Modified methods for the determination of carbamyl aspartate

Oligomeric structure of the multifunctional protein CAD that initiates pyrimidine biosynthesis in mammalian cells

The first three steps in mammalian de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis are catalyzed by the multifunctional protein designated CAD. Regions of the single 240-kDa poly-peptide chain are folded into separate structural domains that have discrete functions. Previous studies suggested that CAD forms predominantly trimers. The trimers are found to be in slow equilibrium with hexamers and higher oligomers composed of multiples of three copies of the CAD polypeptide chain. However, quantitative chemical crosslinking studies of CAD with dimethyl suberimidate were used here to show a progressive conversion of monomer to crosslinked hexamer. High levels of the hexamer accumulate in the reaction mixture, suggesting that the major oligomeric form is hexameric, although residual amounts of smaller oligomers remain present. Larger oligomers may form by association of hexamers and are seen after longer crosslinking times. Sucrose gradient centrifugation shows a 20.8S species to be the slowest sedimenting peak, while the larger species sediments at 27.9S. Electron microscopic studies of rotary-shadowed preparations of CAD have confirmed that, while small amounts of other oligomeric forms are present, the CAD monomer is primarily associated into cyclic hexamers with an open planar appearance.

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, caffeine model: increase of purine and pyrimidine enzymes in rat brain

Rats ingesting high doses of caffeine reproduce the self-destructive behaviour observed in the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. This syndrome includes a deficit in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. We have observed, however, that the activity of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase increases in direct proportion to the concentration of caffeine found in rat brain. It appears, therefore, that the caffeine model is not a true model for the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, or alternatively, that the deficit in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase is coincidental and not a main key to the multifarious aspects of the syndrome, particularly the self-mutilation. The possibility that levels of dopamine are increased in the caffeine model are discussed as a basis for the destructive behaviour. We have found also that ingestion of large amounts of caffeine increases the activities in rat brain of adenosine deaminase, purine nucleoside phosphorylase, aspartate carbamoyl-transferase, dihydroorotase, and dihydroorotate oxidase.

Kinetics of the allosteric transition of aspartate transcarbamylase. Chemical quench studies

Using a chemical quench device, the rate of synthesis of carbamyl aspartate from the substrates aspartate and carbamyl phosphate was followed as a function of the time between mixing the enzyme with substrates and quenching with trichloroacetic acid. This function, which is linear at long times, shows (at 4 degrees C) a transient lag phase of product of roughly 10 ms. However, when the catalytic subunit (in which the enzymatic activity is desensitized) is used instead of the enzyme, the lag disappears. Therefore the lag seems to be associated with the control functions of the enzyme, i.e. to represent the allosteric transition involved in substrate-substrate (homotropic) co-operativity. Thus the relaxation time for the activation process is roughly 10 ms. The implications of these results are examined.

Ligand-mediated conformational changes in wheat-germ aspartate transcarbamoylase indicated by proteolytic susceptibility

Ligand-mediated effects on the inactivation of pure wheat-germ aspartate transcarbamoylase by trypsin were examined. Inactivation was apparently first-order in all cases, and the effects of ligand concentration on the pseudo-first-order rate constant, k, were studied. Increase in k (labilization) was effected by carbamoyl phosphate, phosphate and the putative transition-state analogue, N-phosphonoacetyl-L-aspartate. Decrease in k (protection) was effected by the end-product inhibitor, UMP, and by the ligand pairs aspartate/phosphate and succinate/carbamoyl phosphate, but not by aspartate or succinate alone up to 10 mM. Except for protection by the latter ligand pairs, all other ligand-mediated effects were also observed on inactivation of the enzyme by Pronase and chymotrypsin. Ligand-mediated effects on the fragmentation of the polypeptide chain by trypsin were examined electrophoretically. Slight labilization of the chain was observed in the presence of carbamoyl phosphate, phosphate and N-phosphonoacetyl-L-aspartate. An extensive protection by UMP was observed, which apparently included all trypsin-sensitive peptide bonds. No significant effect by the ligand pair succinate/carbamoyl phosphate was noted. It is concluded from these observations that UMP triggers an extensive, probably co-operative, transition to a proteinase-resistant conformation, and that carbamoyl phosphate similarly triggers a transition to an alternative, proteinase-sensitive, conformation. These antagonistic conformational changes may account for the regulatory kinetic effects reported elsewhere [Yon (1984) Biochem. J. 221, 281-287]. The protective effect by the ligand pairs aspartate/phosphate and succinate/carbamoyl phosphate, which operates only against trypsin, is concluded to be due to local shielding of essential lysine or arginine residues in the aspartate-binding pocket of the active site, to which aspartate (or its analogue, succinate) can only bind as part of a ternary complex.

