Photoaffinity labelling shows that Escherichia coli isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase contains a single ATP-binding site

Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle and Glyoxylate Bypass

The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle plays two essential roles in metabolism. First, under aerobic conditions the cycle is responsible for the total oxidation of acetyl-CoA that is derived mainly from the pyruvate produced by glycolysis. Second, TCA cycle intermediates are required in the biosynthesis of several amino acids. Although the TCA cycle has long been considered a "housekeeping" pathway in Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica, the pathway is highly regulated at the transcriptional level. Much of this control is exerted in response to respiratory conditions. The TCA cycle gene-protein relationship and mutant phenotypes have been well studied, although a few loose ends remain. The realization that a "shadow" TCA cycle exists that proceeds through methylcitrate has cleared up prior ambiguities. The glyoxylate bypass has long been known to be essential for growth on carbon sources such as acetate or fatty acids because this pathway allowsnet conversion of acetyl-CoA to metabolic intermediates. Strains lacking this pathway fail to grow on these carbon sources, since acetate carbon entering the TCA cycle is quantitatively lost as CO2 resulting in the lack of a means to replenish the dicarboxylic acids consumed in amino acid biosynthesis. The TCA cycle gene-protein relationship and mutant phenotypes have been well studied, although the identity of the small molecule ligand that modulates transcriptional control of the glyoxylate cycle genes by binding to the IclR repressor remains unknown. The activity of the cycle is also exerted at the enzyme level by the reversible phosphorylation of the TCA cycle enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase catalyzed by a specific kinase/phosphatase to allow isocitratelyase to compete for isocitrate and cleave this intermediate to glyoxylate and succinate.

Dimerization and bifunctionality confer robustness to the isocitrate dehydrogenase regulatory system in Escherichia coli

An important goal of systems biology is to develop quantitative models that explain how specific molecular features give rise to systems-level properties. Metabolic and regulatory pathways that contain multifunctional proteins are especially interesting to study from this perspective because they have frequently been observed to exhibit robustness: the ability for a system to perform its proper function even as levels of its components change. In this study, we use extensive biochemical data and algebraic modeling to develop and analyze a model that shows how robust behavior arises in the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) regulatory system of Escherichia coli, which was shown in 1985 to experimentally exhibit robustness. E. coli IDH is regulated by reversible phosphorylation catalyzed by the bifunctional isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase (IDHKP), and the level of IDH activity determines whether carbon flux is directed through the glyoxylate bypass (for growth on two-carbon substrates) or the full tricarboxylic acid cycle. Our model, which incorporates recent structural data on IDHKP, identifies several specific biochemical features of the system (including homodimerization of IDH and bifunctionality of IDHKP) that provide a potential explanation for robustness. Using algebraic techniques, we derive an invariant that summarizes the steady-state relationship between the phospho-forms of IDH. We use the invariant in combination with kinetic data on IDHKP to calculate IDH activity at a range of total IDH levels and find that our model predicts robustness. Our work unifies much of the known biochemistry of the IDH regulatory system into a single quantitative framework and highlights the importance of constructing biochemically realistic models in systems biology.

Bacillus subtilis isocitrate dehydrogenase. A substrate analogue for Escherichia coli isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase

In Escherichia coli, the homodimeric Krebs cycle enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase (EcIDH) is regulated by reversible phosphorylation of a sequestered active site serine. The phosphorylation cycle is catalyzed by a bifunctional protein, IDH kinase/phosphatase (IDH-K/P). To better understand the nature of the interaction between EcIDH and IDH-K/P, we have examined the ability of an IDH homologue from Bacillus subtilis (BsIDH) to serve as a substrate for the kinase and phosphatase activities. BsIDH exhibits extensive sequence and structural similarities with EcIDH, particularly around the phosphorylated serine. Our previous crystallographic analysis revealed that the active site architecture of these two proteins is almost completely conserved. We now expand the comparison to include a number of biochemical properties. Both IDHs display nearly equivalent steady-state kinetic parameters for the dehydrogenase reaction. Both proteins are also phosphorylated by IDH-K/P in the same ratio (1 mole of phosphate per mole of monomer), and this stoichiometric phosphorylation correlates with an equivalent inhibition of IDH activity. Furthermore, tandem electrospray mass spectrometry demonstrates that BsIDH, like EcIDH, is phosphorylated on the corresponding active site serine residue (Ser-104). Despite the high degree of sequence, functional, and structural congruence between these two proteins, BsIDH is surprisingly a much poorer substrate of IDH-K/P than is EcIDH, with Michaelis constants for the kinase and phosphatase activities elevated by 60- and 3,450-fold, respectively. These drastically disparate values might result from restricted access to the active site cavity and/or from the lack of a potential docking site for IDH-K/P.

