The extensive and sometimes incorrect and noncompliant use of various types of antimicrobial agents has accelerated the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In fact, AMR has become one of the greatest global threat to human health in this era. The broad-spectrum antibiotics aminoglycosides (AGs) display excellent potency against most Gram-negative bacteria, mycobacteria, and some Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus. The AG antibiotics amikacin, gentamicin, kanamycin, and tobramycin are still commonly prescribed in the U.S.A. for the treatment of serious infections. Unfortunately, bacteria evolve to acquire resistance to AGs via four different mechanisms: i) changing in membrane permeability to resist drugs from entering, ii) upregulating efflux pumps for active removal of intracellular AGs, iii) modifying the antimicrobial target(s) to prevent drugs binding to their targets, and iv) acquiring resistance enzymes to chemically inactivate the compounds. Amongst all, the acquisition of resistance enzymes, AG-modifying enzymes (AMEs), is the most common resistance mechanism identified. Depending on the chemistry each enzyme catalyzes, AMEs can be further divided into AG N-acetyltransferases (AACs), AG O-phosphotransferases (APHs), and AG O-nucleotidyltransferases. To overcome AME-related resistance, we need to better understand these resistance enzymes and further seek ways to either escape or inhibit their actions. In this dissertation, I summarized my efforts to characterize the AAC(6') domain and its mutant enzymes from a bifunctional AME, AAC(6')-Ie/APH(2")-Ia as well as another common AME, APH(3')-IIa. I also explained my attempt to inhibit the action of various AAC enzymes using metal salts. In an effort to explore the current resistance epidemic, I evaluated the resistance against carbapenem and AG antibiotics and the correlation between the resistance profiles and the AME genes in a collection of 122 Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates obtained from the University of Kentucky Hospital System. Besides tackling the resistance mechanisms in bacteria, I have also attempted to explore a new antifungal option by repurposing an existing antipsychotic drug, bromperidol, and a panel of its derivatives into a combination therapy with the azole antifungals against a variety of pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi.

Cytochromes P450 are the major xenobiotics converting enzymes. They are classified as mixed function monooxygenases (MFO). Isoform 1A1 is a extrahepatic form found mainly in the lung and other tissues. It is strongly induced by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives via the Ah receptor. As a marker reaction for this enzyme can be used hydroxylation of Sudan I, which has previously been widely used as a azo dye in industry, but since 1980s it is banned for coloring food and cosmetics for its negative influence on the organism. NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase is the major electron donor for cytochrome P450 catalyzed monooxygenation reactions. Another electron carrier for cytochrome P450 catalyzed reactions is cytochrome b5. It was shown that cytochrome b5 can stimulate, inhibit or have no effect on P450 catalyzed reactions. This thesis aims to evaluate the influence of the ration between NADPH:cytochrome P450 reductase and cytochrome b5 on cytochrome P450 1A1 catalyzed Sudan I hydroxylation. The main goal is to characterize the influence of electron donor and electron transfer ratios on hydroxylation of Sudan I, and to determine the kinetic parameters KM and VMAX for selected protein ratios. Partial aims of the thesis were to characterize the recombinant proteins used in this study...