Regulatory kinetics of wheat-germ aspartate transcarbamoylase. Adaptation of the concerted model to account for complex kinetic effects of uridine 5'-monophosphate

The kinetic effects of the end-product inhibitor UMP on aspartate transcarbamoylase (EC 2.1.3.2) purified to homogeneity from wheat germ were studied. In agreement with an earlier study of the relatively crude enzyme [Yon (1972) Biochem. J. 128, 311-320], the half-saturating concentrations of UMP and of the first substrate, carbamoyl phosphate (but not of the second, L-aspartate), were found to be strongly interdependent. However, the kinetic behaviour of the pure enzyme differed from that of the crude enzyme in several important respects, namely: (a) the apparent affinity for UMP was lower with the pure enzyme; (b) sigmoidicity was absent from plots of initial rate versus carbamoyl phosphate concentration, each at a fixed UMP concentration; (c) sigmoidicity was greatly exaggerated in plots of initial rate versus UMP concentration, each at a fixed carbamoyl phosphate concentration, owing to the occurrence of a slight but definite maximum in each plot at low UMP concentration; (d) there was a relative increase in this maximum in the presence of N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate, an inhibitor competitive with carbamoyl phosphate. It is shown that a modified two-conformation concerted-transition model can be used to account for most of these features of the pure enzyme. The model treats carbamoyl phosphate and UMP as antagonistic allosteric ligands binding to alternative conformational states [Monod, Wyman & Changeux (1965) J. Mol. Biol. 12, 88-118], carbamoyl phosphate binding non-exclusively (dissociation constants 20 microM and 85 microM respectively) and UMP binding exclusively (dissociation constant 2.5 microM). The model postulates further that the conformation with lower affinity for carbamoyl phosphate has the higher value of kcat., and that it binds UMP in competition with carbamoyl phosphate. Parameters giving the best fit of experimental data to this model were found by a non-linear least-squares search procedure.

Threonine dehydratase deficiency: a probable cause of non-ketotic hyperglycinaemia

A patient with classical symptoms of non-ketotic hyperglycinaemia (NKH) is presented. Threonine dehydratase was undetectable in a liver autopsy specimen, which was obtained within 1 h of death and immediately frozen at -70 degrees C. Activities of four marker enzymes were normal. This represents the first documentation of an inborn error of threonine metabolism and a new explanation of NKH.

An ultraviolet spectrophotometric assay for aspartate transcarbamylase

A procedure for determining the activity of aspartate transcarbamylase, based upon the greater ultraviolet absorbancy of the products of the reaction catalyzed compared to the reactants, was devised. Extinction coefficients were determined at 205, 210, and 215 nm for the compounds carbamoyl aspartate, acetyl aspartate, and aspartate. These values formed the quantitative basis for a spectrophotometric assay in which an enzymatic reaction is monitored at one of these wavelengths. Use of this procedure was illustrated in four kinetic experiments with the allosteric aspartate transcarbamylase from Escherichia coli, and the nonallosteric catalytic subunit of this enzyme: aspartate saturation curve, arsenate saturation curve (reverse reaction), allosteric activation by a transition-state analog employing acetyl phosphate as substrate, and carbamoyl phosphate progress curve (substrate depletion in the presence of excess cosubstrate). Owing to changes in absorbance on the order of 1000 liter mol-1 cm-1 concomitant with the reaction, the sensitivity of the method is comparable to that of many procedures already in the literature.

