Revision in sequence of CAD aspartate transcarbamylase domain of Drosophila

The Drosophila CAD gene, also known as rudimentary, encodes a protein that carries out the first three enzymatic steps of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. The sequence for this gene, as previously published, appears to contain several errors. The correction of six bases in a 250 bp stretch encoding the aspartate transcarbamylase domain leads to changes of frame in two areas of the predicted amino acid sequence, consisting of lengths of 30 and 15 amino acid residues, respectively. The revised sequence shows significantly improved positional identity with both Syrian hamster and Escherichia coli aspartate transcarbamylases.

Cloning, overexpression, and characterization of the functional dihydroorotase domain of the mammalian multifunctional protein CAD

Mammalian dihydroorotase (DHOase) is part of a large multidomain protein called CAD, which initiates the first three steps in the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. DHOase activity is carried out by a 44-kDa structural domain which could be isolated in active form from elastase digests. A core domain the same size as monofunctional dihydroorotases was defined, although the domain borders were uncertain. Two recombinants were overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The first encoded the core domain with 55 and 13 residues added to the amino and carboxyl ends, respectively, and was expressed in insoluble form. The recombinant protein was refolded from urea into a soluble form which was resistant to protease digestion but was catalytically inactive. In contrast, the proteolytic fragment from CAD could be unfolded and refolded with recovery of 40-100% catalytic activity. The second construct, which approximated the proteolytic fragment, had 21 residues on the amino end and 65 residues on the carboxyl end of the core domain. A 46-kDa soluble protein was expressed at 4% of the total soluble protein. The recombinant protein was catalytically active and had the expected amino-terminal sequence. The protein was purified to homogeneity. Dihydroorotase saturation curves gave a Km = 41.9 +/- 3.5 microM and a kcat = 2.79 +/- 0.06 s-1, parameters that were similar to those obtained for the proteolytic fragment. The Km was 6-fold higher and the kcat 2-fold lower than the values obtained for the parent protein, which suggests that interdomain interactions stabilize the active conformation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A protonated histidine residue in a phosphorylation site for cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Comparison of a synthetic peptide with the exposed linking region in the multienzyme polypeptide CAD

The multienzyme polypeptide CAD is phosphorylated at two sites by cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase. Site 2 has two interesting features: it is located in a 'linking region' between two discretely folded enzyme domains, and a histidine, instead of the more usual arginine, is found three positions N-terminal to the phosphorylated serine. A synthetic peptide corresponding to the sequence around site 2 has an extended or random structure in solution, and the proton n.m.r. chemical shift of the histidine residues can be titrated against pH in the range 6.0-8.0. The peptide is phosphorylated more rapidly by cAMP-dependent protein kinase at lower pH values, indicating that the protonated histidine side chain corresponds to the arginine in the consensus recognition sequence for the kinase. Kemptide, a specific synthetic substrate for the kinase, was phosphorylated with a higher affinity and at a similar rate at all pH values. CAD was a better substrate than the synthetic peptide, and labelling was not affected by the pH of the incubation conditions. The results indicate that the phosphorylation site in the interdomain linker is sufficiently exposed to the solvent to ensure accessibility to the kinase, but that secondary or tertiary structure in the intact protein allows the histidine residue to remain protonated at physiological pH and enhances recognition of the phosphorylatable serine residue.

Identification of the ATP binding sites of the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain of the Syrian hamster multifunctional protein CAD by affinity labeling with 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine

The ATP analogue 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine (FSBA) was used to chemically modify the ATP binding sites of the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain of CAD, the multifunctional protein that catalyzes the first steps in mammalian pyrimidine biosynthesis. Reaction of CAD with FSBA resulted in the inactivation of the ammonia- and glutamine-dependent CPSase activities but had no effect on its glutaminase, aspartate transcarbamylase, or dihydroorotase activities. ATP protected CAD against inactivation by FSBA whereas the presence of the allosteric effectors UTP and PRPP afforded little protection, which suggests that the ATP binding sites were specifically labeled. The inactivation exhibited saturation behavior with respect to FSBA with a K1 of 0.93 mM. Of the two ATP-dependent partial activities of carbamyl phosphate synthetase, bicarbonate-dependent ATPase was inactivated more rapidly than the carbamyl phosphate dependent ATP synthetase, which indicates that these partial reactions occur at distinct ATP binding sites. The stoichiometry of [14C]FSBA labeling showed that only 0.4-0.5 mol of FSBA/mol of protein was required for complete inactivation. Incorporation of radiolabeled FSBA into CAD and subsequent proteolysis, gel electrophoresis, and fluorography demonstrated that only the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain of CAD is labeled. Amino acid sequencing of the principal peaks resulting from tryptic digests of FSBA-modified CAD located the sites of FSBA modification in regions that exhibit high homology to ATP binding sites of other known proteins. Thus CAD has two ATP binding sites, one in each of the two highly homologous halves of the carbamyl phosphate domain which catalyze distinct ATP-dependent partial reactions in carbamyl phosphate synthesis.