Elevated plasma total homocysteine in severe methionine adenosyltransferase I/III deficiency

Abnormal elevation of plasma methionine may result from several different genetic abnormalities, including deficiency of cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) or of the isoenzymes of methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) I and III expressed solely in nonfetal liver (MAT I/III deficiency). Classically, these conditions have been distinguished most readily by the presence or absence, respectively, of elevated plasma free homocystine, detected by amino acid chromatography in the former condition, but absent in the latter. During the present work, we have assayed methionine, S-adenosylmethionine, S-adenosylhomocysteine, total homocysteine (tHcy), cystathionine, N-methylglycine (sarcosine), and total cysteine (tCys) in groups of both MAT I/III- and CBS-deficient patients to provide more evidence as to their metabolite patterns. Unexpectedly, we found that MAT I/III-deficient patients with the most markedly elevated levels of plasma methionine also had elevations of plasma tHcy and often mildly elevated plasma cystathionine. Evidence is presented that methionine does not inhibit cystathionine beta-synthase, but does inhibit cystathionine gamma-lyase. Mechanisms that may possibly underlie the elevations of plasma tHcy and cystathionine are discussed. The combination of elevated methionine plus elevated tHcy may lead to the mistaken conclusion that an MAT I/III-deficient patient is instead CBS-deficient. Less than optimal management is then a real possibility. Measurements of plasma cystathionine, S-adenosylmethionine, and sarcosine should permit ready distinction between the 2 conditions in question, as well as be useful in several other situations involving abnormalities of methionine and/or homocysteine derivatives.

Thiol-modifying inhibitors for understanding squalene cyclase function

The function of squalene-hopene cyclase from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius was studied by labelling critical cysteine residues of the enzyme, either native or inserted by site-directed mutagenesis, with different thiol-reacting molecules. The access of the substrate to the active centre cavity through a nonpolar channel that contains a narrow constriction harbouring a cysteine residue (C435) was probed by labelling experiments on both a C435S mutant, lacking C435 of the channel constriction, and a C25S/C50S/C455S/C537S mutant, bearing C435 as the only cysteine residue. Labelling experiments with tritiated 3-carboxy-4-nitrophenyl-dithio-1,1',2-trisnorsqualene (CNDT-squalene) showed that the cysteine residue at the channel constriction was covalently modified by the squalene-like inhibitor. Time-dependent inactivation of the C25S/C50S/C455S/C537S mutant by a number of squalene analogues and other agents with thiol-modifying activity suggested that modifying C435 caused the obstruction of the channel constriction thus blocking access of the substrate to the active site. The tryptic fragment comprising C435 of the quadruple mutant labelled with the most effective inhibitor had the expected altered molecular mass, as determined by LC-ESI-MS measurements. The arrangement of the substrate in the active site cavity was studied by using thiol reagents as probes in labelling experiments with the double mutant D376C/C435S in which D376, supposedly the substrate-protonating residue, was substituted by cysteine. The inhibitory effect was evaluated in terms of the reduced ability to cyclize oxidosqualene, as the mutant is unable to catalyse the reaction of squalene to hopene. Among the inhibitors tested, the substrate analogue squalene-maleimide proved to be a very effective time-dependent inhibitor.

Modulation of cyanoalanine synthase and O-acetylserine (thiol) lyases A and B activity by beta-substituted alanyl and anion inhibitors

