The plasma membrane H+-ATPase of Neurospora crassa. Properties of two reactive sulfhydryl groups

Chemical modification of milk xanthine oxidase with different modifiers

Xanthine oxidase (XO), purified from buttermilk was subjected to modification with N-phenylmaleimide, p-toluene-sulfonyl chloride, and 2-mercaptobenzimidazole. Spectrophotometric monitoring of the enzyme before and after treatment with these modifiers are presented. The results show that the interaction of XO with the modifiers was accompained by a change in UV absorption, as compared with untreated enzyme. The data indicate that these modifiers caused conformational changes in the polypeptide chain of milk XO due to interaction of these modifiers with sulfahydryl and/or hydroxyl groups. Moreover, the modifiers induce uptake inhibition of milk XO and appeared to be dependant upon either the concentration or incubation time.

Reactive cysteines of the yeast plasma-membrane H+-ATPase (PMA1). Mapping the sites of inactivation by N-ethylmaleimide

We have taken advantage of cysteine mutants described previously (Petrov, V. V., and Slayman, C. W. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 28535-28540) to map the sites at which N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) reacts with the plasma-membrane H+ATPase (PMA)1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. When membrane vesicles containing the ATPase were incubated with NEM, six of nine mutants with single cysteine substitutions showed sensitivity similar to the wild-type enzyme. By contrast, C221A and C532A were inactivated more slowly than the wild-type control, and the C221, 532A double mutant was completely resistant, indicating that Cys-221 and Cys-532 are NEM-reactive residues. In the presence of 10 mM MgADP, the wild-type ATPase was partially protected against NEM; parallel experiments with the C221A and C532A mutants showed that the protection occurred at Cys-532, located in or near the nucleotide-binding site. Unexpectedly, the inactivation of the C409A ATPase was approximately 4-fold more rapid than in the case of the wild-type enzyme. Experiments with double mutants made it clear that this resulted from an acidic shift in pKa and a consequent acceleration of the reaction rate at Cys-532. One simple interpretation is that substitution of Cys-409 leads to a local conformational change within the central hydrophilic domain. Consistent with this idea, the reaction of fluorescein 5'-isothiocyanate at Lys-474 was also stimulated approximately 3. 5-fold by the C409A mutation. Taken together, the results of this study provide new information about the reactivity of individual Cys residues within the ATPase and pave the way to tag specific sites for structural and functional studies of the enzyme.

Site-directed mutagenesis of the cysteine residues in the Neurospora crassa plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase

A high-yield yeast expression system for site-directed mutagenesis of the Neurospora crassa plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase has recently been reported (Mahanty, S. K., Rao, U. S., Nicholas, R. A., and Scarborough, G. A. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 17705-17712). Using this system, each of the eight cysteine residues in the ATPase was changed to a serine or an alanine residue, producing strains C148S and C148A, C376S and C376A, C409S and C409A, C472S and C472A, C532S and C532A, C545S and C545A, C840S and C840A, and C869S and C869A, respectively. With the exception of C376S and C532S, all of the mutant ATPases are able to support the growth of yeast cells to different extents, indicating that they are functional. The C376S and C532S enzymes appear to be non-functional. After solubilization of the functional mutant ATPase molecules from isolated membranes with lysolecithin, all behaved similar to the native enzyme when subjected to glycerol density gradient centrifugation, indicating that they fold in a natural manner. The kinetic properties of these mutant enzymes were also similar to the native ATPase with the exception of C409A, which has a substantially higher Km. These results clearly indicate that none of the eight cysteine residues in the H(+)-ATPase molecule are essential for ATPase activity, but that Cys376, Cys409, and Cys532 may be in or near important sites. They also demonstrate that the previously described disulfide bridge between Cys148 and Cys840 or Cys869 plays no obvious role in the structure or function of this membrane transport enzyme.

