Cloning and sequencing a putative pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase gene from Entamoeba histolytica

Entamoeba histolytica: kinetic and molecular evidence of a previously unidentified pyruvate kinase

We report the kinetic characterization of a previously unidentified pyruvate kinase (PK) activity in extracts from Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites. This activity was about 74% of the activity of pyruvate phosphate dikinase. EhPK differed from most PKs in that its pH optimum was 5.5-6.5 and was inhibited by high PEP concentrations (1-5mM); these are concentrations at which PK is usually assayed. The optimal temperature was above 40 degrees C with negligible activity below 20 degrees C. EhPK exhibited hyperbolic kinetics with respect to both PEP (K(m) = 0.018 mM) and ADP (K(m) = 1.05 mM). However, it exhibited a sigmoidal behavior with respect to PEP at sub-saturating ADP concentrations. EhPK did not require monovalent cations for activity. Fructose-1,6 bisphosphate was a potent non-essential activator; it increased the affinity for ADP without modification of the V(max) or the affinity for PEP. Phosphate, citrate, malate, and alpha-ketoglutarate significantly inhibited EhPK activity. A putative EhPK gene fragment found in EhDNA was analyzed. The data indicate that E. histolytica trophozoites contain an active PK, which might contribute to the generation of glycolytic ATP for parasite survival.

The two phosphofructokinase gene products of Entamoeba histolytica

Two phosphofructokinase genes have been described previously in Entamoeba histolytica. The product of the larger of the two genes codes for a 60-kDa protein that has been described previously as a pyrophosphate (PP(i))-dependent enzyme, and the product of the second, coding for a 48-kDa protein, has been previously reported to be a PP(i)-dependent enzyme with extremely low specific activity. Here it is found that the 48-kDa protein is not a PP(i)-dependent enzyme but a highly active ATP-requiring enzyme (k(cat) = 250 s(-)1) that binds the cosubstrate fructose 6-phosphate (Fru-6-P) with relatively low affinity. This enzyme exists in concentration- and ATP-dependent tetrameric active and dimeric inactive states. Activation is achieved in the presence of nucleoside triphosphates, ADP, and PP(i), but not by AMP, P(i), or the second substrate Fru-6-P. Activation by ATP is facilitated by conditions of molecular crowding. Divalent cations are not required, and no phosphoryl transfer occurs during activation. Kinetics of the activated enzyme show cooperativity with Fru-6-P (Fru-6-P(0.5) = 3.8 mm) and inhibition by high ATP and phosphoenolpyruvate. The enzyme is active without prior activation in extracts of E. histolytica. The level of mRNA, the amount of enzyme protein, and the enzyme activity of the 48-kDa enzyme are about one-tenth that of the 60-kDa enzyme in extracts of E. histolytica trophozoites.

Cloning and bacterial expression of adenosine-5'-triphosphate sulfurylase from the enteric protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica

A gene encoding adenosine-5'-triphosphate sulfurylase (AS) was cloned from the enteric protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica by polymerase chain reaction using degenerate oligonucleotide primers corresponding to conserved regions of the protein from a variety of organisms. The deduced amino acid sequence of E. histolytica AS revealed a calculated molecular mass of 47925 Da and an unusual basic pI of 9.38. The amebic protein sequence showed 23-48% identities with AS from bacteria, yeasts, fungi, plants, and animals with the highest identities being to Synechocystis sp. and Bacillus subtilis (48 and 44%, respectively). Four conserved blocks including putative sulfate-binding and phosphate-binding regions were highly conserved in the E. histolytica AS. The upstream region of the AS gene contained three conserved elements reported for other E. histolytica genes. A recombinant E. histolytica AS revealed enzymatic activity, measured in both the forward and reverse directions. Expression of the E. histolytica AS complemented cysteine auxotrophy of the AS-deficient Escherichia coli strains. Genomic hybridization revealed that the AS gene exists as a single copy gene. In the literature, this is the first description of an AS gene in Protozoa.

Cloning and expression of the gene for the active PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase of Entamoeba histolytica

Pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) from Entamoeba histolytica (HM-1) was purified from trophozoites. Oligonucleotide probes based on partial amino acid sequence were used to clone and sequence the gene and the cDNA of the enzyme. The molecular mass of the subunit was greater than, and the derived sequence significantly different from, that of the product of the PPi-PFK gene previously cloned from E. histolytica [Huang, Albach, Chang, Tripathi and Kemp (1995) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1260, 215-217; Bruchhaus, Jacobs, Denart and Tannich (1996) Biochem. J. 316, 57-63]. The sequence identity between the two proteins was 17%. The sequence bore greater identity with the more phylogenetically advanced plant PPi-PFKs than with bacterial PPi-PFKs. The cloned cDNA was expressed and the protein purified. The kinetic properties were identical with those of the enzyme isolated from the organism. Furthermore, the specific activity was more than three orders of magnitude higher than that described for the product of the previously cloned E. histolytica PFK gene [Bruchhaus et al. (1996)]. The pH-dependence and apparent substrate affinities of the cloned enzyme were identical with those of the PPi-PFK in trophozoite extracts, indicating that the product of the cloned gene accounts for most if not all of the PFK activity in E. histolytica trophozoites.

