Comparison of polyamine and S-adenosylmethionine contents of growing and encysted Acanthamoeba isolates

The endosymbiont Amoebophilus asiaticus encodes an S-adenosylmethionine carrier that compensates for its missing methylation cycle

All organisms require S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) as a methyl group donor and cofactor for various biologically important processes. However, certain obligate intracellular parasitic bacteria and also the amoeba symbiont Amoebophilus asiaticus have lost the capacity to synthesize this cofactor and hence rely on its uptake from host cells. Genome analyses revealed that A. asiaticus encodes a putative SAM transporter. The corresponding protein was functionally characterized in Escherichia coli: import studies demonstrated that it is specific for SAM and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), the end product of methylation. SAM transport activity was shown to be highly dependent on the presence of a membrane potential, and by targeted analyses, we obtained direct evidence for a proton-driven SAM/SAH antiport mechanism. Sequence analyses suggest that SAM carriers from Rickettsiales might operate in a similar way, in contrast to chlamydial SAM transporters. SAM/SAH antiport is of high physiological importance, as it allows for compensation for the missing methylation cycle. The identification of a SAM transporter in A. asiaticus belonging to the Bacteroidetes phylum demonstrates that SAM transport is more widely spread than previously assumed and occurs in bacteria belonging to three different phyla (Proteobacteria, Chlamydiae, and Bacteroidetes).

Metabolic profiling of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba invadens revealed activation of unpredicted pathway during encystation

Encystation, which is cellular differentiation from the motile, proliferative, labile trophozoite form to the dormant, resistant cyst form, is a crucial process found in parasitic and free-living protozoa such as Entamoeba, Giardia, Acanthamoeba, and Balamuthia. Since encystation is an essential process to deal with the adverse external environmental changes during the life cycle, and often integral to the transmission of the diseases, biochemical understanding of the process potentially provides useful measures against the infections caused by this group of protozoa. In this study, we investigated metabolic and transcriptomic changes that occur during encystation in Entamoeba invadens, the reptilian sibling of mammal-infecting E. histolytica, using capillary electrophoresis-tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling and DNA microarray-based expression profiling. As the encystation progressed, the levels of majority of metabolites involved in glycolysis and nucleotides drastically decreased, indicating energy generation is ceased. Furthermore, the flux of glycolysis was redirected toward chitin wall biosynthesis. We found remarkable temporal increases in biogenic amines such as isoamylamine, isobutylamine, and cadaverine, during the early period of encystation, when the trophozoites form large multicellular aggregates (precyst). We also found remarkable induction of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) during encystation. This study has unveiled for the first time the dynamics of the transcriptional and metabolic regulatory networks during encystation, and should help in better understanding of the process in pathogenic eukaryotes, and further development of measures controlling infections they cause.

Acanthamoebadifferentiation: a two-faced drama ofDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The ability of cyst-forming protists such asAcanthamoebato escape death by transforming into a cyst form, that is resistant to harsh physiological, environmental and pharmacological conditions, has continued to pose a serious challenge to human and animal health. A complete understanding of the fundamental principles of genome evolution and biochemical pathways of cellular differentiation offers unprecedented opportunities to counter detrimental outcomes.Acanthamoebacan elude inhospitable conditions by forming cysts. Here we unravel the processes involved in the phenotypic switching ofAcanthamoeba, which are critical in our efforts to find potential targets for chemotherapy.

Cystathionine beta-synthase is coordinately regulated with proliferation through a redox-sensitive mechanism in cultured human cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) catalyzes the condensation of serine with homocysteine to form cystathionine and occupies a crucial regulatory position between the methionine cycle and the biosynthesis of cysteine by transsulfuration. Analysis of CBS activity under a variety of growth conditions indicated that CBS is coordinately regulated with proliferation in both yeast and human cells. In batch cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, maximal CBS activities were observed in the exponential phase of cells grown on glucose, while growth-arrested cultures or those growing non-fermentatively on ethanol or glycerol had approximately 3-fold less activity. CBS activity assays and Western blotting indicated that growth-specific regulation of CBS is evolutionarily conserved in a range of human cell lines. CBS activity was found to be maximal during proliferation and was reduced two- to five-fold when cells became quiescent at confluence. In cultured HepG2 cells, the human CBS gene is induced by serum and basic fibroblast growth factor and is downregulated, but not abolished, by contact inhibition, serum-starvation, nutrient depletion, or the induction of differentiation. Consequently, for certain cell types, CBS may represent a novel marker of both differentiation and proliferation. The intracellular level of the CBS regulator compound, S-adenosylmethionine, was found to reflect the proliferation status of both yeast and human cells, and as such, constitutes an additional mechanism for proliferation-specific regulation of human CBS. Our data indicates that screening compounds for the ability to affect transsulfuration in cultured cell models must take proliferation status into account to avoid masking regulatory interactions that may be of significance in vivo.

