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Updated: May 23, 2026

Spectrophotometric Screening for Potential Inhibitors of Cytosolic Glutathione S-Transferases
Published on: October 10, 2020
Structure-based redesign of GST A2-2 for enhanced catalytic efficiency with azathioprine
Wei Zhang1, Olof Modén, Kaspars Tars
1Department of Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry, Uppsala University, BMC, Box 576, SE-75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
Abstract:
Glutathione transferase (GST) A2-2 is the most efficient human enzyme in the biotransformation of the prodrug azathioprine (Aza). The activation of Aza has therapeutic potential for possible use of GSTs in targeted enzyme-prodrug treatment of diseases. Based on the assumed catalytic mechanism and computational docking of Aza to the active site of the enzyme, active-site residues were selected for construction of focused mutant libraries, which were thereafter screened for Aza activity. Mutants with elevated Aza activity were identified, DNA sequenced, and the proteins purified. The two most active mutants showed up to 70-fold higher catalytic efficiency than the parental GST A2-2. The structure of the most active triple mutant (L107G/L108D/F222H) enzyme was determined by X-ray crystallography demonstrating significant changes in the topography of the active site facilitating productive binding of Aza as a substrate.
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