Purification, characterization, and physiological function of Bacillus subtilis ornithine transcarbamylase

A procedure was developed for purification of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTCase) to near homogeneity from Bacillus subtilis 168. The purified native enzyme existed as a mixture of dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric forms, but was converted to the dimer in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. The molecular weight of the subunit was 44,000. Some general kinetic properties of the enzyme were described. OTCase was repressed by arginine in growing B. subtilis cells, but the enzyme was induced by arginine at the end of exponential growth. Specific antibodies against the purified OTCase were used to show that the same enzyme was produced under all conditions. These results and studies of a mutant lacking OTCase demonstrated that B. subtilis produced only a single OTCase. OTCase was clearly required for arginine biosynthesis, but the physiological function of OTCase induction by arginine was obscure. OTCase was not induced by, or required for, growth on arginine as a carbon and nitrogen source. Absence of OTCase in a mutant did not alter the yield or arginine content of its spores in comparison to a strain containing OTCase.

New assay for enzymatic phosphate release: application to aspartate transcarbamylase and other enzymes

The colorimetric method for phosphate determination described in the preceding paper is adapted for the assay of orthophosphate liberated in the aspartate transcarbamylase reaction. The method provides for simple, accurate, and sensitive measurement of enzyme activity. The assay uses ammonium molybdate and zinc acetate to form a colored complex with the enzymatically released phosphate; mild conditions which minimize the nonenzymatic background degradation of the substrate, carbamoyl phosphate, are used. Since the assay procedure is relatively rapid, it is especially attractive in situations where results are desired immediately. The method can be used for the assay of any enzyme which releases inorganic phosphate, even in the presence of labile organophosphate compounds.

The pathway of arginine catabolism in the parasitic flagellate Trichomonas vaginalis

Arginine is rapidly depleted from the medium during the cultivation of T. vaginalis in a defined or semi-defined medium. It is broken down to ornithine, ammonia and carbon dioxide by the three enzymes of the dihydrolase pathway: arginine deiminase, catabolic ornithine carbamyltransferase (OCTase) and carbamate kinase. Arginase and urease as well as citrulline hydrolase appear to be absent. Ornithine, a product of the pathway was further converted to putrescine by an active ornithine decarboxylase. Apparent substrate Km values determined were arginine deiminase, 103 microM; catabolic OCTase, 71 microM; ornithine decarboxylase 134 microM. A substrate level phosphorylation is associated with the pathway; the significance of this to the overall energy economy of the cell is unclear.

Capacity of rat liver for pyrimidine synthesis and catabolism during fetal and neonatal development

The capacity of minces of rat liver to synthesize and degrade pyrimidines during fetal and neonatal development was examined. Pyrimidine synthesis was determined by measuring the rate of incorporation of NaH14CO3 into orotic acid. Pyrimidine catabolism was estimated by measuring the generation of 14CO2 from [2-14C]uridine. The incorporation of [2-14C]uridine into RNA was determined simultaneously with measurements of uridine catabolism. The activity of beta-ureidopropionase, the enzyme which catalyzes the terminal reaction in the dihydropyrimidine catabolic pathway, was also monitored in cell-free extracts of liver throughout the perinatal period. Catabolic activity was detected at the earliest stage of gestation examined (16 days) and rose sharply during fetal development to reach adult levels at birth or shortly thereafter. A similar rise in the activity of beta-ureidopropionase was somewhat delayed when compared with the rise in overall catabolic activity; the enzyme activity at birth was about half the adult level. By way of contrast, the incorporation of NaH14CO3 into orotic acid and [2-14C]uridine into RNA were highest in 16-day fetal liver and declined sharply with fetal and neonatal development. These results demonstrate an appreciable capacity for pyrimidine catabolism in fetal liver, and also contribute to growing evidence that fetal tissues are capable of meeting their pyrimidine requirements through de novo synthesis. The contrast observed between the rate of synthesis of orotic acid and the capacity for pyrimidine degradation throughout perinatal development fits the pattern which has emerged from other studies showing the pathways for the anabolism and catabolism of pyrimidines to be regulated inversely to one another.