The reaction mechanisms of three enzymes belonging to a single gene family are compared: a cyanoalanine synthase and two isoforms of O-acetylserine (thiol) lyase (O-ASTL) isolated from spinach (Spinacea oleracea L. cv. Medina). O-ASTL represents a major regulatory point in the S-assimilatory pathway, and the related cyanoalanine synthase, which is specific to the mitochondrial compartment, has evolved an independent function of cyanide detoxification. All three enzymes catalysed both the cysteine synthesis and cyanoalanine synthesis reactions although with different efficiencies, and which may be explained by a single amino acid substitution in the substrate-binding pocket of the enzyme. Substituted alanine and nucleophillic inhibitors caused predominantly non-competitive inhibition, indicating binding to both E- and F-forms of the enzyme in a bi-bi ping-pong kinetic model. Michaelis-Menten kinetics were observed when the alanyl substrate was varied in the presence and absence of inhibitors. The use of alanyl inhibitors has shown that the alanyl half-cycle of both the cysteine synthesis and cyanoalanine synthesis reactions of cyanoalanine synthase and O-acetylserine (thiol) lyases are similar. This is in contrast to the results observed with nucleophillic inhibitors, which have shown that the mechanisms of anion binding and processing differ between cyanoalanine synthase and O-ASTLs.

Structure, catalytic activity and evolutionary relationships of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, the key enzyme of ethylene synthesis in higher plants

Both ethylene and the enzymes of ethylene synthesis are subjects of intensive scientific investigation. The present review discusses structure, catalytic activity and evolutionary relationships of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, identified for the first time in ripening tomato in 1979. This enzyme is responsible for the conversion of S-adenosyl-L-methionine to 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, which is the key step of ethylene synthesis in higher plants. The role of this enzyme (especially in the fruit ripening) was demonstrated in 1991 in transgenic tomato plants, expressing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase antisense RNA. On the basis of mutagenesis and crystallization of the enzyme, new data were provided on the three-dimensional structure and amino-acid residues which are critical for catalysis. The control of ethylene production is of great interest for plant biotechnology because it can delay senescence and overmaturation. These processes are responsible for large loss of vegetables and fruit on storage. Detailed structural and biochemical data are necessary to help design 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase inhibitors, whose application is expected to have immense agricultural effects.

Susceptibility to the sugar beet cyst nematode is modulated by ethylene signal transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana

Previously, we identified Arabidopsis thaliana mutant rhd1-4 as hypersusceptible to the sugar beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii. We assessed rhd1-4 as well as two other rhd1 alleles and found that each exhibited, in addition to H. schachtii hypersusceptibility, decreased root length, increased root hair length and density, and deformation of the root epidermal cells compared with wild-type A. thaliana ecotype Columbia (Col-0). Treatment of rhd1-4 and Col-0 with the ethylene inhibitors 2-aminoethoxyvinylglycine and silver nitrate and the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid suggests that the rhd1-4 hypersusceptibility and root morphology phenotypes are the result of an increased ethylene response. Assessment of known ethylene mutants further support the finding that ethylene plays a role in mediating A. thaliana susceptibility to H. schachtii because mutants that overproduce ethylene (eto1-1, eto2, and eto3) are hypersusceptible to H. schachtii and mutants that are ethylene-insensitive (etr1-1, ein2-1, ein3-1, eir1-1, and axr2) are less susceptible to H. schachtii. Because the ethylene mutants tested show altered susceptibility and altered root hair density and length, a discrimination between the effects of altered ethylene signal transduction and root hair density on susceptibility was accomplished by analyzing the ttg and gl2 mutants, which produce ectopic root hairs that result in greatly increased root hair densities while maintaining normal ethylene signal transduction. The observed normal susceptibilities to H. schachtii of ttg and g12 indicate that increased root hair density, per se, does not cause hypersusceptibility. Furthermore, the results of nematode attraction assays suggest that the hypersusceptibility of rhd1-4 and the ethylene-overproducing mutant eto3 may be the result of increased attraction of H. schachtii-infective juveniles to root exudates of these plants. Our findings indicate that rhd1 is altered in its ethylene response and that ethylene signal transduction positively influences plant susceptibility to cyst nematodes.