Locations of the regulatory sites for isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)(1) of Escherichia coli is regulated by a bifunctional protein, IDH kinase/phosphatase. In this paper, we demonstrate that the effectors controlling these activities belong to two distinct classes that differ in mechanism and in the locations of their binding sites. NADPH and isocitrate are representative members of one of these effector classes. NADPH inhibits both IDH kinase and IDH phosphatase, whereas isocitrate inhibits only IDH kinase. Isocitrate can "activate" IDH phosphatase by reversing product inhibition by dephospho-IDH. Mutations in icd, which encodes IDH, had parallel effects on the binding of these ligands to the IDH active site and on their effects on IDH kinase and phosphatase, indicating that these ligands regulate IDH kinase/phosphatase through the IDH active site. Kinetic analyses suggested that isocitrate and NADPH prevent formation of the complex between IDH kinase/phosphatase and its protein substrate. AMP, 3-phosphoglycerate, and pyruvate represent a class of regulatory ligands that is distinct from that which includes isocitrate and NADPH. These ligands bind directly to IDH kinase/phosphatase, a conclusion which is supported by the observation that they inhibit the IDH-independent ATPase activity of this enzyme. These effector classes can also be distinguished by the observation that mutant derivatives of IDH kinase/phosphatase expressed from aceK3 and aceK4 exhibited dramatic changes in their responses to AMP, 3-phosphoglycerate, and pyruvate but not to NADPH and isocitrate.

Regulation of acetate metabolism by protein phosphorylation in enteric bacteria

Growth of enteric bacteria on acetate as the sole source of carbon and energy requires operation of a particular anaplerotic pathway known as the glyoxylate bypass. In this pathway, two specific enzymes, isocitrate lyase and malate synthase, are activated to divert isocitrate from the tricarboxylic acid cycle and prevent the quantitative loss of acetate carbons as carbon dioxide. Bacteria are thus supplied with the metabolic intermediates they need for synthesizing their cellular components. The channeling of isocitrate through the glyoxylate bypass is regulated via the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of isocitrate dehydrogenase, the enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid cycle which competes for a common substrate with isocitrate lyase. When bacteria are grown on acetate, isocitrate dehydrogenase is phosphorylated and, concomitantly, its activity declines drastically. Conversely, when cells are cultured on a preferred carbon source, such as glucose, the enzyme is dephosphorylated and recovers full activity. Such reversible phosphorylation is mediated by an unusual bifunctional enzyme, isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase, which contains both modifying and demodifying activities on the same polypeptide. The genes coding for malate synthase, isocitrate lyase, and isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase are located in the same operon. Their expression is controlled by a complex dual mechanism that involves several transcriptional repressors and activators. Recent developments have brought new insights into the nature and mode of action of these different regulators. Also, significant advances have been made lately in our understanding of the control of enzyme activity by reversible phosphorylation. In general, analyzing the physiological behavior of bacteria on acetate provides a valuable approach for deciphering at the molecular level the mechanisms of cell adaptation to the environment.

14-3-3 is phosphorylated by casein kinase I on residue 233. Phosphorylation at this site in vivo regulates Raf/14-3-3 interaction

14-3-3 proteins mediate interactions between proteins involved in signal transduction and cell cycle regulation. Phosphorylation of target proteins as well as 14-3-3 are important for protein-protein interactions. Here, we describe the purification of a protein kinase from porcine brain that phosphorylates 14-3-3 zeta on Thr-233. This protein kinase has been identified as casein kinase Ialpha (CKIalpha) by peptide mapping analysis and sequencing. Among mammalian 14-3-3, only 14-3-3 tau possesses a phosphorylatable residue at the same position (Ser-233), and we show that this residue is also phosphorylated by CKI. In addition, we show that 14-3-3 zeta is exclusively phosphorylated on Thr-233 in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. The residue 233 is located within a region shown to be important for the association of 14-3-3 to target proteins. We showed previously that, in 293 cells, only the unphosphorylated form of 14-3-3 zeta associates with the regulatory domain of c-Raf. We have now shown that in vivo phosphorylation of 14-3-3 zeta at the CKIalpha site (Thr-233) negatively regulates its binding to c-Raf, and may be important in Raf-mediated signal transduction.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase. Kinetic characteristics of the wild-type and two mutant proteins

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) of Escherichia coli is regulated by a bifunctional protein, IDH kinase/phosphatase. In addition to the kinase and phosphatase activities, this protein catalyzes an intrinsic ATPase reaction. The initial velocity kinetics of these activities exhibited extensive similarities. IDH kinase and phosphatase both yielded intersecting double-reciprocal plots. In addition, we observed similar values for the kinetic constants describing interactions of the kinase and phosphatase with their protein substrates and the interactions of all three activities with ATP. In contrast, while the maximum velocities of IDH kinase and IDH phosphatase were nearly equal, they were 10-fold less than the maximum velocity of the ATPase. Although the IDH phosphatase reaction required either ATP or ADP, it was not supported by the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate. The kinetic properties of wild-type IDH kinase/phosphatase were compared with those of two mutant derivatives of this protein. The mutations in these proteins selectively inhibit IDH phosphatase activity. Inhibition of IDH phosphatase resulted from three factors: decreases in the maximum velocities, reduced affinities for phospho-IDH, and a loss of coupling between ATP and phospho-IDH. These mutations also affected the properties of IDH kinase, increasing the maximum velocities and decreasing the affinities for ATP and phospho-IDH. The intrinsic ATPase activities also exhibited reduced affinity for ATP. These results are discussed in the context of a model which proposes that all three activities occur at the same active site.

