Solubilization, purification and kinetic properties of three membrane-bound long-chain acyl-coenzyme-A thioesterases from microsomes of photosynthetic tissue

Inhibition of hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA thioesterases in ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) and turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) by lipase inhibitors

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) and turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), members of the Zingiberaceae, are widely used in traditional Asian cuisines and herbal medicine. Gingerols and diarylheptanoids, important compounds from these plants, appear to be produced by enzymes of the type III polyketide synthase class. Previous efforts to detect activity of such enzymes in tissues from these plants were only marginally successful in turmeric and completely unsuccessful in ginger because of very rapid hydrolysis of the hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA substrates (p-coumaroyl-CoA, feruloyl-CoA and caffeoyl-CoA) in these assays, presumably due to the presence of thioesterases in these tissues. In order to determine whether such thioesterase activities were specific and could be reduced so that the polyketide synthase activities could be better characterized, three inhibitors of the thioesterase domain of fatty acid synthase were tested in assays with leaf and rhizome crude protein extracts from these plants: orlistat, a reduced form of lipstatin, and peptide 1 and peptide 2 from hydrolysates of soybean β-conglycinin. Results of these analyses indicated that specific thioesterases do exist in these plants and that they could indeed be inhibited, with highest inhibition occurring with a mixture of these three compounds, leading for example to a reduction of caffeoyl-CoA hydrolysis in leaves and rhizomes of ginger by 40-fold and 27-fold, respectively.

Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of ACH2, an Acyl-CoA Thioesterase from Arabidopsis thaliana

By using computer-based homology searches of the Arabidopsis genome, we identified the gene for ACH2, a putative acyl-CoA thioesterase. With the exception of a unique 129-amino acid N-terminal extension, the ACH2 protein is 17-36% identical to members of a family of acyl-CoA thioesterases that are found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The eukaryotic homologs of ACH2 are peroxisomal acyl-CoA thioesterases that are up-regulated during times of increased fatty acid oxidation, suggesting potential roles in peroxisomal beta-oxidation. We investigated ACH2 to determine whether it has a similar role in the plant cell. Like its eukaryotic homologs, ACH2 carries a putative type 1 peroxisomal targeting sequence (-SKL(COOH)), and maintains all the catalytic residues typical of this family of acyl-CoA thioesterases. Analytical ultracentrifugation of recombinant ACH2-6His shows that it associates as a 196-kDa homotetramer in vitro, a result that is significant in light of the cooperative kinetics demonstrated by ACH2-6His in vitro. The cooperative effects are most pronounced with medium chain acyl-CoAs, where the Hill coefficient is 3.8 for lauroyl-CoA, but decrease for long chain acyl-CoAs, where the Hill coefficient is only 1.9 for oleoyl-CoA. ACH2-6His hydrolyzes both medium and long chain fatty acyl-CoAs but has highest activity toward the long chain unsaturated fatty acyl-CoAs. Maximum rates were found with palmitoleoyl-CoA, which is hydrolyzed at 21 micromol/min/mg protein. Additionally, ACH2-6His is insensitive to feedback inhibition by free CoASH levels as high as 100 microm. ACH2 is most highly expressed in mature tissues such as young leaves and flowers rather than in germinating seedlings where beta-oxidation is rapidly proceeding. Taken together, these results suggest that ACH2 activity is not linked to fatty acid oxidation as has been suggested for its eukaryotic homologs, but rather has a unique role in the plant cell.

Genetic and biochemical characterization of an Escherichia coli K-12 mutant deficient in acyl-coenzyme A thioesterase II

Mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in thioesterase II activity were isolated by taking advantage of the fact that thioesterase I specifically hydrolyzes long-chain (C12 to C18) acyl coenzyme A (CoA) esters but is unable to cleave the short-chain substrate decanoyl-CoA. One of these lesions (designated tesB1) reduces thioesterase II activity to about 10% of the normal level. The mutant enzyme activity was abnormally labile to temperature, but it was normal in all the other characteristics examined (pH optimum, Km for decanoyl-CoA, molecular weight). The level of thioesterase I activity was unaffected by the tesB1 lesion. The tesB locus was mapped with a closely linked Tn10 insertion. tesB was mapped to minute 10 of the E. coli linkage map, close to the lon locus. The clockwise gene order is lon tesB acrA dnaZ. The tesB mutation is recessive. We found no phenotype for the mutation. The fatty acid compositions of the phospholipids, lipid A, and lipoprotein components are normal in thioesterase II mutants. These data show that thioesterases I and II of E. coli are encoded by different genetic loci and strongly suggest that tesB is the structural gene for thioesterase II.

Substrate specificities of the enzymes of the oleate desaturase system from photosynthetic tissue

In the microsomal fraction from young pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves, the oleoyl moieties from oleoyl-CoA are principally transferred to the sn-2 position of phosphatidylcholine by oleoyl-CoA:1-acyl-lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase. The major product of this acyl transfer is 1-palmitoyl(stearoyl)-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine. The 1-palmitoyl(stearoyl)-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine is subsequently converted into 1-palmitoyl(stearoyl)-2-linoleoyl phosphatidylcholine by the oleate desaturase complex without equilibrating with the bulk membrane phosphatidylcholine pool. Hence, both the acyl transfer to phosphatidylcholine and the subsequent desaturation of oleoyl moieties occur on the sn-2 position of phosphatidylcholine, and there is also a functional coupling of the acyltransferase and oleate desaturase.