The active site of pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructo-1-kinase based on site-directed mutagenesis and molecular modeling

Despite a low level of overall sequence identity between PPi-dependent and ATP-dependent phosphofructo-1-kinases (PFKs), similarities in active-site residues permit a convincing amino acid alignment of these two groups of kinases. Employing recent protein sequence and site-directed mutagenesis data along with the known three-dimensional coordinates of Escherichia coli ATP-dependent PFK, a model of the active site of PPi-dependent PFK was proposed. In addition to providing compatible placement of residues shown to be important by earlier mutagenesis studies, the model predicted an important role for two arginyl residues that are conserved in all known PPi-PFK sequences. Replacement by site-directed mutagenesis of these two residues with neutral amino acids in the PPi-PFK of Naegleria fowleri resulted in a substantial reduction in kcat while not altering the global structure of the enzyme. While the data indicate many similarities in the active-site structures and mechanisms of ATP-dependent and PPi-dependent PFKs, subtle differences, such as the relative roles of Arg residues in the active sites, have evolved in the development of these two subgroups of the PFK family.

Evidence for the bacterial origin of genes encoding fermentation enzymes of the amitochondriate protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica

Entamoeba histolytica is an amitochondriate protozoan parasite with numerous bacterium-like fermentation enzymes including the pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (POR), ferredoxin (FD), and alcohol dehydrogenase E (ADHE). The goal of this study was to determine whether the genes encoding these cytosolic E. histolytica fermentation enzymes might derive from a bacterium by horizontal transfer, as has previously been suggested for E. histolytica genes encoding heat shock protein 60, nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase, and superoxide dismutase. In this study, the E. histolytica por gene and the adhE gene of a second amitochondriate protozoan parasite, Giardia lamblia, were sequenced, and their phylogenetic positions were estimated in relation to POR, ADHE, and FD cloned from eukaryotic and eubacterial organisms. The E. histolytica por gene encodes a 1,620-amino-acid peptide that contained conserved iron-sulfur- and thiamine pyrophosphate-binding sites. The predicted E. histolytica POR showed fewer positional identities to the POR of G. lamblia (34%) than to the POR of the enterobacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae (49%), the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. (44%), and the protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis (46%), which targets its POR to anaerobic organelles called hydrogenosomes. Maximum-likelihood, neighbor-joining, and parsimony analyses also suggested as less likely E. histolytica POR sharing more recent common ancestry with G. lamblia POR than with POR of bacteria and the T. vaginalis hydrogenosome. The G. lamblia adhE encodes an 888-amino-acid fusion peptide with an aldehyde dehydrogenase at its amino half and an iron-dependent (class 3) ADH at its carboxy half. The predicted G. lamblia ADHE showed extensive positional identities to ADHE of Escherichia coli (49%), Clostridium acetobutylicum (44%), and E. histolytica (43%) and lesser identities to the class 3 ADH of eubacteria and yeast (19 to 36%). Phylogenetic analyses inferred a closer relationship of the E. histolytica ADHE to bacterial ADHE than to the G. lamblia ADHE. The 6-kDa FD of E. histolytica and G. lamblia were most similar to those of the archaebacterium Methanosarcina barkeri and the delta-purple bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, respectively, while the 12-kDa FD of the T. vaginalis hydrogenosome was most similar to the 12-kDa FD of gamma-purple bacterium Pseudomonas putida. E. histolytica genes (and probably G. lamblia genes) encoding fermentation enzymes therefore likely derive from bacteria by horizontal transfer, although it is not clear from which bacteria these amebic genes derive. These are the first nonorganellar fermentation enzymes of eukaryotes implicated to have derived from bacteria.