<p>A number of active site mutants of human Alpha class glutathione transferase A1-1 (hGST A1-1) were made and characterized to determine the structural determinants for alkenal activity. The choice of mutations was based on primary structure alignments of hGST A1-1 and the Alpha class enzyme with the highest alkenal activity, hGST A4-4, from three different species and crystal structure comparisons between the human enzymes. The result was an enzyme with a 3000-fold change in substrate specificity for nonenal over 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB).</p><p>The C-terminus of the Alpha class enzymes is an α-helix that folds over the active site upon substrate binding. The rate-determining step is product release, which is influenced by the movements of the C-terminus, thereby opening the active site. Phenylalanine 220, near the end of the C-terminus, forms an aromatic cluster with tyrosine 9 and phenylalanine 10, positioning the β-carbon of the cysteinyl moiety of glutathione. The effects of phenylalanine 220 mutations on the mobility of the C-terminus were studied by the viscosity dependence of k_cat and k_cat/K_m with glutathione and CDNB as the varied substrates. </p><p>The compatibility of slightly different subunit interfaces within the Alpha class has been studied by heterodimerization between monomers from hGST A1-1 and hGST A4-4. The heterodimer was temperature sensitive, and rehybridized into homodimers at 40 ˚C. The heterodimers did not show strictly additive activities with alkenals and CDNB. This result combined with further studies indicates that there are factors at the subunit interface influencing the catalytic properties of hGST A1-1.</p>

<p>Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the causative agent of the pandemic disease Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV acts to disrupt the immune system which makes the body susceptible to opportunistic infections. Untreated, AIDS is generally fatal. Twenty years of research by countless scientists around the world has led to the discovery and exploitation of several targets in the replication cycle of HIV. Many lives have been saved, prolonged and improved as a result of this massive effort. One particularly successful target has been the inhibition of HIV protease. In combination with the inhibition of HIV reverse transcriptase, protease inhibitors have helped to reduce viral loads and partially restore the immune system. Unfortunately, viral mutations leading to drug resistance and harmful side-effects of the current medicines have identified the need for new drugs to combat HIV.</p><p>This study presents computational efforts to understand the interaction of inhibitors to HIV protease. The first part of this study has used molecular modelling and Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) to help explain the structure-active relationship of a novel series of protease inhibitors. The inhibitors are sulfamide derivatives structurally similar to the cyclic urea candidate drug mozenavir (DMP-450). The central ring of the sulfamides twists to adopt a nonsymmetrical binding mode distinct from that of the cyclic ureas. The energetics of this twist has been studied with <i>ab initio</i> calculations to develop improved empirical force field parameters for use in molecular modelling.</p><p>The second part of this study has focused on an analysis of the association and dissociation kinetics of a broad collection of HIV protease inhibitors. Quantitative models have been derived using CoMFA which relate the dissociation rate back to the chemical structures. Efforts have also been made to improve the models by systematically varying the parameters used to generate them.</p>

<p>In the pentose phosphate pathway, carbohydrates such as glucose and ribose are degraded with production of reductive power and energy. Another important function is to produce essential pentoses, such as ribose 5-phosphate, which later can be used in biosynthesis of nucleic acids and cofactors. </p><p>This thesis presents structural and functional studies on three enzymes involved in ribose metabolism in <i>Escherichia coli</i>. </p><p>Ribokinase is an enzyme that phosphorylates ribose in the presence of ATP and magnesium, as the first step of exogenous ribose metabolism. Two important aspects of ribokinase function, not previously known, have been elucidated. Ribokinase was shown to be activated by monovalent cations, specifically potassium. Structural analysis of the monovalent ion binding site indicates that the ion has a structural rather than catalytic role; a mode of activation involving a conformational change has been suggested. Product inhibition studies suggest that ATP is the first substrate to bind the enzyme. Independent K_d measurements with the ATP analogue AMP-PCP support this. The results presented here will have implications for several enzymes in the protein family to which ribokinase belongs, in particular the medically interesting enzyme adenosine kinase. </p><p>Ribose 5-phosphate isomerases convert ribose 5-phosphate into ribulose 5-phosphate or <i>vice versa</i>. Structural studies on the two genetically distinct isomerases in <i>E. coli</i> have shown them to be fundamentally different in many aspects, including active site architecture. However, a kinetic study has demonstrated both enzymes to be efficient in terms of catalysis. Sequence searches of completed genomes show ribose 5-phosphate isomerase B to be the sole isomerase in many bacteria, although ribose 5-phosphate isomerase A is a nearly universal enzyme. All genomes contain at least one of the two enzymes. These results confirm that both enzymes must be independently capable of supporting ribose metabolism, a fact that had not previously been established.</p>