Inhibitors of ethylene synthesis inhibit auxin-induced stomatal opening in epidermis detached from leaves of Vicia faba L

Using leaf epidermis from Vicia faba, we tested whether auxin-induced stomatal opening was initiated by auxin-induced ethylene synthesis. Epidermis was dark-incubated in buffered KNO3 containing 0.1 mM alpha-napthalene acetic acid or 1 mM indole-3-acetic acid. Maximum net opening was ca. 4 micron after 6 h. Opening was reversed by 20 microM ABA, 0.1 mM CaCl2. 1-Aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase catalyzes synthesis of ACC, the immediate precursor to ethylene. Auxin-induced stomatal opening was fully inhibited by 10 microM 1-aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), an ACC synthase inhibitor. In solutions containing AVG, auxin-induced opening was restored in a concentration-dependent manner by exogenous ACC, but not in control solutions lacking an auxin. ACC-mediated reversal of AVG-inhibition of stomatal opening was inhibited by alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), an inhibitor of ACC oxidase, the last enzyme in the ethylene biosynthetic pathway, by 10 microM silver thiosulfate (STS), an inhibitor of ethylene action, and by 20 microM ABA, 0.1 mM CaCl2. CoCl2, an inhibitor of ethylene synthesis, also inhibited auxin-induced opening. Both STS and CoCl2 inhibited opening induced by light or by fusicoccin, but neither light- nor fusicoccin-induced opening was inhibited by AVG. These results support the hypothesis that auxin-induced stomatal opening is mediated through auxin-induced ethylene production by guard cells.

Kynurenine aminotransferase I activity in human placenta

The aim of the study was to detect and characterize placental kynurenine aminotransferase I (KAT I) activity in physiological pregnancy at term. Placental KAT I was inhibited by l -glutamine, l -tryptophan, and l -phenylalanine and reached optimum activity at pH 9.8. When pyruvate was used as a co-factor, the KAT I activity was significantly higher than the activity of this enzyme in the presence of 2-oxoglutarate. In the light of our findings placental KAT I seems to have biochemical characteristics of KAT I detected in human brain.

Modification of cysteine residues in the ChlI and ChlH subunits of magnesium chelatase results in enzyme inactivation

The enzyme magnesium protoporphyrin chelatase catalyses the insertion of magnesium into protoporphyrin, the first committed step in chlorophyll biosynthesis. Magnesium chelatase from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 has been reconstituted in a highly active state as a result of purifying the constituent proteins from strains of Escherichia coli that overproduce the ChlH, ChlI and ChlD subunits. These individual subunits were analysed for their sensitivity to N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), in order to assess the roles that cysteine residues play in the partial reactions that comprise the catalytic cycle of Mg(2+) chelatase, such as the ATPase activity of ChlI, and the formation of ChlI-ChlD-MgATP and ChlH-protoporphyrin complexes. It was shown that NEM binds to ChlI and inhibits the ATPase activity of this subunit, and that prior incubation with MgATP affords protection against inhibition. Quantitative analysis of the effects of NEM binding on ChlI-catalysed ATPase activity showed that three out of four thiols per ChlI molecule are available to react with NEM, but only one cysteine residue per ChlI subunit is essential for ATPase activity. In contrast, the cysteines in ChlD are not essential for Mg(2+) chelatase activity, and the formation of the ChlI-ChlD-ATP complex can proceed with NEM-treated ChlI. Neither the ATPase activity of ChlI nor NEM-modifiable cysteines are therefore required to form the ChlI-ChlD-MgATP complex. However, this complex cannot catalyse magnesium chelation in the presence of the ChlH subunit, protoporphyrin and Mg(2+) ions. The simplest explanation for this is that in an intact Mg(2+) chelatase complex the ATPase activity of ChlI drives the chelation process. NEM binds to ChlH and inhibits the chelation reaction, and this effect can be partially alleviated by pre-incubating ChlH with magnesium and ATP. We conclude that cysteine residues play an important role in the chelation reaction, in respect of the ChlI-MgATP association, ATP hydrolysis and in the interaction of ChlH with MgATP and protoporphyrin IX.

