Immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography
(IMAC) used to purify recombinant proteins features a resin-bound
1:1 Ni(II)–iminodiacetic acid (IDA) complex. This hemi-saturated
Ni(II)–IDA system containing exchangeable sites at the metal
ion is re-cast as a surrogate of a coordinatively-unsaturated metalloenzyme
active site, with utility for selecting compounds with metal-binding
groups from mixtures as potential metalloenzyme inhibitors. Exchanging
Ni(II) for other metal ions could broaden the scope of metalloenzyme
target. This work examined the performance of Cu(II)-, Fe(III)-, Ga(III)-,
Ni(II)-, or Zn(II)-IMAC resins to reversibly bind experimental or
clinical metalloenzyme inhibitors of Zn(II)-ACE1, Zn(II)-HDAC, Fe(II)/(III)-5-LO
or Cu(II)-tyrosinase from a curated mixture (1–17). Each IMAC system gave a distinct selection profile. The
Zn(II)-IMAC system selectively bound the thiol-containing Zn(II)-ACE1
inhibitors captopril and omapatrilat, and the Fe(III)-IMAC system
selectively bound the Fe(II)/(III)-5-LO inhibitor licofelone, demonstrating
a remarkable IMAC-metalloenzyme metal ion match. IMAC provides a simple,
water-compatible platform, which could accelerate metalloenzyme inhibitor
discovery.