A number of active site mutants of human Alpha class glutathione transferase A1-1 (hGST A1-1) were made and characterized to determine the structural determinants for alkenal activity. The choice of mutations was based on primary structure alignments of hGST A1-1 and the Alpha class enzyme with the highest alkenal activity, hGST A4-4, from three different species and crystal structure comparisons between the human enzymes. The result was an enzyme with a 3000-fold change in substrate specificity for nonenal over 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB). The C-terminus of the Alpha class enzymes is an α-helix that folds over the active site upon substrate binding. The rate-determining step is product release, which is influenced by the movements of the C-terminus, thereby opening the active site. Phenylalanine 220, near the end of the C-terminus, forms an aromatic cluster with tyrosine 9 and phenylalanine 10, positioning the β-carbon of the cysteinyl moiety of glutathione. The effects of phenylalanine 220 mutations on the mobility of the C-terminus were studied by the viscosity dependence of kcat and kcat/Km with glutathione and CDNB as the varied substrates. The compatibility of slightly different subunit interfaces within the Alpha class has been studied by heterodimerization between monomers from hGST A1-1 and hGST A4-4. The heterodimer was temperature sensitive, and rehybridized into homodimers at 40 ˚C. The heterodimers did not show strictly additive activities with alkenals and CDNB. This result combined with further studies indicates that there are factors at the subunit interface influencing the catalytic properties of hGST A1-1.

In the pentose phosphate pathway, carbohydrates such as glucose and ribose are degraded with production of reductive power and energy. Another important function is to produce essential pentoses, such as ribose 5-phosphate, which later can be used in biosynthesis of nucleic acids and cofactors. This thesis presents structural and functional studies on three enzymes involved in ribose metabolism in Escherichia coli. Ribokinase is an enzyme that phosphorylates ribose in the presence of ATP and magnesium, as the first step of exogenous ribose metabolism. Two important aspects of ribokinase function, not previously known, have been elucidated. Ribokinase was shown to be activated by monovalent cations, specifically potassium. Structural analysis of the monovalent ion binding site indicates that the ion has a structural rather than catalytic role; a mode of activation involving a conformational change has been suggested. Product inhibition studies suggest that ATP is the first substrate to bind the enzyme. Independent Kd measurements with the ATP analogue AMP-PCP support this. The results presented here will have implications for several enzymes in the protein family to which ribokinase belongs, in particular the medically interesting enzyme adenosine kinase. Ribose 5-phosphate isomerases convert ribose 5-phosphate into ribulose 5-phosphate or vice versa. Structural studies on the two genetically distinct isomerases in E. coli have shown them to be fundamentally different in many aspects, including active site architecture. However, a kinetic study has demonstrated both enzymes to be efficient in terms of catalysis. Sequence searches of completed genomes show ribose 5-phosphate isomerase B to be the sole isomerase in many bacteria, although ribose 5-phosphate isomerase A is a nearly universal enzyme. All genomes contain at least one of the two enzymes. These results confirm that both enzymes must be independently capable of supporting ribose metabolism, a fact that had not previously been established.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the causative agent of the pandemic disease Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV acts to disrupt the immune system which makes the body susceptible to opportunistic infections. Untreated, AIDS is generally fatal. Twenty years of research by countless scientists around the world has led to the discovery and exploitation of several targets in the replication cycle of HIV. Many lives have been saved, prolonged and improved as a result of this massive effort. One particularly successful target has been the inhibition of HIV protease. In combination with the inhibition of HIV reverse transcriptase, protease inhibitors have helped to reduce viral loads and partially restore the immune system. Unfortunately, viral mutations leading to drug resistance and harmful side-effects of the current medicines have identified the need for new drugs to combat HIV. This study presents computational efforts to understand the interaction of inhibitors to HIV protease. The first part of this study has used molecular modelling and Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA) to help explain the structure-active relationship of a novel series of protease inhibitors. The inhibitors are sulfamide derivatives structurally similar to the cyclic urea candidate drug mozenavir (DMP-450). The central ring of the sulfamides twists to adopt a nonsymmetrical binding mode distinct from that of the cyclic ureas. The energetics of this twist has been studied with ab initio calculations to develop improved empirical force field parameters for use in molecular modelling. The second part of this study has focused on an analysis of the association and dissociation kinetics of a broad collection of HIV protease inhibitors. Quantitative models have been derived using CoMFA which relate the dissociation rate back to the chemical structures. Efforts have also been made to improve the models by systematically varying the parameters used to generate them.

