PNNL

Abstract

We examined the possible role of methionines as oxidant scavengers that prevent the peroxynitrite-induced nitration of tyrosines within calmodulin (CaM). We used mass spectrometry to investigate the reactivity of peroxynitrite with CaM at physiological pH. The possible role of methionines in scavenging peroxynitrite(ONOO-)was assessed in wild-type CaM and following substitution of all nine methionines in CaM with leucines. We find that peroxynitrite selectively nitrates Tyr-99 at physiological pH resulting in the formation of between 0.05 and 0.25 mol of nitrotyrosine/mol of CaM when the added molar ratio of peroxynitrite per CaM was varied between 2.5 and 15. In wild-type CaM there is a corresponding oxidation of between 0.8 and 2.8 mol of methionine to form methionine sulfoxide. However, following site-directed substitution of all nine methionines in wild-type CaM with leucines, the extent of nitration by peroxynitrite was unchanged. These results indicate that Tyr-99 is readily nitrated by perioxynitrite and that methionine side chains do not function as an antioxidant in scavenging perioxynitrite. Thus, separate reactive species are involved in the oxidation of