Biochemical characterization of Plasmodium falciparum Sir2, a NAD+-dependent deacetylase

In Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of cerebral malaria, silent information regulator 2 (Sir2) has been implicated in pathogenesis through its role in var gene silencing. P. falciparum Sir2 (PfSir2) in addition to the catalytic core, has a 13 residue N-terminal and 4 residue C-terminal extension over the shorter Archaeoglobus fulgidus Sir2. In this paper, we highlight our studies aimed at understanding the kinetic mechanism of PfSir2 and the role of N- and C-terminal extensions in protein function and oligomerization. Bisubstrate kinetic analysis showed that PfSir2 exhibits a rapid equilibrium ordered sequential mechanism, with peptide binding preceding NAD+. This study also reports on surfactin as a novel Sir2 inhibitor exhibiting competitive inhibition with respect to NAD+ and uncompetitive inhibition with acetylated peptide. This inhibition pattern with surfactin provides further support for ordered binding of substrates. Surfactin was also found to be a potent inhibitor of intra-erythrocytic growth of P. falciparum with 50% inhibitory concentration in the low micromolar range. PfSir2, like the yeast homologs (yHst2 and Sir2p), is a trimer in solution. However, dissociation of trimer to monomers in the presence of NAD+ is characteristic of the parasite enzyme. Oligomerization studies on N- and/or C-terminal deletion constructs of PfSir2 highlight the role of C-terminus of the protein in mediating homotrimerization. N-terminal deletion resulted in reduced catalytic efficiency although substrate affinity was not altered in the constructs. Interestingly, deletion of both the ends relaxed NAD+ specificity.