Leukotriene A4 hydrolase: determination of the three zinc-binding ligands by site-directed mutagenesis and zinc analysis.

Three mutants of recombinant mouse leukotriene A4 (LTA4) hydrolase (3.3.2.6) were produced by site-directed mutagenesis on cDNA. The codons corresponding to His-295, His-299, or Glu-318 were replaced by codons encoding tyrosine, tyrosine, and glutamine, respectively. The mutated cDNAs were expressed in Escherichia coli, and the three mutated proteins were purified to apparent homogeneity. None of these mutants contained significant amounts of zinc, as determined by atomic absorption spectrometry, and all of them were practically devoid of both LTA4 hydrolase and peptidase enzyme activities. Nevertheless, the mutated proteins could be positively identified by their immunoreactivities with an antiserum for human LTA4 hydrolase in immunoblot analysis. Site-directed mutagenesis was also carried out on human LTA4 hydrolase cDNA. Codons encoding His-295, His-299, and Glu-318 were replaced by ones encoding tyrosine, leucine, and alanine, respectively, and the three mutants were expressed in E. coli. The LTA4 hydrolase activities of the total soluble proteins produced in these expressions were less than 10% of that obtained for bacteria harboring nonmutated cDNA. In agreement with earlier predictions, our experimental data demonstrate that His-295, His-299, and Glu-318 constitute the three ligands of the intrinsic zinc atom in LTA4 hydrolase. Additionally, the combined loss of enzyme activities and zinc content in the purified mutated mouse proteins, emphasizes the critical role of the zinc atom for catalysis, whereas the virtually identical chromatographic behaviors of the mutated and nonmutated mouse LTA4 hydrolase proteins suggest that the metal is of limited importance for the maintenance of the enzyme tertiary structure.