Reconstitution of lactic dehydrogenase from pig heart after reversible high-pressure dissociation

Origin of Pressure Resistance in Deep-Sea Lactate Dehydrogenase

High hydrostatic pressure has a dramatic effect on biochemical systems, as exposure to high pressure can result in structural perturbations ranging from dissociation of protein complexes to complete denaturation. The deep ocean presents an interesting paradox since it is teeming with life despite the high-pressure environment. This is due to evolutionary adaptations in deep-sea organisms, such as amino acid substitutions in their proteins, which aid in resisting the denaturing effects of pressure. However, the physicochemical mechanism by which these substitutions can induce pressure resistance remains unknown. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study pressure-adapted lactate dehydrogenase from the deep-sea abyssal grenadier (Coryphaenoides armatus), in comparison with that of the shallow-water Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). We examined structural, thermodynamic and volumetric contributions to pressure resistance, and report that the amino acid substitutions result in a decrease in volume of the deep-sea protein accompanied by a decrease in thermodynamic stability of the native protein. Our simulations at high pressure also suggest that differences in compressibility may be important for understanding pressure resistance in deep-sea proteins.

Pressure tolerance of deep-sea enzymes can be evolved through increasing volume changes in protein transitions: a study with lactate dehydrogenases from abyssal and hadal fishes

We explore the principles of pressure tolerance in enzymes of deep-sea fishes using lactate dehydrogenases (LDH) as a case study. We compared the effects of pressure on the activities of LDH from hadal snailfishes Notoliparis kermadecensis and Pseudoliparis swirei with those from a shallow-adapted Liparis florae and an abyssal grenadier Coryphaenoides armatus. We then quantified the LDH content in muscle homogenates using mass-spectrometric determination of the LDH-specific conserved peptide LNLVQR. Existing theory suggests that adaptation to high pressure requires a decrease in volume changes in enzymatic catalysis. Accordingly, evolved pressure tolerance must be accompanied with an important reduction in the volume change associated with pressure-promoted alteration of enzymatic activity ( Δ V PP ∘ ). Our results suggest an important revision to this paradigm. Here, we describe an opposite effect of pressure adaptation-a substantial increase in the absolute value of Δ V PP ∘ in deep-living species compared to shallow-water counterparts. With this change, the enzyme activities in abyssal and hadal species do not substantially decrease their activity with pressure increasing up to 1-2 kbar, well beyond full-ocean depth pressures. In contrast, the activity of the enzyme from the tidepool snailfish, L. florae, decreases nearly linearly from 1 to 2500 bar. The increased tolerance of LDH activity to pressure comes at the expense of decreased catalytic efficiency, which is compensated with increased enzyme contents in high-pressure-adapted species. The newly discovered strategy is presumably used when the enzyme mechanism involves the formation of potentially unstable excited transient states associated with substantial changes in enzyme-solvent interactions.

The significance of the activity of dissolved oxygen, and other gases, enhanced by high hydrostatic pressure

The partial pressure of oxygen and other gases dissolved in water and subjected to high hydrostatic pressure is increased. Although this was established many years ago it remains a problematical phenomenon. The review deals with some of the underlying theoretical difficulties and discusses the kinetic and environmental implications of the pressure-enhanced partial pressures.

The pressure-induced inactivation of mammalian enolases is accompanied by dissociation of the dimeric enzyme

The effects of exposure to pressure on both the activity and the quaternary structure of rabbit brain enolases, forms alpha alpha, alpha gamma, and gamma gamma were studied in the pressure range of 1 to 3400 bar. Effects on quaternary structure were determined by subunit scrambling (the formation of alpha alpha and gamma gamma from alpha gamma or vice versa). All three dimers are stable up to pressures of 1200 bar. The dissociation of gamma gamma begins at 1200 bar, yielding a stable monomer; inactivation of gamma gamma does not begin until the pressure is greater than 2000 bar. Dissociation of gamma gamma is not accompanied by changes in the tryptophan fluorescence of the protein. However, the fluorescence does decrease when the pressure is greater than 2000 bar, the point at which inactivation of gamma gamma starts. The alpha monomer, on the other hand, is unstable in the pressure range that produces dissociation of alpha alpha. This process, which also begins at 1200 bar, is paralleled by inactivation. Crosslinking the enzyme with glutaraldehyde demonstrated that the inactive form of the enzyme is monomeric. The pressure-induced inactivation of these forms of enolase is thus clearly a two-step process, with both dissociation and inactivation occurring. The difference in pressure sensitivity of rabbit brain alpha alpha and gamma gamma is due to a difference in stability of the alpha and gamma monomers and not due to a difference in the pressures required for dissociation.

