Active-Site Mutants of Human Glutathione S-Transferase P1-1: Effects of the Mutations on Substrate Specificity and Inhibition Characteristics

In order to gain further insight on the relationship between structure and function of glutathione S-transferase (GST), the six active-site mutants, R13T, K44T, Q51A, Q64A, S65A, and D98A, of human GST P1-1 were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by affinity chromatography on immobilized GSH. The active-site mutants showed marked differences in substrate specificity. The substitution of Gln51 with threonine resulted in a drastic decrease in the specific activities to <10% of the wild-type value. The substitution of Arg13 with threonine resulted in more decreased specific activity toward cumene hydroperoxide and in the $I_{50}$ values of S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl) glutathione and benanstatin A. These results suggest that the substitution of Arg13 with threonine changes the conformation of the active site to increase the affinity for the product or electrophilic substrate. Lys44 seems to be in the vicinity of the H-site of hGST P1-1 or may contribute to some extents to the electrophile binding.