Phosphinic acid compounds in biochemistry, biology and medicine

This review summarizes our knowledge of biochemical, biological and medical applications and properties of phosphinic acid compounds. Phosphinic acid compounds (phosphinates) are derivatives of phosphinic acid H2P(O)(OH). The major attention of this article is focused on applications of phosphinates of a pseudopeptide character, however interesting examples of phosphinates of a non-peptide nature are mentioned too. Phosphinic acid peptides (phosphinic pseudopeptides) are peptide isosteres where one peptide bond is substituted by the nonhydrolysable phosphinate moiety -P(O)(OH)-CH2- or -P(O)(OH)-. This substitution represents a very convenient mimic of a substrate in the transition state for at least two distinct classes of hydrolytic enzymes, Zn-metalloproteinases and aspartic acid proteinases. In this review we discuss about thirty different protein targets for which the phosphinates have found applications as modulators of their functions in vitro and/or in vivo. These proteins are mainly proteinases, however other types of proteins such as transferases, synthetases, ligases or even receptors are also discussed. Genome sequencing projects have been identifying protein sequences faster than it is possible to discover their functions. The development of combinatorial chemistry in the past few years has boosted up the interest in the use of chemistry to address biological problems. We believe that phosphinates, especially in conjunction with combinatorial chemistry approaches, can represent an extremely versatile tool in the search for proteome and its function.

Isoenzymes of glutathione S-transferase from the mosquito Anopheles dirus species B: the purification, partial characterization and interaction with various insecticides

Previously we have purified and characterized a major glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, GST-4a, from the Thai mosquito Anopheles dirus B, a model mosquito for study of anopheline malaria vectors [Prapanthadara, L. Koottathep, S., Promtet, N., Hemingway, J. and Ketterman, A.J. (1996) Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 26:3, 277-285]. In this report we have purified an isoenzyme, GST-4c, which has the greatest DDT-dehydrochlorinase activity. Three additional isoenzymes, GST-4b, GST-5 and GST-6, were also partially purified and characterized for comparison. All of the Anopheles GST isoenzymes preferred 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) as an electrophilic substrate. In kinetic studies with CDNB as an electrophilic substrate, the V(max) of GST-4c was 24.38 micromole/min/mg which was seven-fold less than GST-4a. The two isoenzymes also possessed different K(m)s for CDNB and glutathione. Despite being only partially pure GST-4b had nearly a four-fold greater V(max) for CDNB than GST-4c. In contrast, GST-4c possessed the greatest DDT-dehydrochlorinase specific activity among the purified insect GST isoenzymes and no activity was detected for GST-5. Seven putative GST substrates used in this study were not utilized by An. dirus GSTs, although they were capable of inhibiting CDNB conjugating activity to different extents for the different isoenzymes. Bromosulfophthalein and ethacrynic acid were the most potent inhibitors. The inhibition studies demonstrate different degrees of interaction of the An. dirus isoenzymes with various insecticides. The GSTs were inhibited more readily by organochlorines and pyrethroids than by the phosphorothioates and carbamate. In a comparison between An. dirus and previous data from An. gambiae the two anopheline species possess a similar pattern of GST isoenzymes although the individual enzymes differ significantly at the functional level. The available data suggests there may be a minimum of three GST classes in anopheline insects.

L-Vinylglycine is an alternative substrate as well as a mechanism-based inhibitor of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase

L-Vinylglycine (L-VG) has been shown to be a mechanism-based inhibitor of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase [Satoh, S., and Yang, S. F. (1989) Plant Physiol. 91, 1036-1039] as well as of other pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes. This report demonstrates that L-VG is primarily an alternative substrate for the enzyme. The L-VG deaminase activity of ACC synthase yields the products alpha-ketobutyrate and ammonia with a k(cat) value of 1.8 s(-1) and a K(m) value of 1.4 mM. The k(cat)/K(m) of 1300 M(-1) s(-1) is 0.17% that of the diffusion-controlled reaction with the preferred substrate, S-adenosyl-L-methionine. The enzyme-L-VG complex partitions to products 500 times for every inactivation event. The catalytic mechanism proceeds through a spectrophotometrically detected quinonoid with lambda(max) of 530 nm, which must rearrange to a 2-aminocrotonate aldimine to yield final products. Alternative mechanisms for the inactivation reaction are presented, and the observed kinetics for the full reaction course are satisfactorily modeled by kinetic simulation. The inactive enzyme is an aldimine with lambda(max) of 432 nm. It is resistant to NaBH(3)CN but is reduced by NaBH(4). ACC synthase is now expressed in Pichia pastoris with an improved yield of 10 mg/L.

The NIFS protein can function as a selenide delivery protein in the biosynthesis of selenophosphate

The NIFS protein from Azobacter vinelandii is a pyridoxal phosphate-containing homodimer that catalyzes the formation of equimolar amounts of elemental sulfur and L-alanine from the substrate L-cysteine (Zheng, L., White, R. H., Cash, V. L., Jack, R. F., and Dean, D. R. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 90, 2754-2758). A sulfur transfer role of NIFS in which the enzyme donates sulfur for iron sulfur center formation in nitrogenase was suggested. The fact that NIFS also can catalyze the decomposition of L-selenocysteine to elemental selenium and L-alanine suggested the possibility that this enzyme might serve as a selenide delivery protein for the in vitro biosynthesis of selenophosphate. In agreement with this hypothesis, we have shown that replacement of selenide with NIFS and L-selenocysteine in the in vitro selenophosphate synthetase assay results in an increased rate of formation of selenophosphate. These results thus support the view that a selenocysteine-specific enzyme similar to NIFS may be involved as an in vivo selenide delivery protein for selenophosphate biosynthesis. A kinetic characterization of the two NIFS catalyzed reactions carried out in the present study indicates that the enzyme favors L-cysteine as a substrate compared with its selenium analog. A specific activity for L-cysteine of 142 nmol/min/mg compared with 55 nmol/min/mg for L-selenocysteine was determined. This level of enzyme activity on the selenoamino acid substrate is adequate to deliver selenium to selenophosphate synthetase in the in vitro assay system described.

The pharmacological actions of 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-alpha-methylalanine (alpha-methyldopa), an inhibitor of 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase

alpha-Methyldopa (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-alpha-methylalanine) is an inhibitor of 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase which is effective in vitro and in vivo. The inhibition is complex and shows coenzyme reversal. Evidence is presented that it acts by coenzyme inactivation. Its administration to mice reduced brain 5-hydroxytryptamine but had no effect on noradrenaline. After repeated doses, intestinal 5-hydroxytryptamine concentrations were also reduced. Co-ordinated activity was diminished coincidently with the enzyme inhibition and the reduction in brain 5-hydroxytryptamine. Rectal temperatures were reduced and the possibility that this resulted from inactivity is discussed. Treated animals showed miosis and narrowing of the palpebral fissures. A comparison is drawn between the actions of alpha-methyldopa and reserpine. The present results support the idea that the sedative effects of both drugs are due to the fall in brain 5-hydroxytryptamine concentration that they produce.

A study of potential histidine decarboxylase inhibitors

A series of compounds has been examined for ability to inhibit histidine decarboxylase. Histidine analogues having substituents in the imidazole ring showed a wide variation in potency, but these were all much less active than alpha-methyldopa [beta-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-alpha-methylalanine], the most potent known inhibitor of histidine decarboxylase. Some tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the relationship between chemical structure and inhibitory activity.