Biological processes at the cellular level take place in heterogeneous environments, and usually involve only a small number of molecules. They tend to exhibit strong time dependent fluctuations, as a result, and are, therefore, intrinsically stochastic. The present thesis describes some of the efforts I have made during the course of my research work to develop simple, analytically tractable models of a selection of biologically-inspired problems in which this kind of stochasticity is a central ingredient. These problems are: (i) single molecule enzyme activity (ii) intermittency in single enzymes, (iii) liquids crystal dynamics (iv) modulation of electron transfer kinetics during photosynthesis, and (v) anomalous polymer translocation dynamics. All of these problems can be defined in terms of quantity that changes randomly in time because of environmental fluctuations with broad distributions of relaxation times. In this thesis I show that a generalization of a model that describes simple Brownian Motion can be used to understand many of the dynamical aspects of these problems.

This thesis describes studies directed towards understanding structure-function relationships of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM), from a protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum and a thermophilic archaea Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. Triosephosphate isomerase, a ubiquitous glycolytic enzyme, has been the subject of biochemical, enzymatic and structural studies for the last five decades. Studies on TIM have been central to the development of mechanistic enzymology. The present study investigates the role of specific residues in the structure and function of Plasmodium falciparum triosephosphate isomerase (PfTIM). The structure and stability of a tetrameric triosephosphate isomerase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (MjTIM) is also presented. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the glycolytic enzyme triosephosphate isomerase, conservation of TIM sequences, its fold and three dimensional organization. The isomerisation reaction interconverting dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3phosphate catalyzed by triosephosphate isomerase is an example of a highly stereospecific proton transfer process (Hall & Knowles, 1975; Rieder & Rose, 1959). This chapter briefly reviews mechanistic features and discusses the role of active site residues and the functional flexible loop 6. Triosephosphate isomerase adopts the widely occurring ( β/ α)8 barrel fold and mostly occurs as a dimer (Banner et al., 1975). Protein engineering studies, related to folding, stability and design of monomeric TIM are also addressed. A brief introduction to thermophilic TIMs and higher oligomeric TIMs is given. The role of this enzyme in disease states like hemolytic anemia and neuromuscular dysfunction is surveyed. The production of methylglyoxal, a toxic metabolite, as a byproduct of the TIM reaction is also considered. Many proteins utilize segmental motions to catalyze a specific reaction. The omega loop (loop 6) of triosephosphate isomerase is important for preventing the ene-diol intermediate from forming the cytotoxic byproduct, methylglyoxal. The active site loop-6 of triosephosphate isomerase moves about 7Ǻ on ligand binding. It exhibits a hinged lid motion alternating between two well defined, “open” and “closed”, conformations (Joseph et al., 1990). Though the movement of loop 6 is not ligand gated, in crystals the ligand bound forms invariably reveal a closed loop conformation. Plasmodium falciparum TIM is an exception which predominantly exhibits “open” loop conformations, even in the ligand bound state (Parthasarathy et al., 2002). Phe 96 is a key residue that is involved in contacts between the flexible loop-6 and the protein body in PfTIM. Notably, in all TIM sequences determined thus far, with the exception of plasmodial sequences, this residue is Ser 96. In Chapter 2 the mutants F96S, F96H and F96W are reported. The crystal structures of the mutant enzymes with or without bound ligand are described. In all the ligand free cases, loop-6 adopts an “open” conformation. Kinetic parameters for all the mutants establish that residue 96 does not play an essential role in modulating the loop conformation but may be important for ligand binding. Structural analysis of the mutants along with WT enzyme reveals the presence of a water network which