Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase of E. coli: discrimination of regulatory sites for four kinds of allosteric effectors by the method of genetic desensitization

The replacement of Lys620 by serine desensitizes Escherichia coli phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase to the effects of the feedback inhibitors L-aspartate and L-malate

Chemical modification of Escherichia coli phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (P-pyruvate carboxylase) by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonate, a specific reagent for amino groups, causes desensitization to allosteric inhibitors, L-aspartate and L-malate, as well as inactivation. When L-malate is included in the modification mixture, P-pyruvate carboxylase was markedly protected from both desensitization and inactivation [Naide, A., Izui, K., Yoshinaga, T. & Katsuki, H. (1979) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 85, 423-432]. To determine the lysine residue(s) involved in allosteric inhibition, the lysine residues that were protected from modification by L-malate were investigated by analyzing trinitrophenylated peptides liberated by digestion with glutamyl endopeptidase (V8-protease). The identified residues were Lys491, Lys620, Lys650, and Lys773. Each of these residues was individually replaced with an alanine or serine residue by site-directed mutagenesis to produce mutant enzymes. The mutant enzyme whose lysine residue was replaced with serine ([Ser620]P-pyruvate carboxylase) showed a marked desensitization to L-aspartate and L-malate, while retaining almost the same maximal catalytic activity as the wild-type P-pyruvate carboxylase. Essentially no changes in enzymatic properties were observed for the [Ala491]- and [Ala650]P-pyruvate carboxylases, while for the [Ala620]- and [Ala773]P-pyruvate carboxylases the polypeptides of the expected size were not significantly accumulated in the transformed E. coli cells, presumably due to intracellular degradation.

Properties of an Escherichia coli mutant deficient in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase catalytic activity

A mutant Escherichia coli (Ppcc-) which was unable to grow on glucose as a sole carbon source was isolated. This mutant had very low levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity (approximately 5% of the wild type). Goat immunoglobulin G prepared against wild-type phosphoenolypyruvate carboxylase cross-reacted with the Ppcc- enzyme. The amount of enzyme protein in the mutant cells was similar to that found in wild-type cells, but it had greatly diminished specific activity. The catalytically less active mutant enzyme retained the ability to interact with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, but did not exhibit stabilization of the tetrameric form by aspartate. The pI of the mutant protein was lower (4.9) than that of the wild-type protein (5.1). After electrophoresis and immunoblotting of the partially purified protein, several immunostaining bands were seen in addition to the main enzyme band. A novel method for showing that these bands represented proteolytic fragments of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase was developed.

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase of Escherichia coli. Studies on multiple conformational states elicited by allosteric effectors with a fluorescent probe, 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate

Conformational change of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (orthophosphate: oxaloacetate carboxy-lyase (phosphorylating), EC 4.1.1.31) induced by allosteric effectors was investigated using a hydrophobic probe, 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS). Kinetic experiments suggested that ANS binds with the enzyme at the sites which are not involved in the catalytic and regulatory functions, though it partially inhibits the enzyme activity with half-saturation concentration (S0.5) of 38.5 muM. Binding experiments showed that a maximum of 2 mol of ANS are able to bind with 1 mol of the enzyme subunit presumably with an equal dissociation constant to each other (34.5 muM). Flourescence emission of ANS was markedly increased by binding with the enzyme. L-Aspartate, the allosteric inhibitor, and CoASAc and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Fru-1,6-P2) the allosteric activators, produced various degrees of change in fluorescence, when added singly or in combinations. The changes were shown to be attributable to the allosteric interactions between the enzyme and effectors from some criteria such as structural specificity, half-saturation concentrations, and heterotropic-homotropic interactions of the ligands. It was concluded from these analyses that the enzyme can be in at least four conformational states which are distinct from each other. Especially noteworthy is the finding that the enzyme, upon simultaneous binding of CoASAc and Fru-1,6-P2, takes a new conformation which is enterely different from those induced by sole binding of each effector. In addition, the heterotropic interaction between the activator and the inhibitor was observed through conformational change by the ANS method, as observed in the kinetic studies.