3ro1

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Platinum(II) complexes have been demonstrated to form covalent bonds with sulfur-donating ligands (in glutathione, metallothionein and other sulfur-containing biomolecules) or coordination bonds with nitrogen-donating ligands (such as histidine and guanine). To investigate how these compounds interact with cysteine proteases, we chose terpyridine platinum(II) (TP-Pt(II)) complexes as a model system. By using X-ray crystallography, we demonstrated that TP-Pt(II) formed a covalent bond with the catalytic cysteine residue in pyroglutamyl peptidase I. Moreover, by using MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization) and TOF-TOF (time of flight) mass spectrometry, we elucidated that the TP-Pt(II) complex formed a covalent bond with the active-site cysteine residue in two other types of cysteine protease. Taken together, the results unequivocally showed that TP-Pt(II) complexes can selectively bind to the active site of most cysteine proteases. Our findings here can be useful in the design of new anti-cancer, anti-parasite or anti-virus platinum(II) compounds.

Terpyridine Platinum(II) Complexes Inhibit Cysteine Proteases by Binding to Active-site Cysteine.,Lo YC, Su WC, Ko TP, Wang NC, Wang AH J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2011 Oct;29(2):267-82. PMID:21875148^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.