can modulate ligand binding. Subunit interfaces of oligomeric proteins provide an opportunity to understand protein- protein interactions. Chapter 3 describes biochemical and biophysical studies on two separate dimer-interface destabilizing mutants C13E and W11F/W168F/Y74W of PfTIM. The intention was to generate a stable monomer by disrupting the interaction hubs. C13 is a part of a large hydrophobic patch (Maithal et al., 2002a) at the dimer interface. Introduction of a negative charge at position 13 destabilizes the interface and reduces activity. Y74 is a part of an aromatic cluster of the interface (Maithal et al., 2002b). The Y74W triple mutant was designed to disrupt the aromatic cluster by introducing additional atoms. Tryptophan is also a fluorophore, allowing studies of the dimer disruption by fluorescence, after mutating the two inherent tryptophan residues, W11 and W168 to phenylalanine. The mutants showed reduced activity and were more sensitive than the wild type enzyme to chemical denaturants as well as thermal denaturation. Evidenced for monomer formation is presented. These studies together with previous work reveal that the interface is important for both activity and stability. In order to develop a model for understanding the relationship between protein stabilization and oligomeric status, characterization of the TIM from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (MjTIM) has been undertaken. Chapter 4 describes the purification and characterization of MjTIM. The MjTIM gene was cloned and expressed in pTrc99A and protein was isolated from AA200 E. coli cells. Hyperexpressed protein was purified to homogeneity and relevant kinetic parameters have been determined. The tetrameric nature of MjTIM is established by gel filtration studies. Circular dichroism (CD) studies establish the stability of the overall fold, even at temperatures as high as 95ºC. A surprising loss of enzyme activity upon prolonged incubation at high temperature was observed. ESI-MS studies establish that oxidation of thiol groups of the protein may be responsible for the thermal inactivation. Chapter 5 describes the molecular structure of MjTIM, determined in collaboration with Prof. MRN Murthy’s group at the Indian Institute of Science (Gayathri et al., 2007). The crystal structure of the recombinant triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) from the archaeabacteria Methanocaldococcus jannaschii has been determined at a resolution of 2.3 Å. MjTIM is tetrameric, as suggested by solution studies and from the crystal structure, as in the case of two other structurally characterised archaeal TIMs. The archaeabacterial TIMs are shorter compared to the dimeric TIMs, with the insertions in the dimeric TIMs occurring in the vicinity of the putative tetramer interface, resulting in a hindrance to tetramerization in the dimeric TIMs. The charge distribution on the surface of archaeal TIMs also facilitates tetramerization. Analysis of the barrel interactions in TIMs suggests that these interactions are unlikely to account for the thermal stability of archaeal TIMs. A feature of the unliganded structure of MjTIM is the complete absence of electron density for the loop 6 residues. The disorder of the loop may be ascribed to a missing salt bridge between residues at the N- and C- terminal ends of the loop in MjTIM. Chapter 6 is a follow up of an interesting observation made by Vogel and Chmielewski (1994), who noticed that subtilisin cleaved rabbit muscle triosephosphate isomerase religated spontaneously upon addition of organic solvents. Further extension of this nicking and religation process with PfTIM emphasizes the importance of tertiary interactions in contributing to the stability of the (β/α)8 barrel folds (Ray et al., 1999). This chapter establishes that subtilisin nicking and religation is also facile in thermophilic MjTIM. Fragments generated by subtilisin nicking were identified using MALDI mass spectrometry at early and late stages of the cleavage for both the dimeric PfTIM and tetrameric MjTIM. This chapter also describes the comparative thermal and denaturant stability of both the enzymes. The accessibility of the Cys residues of MjTIM has been probed by examining the rates of labeling of thiol groups by iodoacetamide. The differential labeling of Cys residues has been demonstrated by mass spectrometry. Chapter 7 summarizes the main results and conclusions of the studies described in this thesis.