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Du Y, Fu X, Chu Y, Wu P, Liu Y, Ma L, Tian H, Zhu B. Biosynthesis and the Roles of Plant Sterols in Development and Stress Responses. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23042332. [PMID: 35216448 PMCID: PMC8875669 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23042332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Plant sterols are important components of the cell membrane and lipid rafts, which play a crucial role in various physiological and biochemical processes during development and stress resistance in plants. In recent years, many studies in higher plants have been reported in the biosynthesis pathway of plant sterols, whereas the knowledge about the regulation and accumulation of sterols is not well understood. In this review, we summarize and discuss the recent findings in the field of plant sterols, including their biosynthesis, regulation, functions, as well as the mechanism involved in abiotic stress responses. These studies provide better knowledge on the synthesis and regulation of sterols, and the review also aimed to provide new insights for the global role of sterols, which is liable to benefit future research on the development and abiotic stress tolerance in plant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinglin Du
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
| | - Xizhe Fu
- The College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310012, China;
| | - Yiyang Chu
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
| | - Peiwen Wu
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
| | - Ye Liu
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
| | - Lili Ma
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
| | - Huiqin Tian
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
| | - Benzhong Zhu
- The College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; (Y.D.); (Y.C.); (P.W.); (Y.L.); (L.M.); (H.T.)
- Correspondence:
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Zhou W, Fisher PM, Vanderloop BH, Shen Y, Shi H, Maldonado AJ, Leaver DJ, Nes WD. A nematode sterol C4α-methyltransferase catalyzes a new methylation reaction responsible for sterol diversity. J Lipid Res 2019; 61:192-204. [PMID: 31548366 PMCID: PMC6997595 DOI: 10.1194/jlr.ra119000317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2019] [Revised: 09/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Primitive sterol evolution plays an important role in fossil record interpretation and offers potential therapeutic avenues for human disease resulting from nematode infections. Recognizing that C4-methyl stenol products [8(14)-lophenol] can be synthesized in bacteria while C4-methyl stanol products (dinosterol) can be synthesized in dinoflagellates and preserved as sterane biomarkers in ancient sedimentary rock is key to eukaryotic sterol evolution. In this regard, nematodes have been proposed to convert dietary cholesterol to 8(14)-lophenol by a secondary metabolism pathway that could involve sterol C4 methylation analogous to the C2 methylation of hopanoids (radicle-type mechanism) or C24 methylation of sterols (carbocation-type mechanism). Here, we characterized dichotomous cholesterol metabolic pathways in Caenorhabditis elegans that generate 3-oxo sterol intermediates in separate paths to lophanol (4-methyl stanol) and 8(14)-lophenol (4-methyl stenol). We uncovered alternate C3-sterol oxidation and Δ7 desaturation steps that regulate sterol flux from which branching metabolite networks arise, while lophanol/8(14)-lophenol formation is shown to be dependent on a sterol C4α-methyltransferse (4-SMT) that requires 3-oxo sterol substrates and catalyzes a newly discovered 3-keto-enol tautomerism mechanism linked to S-adenosyl-l-methionine-dependent methylation. Alignment-specific substrate-binding domains similarly conserved in 4-SMT and 24-SMT enzymes, despite minimal amino acid sequence identity, suggests divergence from a common, primordial ancestor in the evolution of methyl sterols. The combination of these results provides evolutionary leads to sterol diversity and points to cryptic C4-methyl steroidogenic pathways of targeted convergence that mediate lineage-specific adaptations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxu Zhou
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
| | - Paxtyn M Fisher
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
| | - Boden H Vanderloop
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
| | - Yun Shen
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
| | - Huazhong Shi
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
| | - Adrian J Maldonado
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Physical Sciences, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX
| | - David J Leaver
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.,Department of Biology, Geology, and Physical Sciences, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX
| | - W David Nes
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
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Leaver DJ, Patkar P, Singha UK, Miller MB, Haubrich BA, Chaudhuri M, Nes WD. Fluorinated Sterols Are Suicide Inhibitors of Ergosterol Biosynthesis and Growth in Trypanosoma brucei. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 22:1374-83. [PMID: 26496686 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2015.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Revised: 08/20/2015] [Accepted: 08/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Trypanosoma brucei, the causal agent for sleeping sickness, depends on ergosterol for growth. Here, we describe the effects of a mechanism-based inhibitor, 26-fluorolanosterol (26FL), which converts in vivo to a fluorinated substrate of the sterol C24-methyltransferase essential for sterol methylation and function of ergosterol, and missing from the human host. 26FL showed potent inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis and growth of procyclic and bloodstream forms while having no effect on cholesterol biosynthesis or growth of human epithelial kidney cells. During exposure of cloned TbSMT to 26-fluorocholesta-5,7,24-trienol, the enzyme is gradually killed as a consequence of the covalent binding of the intermediate C25 cation to the active site (kcat/kinact = 0.26 min(-1)/0.24 min(-1); partition ratio of 1.08), whereas 26FL is non-productively bound. These results demonstrate that poisoning of ergosterol biosynthesis by a 26-fluorinated Δ(24)-sterol is a promising strategy for developing a new treatment for trypanosomiasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Leaver
- Center for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; Institute of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Nanjing University, 22 Hankou Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, P.R. China
| | - Presheet Patkar
- Center for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
| | - Ujjal K Singha
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Doctor D. B. Todd Jr. Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37208, USA
| | - Matthew B Miller
- Center for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
| | - Brad A Haubrich
- Center for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
| | - Minu Chaudhuri
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Doctor D. B. Todd Jr. Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37208, USA
| | - W David Nes
- Center for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA.