Kinetics of pressure-induced inactivation of bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase

Kinetics of pressure-induced denaturation of bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3) were investigated in the pressure range 1.8-2.8 kbar by observing the residual activity after the pressure-release and the scattered light intensity during the incubation at high pressure. The residual activity decreased exponentially with the incubation time, whereas the scattered light intensity showed a bimodal profile indicating parallel aggregation and dissociation reactions. The latter suggested that two kinds of aggregates were formed during the incubation under pressure. The observed first-order rate constant for the inactivation, k obs, showed a minimum around 30 degrees C. These experimental results were interpreted in terms of the following reaction scheme; (formula; see text) where N represents the enzyme entity with native structure, D1 the partially denatured intermediate, D2 the irreversibly denatured state, and A1 and A2 the two kinds of aggregates, one of which (A1) is reversibly formed at an early stage of the incubation under high pressure. The apparent activation volume for the inactivation reaction was estimated to be delta V*app = -113 +/- 5 cm3 X mol-1 from the pressure dependence of k obs. The effect of coenzyme, NAD+, on the pressure-induced inactivation was also studied. The inactivation was retarded by the presence of the coenzyme, whereas the apparent activation volume for the holoenzyme (delta V*app = -104 +/- 2 cm3 X mol-1) did not differ significantly from that for the apoenzyme.

Pressure inactivation of tetrameric lactate dehydrogenase homologues of confamilial deep-living fishes

The susceptibility to inactivation by hydrostatic pressure of the tetrameric muscle-type (M4) lactate dehydrogenase homologues (LDH, EC 1.1.1.27; L-lactate: NAD+ oxidoreductase) from six confamilial macrourid fishes was compared at 4 degrees C. These marine teleost fishes occur over depths of 260 to 4815 m. The pressures necessary to half-inactivate the LDH homologues are related to the pressures which the enzymes are exposed to in vivo; higher hydrostatic pressures are required to inactivate the LDH homologues of the deeper-occurring macrourids. The resistance of the LDH homologues to inactivation by pressure is affected by protein concentration. After an hour of incubation at pressure, the percent remaining activity approaches an asymptomatic value. The inactivation of the macrourid LDH homologues by pressure was not fully reversible. Assuming that inactivation by pressure was due to dissociation of the native tetramer to monomers, apparent equilibrium constants (Keq) were calculated. Volume changes (delta V) were calculated over the range of pressures for which plots ln Keq versus pressure were linear. The delta V of dissociation values of the macrourid homologues range from -219 to -439 ml mol-1. Although the hydrostatic pressures required to inactivate the LDH homologues of the macrourid fishes are greater than those which the enzymes are exposed to in vivo, the pressure-stability of these enzymes may reflect the resistance of these enzymes to pressure-enhanced proteolysis in vivo.

High pressure dissociation of lactate dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus and reconstitution of the enzyme after denaturation in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride

Tetrameric lactate dehydrogenase from Bacillus stearothermophilus exhibits unusual stability towards high hydrostatic pressure: In contrast to the mesophilic enzyme, incubation at pressures up to 2.8 kbar does not cause irreversible denaturation. Hybridization under these conditions suggests partial dissociation to the dimer, indicating that reassociation occurs within the dead-time after pressure release (less than 20 s at less than or equal to 40 micrograms/ml, 20 degrees C). Incubation at P less than 2.8 kbar affects neither the native quaternary structure nor the catalytic function of the enzyme. Reconstitution of the unfolded and dissociated subunits after denaturation, e.g., in 6 M guanidine . HC1, is characterized by fast association favouring the native assembled structure. Evidence from spectroscopic measurements shows that reconstitution starts with a fast refolding reaction generating a native-like conformation. The subsequent rate-determining transconformation of the "structured monomers" governs the kinetics of reactivation and reassociation as one single first-order process. Chemical crosslinking with glutaraldehyde proves that the "structured monomers" undergo fast association to form the tetrameric final state of reconstitution, with significant amounts of dimeric intermediates being detectable. The renatured enzyme is indistinguishable from the native enzyme regarding its physicochemical and enzymological properties (e.g., activation by fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, and susceptibility towards proteolytic digestion).

