Protective Effects of Covalent Cross-Linking on Proteolysis of Human Coproporphyrinogen Oxidase and Implications for Porphyria

The effects of covalent cross-linkers on the enzyme, coproporphyrinogen oxidase, had been previously studied but their role in protecting the enzyme from protease cleavage has not been evaluated. Therefore, we examined how the cross-linker bis (sulfosuccinimidyl) suberate (BS³) affects the ability of trypsin to digest purified, wild type recombinant human coproporphyrinogen oxidase and selected mutants. Following incubation, the apparent molecular weights of peptides were evaluated by SDS-PAGE and enzymatic activity was assessed by spectroscopy following HPLC. For both wild type and mutants, the results indicated that the cross-linker was indeed able to protect against trypsin digestion relative to the enzyme incubated with trypsin in the absence of the cross-linker. These data have implications for the episodic nature of porphyria.