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Patkar P, Haubrich BA, Qi M, Nguyen TTM, Thomas CD, Nes WD. C-24-methylation of 26-fluorocycloartenols by recombinant sterol C-24-methyltransferase from soybean: evidence for channel switching and its phylogenetic implications. Biochem J 2013; 456:253-62. [PMID: 23984880 DOI: 10.1042/bj20121818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The tightly coupled nature of the electrophilic alkylation reaction sequence catalysed by 24-SMT (sterol C-24-methyltransferase) of land plants and algae can be distinguished by the formation of cationic intermediates that yield phyla-specific product profiles. C-24-methylation of the cycloartenol substrate by the recombinant Glycine max (soybean) 24-SMT proceeds to a single product 24(28)-methylenecycloartanol, whereas the 24-SMT from green algae converts cycloartenol into two products cyclolaudenol [∆(25(27))-olefin] and 24(28)-methylenecycloartanol [(∆24(28))-olefin]. Substrate analogues that differed in the steric-electronic features at either end of the molecule, 26-homocycloartenol or 3β-fluorolanostadiene, were converted by G. max SMT into a single 24(28)-methylene product. Alternatively, incubation of the allylic 26-fluoro cyclosteroid with G. max SMT afforded a bound intermediate that converted in favour of the ∆(25(27))-olefin product via the cyclolaudenol cation formed initially during the C-24-methylation reaction. A portion of the 26-fluorocycloartenol substrate was also intercepted by the enzyme and the corresponding hydrolysis product identified by GC-MS as 26-fluoro-25-hydroxy-24-methylcycloartanol. Finally, the 26-fluorocycloartenols are competitive inhibitors for the methylation of cycloartenol and 26-monofluorocycloartenol generated timedependent inactivation kinetics exhibiting a kinact value of 0.12 min(-1). The ability of soybean 24-SMT to generate a 25-hydroxy alkylated sterol and fluorinated ∆(25(27))-olefins is consistent with our hypothesis that (i) achieving the cyclolaudenyl cation intermediate by electrophilic alkylation of cycloartenol is significant to the overall reaction rate, and (ii) the evolution of variant sterol C-24-methylation patterns is driven by competing reaction channels that have switched in algae from formation of primarily ∆(25(27)) products that convert into ergosterol to, in land plants, formation of ∆(24(28)) products that convert into sitosterol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Presheet Patkar
- *Center for Chemical Biology and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, U.S.A
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Affiliation(s)
- W David Nes
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA.
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Ganapathy K, Kanagasabai R, Nguyen TTM, Nes WD. Purification, characterization and inhibition of sterol C24-methyltransferase from Candida albicans. Arch Biochem Biophys 2011; 505:194-201. [DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2010.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2010] [Revised: 10/05/2010] [Accepted: 10/07/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Liu J, Nes WD. Steroidal triterpenes: design of substrate-based inhibitors of ergosterol and sitosterol synthesis. Molecules 2009; 14:4690-706. [PMID: 19924096 PMCID: PMC6255433 DOI: 10.3390/molecules14114690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2009] [Revised: 11/05/2009] [Accepted: 11/10/2009] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
This article reviews the design and study, in our own laboratory and others, of new steroidal triterpenes with a modified lanosterol or cycloartenol frame. These compounds, along with a number of known analogs with the cholestane skeleton, have been evaluated as reversible or irreversible inhibitors of sterol C24-methyltransferase (SMT) from plants, fungi and protozoa. The SMT catalyzes the C24-methylation reaction involved with the introduction of the C24-methyl group of ergosterol and the C24-ethyl group of sitosterol, cholesterol surrogates that function as essential membrane inserts in many photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. Sterol side chains constructed with a nitrogen, sulfur, bromine or fluorine atom, altered to possess a methylene cyclopropane group, or elongated to include terminal double or triple bonds are shown to exhibit different in vitro activities toward the SMT which are mirrored in the inhibition potencies detected in the growth response of treated cultured human and plant cells or microbes. Several of the substrate-based analogs surveyed here appear to be taxaspecific compounds acting as mechanism-based inactivators of the SMT, a crucial enzyme not synthesized by animals. Possible mechanisms for the inactivation process and generation of novel products catalyzed by the variant SMTs are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialin Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA.
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Wang J, Nes WD. Cyclobranol: a substrate for C25-methyl sterol side chains and potent mechanism-based inactivator of plant sterol methyltransferase. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2008; 18:3878-81. [PMID: 18590960 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2008.06.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2008] [Accepted: 06/13/2008] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Cyclobranol 8A, an analog of the cycloartenol substrate 1A for the plant sterol C24-methyltransferase (SMT), was shown to be an acceptor of the soybean SMT1 as well as an inhibitor of enzyme action. The K(m) and k(cat) for 8A was 37 microM and 0.006 min(-1), respectively. The enzyme-generated product was identified by MS and (1)H NMR to be a C24, C25-doubly alkylated Delta(24(28))-olefin 10A. Inhibitor treatment was concentration and time-dependent affording an apparent K(i) of 25 microM, a maximum rate of inactivation of 0.15 min(-1) and a partition ratio (k(cat)/k(inact)) calculated to be 0.04.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junqing Wang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Box 41061, Lubbock, TX 79409-1061, USA
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Antifungal activity of 25-azalanosterol against Candida species. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2008; 27:1131-6. [DOI: 10.1007/s10096-008-0554-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2008] [Accepted: 05/12/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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