High-pressure dissociation of the beta 2-dimer of tryptophan synthase from Escherichia coli monitored by sucrose gradient centrifugation

The isolated beta 2-dimer of Escherichia coli tryptophan synthase exhibits reversible high-pressure deactivation and hybridization with an equilibrium transition at 690 and 870 bar for the apoenzyme and holoenzyme, respectively. To investigate the hypothetical dissociation mechanism ultracentrifugal analysis has been applied. In a conventional swing-out rotor (r(max) = 16 cm, fill-height 9 cm) a pressure gradient of 1 less than p less than 1840 bar is formed at maximum speed (40 000 rpm). Using a sucrose gradient to stabilize the particle distribution, pressure-dependent alterations of the state of association of oligomeric systems may be determined. In the present experiments ovalbumin (with a molecular mass close to the beta-monomer) has been used as a reference. The radial sedimentation velocity of the beta 2-dimer (in 5-20% sucrose, 10 degrees C) is found to decrease significantly at p approximately equal to 850 bar. From the slopes in an r-r(degrees) vs t plot the limiting values for the particle weight at the meniscus and the bottom of the tube are found to be the beta 2-dimer (M(r) = 85 800) and the beta-monomer (M(r) = 42 900), thus proving pressure-dependent dissociation. Since sucrose stabilizes the native quaternary structure, the beta 2 leads to 2 beta transition is shifted towards higher pressures compared to the dissociation in standard buffer. Conventional quench experiments in high-pressure cells in the presence of 13% (w/v) sucrose confirm the result of the sucrose gradient centrifugation with respect to the critical pressure where deactivation (and dissociation) occur.

The effects of pressure on the molecular structure and physiological functions of cell membranes

The effects of high pressure on the phase state and molecular structure of pure lipid bilayers are discussed. The relations of delta H, delta S and delta V in phase transitions are straightforward and are discernible in heterogeneous bilayers in natural membranes. The effects of pressure on the dynamic properties of bilayer constituents are less clearly understood, but order parameters obtained at pressure by different techniques show agreement. The extent and significance of hydration is poorly understood. Four physiological functions are discussed: passive permeability, active transport, membrane excitability and synaptic transmission. It is shown that a full interpretation of the kinetic effects of pressure on these processes requires much more detailed molecular information than is available at present.

Tests of the ribosome editor hypothesis. II. Relaxed (relA) and stringent (relA+) E. coli differ in rates of dissociation of peptidyl-tRNA from ribosomes

Derivatives of isogenic stringent (relA+) and relaxed (relA) strains of Escherichia coli were compared in respect of rates of the dissociation of peptidyl-tRNA from ribosomes during protein synthesis. The derivatives both contained a mutant pth gene which rendered temperature-sensitive their peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (E.C. 3.1.1.29) activities. After shifting from permissive 30 degrees C to non-permissive 40 degrees C, dissociated peptidyl-tRNA accumulated and was assayed chemically or by its cytotoxic effects. In unperturbed (except for the temperature shift) cultures the relA strain accumulated peptidyl-tRNA significantly more slowly than did its relA+ isogenic cousin. Both strains responded approximately equally to non-lethal doses of erythromycin or to starvation for amino acids. Both these perturbations enhanced the dissociation and accumulation of peptidyl-tRNA. While growing at 30 degrees C, both strains responded significantly to a nutritional downshift from growth in medium containing glucose plus amino acids to growth in medium containing only amino acids. Taken together the results suggested that different intracellular concentrations of ppGpp in unperturbed cells, attributable to the different relA alleles, could account for the differences in dissociation and accumulation of peptidyl-tRNA. Our observation of a lower rate of dissociation of peptidyl-tRNA in the relA strain, coupled with the reported lower intracellular ppGpp and lower accuracy of protein synthesis, is consistent with the idea that relA strains have less efficient ribosomal editing of erroneous peptidyl-tRNA.