Control of arg gene expression in Salmonella typhimurium by the arginine repressor from Escherichia coli K-12

The regulation of synthesis of arg enzymes in Salmonella typhimurium by the arginine repressor of Escherichia coli K-12 has been reevaluated using a strain of S. typhimurium in which the argR gene was rendered nonfunctional by inserting the translocatable tetracycline-resistance element Tn10 into the argR gene. In contrast to previous studies, the introduction of the argR+ allelle of E. coli on an F-prime factor to the argR::Tn10 S. typhimurium strain reduced the synthesis of arg enzymes to essentially wild-type levels. The elevated levels of arg enzymes observed in other hybrid merodiploids may have been the consequence of the formation of hybrid repressor molecules. The readily scoreable phenotype of tetracycline resistance facilitated establishing linkage of cod and argR (0.6% cotransduction) by P22 phage-mediated transduction.

Absorption of homocitrulline from the gastrointestinal tract

1. Transport of L-homocitrulline, an amino acid which occurs in milk products, was studied with rat small intestine in vitro and from the human mouth in vivo. Absorption was partially dependent, in both systems, on the presence of sodium ions. 2. Metabolic inhibitors decreased L-homocitrulline uptake across the small intestine. Transport across the intestine did not occur against the concentration gradient but did show saturation kinetics. 3. The barbiturate, amytal, did not inhibit buccal absorption. Saturation kinetics were demonstrated. 4. Experiments were conducted with L-citrulline, or other amino acids, as possible inhibitors of L-homocitrulline transport. Results were compatible with Na+-dependent carrier-mediated uptake across the buccal mucosa. Active transport could be involved with the small intestine assuming that L-homocitrulline has a low affinity for the carrier system.

Investigation of binding sites in the complex pyrimidine-specific carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase/aspartate carbamoyltransferase enzyme of Neurospora crassa

The pyr-3 gene of Neurospora crassa codes for the bifunctional enzyme pyrimidine-specific carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase/aspartate carbamoyltransferase (carbon dioxide: ammonia ligase (ADP-forming, carbamate-phosphorylating)/carbamoylphosphate: L-aspartate carbamoyltransferase), EC 6.3.4.16/EC 2.1.3.2). We describe the investigation of substrate- and product-binding sites of the enzyme by affinity chromatography, using the ligands aspartate, glutamate, and adenosine 5'-diphosphate, and investigate the channelling of carbamoyl phosphate, the product of the first function and substrate of the second, through the pathway. For this latter aspect of the investigation, two new enzyme assays were devised and described. The results of the competition studies on carbamoyl phosphate-binding are consistent with the existence of two different binding sites within the enzyme for this metabolic intermediate, one for it as the product of the first step and the other for it as the substrate of the second.

The determination by radiochemical assay of argininosuccinase produced in an Escherichia coli system in vitro

A highly sensitive radiochemical assay used to measure the synthesis and regulation of the product of the argH gene, argininosuccinase, in an Escherichia coli system in vitro is described. With L-[guanidino-14C]argininosuccinic acid as a substrate, and in the presence of excess arginase and urease, 14CO2 is collected in a simply designed micro-vessel. With this method less than 1 nmol of product can be measured in the presence of various concentrations of L-arginine.

Vasopressin and angiotensin II stimulate ureogenesis through increased mitochondrial citrulline production

Vasopressin, angiotensin II, glucagon and epinephrine (through a cAMP-independent, alpha1adrenergic mechanism), stimulate ureogenesis in isolated rat hepatocytes. Mitochondria, isolated from hepatocytes which were previously treated with these hormones, displayed an enhanced rate of citrulline synthesis in the presence of NH4Cl as the nitrogen source. When mitochondria were incubated with glutamine as the nitrogen source, only those mitochondria isolated from hepatocytes previously treated with epinephrine or glucagon displayed an enhanced capacity to synthesize citrulline. When cells were incubated in the absence of extracellular calcium, the effects of vasopressin and angiotensin II on urea synthesis were abolished, whereas those of epinephrine and glucagon were only diminished. Mitochondria isolated from cells incubated under these conditions, showed that the effect of all these hormones on citrulline synthesis could still be observed. However, the effects of glucagon and epinephrine plus propranolol were larger than those of angiotensin II or vasopressin. Phosphatidylinositol labeling was significantly increased by epinephrine, vasopressin and angiotensin II both in the absence or presence of calcium. Cyclic AMP levels were significantly increased by glucagon or epinephrine but not by vasopressin or angiotensin II. The effect of epinephrine on cyclic AMP levels was blocked by propranolol both in the absence or presence of calcium.