Involvement and identification of a lysine in the PPi-site of pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase from Giardia lamblia

The substrate binding and/or catalytic site of the pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) of Giardia lamblia was investigated using an ATP affinity label, 2',3'-dialdehyde of ATP, oxidized ATP (oATP), for the involvement of lysine residues. The enzyme, which uses PPi rather than ATP as a substrate was inhibited by low concentrations of oATP. Oxidized ATP behaves as an affinity label for the substrate binding site as evidenced by saturation kinetics with the formation of reversible complex prior to inactivation, and the observation that the inactivation was stoichiometric with the amount of oATP incorporated which extrapolated to 1 mol per mol of monomeric PPi-PFK. The critical lysine modified by oATP is proposed to be located at the PPi-binding site since complete protection is afforded by PPi; and under steady-state, PPi was competitive with the inhibitor. Other substrates of the reaction in either the forward or reverse direction did not completely protect against inactivation. This is further confirmed by the non-competitive inhibition displayed by either Pi or fructose 1,6, bisphosphate. Furthermore, the Km values for Pi and fructose 1,6 bisphosphate of the oATP-modified enzyme were not altered. The oATP-modified peptides were analyzed by HPLC peptide mapping, and the profile showed a major peak absorbing at 258 nm, which was absent when the modification was carried out in the presence of MgPPi. This peptide was sequenced and found to contain Lys-497. These results suggest that the essential lysine-497 modified by oATP is involved in the binding and/or catalysis of PPi and that an ATP-type of binding domain, with reference to the phosphoryl groups, is present in the PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase of Giardia.

Identification of ATP-dependent phosphofructokinase as a regulatory step in the glycolytic pathway of the actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

The ATP-dependent phosphofructokinase (ATP-PFK) of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) was purified to homogeneity (1,600-fold) and characterized (110 kDa, with a single type of subunit of 40 kDa); it is allosterically inhibited by phosphoenolpyruvate. Cloning of the pfk gene of S. coelicolor A3(2) and analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence (343 amino acids; 36,667 Da) revealed high similarities to the PPi-PFK enzyme from Amycolatopsis methanolica (tetramer, nonallosteric; 70%) and to the allosteric ATP-PFK enzymes from other bacteria, e.g., Escherichia coli (tetramer; 37%) and Bacillus stearothermophilus (tetramer, 41%). Further structural and functional analysis of the two actinomycete PFK enzymes should elucidate the features of these proteins that determine substrate specificity (ATP versus PPi) and allosteric (in)sensitivity.

Pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase of Entamoeba histolytica: molecular cloning, recombinant expression and inhibition by pyrophosphate analogues

By using oligonucleotide primers derived from regions highly conserved in prokaryotic and eukaryotic phosphofructokinase sequences, a genomic DNA fragment was amplified and used to isolate cDNA and genomic clones coding for PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) of Entamoeba histolytica. The open reading frame consists of 1308 bp and the corresponding protein has a calculated molecular mass of 47.6 kDa. The N-terminal half of the protein shows 27-35% identity with PPi-PFKs or ATP-dependent phosphofructokinases (ATP-PFKs) of various eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. The amino acid residues that form the active site of the PPi-PFK from Propionibacterium freudenreichii and the allosteric ATP-PFK from Escherichia coli are conserved within the amoeba sequence. The PPi-PFK was recombinantly expressed by using a prokaryotic expression system. The purified recombinant protein was found to be enzymically active. The K(m) values for PPi and fructose 6-phosphate of the native and the recombinant PPi-PFKs were nearly identical. Various bisphosphonates (synthetic pyrophosphate analogues) were tested for their ability to inhibit PPi-PFK activity or amoebic growth. All bisphosphonates tested were competitive inhibitors for amoeba PPi-PFK activity. The best inhibitors were CGP 48048 and zoledronate, with Ki values of 50 microM. All bisphosphonates inhibited amoebic growth. One of them (risedronate) was inhibitory at a concentration of 10 microM. Bisphosphonates are therefore potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of amoebiasis.

Characterization and phylogeny of the pfp gene of Amycolatopsis methanolica encoding PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase

The actinomycete Amycolatopsis methanolica employs a PPi-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) (EC 2.7.1.90) with biochemical characteristics similar to those of both ATP- and PPi-dependent enzymes during growth on glucose. A 2.3-kb PvuII fragment hybridizing to two oligonucleotides based on the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of PPi-PFK was isolated from a genomic library of A. methanolica. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this fragment revealed the presence of an open reading frame encoding a protein of 340 amino acids with a high degree of similarity to PFK proteins. Heterologous expression of this open reading frame in Escherichia coli gave rise to a unique 45-kDa protein displaying a high level of PPi-PFK activity. The open reading frame was therefore designated pfp, encoding the PPi-PFK of A. methanolica. Upstream and transcribed divergently from pfp, a partial open reading frame (aroA) similar to 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase-encoding genes was identified. The partial open reading frame (chiA) downstream from pfp was similar to chitinase genes from Streptomyces species. A phylogenetic analysis of the ATP- and PPi-dependent proteins showed that PPi-PFK enzymes are monophyletic, suggesting that the two types of PFK evolved from a common ancestor.