Thermodynamics and mechanism of high-pressure deactivation and dissociation of porcine lactic dehydrogenase

Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) from pig heart and pig skeletal muscle can be reversibly dissociated into monomers at high hydrostatic pressure. The reaction can be quantitatively fitted by a reversible consecutive dissociation-unfolding mechanism according to N in equilibrium 4M in equilibrium 4M (where N is the native tetramer, and M and M two different conformations of the monomer) (K. Müller, et al., Biophys. Chem. 14 (1981) 101.). At p less than or equal to 1 kbar, the pressure deactivation of both isoenzymes (H4 and M4) is described by the two-state equilibrium N in equilibrium 4M. From the respective equilibrium constant and the temperature and pressure dependence of the change in free energy, the thermodynamic parameters of the dissociation/deactivation may be determined, e.g., for LDH-M4: delta GDiss = 110 kJ/mol, delta SDiss =-860 J/K per mol, delta HDiss= -124 kJ/mol (enzyme concentration 10 microgram/ml, in Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.6, I = 0.16 M, 293 K, 0.8 kbar); the dissociation volume is found to be delta VDiss =-420 ml/mol (0.7 less than p less than 0.9 kbar). Measurements using 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) as extrinsic fluorophore demonstrate that the occurrence of hydrophobic surface area upon dissociation parallels the decrease in reactivation yield after pressurization beyond 1 kbar. Within the range of reversible deactivation (p less than 1 kbar) no increase in ANS fluorescence is detectable, thus indicating compensatory effects in the process of subunit dissociation. 2H2O is found to stabilize the enzyme towards pressure dissociation, in accordance with the involvement of hydrophobic interactions in the subunit contact of both isoenzymes of LDH.

Erythromycin, carbomycin, and spiramycin inhibit protein synthesis by stimulating the dissociation of peptidyl-tRNA from ribosomes

In mutant Escherichia coli with temperature-sensitive peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (aminoacyl-tRNA hydrolase; EC 3.1.1.29), peptidyl-tRNA accumulates at the nonpermissive temperature (40 degrees C), and the cells die. These consequences of high temperature were enhanced if the cells were first treated with erythromycin, carbomycin, or spiramycin at doses sufficient to inhibit protein synthesis in wild-type cells but not sufficient to kill either mutant or wild-type cells at the permissive temperature (30 degrees C). Since peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase in he mutant cells is inactivated rapidly and irreversibly at 40 degrees C, the enhanced accumulation of peptidyl-tRNA and killing were the result of enhanced dissociation, stimulated by the antibiotics, of peptidyl-tRNA from ribosomes. The implications of these findings for inhibition of cell growth and protein synthesis are discussed. Certain alternative interpretations are shown to be inconsistent with the relevant data. Previous conflicting observations on the effects of macrolide antibiotics are explained in terms of our observations. We conclude that erythromycin, carbomycin, and spiramycin (and probably all macrolides) have as a primary mechanism of action the stimulation of dissociation of peptidyl-tRNA from ribosomes, probably during translocation.

Pressure-induced structural changes of pig heart lactic dehydrogenase

Lactic dehydrogenase from pig heart can be reversibly dissociated at hydrostatic pressures above 1000 bar. The breakdown of the native quaternary structure occurs at lower pressures compared to the isoenzyme from pig skeletal muscle. As shown by hybridization experiments of the two isoenzymes the final product of dissociation is the homogeneous monomer. Fluorescence emission spectra of the monomeric enzyme at elevated pressure are characterized by a decrease in fluorescence intensity without any red shift, indicating that no significant unfolding occurs upon high-pressure dissociation. The spectral changes are comparable to those observed after acid dissociation. The amount and rate of deactivation depend on pressure and on the conditions of the solvent. The presence of various anions (C1-, SO2-/4, HPO2-/4) has no effect on the stability of the enzyme towards pressure. High-pressure denaturation (as monitored by intrinsic protein fluorescence), and deactivation (measured immediately after decompression) run parallel; the pressure dependence of their first-order rate constants is characterized by an activation volume delta V not equal to De = - 140 +/- 10 cm3/mol. As taken from the yield of reconstitution, dissociation, denaturation and deactivation are found to be fully reversible provided the pressure does not exceed a limiting value (p = 1000 bar in Tris, pH 7.6; 24 h incubation at 20 degrees C). After extended incubation beyond the limiting pressure of 1000 bar, "irreversible high-pressure denaturation" occurs which is accompanied by partial aggregation after decompression. The coenzyme, NAD+, stabilizes the native tetramer shifting the dissociation equilibrium to higher pressures. The overall dissociation-association reaction can be quantitatively described by a consecutive dissociation/unfolding mechanism N in equilibrium 4 M' in equilibrium 4 M* (where N is the native tetramer, and M' and M* two different conformations of the monomer). The reaction volume of the dissociation reaction N in equilibrium 4 M' is found to be delta V Diss = - 360 +/- 30 cm3/mol; as indicated by the pressure dependence of the yield of reconstitution, the reaction volume of the equilibrium M' in equilibrium M* is also negative.