Escherichia coli isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase. Overproduction and kinetics of interaction with its substrates by using intrinsic fluorescence and fluorescent nucleotide analogues

The aceK gene of Escherichia coli, which encodes the isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase (IDH K/P), was cloned in the pQE30 expression vector to overproduce a protein tagged with six histidine residues at its N-terminus. By using a one-step chromatographic procedure, the IDH K/P was purified to near homogeneity. The IDH K/P, which contains nine Trp residues, exhibited a characteristic intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence with a low maximal emission at 326 nm. The low value of the Stern-Volmer quenching constant in the presence of acrylamide (Ksv = 2.1 M-1) indicated that the tryptophan residues were deeply buried in the protein. Furthermore, the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence was very sensitive to the binding of nucleotide. The quenching of protein fluorescence induced by the binding of nucleotide together with an increased intrinsic fluorescence of fluorescent nucleotide analogues, methylanthraniloyl-derivatives ADP, ATP, GDP and GTP and adenosine-5'-triphosphoro-1-(5-sulfonic-acid) naphthylamidate, were used to investigate the interaction with IDH K/P. The IDH K/P dimer was shown to contain two identical nucleotide binding sites, one on each subunit, with a Kd in the range of 1.7-2.5 microM for unmodified ADP or ATP and of 2.5-3.7 microM for fluorescently labelled nucleotides. In contrast, the affinity for GDP or GTP was 10-fold lower than for adenine nucleotides. The nucleotide binding site was located within residues 315-340 by using limited proteolysis of IDH K/P by endoproteinase Lys-C. Only one main site of cleavage was obtained: the peptide bond K346-E347 which was strongly protected in the presence of ATP.

ATP-dependent protein kinases in bacteria

Protein phosphorylation has been shown to occur in over fifty different bacterial species and, therefore, seems to be a universal device among prokaryotes. Most of the protein kinases responsible for this modification of proteins share the common property of using adenosine triphosphate as phosphoryl donor. However, they differ from one another in a number of structural and functional aspects. Namely, they exhibit a varying acceptor amino acid specificity and can be classified, on this basis, in three main groups: protein-histidine kinases, protein-serine/threonine kinases and protein-tyrosine kinases.

The isocitrate dehydrogenase phosphorylation cycle: regulation and enzymology

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) of Escherichia coli is regulated by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. This phosphorylation cycle controls the flow of isocitrate through the glyoxylate bypass, a pathway which bypasses the CO2 evolving steps of the Krebs' cycle. IDH is phosphorylated at a single serine which resides in its active site. Phosphorylation blocks isocitrate binding, thereby inactivating IDH. The IDH phosphorylation cycle is catalyzed by a bifunctional protein kinase/phosphatase. The kinase and phosphatase reactions appear to be catalyzed at the same site and may share some catalytic steps. A variety of approaches have been used to examine the IDH phosphorylation cycle in the intact organism. The picture which has emerged is one of an exquisitely sensitive and flexible system which is capable of adapting efficiently to the environment both inside and outside the cell.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase kinase/phosphatase

In Escherichia coli, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) is regulated by phosphorylation. This phosphorylation cycle is catalyzed by an unusual, bifunctional protein:IDH kinase/phosphatase. IDH kinase/phosphatase is expressed from a single gene, aceK, and both activities are catalyzed by the same polypeptide. The amino acid sequence of IDH kinase/phosphatase does not exhibit the characteristics which are typical of other protein kinases, although it does contain a consensus ATP binding site. The available evidence suggests that the IDH kinase and IDH phosphatase reactions occur at the same active site and that the IDH phosphatase reaction results from the back reaction of IDH kinase tightly coupled to ATP hydrolysis. The function of the IDH phosphorylation cycle is to control the flux of isocitrate through the glyoxylate bypass. This pathway is essential for growth on acetate because it prevents the quantitative loss of the acetate carbons as CO2 in the Krebs' cycle. IDH kinase/phosphatase monitors general metabolism by responding to the levels of a wide variety of metabolites, many of which activate IDH phosphatase and inhibit IDH kinase. The ability of IDH kinase/phosphatase to monitor general metabolism allows. the IDH phosphorylation cycle to compensate for substantial perturbations of the system, such as a 15-fold overproduction of IDH. The significance of the cellular level of IDH kinase/phosphatase has also been evaluated. The level of this protein is in great excess of that required for steady-state growth on acetate. In contrast, IDH kinase/phosphatase is, in some cases, rate-limiting for the dephosphorylation of IDH which results when preferred carbon sources are added to cultures growing on acetate.