Micro-scale peptide mapping method for identification of variant proteins

Use of cultured lymphoblastoid cells for the study of abnormal enzymes: molecular abnormality of a phosphoglycerate kinase variant associated with hemolytic anemia

A phosphoglycerate kinase (PGKase: ATP:3-phosphoglycerate 1-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.2.3; X chromosome-linked) variant, PGKase-Tokyo, is associated with enzyme deficiency, nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia, and neurological disturbances. Because a sufficient amount of the patient's erythrocytes was not available, the variant enzyme was purified to homogeneity from the cultured lymphoblastoid cells of the patient. The enzyme activity of the variant lymphoblastoid cells was about 16% of that of the normal lymphoblastoid cells. PGKase-Tokyo, compared to the normal enzyme, had a lower specific activity (31% of normal in the backward reaction and 15% of normal in the forward reaction), higher than normal Michaelis constants for ATP and 3-phosphoglycerate, a more acidic pH optimum, and increased thermal instability. Microscale peptide mapping analysis revealed that the structural abnormality of PGKase-Tokyo is a single amino acid substitution from valine to methionine at position 266. Thus, the use of the cultured lymphoblastoid cells is proven to be useful for the study of structural and functional abnormalities of mutant enzymes.

Molecular abnormality of phosphoglycerate kinase-Uppsala associated with chronic nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia

Inherited deficiency of phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK; ATP:3-phosphoglycerate 1-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.2.3) is associated with chronic nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia and mental disorders in man. One such variant, PGK-Uppsala, was purified to homogeneity. PGK-Uppsala had a lower-than-normal specific activity (30% of normal in the backward reaction and about 20% of normal in the forward reaction) and higher-than-normal Michaelis constants for ATP, ADP, 3-phosphoglycerate and 1,3-diphosphoglycerate. Peptide mapping analysis revealed that the structural abnormality of PGK-Uppsala is a single amino acid substitution from arginine to proline at the 206th position. Based on the known complete amino acid sequence of the normal human PGK and the three-dimensional model deduced from horse PGK, correlations between the structural and functional abnormalities of PGK-Uppsala are discussed. Structural abnormalities of PGK-II, which is an electrophoretic variant not associated with enzyme deficiency, and PGK-München, which is associated with enzyme deficiency and heat instability but not associated with hemolytic anemia, are also discussed.

Altered enzymes in drug-resistant variants of mammalian tissue culture cells

Two selective procedures are compared in an effort to isolate variants of mouse L cells containing structural gene mutations. Among the resulting variant cloned cell lines are found two types of alterations in the enzyme hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (EC 2.4.2.8) (1): enzyme with altered kinetic constants causing in vivo and in vitro resistance to 8-azaguanine; and (2) enzyme with altered heat sensitivity in vitro. These results support the view that tissue culture cell variants can arise from structural gene mutations.