UMP synthesis in the kinetoplastida

All six enzymes of pyrimidine biosynthesis de novo have been detected in homogenates of the culture promastigote form of Leishmania mexicana amazonensis, the blood trypomastigote form of Trypanosoma brucei and the culture epimastigote, blood trypomastigote and intracellular amastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase is mitochondrial in mammals, but the isofunctional enzyme, dihydroorotate oxidase was found to be cytoplasmic, whereas orotate phosphoribosyltransferase and orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase, which are cytoplasmic in mammals, were found to be particulate. Analysis by isopycnic sedimentation in sucrose showed that both particulate enzymes co-sedimented with glycosomal-(microbody-)marker enzymes such as hexokinase. Electron microscopy indicated that fractions containing these activities consisted essentially only of microbodies. It is concluded therefore that these enzymes are associated with glycosomes. Kinetic studies with intact glycosomal preparations suggested that there was no membrane barrier between 5-phosphoribose 1-pyrophosphate (P-Rib-PP) and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase, indicating either that the active site of this enzyme is probably on the outside of the glycosome or that the glycosome may have an efficient transport site for P-Rib-PP. Not all the UMP salvage enzymes assayed were detected. No uridine kinase activity was found in any of the species investigated, suggesting that uridine salvage might be routed via a uridine phosphorylase and uracil phosphoribosyltransferase. In agreement with this suggestion, these latter activities were detected in all organisms tested except the intracellular amastigote form of T. cruzi, where uracil phosphoribosyltransferase appeared absent. All the UMP salvage enzymes investigated occurred in cytoplamic fractions.

A regulatory gene (use) affecting the expression of pyrA and certain other pyrimidine genes

The use-1 mutation in Salmonella typhimurium confers a complex and pleiotrophic phenotype which is primarily characterized as a temperature-dependent sensitivity to uracil. This sensitivity can be reversed by arginine or citrulline, but not by ornithine, suggesting that the use-1 mutation affects the synthesis or the activity (or both) of carbamoylphosphate synthetase or ornithine carbamoyltransferase (or both). Activity measurements showed that use-1 caused superrepression of both of these enzymes, especially when uracil was present in the medium. Dihydro-orotase and dihydro-orotate oxidase were also superrepressed, but aspartate carbamoyltransferase and orotate phosphoribosyltransferase were not. Lowered nucleotide triphosphate and guanosine tetra- and pentaphosphate pools in use-1 strains indicated that the mutation affected synthesis or breakdown of all of these phosphorylated compounds, but the UTP pool increased by a larger relative factor in use-1 strains in the presence of uracil. The uracil-sensitive phenotype of the use-1 mutation is a complex response to several environmental factors: temperature, aerobiosis, carbon sources, and uracil concentration. Uracil sensitivity was eliminated by alteration of one or more of these factors. Uracil sensitivity was suppressed by several genetic alterations. These include introduction into use-1 strains of a multi-copy ColE1 derivative which carries the structural gene(s) for carbamoylphosphate synthetase, episomes that carry use, mutations including argR and pyrH, and various unclassified intergenic suppressor mutations. These genetic changes increased significantly the expression of carbamoylphosphate synthetase or ornithine carbamoyltransferase (or both). The activity of use-1 is not known, but the facts that it altered expression of at least four unlinked genes (pyrA, pyrC, pyrD, and argI) and that the Escherichia coli F'133 complemented it establish it as a trans-acting regulatory factor.