Cytochrome c heme lyase activity of yeast mitochondria

A highly efficient in vitro system was established for measuring by high performance liquid chromatography the formation of holocytochrome c by yeast mitochondria. Holocytochrome c formation required reducing agents, of which dithiothreitol was the most effective. With biosynthetically made, pure Drosophila melanogaster apocytochrome c and Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria, the activity of cytochrome c heme lyase amounted to about 800 fmol min-1 mg-1 mitochondrial protein. The kinetics were typical Michaelis-Menten (Km approximately 1 nM), as were those of mitoplasts with broken outer membranes (Km approximately 3 nM). As tested with mitoplasts, holocytochromes c from a range of species were found to be competitive inhibitors of heme lyase at physiological concentrations, providing a mechanism for controlling this concentration in vivo. Apocytochrome c associated with yeast mitochondria in two phases of Kd approximately 2 x 10(-10) and 10(-8) M, respectively, whereas mitoplasts had lost the high affinity binding. A site-directed mutant of apocytochrome c (lysines 5, 7, and 8 replaced by glutamine, glutamic acid, and asparagine) was found to be converted to holocytochrome c (Km approximately 3.3 nM; maximal activity unchanged), even though the mutations completely eliminated the high affinity binding. Thus, the high affinity binding of apocytochrome c to mitochondria is not directly related to holocytochrome c formation.

Mechanism-based inhibitors and other active-site targeted inhibitors of oxidosqualene cyclase and squalene cyclase

Enzymatic cyclizations of squalene and oxidosqualene lead to sterols and other triterpenoids in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. The cyclases for these reactions catalyze formation and stabilization of polycyclic carbocations and direct the enzyme-specific, templated formation of new carbon-carbon bonds in regio- and stereochemically defined contexts. The development of mechanism-based irreversible inhibitors, photoactivatable inhibitors, and numerous substrate analogs have helped to unravel the stepwise events occurring in the catalytic sites of these enzymes by covalent modification of specific amino acid residues.

Photoaffinity labeling of oxidosqualene cyclase and squalene cyclase by a benzophenone-containing inhibitor

A new orally active oxidosqualene:lanosterol cyclase (OSLC) inhibitor (Ro48-8071; Morand, O. H. et al. (1997) J. Lipid Res. 38, 373-390) showed potent noncompetitive inhibition of bacterial squalene:hopene cyclase (SHC) from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius (IC50 = 9.0 nM, KI = 6.6 nM) and OSLC (IC50 = 40 nM, KI = 22 nM for homogeneous rat liver OSLC). A tritium-labeled isotopomer (18.8 Ci/mmol) of this nonterpenoid inhibitor, which possesses a benzophenone (BP) photophore, was chemically synthesized as a photoaffinity label. Specific, efficient covalent modification of both OSLC and SHC enzymes was observed after UV irradiation at 360 nm. Labeling of both OSLC and SHC by [3H]Ro48-8071 was competitively displaced by coincubation with a 1000-fold molar excess of 18-thia-2, 3-oxidosqualene or the nonterpenoid inhibitor BIBX79. Displacement of labeling of OSLC was also achieved with the suicide substrate (3S)-29-methylidene-2,3-oxidosqualene. Thus, the nonsubstrate Ro48-8071 and both terpenoid and nonterpenoid inhibitors of these enzymes appear to share a common binding site.

ATPases and phosphate exchange activities in magnesium chelatase subunits of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Three separate proteins, BchD, BchH, and BchI, together with ATP, insert magnesium into protoporphyrin IX. An analysis of ATP utilization by the subunits revealed the following: BchH catalyzed ATP hydrolysis at the rate of 0.9 nmol per min per mg of protein. BchI and BchD, tested individually, had no ATPase activity but, when combined, hydrolyzed ATP at the rate of 117.9 nmol/min per mg of protein. Magnesium ions were required for the ATPase activities of both BchH and BchI+D, and these activities were inhibited 50% by 2 mM o-phenanthroline. BchI additionally catalyzed a phosphate exchange reaction from ATP and ADP. We conclude that ATP hydrolysis by BchI+D is required for an activation step in the magnesium chelatase reaction, whereas ATPase activity of BchH and the phosphate exchange activity of BchI participate in subsequent reactions leading to the insertion of Mg2+ into protoporphyrin IX.