Interaction of sulfhydryl reactive reagents with components involved in (1,3)-beta-glucan synthesis from Candida albicans

Glucan synthesis was sensitive to several sulfhydryl reacting compounds: mercurials, reversible disulfides, and an alkylating sulfhydryl reagent (IC50 3-45 microM). Thiol groups associated with glucan synthesis were hydrophilic in nature, since both hydrophilic and hydrophobic reagents were active. Glucan synthase complex consists of at least two components: a peripheral GTP-binding protein that can be solubilized with detergents (supernatant) and the catalytic membrane-bound component (pellet). A rapid separation technique was developed to study sulfhydryl interactions with the complex. The GTP-binding protein was solubilized with 0.6% 3-((3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio)-1-propane sulfonate from isolated microsomes of Candida albicans cells grown at either 10 or 30 degrees C. The residual membranous fraction contained the core catalytic moiety of glucan synthase. Both fractions were devoid of glucan synthase activity until they were reconstituted by mixing the two fractions together. In reconstitution experiments, the pellet lost almost 50% activity when preincubated with 2.5 microM N-ethylmaleimide and combined with an untreated supernatant whereas only 10% activity was lost when the supernatant was treated with N-ethylmaleimide. The catalytic active site of glucan synthase was not protected with UDP-Glc when preincubated with 10 microM N-ethylmaleimide but the GTP-binding fraction was partially protected with GTP gamma S.

Mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol decrease the difference of electrochemical proton potentials across the yeast plasma and vacuolar membranes and activate their H(+)-ATPases

Mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol (DTT) inhibited the acidification of external medium by Saccharomyces carlsbergensis cells and protoplasts during glucose oxidation. The inhibition was also observed when cells were incubated with mercaptoethanol or when mercaptoethanol and DTT were used to prepare protoplasts. Experiments with S. carlsbergensis plasma membrane vesicles and vacuoles showed these thiol reagents to inhibit ATP-dependent generation of delta pH and Em across plasma membrane vesicles and vacuoles but to activate their H(+)-ATPases. Mercaptoethanol and DTT are suggested to de-energize plasmalemma as well as tonoplast by increasing their H(+)-permeability and to disturb the cell ion homeostasis.

Essential sulfhydryl groups in the catalytic center of the tonoplast H(+)-ATPase from coleoptiles ofZea mays L. as demonstrated by the biotin-streptavidin-peroxidase system

Functional properties and the localization of essential SH-groups of the tonoplast H(+)-ATPase fromZea mays L. were studied. In contrast to the pyrophosphate-dependent H(+)-translocation activity of the tonoplast, the H(+)-ATPase activity was inhibited by SH-blocking agents, such as N-ethylmaleimide and iodoacetic acid. In the case ofp-hydroxymercuribenzoate, HgCl2 and oxidized glutathione, the inhibition could be reversed by adding reduced glutathione or dithiothreitol.Incubation of tonoplast vesicles with oxidized glutathione or N-ethylmaleimide in the presence of Mg·ADP-a competitive inhibitor of the ATP-dependent H(+) pump-avoided the inhibition of the H(+)-pumping activity. This effect is an indication for the occurrence of essential SH-groups at the catalytic site of the H(+)-ATPase.In order to characterize the active center these thiols were specifically labeled with maleimidobutyrylbiocytin. Subsequently, the membrane proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to an immobilizing membrane. The maleimidobutyrylbiocytin-labeled active-center protein was detected by a biotin-streptavidin-peroxidase staining system and was shown to be a 70-kDa subunit of the tonoplast H(+)-ATPase. It is suggested that the oxidation state of the critical sulfhydryl groups within the active center of the enzyme and their reversible blocking by endogenous compounds might be of great importance for the regulation of the enzyme activity in vivo.

Molecular properties of the fungal plasma-membrane [H+]-ATPase

The fungal plasma membrane contains a proton-translocating ATPase that is closely related, both structurally and functionally, to the [Na+, K+]-, [H+, K+]-, and [Ca2+]-ATPases of animal cells, the plasma-membrane [H+]-ATPase of higher plants, and several bacterial cation-transporting ATPases. This review summarizes currently available information on the molecular genetics, protein structure, and reaction cycle of the fungal enzyme. Recent efforts to dissect structure-function relationships are also discussed.