Nucleotide sequence and developmental expression of Acanthamoeba S-adenosylmethionine synthetase gene

We have isolated and characterized a cDNA (cDNA1) from an Acanthamoeba cDNA library encoding the enzyme S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) synthetase (ATP: L-methionine S-adenosyltransferase; EC 2.5.1.6). The nucleotide sequence exhibits about 61-73% overall similarity to the corresponding gene of other organisms. The cDNA displays extreme codon bias with a preference for C or G in the third position. A putative initiation site and an ATP-binding site are identified. An amino acid content of 388 and a molecular mass of about 44,000 Daltons are deduced for the enzyme. Putative phosphorylation sites which might be involved in regulation of the enzyme are revealed. The cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), and the identity of the protein product confirmed by Western blotting analysis. Northern analyses of the expression of the Acanthamoeba SAM synthetase gene during development revealed a pronounced reduction in the level of transcripts as amoebae converted to cysts.

An Acanthamoeba polyubiquitin gene and application of its promoter to the establishment of a transient transfection system

We have isolated and sequenced a 2388 bp polyubiquitin encoding genomic DNA from Acanthamoeba encompassing two complete and one incomplete ubiquitin units. Codon usage frequency shows extreme bias. The deduced amino acid sequences of each unit are identical to each other and the same as that deduced from a previously sequenced Acanthamoeba castellanii cDNA. The upstream region of this gene, which contained some putative regulatory modules, was recovered by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification and subcloning. This upstream fragment was ligated to the CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) gene in a eukaryotic expression plasmid and successfully applied to the establishment of an Acanthamoeba transient transfection system. Transfection was performed by electroporation and the optimal voltage was 4500 volts/cm at capacitance 25 microF. DEAE-dextran (25 microg/ml) added into the electroporation buffer increased the transfection efficiency by about 45%. The CAT activity was proportional to the amount of DNA transfected and reached the peak level 48 h after transfection. CAT assays showed that the polyubiquitin gene upstream fragment contains a functional promoter which is about 2.5 times as strong as a viral RSV-LTR promoter when driving CAT expression in Acanthamoeba.

Stable transfection of Acanthamoeba

The promoter activity of an Acanthamoeba polyubiquitin gene was analyzed in its homologous system. A modified calcium phosphate transfection method using a neomycin marker vector was developed to achieve highly efficient transfection of the Acanthamoeba polyubiquitin gene into Acanthamoeba cells. In this transfection procedure, the calcium phosphate-DNA complex was formed gradually in the medium during incubation with cells and precipitated on the cells. The crucial factors for obtaining efficient transfection were the pH (6.95) of the transfection buffer used for the calcium phosphate precipitation and the amount (25 micrograms/96-well tissue culture plate) and form (circular) of transfecting DNA. Under these conditions, Acanthamoeba isolate 1B6 was transfected at an efficiency of about 40% with the constructed vector pOPSBU, a pOP13CAT-based polyubiquitin gene incorporated neomycin resistance vector. Acanthamoeba polyphaga was transfected at an efficiency of about 10% with this vector. Transfection of both Acanthamoeba strains appeared to result in low copy plasmid integration (about two copies per cell are suggested). The chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) assays showed that the promoter of the Acanthamoeba polyubiquitin gene in the constructed vector was especially strong in A. polyphaga, thus the pOPSBU-Acanthamoeba system may be useful for the construction of cDNA expression libraries, as well as for the expression of cloned genes.