Treatment of inborn errors of urea synthesis: activation of alternative pathways of waste nitrogen synthesis and excretion

Children with inborn errors of urea synthesis accumulate ammonium and other nitrogenous precursors of urea, leading to episodic coma and a high mortality rate. We used alternative pathways for the excretion of waste nitrogen as substitutes for the defective ureagenic pathways in 26 infants. These pathways involve synthesis and excretion of hippurate after sodium benzoate administration, and of citrulline and argininosuccinate after arginine supplementation. The children were treated for seven to 62 months; 22 survived. The mean plasma level of ammonium ( +/- S.E.) was 36 +/- 2 mumol per liter, and that of benzoate was 1.5 +/- 1.0 mg per deciliter. Alternative pathways accounted for between 28 and 59 per cent of the total "effective" excretion of waste nitrogen. Nineteen infants had normal height, weight, and head circumference, and 13 had normal intellectual development. Activation of alternative pathways of waste nitrogen excretion can prolong survival and improve clinical outcome in children with inborn errors of urea synthesis.

Zinc-sulfur bonds of aspartate transcarbamylase studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

X-ray absorption spectra have been recorded for aspartate transcarbamylase [unligated and ligated with the transition-state analogue N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate] and for the model compound zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate. The spectra confirm that, in the enzyme, the zinc atom is ligated to four sulfur atoms, with a mean distance of 2.34 +/- 0.03 A. A spread in bond lengths of 0.1 +/- 0.03 A is possible, due to thermal and/or static disorder. No significant difference was found between the spectra of the ligated and unligated enzymes.

Coordinate synthesis of the enzymes of pyrimidine biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis

Strains of Bacillus subtilis that were resistant to repression of pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthetic enzymes were selected by isolating spontaneous uracil-tolerant derivatives of a uracil-sensitive strain, which lacks arginine-repressible carbamyl phosphate synthetase. The relative content of all six enzymes of uridylic acid biosynthesis de novo in these strains was in a constant ratio over a 10-fold range of derepression, which indicates that synthesis of these enzymes is coordinately regulated.

Cloning of a eukaryotic regulatory gene

From a pool of hybrid plasmids carrying Sau3A fragments representing the entire yeast (S. cerevisiae) genome, a DNA fragment containing the regulatory gene PPRI was cloned by complementation of a non-inducible ppr1 mutation which confers to the cells an increased sensitivity to 6-azauracil. Cells containing the cloned DNA regained the ability to induce the synthesis of URA1 and URA3 gene products controlled by PPR1. A physical map has been constructed and the study of subcloned restriction endonuclease fragments from the original yeast DNA fragment allowed us to localize the wile-type PPR1 regulatory gene within a 3 kilobase-pair region. The ppr1 RNA level was measured and the hybridization data indicate in a wild-type strain a low efficiency of transcription of PPR1 as compared to the structural URA3 gene, without effect of inducing conditions.

The involvement of proteolysis in conformational stability of the carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase/aspartate carbamoyltransferase enzyme of Neurospora crassa

The pyrimidine-3 gene of Neurospora crassa codes for a bifunctional enzyme catalysing the first two steps of the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. Difficulties have been experienced in purification due to the lability of the enzyme. The enzyme loses carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase (carbon-dioxide: ammonia ligase (ADP-forming, carbamate-phosphorylating), EC 6.3.4.16) activity and undergoes a change in apparent molecular weight from the native 650,000 to 100,000 of the only detectable fragment. Attempts have been made therefore to stabilize the enzyme so as to minimise these effects. Elastinal, a protease inhibitor, reduces the effects, as do certain ultraviolet-sensitive mutant strains which lack a minor protease. The nature of the loss of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase suggests an instability in the tertiary structure of the enzyme which can be reduced by the use of glycerol. Glycerol also exhibits a protease-inhibiting effect in this system. Although a range of protease inhibtors and use of uvs mutants can reduce the rate of decay of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase activity, only glycerol can stabilize the native molecular weight. Our results support the hypothesis that the loss of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase activity and change in molecular weight of the enzyme is a three-step sequence of proteolysis, conformational shift and cleavage of a further non-covalent bond.

The enzymes of pyrimidine biosynthesis in a range of parasitic protozoa and helminths

The activities of carbamoylphosphate synthase, aspartate transcarbamoylase, dihydroorotase, orotate phosphoribosyl transferase and orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase, five of the six enzymes of pyrimidine biosynthesis, have been measured in Crithidia fasciculata, Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania major, Trichomonas vaginalis, Eimeria tenella, Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium berghei, Fasciola gigantica, Schistosoma mansoni, Hymenolepis diminuta, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Trichuris muris. The majority of organisms contained all five enzyme activities. However, in T. vaginalis only carbamoylphosphate synthetase activity and in E. tenella only orotate phosphoribosyl transferase and orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase activities could be detected. It appears therefore that the ability to synthesise pyrimidines by the de novo route is probably both common and widespread amongst parasitic organisms.

