Control of phosphonic acid and phosphonolipid synthesis in Tetrahymena

Comparative sphingolipidomics of disease-causing trypanosomatids reveal unique lifecycle- and taxonomy-specific lipid chemistries

Trypanosomatids are parasitic protozoa which cause a spectrum of diseases, including trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis, affecting millions of humans and animals worldwide. The surface of most protozoan parasites is heavily decorated with lipids and lipid-anchored molecules, forming protective barriers and acting as virulence factors during infection. Sphingolipids (SP) are major components of eukaryotic biomembranes, which play important roles in structural integrity, energy homeostasis and signaling. However, the precise chemical composition of SP in pathogens as well as their biochemical pathways and functions remain poorly characterized. Here, we present the first system-scale analyses of SP found in a panel of 7 trypanosomatids, including Leishmania donovani, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi. We characterized the structure of aminoethylphosphonate-containing ceramides, which are found exclusively in stercorarian Trypanosoma. Employing the sensitive and semi-quantitative sphingolipidomics approach that we developed, we report the detection of over 300 molecular species of SP, and identified unique metabolic signatures which serve as discriminants of the pathogens based on their taxonomy and lifecycle stages. The deep sphingolipidome presented here is an important biochemical and technological resource for future works to dissect SP metabolism and functions in these medically and agriculturally relevant systems.

Tetrahymena thermophila: analysis of phospholipids and phosphonolipids by high-field 1H-NMR

The phospholipids of control and lipid-modified Tetrahymena thermophila were identified and quantified, using 1-D and 2-D COSY proton NMR spectroscopy on intact lipids, before and after HPLC separation. The results are comparable to those obtained using classical lipid analytical techniques. The results indicate that the study of enzyme pathways and other metabolic processes involving phospholipids in Tetrahymena and related protozoa can be carried out using proton NMR spectroscopy as the investigating technique.

Phospholipid biosynthesis in protozoa

Because of the diverse nature of the organisms which are all classed as 'protozoa' (and because of the lack of detailed information on phospholipid metabolism about most of them), it will probably never be possible to generalize phospholipid metabolism to the degree that it has been possible to characterize a mammalian metabolism. Nonetheless, patterns have begun to emerge (i.e. the similarities among the ciliates Entodinium, Paramecium and Tetrahymena) and will not doubt be expanded upon in the future.

Effect of the methylation inhibitors 3-deazaadenosine and 3-deazaaristeromycin on phosphatidylcholine formation in Tetrahymena

The methylation inhibitors 3-deazaadenosine and 3-deazaaristeromycin inhibited the methylation pathway for phosphatidylcholine formation in Tetrahymena. At the same time, the phosphatidylcholine levels within the cell were maintained by increased use of the phosphotransferase pathway. Cell growth was not affected at inhibitor concentrations up to 50 microM but was 50% inhibited at inhibitor concentrations of 100 microM. This growth inhibition was not reversed by the addition of choline to the growth medium. The added choline resulted in greater use of the phosphotransferase pathway, even in uninhibited cultures, but there was no effect on phosphatidylcholine levels, pointing to a much tighter control on phosphatidylcholine formation than exists in animal cells.

Use of 3-aminopropanol as an ethanolamine analogue in the study of phospholipid metabolism in Tetrahymena

About 50% of the ethanolamine in phosphatidylethanolamine in Tetrahymena is replaced by 3-aminopropan-1-ol when the compound is added to the growth medium. The phosphatidylpropanolamine which is formed is not converted into the corresponding phosphatidylcholine analogue by methylation. There is an increase in phosphatidylcholine formed by the phosphotransferase pathway from free [3H]choline and a decrease in the phosphatidylcholine formed by the methylation pathway from [14C]methionine. The nature of the observed phospholipid alterations suggests that the regulation of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in Tetrahymena may be different from that found in higher eukaryotes.

Effect of dimethylaminoethylphosphonate on phospholipid metabolism in Tetrahymena

Dimethylaminoethylphosphonate (DMAEP) was incorporated into the phospholipids of the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila at the expense of both phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine, but it had no effect on the levels of the 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid. The newly formed DMAEP-lipid accounted for almost 50% of the phospholipids of the organism. The DMAEP was incorporated into the phospholipids using both the ethanolaminephosphotransferase and cholinephosphotransferase pathways. The DMAEP-lipid was not methylated to the trimethyl derivative, confirming the lack of methylation of phosphonolipids by Tetrahymena.

