Abstract
Reversible lysine acetylation and methylation regulate the function of a wide variety of proteins, including histones. Here, we have synthesized azalysine-containing peptides in acetylated and unacetylated forms as chemical probes of the histone deacetylases (HDAC8, Sir2Tm, and SIRT1) and the histone demethylase, LSD1. We have shown that the acetyl-azalysine modification is a fairly efficient substrate for the sirtuins, but a weaker substrate for HDAC8, a classical HDAC. In addition to deacetylation by sirtuins, the acetyl-azalysine analogue generates a novel ADP-ribose adduct that was characterized by mass spectrometry, Western blot analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This peptide-ADP-ribose adduct is proposed to correspond to a derailed reaction intermediate, providing unique evidence for the direct 2'-hydroxyl attack on the O-alkylimidate intermediate that is formed in the course of sirtuin catalyzed deacetylation. An unacetylated azalysine-containing H3 peptide proved to be a potent inhibitor of the LSD1 demethylase, forming an FAD adduct characteristic of previously reported related structures, providing a new chemical probe for mechanistic analysis.