p-phenylazophenyltrimethylammonium chloride inhibit the carbamylcholine-produced depolarization of the excitable membrane of the monocellular electroplax preparation of Electrophorus. The trans isomer of each predominates in the light of a photoflood (420 mmu) lamp; they are stronger inhibitors than the cis isomers, which predominate under ultraviolet (320 mmu) irradiation. The potential difference across the excitable membrane may be photoregulated by exposing an electroplax in the presence of a solution of carbamylcholine and either of the two compounds to light of appropriate wavelengths, since light shifts the cis-trans equilibrium. The system may be considered as a model illustrating how one may link a cis-trans isomerization, the first step in the initiation of a visual impulse, with substantial changes (20-30 mv) in the potential difference across an excitable membrane.
Title: Photoregulation of an enzymic process by means of a light-sensitive ligand Kaufman H, Vratsanos SM, Erlanger BF Ref: Science, 162:1487, 1968 : PubMed
A specific inactivator of chymotrypsin, p-azophenyldiphenylcarbamyl chloride, exists as two geometric isomers, cis and trans, which are interconvertible by means of light. The cis-isomer is five times more reactive than the more stable trans-isomer, and is obtained by exposure of the latter to light of 320 nanometer wavelength. The trans-isomer can be regained by exposure of the cis-isomer to light of 420 nanometer wavelength. This interconversion can be made to occur in aqueous solution in the presence of the enzyme under conditions in which the trans-isomer reacts relatively slowly with chymotrypsin. Thus, it is possible to regulate the rate of inactivation of chymotrypsin by using light of the appropriate wavelength. This system is presented as a model for some of the light-sensitive metabolic systems present in living organisms.