Phosphatidylcholine homeostasis in phosphatidylethanolamine-depleted Tetrahymena

The relative contributions of the two pathways of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.17) and diacylglycerol: CDP-choline cholinephosphotransferase (EC 2.7.8.1), are altered in the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila whose phospholipid composition has been modified by culturing the organism in the presence of one of several aminophosphonic acids, as determined by measuring the incorporation of [methyl-3H]choline and [methyl-14C]methionine into phosphatidylcholine in vivo. In control cells the phosphotransferase pathway provides about 40% of the phosphatidylcholine, while in cells grown with 2-aminoethylphosphonate (AEP), 3-aminopropylphosphonate (APP), and N,N,N-trimethylaminoethyl-phosphonate (TMAEP) the contribution of the phosphotransferase pathway to phosphatidylcholine formation is 75, 90, and 26%, respectively. In AEP- and APP-grown cells, in which 80% of the phosphatidylethanolamine has been replaced by the corresponding phosphonolipid, the methyltransferase is less active since the level of the substrate phosphatidylethanolamine is reduced and neither of the phosphonolipids is a substrate for the enzyme. In TMAEP-grown cells, TMAEP competes with and reduces the incorporation of phosphocholine by the phosphotransferase pathway, leading to a smaller contribution of the pathway to phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. The relative amounts of the two different radioactive labels incorporated into diacylphosphatidylcholine vs alkylacylphosphatidylcholine are also altered in the phosphonate-grown cells. The exogenous AEP induces a change in the glyceryl ether content of the 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid--33% in the AEP-grown cells compared to 70% in the control cells--indicating that the exogenous AEP is entering the phospholipids by the ethanolamine-phosphotransferase pathway rather than by the route of the endogenous AEP.

Incorporation of serine into the phospholipids of phosphatidylethanolamine-depleted Tetrahymena

Phosphatidylserine formation and decarboxylation are decreased in Tetrahymena in which phosphatidylethanolamine has been replaced by its isosteric analog 3-aminopropylphosphonolipid (1,2-diacylglyceryl-3-O-(3-aminopropylphosphonate). The combined activity of the phosphatidylethanolamine: serine phosphatidyltransferase/ phosphatidylserine decarboxylase complex in isolated mitochondria from lipid-altered cells [J. D. Smith and D. A. Giegel (1981) Arch. Biochem, Biophys. 206, 420-423] is about 20% of the activity in mitochondria from control cells. The enzyme activity in the lipid-altered mitochondria is stimulated by the addition of exogenous phosphatidylethanolamine to the assay system while the enzymes of the control mitochondria are not. In vivo the lipid-altered cells are able to incorporate radioactivity from [3-14C]- or [3-3H]serine into phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine in amounts comparable to normal cells. Thus, under conditions of "stress" (e.g., the depletion of phosphatidylethanolamine), the phosphatidyltransferase is apparantly capable of utilizing other phospholipids besides its normal substrate phosphatidylethanolamine.

Effect of modification of membrane phospholipid composition on the activity of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase of Tetrahymena

The activity of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase is less than 10% of control levels in microsomes prepared from the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila whose phospholipid composition had been altered by being cultured on media containing phosphonic acids. The primary modification obtained is decreased levels of phosphatidylethanolamine (J.D. Smith and D.A. Giegel, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 206, 420-423 (1981) and 213, 595-601 (1982)). The enzyme protein is present in these cells at normal levels since addition of the substrate phosphatidylethanolamine to the assay system restores enzyme activity of the lipid-modified microsomes to control levels, while the enzyme from control microsomes is not affected by added phosphatidylethanolamine. The microsomal enzyme is inhibited by the anionic phospholipids cardiolipin, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylinositol and by lysophosphatidylethanolamine while it is activated only by phosphatidylserine in addition to the substrates phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine. The added phosphatidylethanolamine acts directly as a substrate for the methyltransferase rather than acting by merely stimulating utilization of endogenous lipid since added phosphatidyl[14C]ethanolamine is directly converted to phosphatidylcholine. The results suggest that the technique of phosphonic acid-induced modification of lipid composition will be useful for the study of other membrane-bound enzymes.

The detection of phosphonolipids in the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi

2-Aminoethylphosphonate was detected in the acid hydrolysates of the phosphonolipids and the lipopeptidophosphoglycan of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease. This finding represents the first evidence of phosphonolipids in a zooflagellate. By comparison, no phosphonolipids were detected in Trypanosama brucei, indicating that phosphonolipids are not a ubiquitous feature of the Order Kinetoplastidia.