Cloning and expression of human tyrosine aminotransferase cDNA

Branched-chain and aromatic amino acid catabolism into aroma volatiles in Cucumis melo L. fruit

The unique aroma of melons (Cucumis melo L., Cucurbitaceae) is composed of many volatile compounds biosynthetically derived from fatty acids, carotenoids, amino acids, and terpenes. Although amino acids are known precursors of aroma compounds in the plant kingdom, the initial steps in the catabolism of amino acids into aroma volatiles have received little attention. Incubation of melon fruit cubes with amino acids and alpha-keto acids led to the enhanced formation of aroma compounds bearing the side chain of the exogenous amino or keto acid supplied. Moreover, L-[(13)C(6)]phenylalanine was also incorporated into aromatic volatile compounds. Amino acid transaminase activities extracted from the flesh of mature melon fruits converted L-isoleucine, L-leucine, L-valine, L-methionine, or L-phenylalanine into their respective alpha-keto acids, utilizing alpha-ketoglutarate as the amine acceptor. Two novel genes were isolated and characterized (CmArAT1 and CmBCAT1) encoding 45.6 kDa and 42.7 kDa proteins, respectively, that displayed aromatic and branched-chain amino acid transaminase activities, respectively, when expressed in Escherichia coli. The expression of CmBCAT1 and CmArAT1 was low in vegetative tissues, but increased in flesh and rind tissues during fruit ripening. In addition, ripe fruits of climacteric aromatic cultivars generally showed high expression of CmBCAT1 and CmArAT1 in contrast to non-climacteric non-aromatic fruits. The results presented here indicate that in melon fruit tissues, the catabolism of amino acids into aroma volatiles can initiate through a transamination mechanism, rather than decarboxylation or direct aldehyde synthesis, as has been demonstrated in other plants.

Mercury influences rat liver tyrosine aminotransferase activity and induction by dexamethasone

The effects of mercury (Hg) on basal and dexamethasone-induced tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) activity in rat liver were studied. Comparison of TAT activity after in vitro and in vivo mercury application revealed the influence of the metal only when applied in vivo, suggesting that the effects are expressed at the level of TAT gene transcription. Intraperitoneal administration of mercury at 1, 2 or 3 mg Hg kg(-1) b.w. 4 h before decapitation was shown to stimulate the basal activity of TAT. The most prominent increase was observed 4 h after the metal administration. When applied at 1 and 2 mg Hg kg(-1) b.w. mercury was also shown to reduce partially the extent of the enzyme induction by dexamethasone, which was injected intraperitoneally at 5 mg kg(-1) b.w. 5 h before death. The highest dose of mercury (3 mg Hg kg(-1) b.w.) almost completely abolished the dexamethasone effect. The finding that mercury increases basal activity of the enzyme while decreasing its induction by dexamethasone suggests that stimulatory effects of this metal on TAT activity are probably mediated by factors other than glucocorticoids.

Methionine regeneration and aminotransferases in Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus anthracis

The conversion of ketomethiobutyrate to methionine has been previously examined in a number of organisms, wherein the aminotransferases responsible for the reaction have been found to be members of the Ia subfamily (L. C. Berger, J. Wilson, P. Wood, and B. J. Berger, J. Bacteriol. 183:4421-4434, 2001). The genome of Bacillus subtilis has been found to contain no subfamily Ia aminotransferase sequences. Instead, the analogous enzymes in B. subtilis were found to be members of the If subfamily. These putative aspartate aminotransferases, the yugH, ywfG, ykrV, aspB, and patA gene products, have been cloned, expressed, and characterized for methionine regeneration activity. Only YkrV was able to convert ketomethiobutyrate to methionine, and it catalyzed the reaction only when glutamine was used as amino donor. In contrast, subcellular homogenates of B. subtilis and Bacillus cereus utilized leucine, isoleucine, valine, alanine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine as effective amino donors. The two putative branched-chain aminotransferase genes in B. subtilis, ybgE and ywaA, were also cloned, expressed, and characterized. Both gene products effectively transaminated branched-chain amino acids and ketoglutarate, but only YbgE converted ketomethiobutyrate to methionine. The amino donor preference for methionine regeneration by YbgE was found to be leucine, isoleucine, valine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. The B. subtilis ybgE gene is a member of the family III of aminotransferases and falls in a subfamily designated here IIIa. Examination of B. cereus and Bacillus anthracis genome data found that there were no subfamily IIIa homologues in these organisms. In both B. cereus and B. anthracis, two putative branched-chain aminotransferases and two putative D-amino acid aminotransferases were discovered as members of subfamily IIIb. These four sequences were cloned from B. cereus, expressed, and characterized. Only the gene product from the sequence designated Bc-BCAT2 was found to convert ketomethiobutyrate to methionine, with an amino donor preference of leucine, isoleucine, valine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. The B. anthracis homologue of Bc-BCAT2 was also cloned, expressed, and characterized and was found to be identical in activity. The aminooxy compound canaline was found to be an uncompetitive inhibitor of B. subtilis YbgE and also inhibited growth of B. subtilis and B. cereus in culture.

Calreticulin inhibits glucocorticoid- but not cAMP-sensitive expression of tyrosine aminotransferase gene in cultured McA-RH7777 hepatocytes

Calreticulin is a ubiquitously expressed Ca2+ binding protein of the endoplasmic reticulum which inhibits DNA binding and transcriptional activation by steroid hormone receptors. In this study the effects of calreticulin on tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene expression in cultured McA-RH7777 hepatocytes was investigated. McA-RH7777 cells were stably transfected with calreticulin expression vector to generate cells overexpressing the protein. The transcriptional activity of the TAT gene, which is glucocorticoid-sensitive and cAMP-dependent, was investigated in the mock transfected McA-RH7777 and in cells overexpressing calreticulin (designated McA-11 and McA-17). In the presence of dexamethasone or the cAMP analog (CTP-cAMP) expression of the TAT gene was induced in mock transfected McA-RH7777 cells by approximately 4.5 and 5 fold, respectively. In McA-11 and McA-17 cells, overexpressing calreticulin, glucocorticoid-sensitive expression of the TAT gene was significantly inhibited, however, the CTP-cAMP-dependent expression of the TAT gene was not affected. The ability of calreticulin to inhibit glucocorticoid-sensitive TAT gene expression but not the cAMP-dependent expression of the gene suggests that the protein affects specifically the action of transcription pathways involving steroid receptors or transcription factors containing KxFF(K/R)R-like motifs. Calreticulin may play an important role in the regulation of glucocorticoid-sensitive pathway of expression of the hepatocytes specific genes during development.