Intracellular degradation of hemoglobin transferred into fibroblasts by fusion with red blood cells

Hamster fibroblast protein and rabbit hemoglobin were labelled by incubation of fibroblasts (BHK21) or reticulocytes with [3H]leucine. Alternatively, human or rabbit hemoglobin was labelled by carbamoylation of erythrocytes with K14CNO. The labelled hemoglobins were introduced into fibroblasts by virus-mediated fusion between the blood cells and fibroblasts. The hemoglobins became uniformly distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Degradation was assessed from release of acid-soluble radioactivity into the medium. Radioactivity from [14C]-carbamoylhemoglobin was released as carbamoylvaline and homocitrulline, and these compounds were not metabolized or reincorporated by the cells. Intermediate degradation products could not be detected. The degradation of hemoglobin followed first-order kinetics. The half-life of both carbamoylated and native rabbit hemoglobin in hamster fibroblasts was 28 h, and the half-life of carbamoylated human hemoglobin was about 150 h in fibroblasts from hamster (BHK21), mouse (Balb/3T3), and man (MRC 5), corresponding to that of the more stable endogenous proteins. Phenylhydrazine increased the intracellular degradation of carbamoylated human hemoglobin about 13 times, whereas the degradation of endogenous proteins was little affected. Hemoglobin was degraded in homogenates at 31% h-1 at pH 5 and 0.3% h-1 at pH 7.4. Phenylhydrazine increased these rates to 45% h-1 and 9.7% h-1, respectively. Growing hamster fibroblasts, which are brought into quiescence by serum deprivation or by high culture density, increase the degradation of endogenous protein and of hemoglobin in parallel.

Partial purification and properties of a transamidinase from Lathyrus sativus seedlings. Involvement in homoarginine metabolism and amine interconversions

A transamidinase was purified 463-fold from Lathyrus sativus seedlings by affinity chromatography on homoarginine--Sepharose. The enzyme exhibited a wide substrate specificity, and catalysed the reversible transfer of the amidino groups from donors such as arginine, homoarginine and canavanine to acceptors such as lysine, putrescine, agmatine, cadaverine and hydroxylamine. The enzyme could not be detected in the seeds, and attained the highest specific activity in the embryo axis on day 10 after seed germination. Its thiol nature was established by strong inhibition by several thiol blockers and thiol compounds in the presence of ferricyanide. In the absence of an exogenous acceptor, it exhibited weak hydrolytic activity towards arginine. It had apparent mol.wt. 210000, and exhibited Michaelis--Menten kinetics with Km 3.0 mM for arginine. Ornithine competitively inhibited the enzyme, with Ki 1.0 mM in the arginine--hydroxylamine amidino-transfer reaction. Conversion experiments with labelled compounds suggest that the enzyme is involved in homoarginine catabolism during the development of plant embryo to give rise to important amino acids and amine metabolites. Presumptive evidence is also provided for its involvement in the biosynthesis of the guanidino amino acid during seed development. The natural occurrence of arcain in L. sativus and mediation of its synthesis in vitro from agmatine by the transamidinase are demonstrated.

A rapid colorimetric assay for carbamyl phosphate synthetase I

A rapid, reproducible, and sensitive colorimetric assay for carbamyl phosphate synthetase I was presented. A four-fold increase in sensitivity and reduced assay time were afforded by this procedure. The method utilized the chemical conversion of carbamyl phosphate to hydroxyurea by the action of hydroxylamine instead of employing a coupling enzyme. The hydroxyurea was quantitated in 15 min by an improved colorimetric assay for ureido compounds by measuring the absorption of the resulting chromophore at 458 nm. Optimum conditions for both the formation and quantitation of hydroxyurea were established. Activity measurements of carbamyl phosphate synthetase I obtained by this uncoupled method were identical with those obtained by the ornithine transcarbamylase coupled assay.