S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase of Acanthamoeba castellanii (Neff): purification and properties

S-Adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC) has been purified to near homogeneity from the Neff strain of Acanthamoeba castellanii. The holoenzyme molecular mass is 88.8 kDa, including two copies each of a 32.8 kDa alpha-subunit and a 10-15 kDa beta-subunit. The alpha-subunit contains the active site. It has an N-terminal pyruvoyl group, and the first 19 amino acids are 63 and 74% identical with comparable sequences from yeast and mammals, respectively. The apparent Km for S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) in the presence of 2 mM putrescine was 30.0 microM. The enzyme was stimulated 2-fold by putrescine, but was unaffected by spermidine. It was inhibited by the following anti-metabolites, listed with their Ki values: Berenil (0.17 microM), pentamidine (19.4 microM), propamidine (334 microM), hydroxystilbamidine (357 microM), methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) (604 microM) and ethidium bromide (1.3 mM). Activity of the enzyme fell to undetectable levels during cell differentiation (encystment).

Polyamine oxidase from Acanthamoeba culbertsoni specific for N8-acetylspermidine

Polyamine oxidase plays a key role in the catabolism of polyamines and regeneration of spermidine and putrescine. The mammalian enzyme utilises N1-acetylspermidine, and N8-acetylspermidine, although formed in the mammals, is not catabolised further. We have characterised an enzyme from Acanthamoeba culbertsoni which acts preferentially on N8-acetylspermidine. The highly unstable enzyme was stabilised in the presence of glycerol or dimethylsulphoxide together with spermine and purified 400-fold by a combination of DEAE-cellulose, CM-cellulose, spermine-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-300 chromatography. The enzyme has a pH optimum of 8 and a temperature optimum of 45 degrees C. The relative activities on different substrates are: N8-acetylspermidine 100%, N1-acetylspermine 40%, N1-acetylspermidine 1%, N1,8-diacetylspermidine 1% and N1,12-diacetylspermine 15%. Free polyamines and substrates of monoamine oxidase were not attacked. The enzyme yielded diaminopropane as an end product of catabolism and could be involved in the biosynthesis of this unusual polyamine present in large amounts in this organism.

Acid-soluble purine and pyrimidine derivatives of growing, encysting and encystment-inhibited amoebae

The intracellular acid-soluble purine and pyrimidine derivatives of myxamoebae-swarm cells of Physarum flavicomum were investigated during growth, microcyst formation, and during adenine-inhibition of encystment, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We also studied the incorporation of exogenous radioactive adenine into the acid soluble purine derivatives and S-adenosyl-sulphur compounds separated by HPLC. The most abundant ribonucleoside monophosphate was AMP in the growing and 15 h encysting cells (NC), while it was UMP in the 15 h adenine-inhibited cells (AIC). ADP was the nucleoside diphosphate present in the greatest quantity in the growing and NC cells but it was CDP in the AIC. The nucleoside triphosphate in highest concentration was ATP, UTP, and GTP in growing, NC, and AIC, respectively. Guanosine was the most abundant nucleoside in all cells. The nucleobase occurring in greatest concentration was cytosine, cytosine and guanine, and adenine in the growing, NC, and AIC, respectively. The AMP content in the 15 h AIC was 2.1-fold higher than that of adenosine. The 15 h NC had the lowest adenylate energy charge, a value of 0.54 +/- 0.02, while the values for growing cells and the AIC were 0.62 +/- 0.02 and 0.76 +/- 0.01, respectively. [14C]-Adenine labelling studies (15 h) revealed the occurrence of purine nucleotide interconversion, as the label was detected not only in adenosine, AMP, ADP, ATP, but also in guanine, guanosine, GMP, GDP, GTP, as well as, in inosine monophosphate and xanthosine monophosphate. The percentage incorporation of the radiolabelled adenine into AMP was higher than into adenosine. An increased intracellular level of guanine nucleotides is associated with the inhibition of encystment. The extracellular adenine, rather than internal adenine sources, appears to be the primary precursor of nucleotide for S-adenosylmethionine synthesis during adenine-inhibition of encystment.