The lack of specificity towards salts in the activation of choline acetyltransferase from human placenta

Choline Acetyltransferase Mutations Causing Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome: Molecular Findings and Genotype-Phenotype Correlations

Choline acetyltransferase catalyzes the synthesis of acetylcholine at cholinergic nerves. Mutations in human CHAT cause a congenital myasthenic syndrome due to impaired synthesis of ACh; this severe variant of the disease is frequently associated with unexpected episodes of potentially fatal apnea. The severity of this condition varies remarkably, and the molecular factors determining this variability are poorly understood. Furthermore, genotype-phenotype correlations have been difficult to establish in patients with biallelic mutations. We analyzed the protein expression of phosphorylated ChAT of seven CHAT mutations, p.Val136Met, p.Arg207His, p.Arg186Trp, p.Val194Leu, p.Pro211Ala, p.Arg566Cys, and p.Ser694Cys, in HEK-293 cells to phosphorylated ChAT, determined their enzyme kinetics and thermal stability, and examined their structural changes. Three mutations, p.Arg207His, p.Arg186Trp, and p.Arg566Cys, are novel, and p.Val136Met and p.Arg207His are homozygous in three families and associated with severe disease. The characterization of mutants showed a decrease in the overall catalytic efficiency of ChAT; in particular, those located near the active-site tunnel produced the most seriously disruptive phenotypic effects. On the other hand, p.Val136Met, which is located far from both active and substrate-binding sites, produced the most drastic reduction of ChAT expression. Overall, CHAT mutations producing low enzyme expression and severe kinetic effects are associated with the most severe phenotypes.

Substrate binding and catalytic mechanism of human choline acetyltransferase

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) catalyzes the synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from choline and acetyl-CoA, and its presence is a defining feature of cholinergic neurons. We report the structure of human ChAT to a resolution of 2.2 A along with structures for binary complexes of ChAT with choline, CoA, and a nonhydrolyzable acetyl-CoA analogue, S-(2-oxopropyl)-CoA. The ChAT-choline complex shows which features of choline are important for binding and explains how modifications of the choline trimethylammonium group can be tolerated by the enzyme. A detailed model of the ternary Michaelis complex fully supports the direct transfer of the acetyl group from acetyl-CoA to choline through a mechanism similar to that seen in the serine hydrolases for the formation of an acyl-enzyme intermediate. Domain movements accompany CoA binding, and a surface loop, which is disordered in the unliganded enzyme, becomes localized and binds directly to the phosphates of CoA, stabilizing the complex. Interactions between this surface loop and CoA may function to lower the KM for CoA and could be important for phosphorylation-dependent regulation of ChAT activity.

Two methods for large-scale purification of recombinant human choline acetyltransferase

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) catalyzes the transfer of an acetyl group from acetyl-CoA to choline to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh). We have produced large quantities of pure human ChAT using two different bacterial expression systems. In the first, ChAT is fused to a chitin-binding domain via a self-cleavable linker allowing the release of ChAT without the use of proteases. In the second, ChAT is fused to a hexahistidine (His6) tag at the N-terminus with a linker incorporating a TEV protease cleavage site. In both cases, pure ChAT was produced that has a final specific activity of approximately 50 micromol ACh/min/mg and is suitable for structural characterization. Analysis of purified ChAT by Western blots and mass spectrometry revealed that the C-terminal 15 amino acids were slowly removed by endogenous proteolytic activity, to produce a stable 615 residue protein. Furthermore, we show that purified recombinant human ChAT is highly prone to oxidation, leading to the formation of covalent dimers and/or a loss of catalytic activity. Kinetic parameters of our purified proteins were obtained and, when compared to previously published constants for human placental ChAT, we found that recombinant human ChAT displays lower values for Michaelis and inhibition constants for ACh, which may be due to the complete absence of post-translational modifications.

Choline acetyltransferase structure reveals distribution of mutations that cause motor disorders

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) synthesizes acetylcholine in neurons and other cell types. Decreases in ChAT activity are associated with a number of disease states, and mutations in ChAT cause congenital neuromuscular disorders. The crystal structure of ChAT reported here shows the enzyme divided into two domains with the active site in a solvent accessible tunnel at the domain interface. A low-resolution view of the complex with one substrate, coenzyme A, defines its binding site and suggests an additional interaction not found in the related carnitine acetyltransferase. Also, the preference for choline over carnitine as an acetyl acceptor is seen to result from both electrostatic and steric blocks to carnitine binding at the active site. While half of the mutations that cause motor disorders are positioned to affect enzyme activity directly, the remaining changes are surprisingly distant from the active site and must exert indirect effects. The structure indicates how ChAT is regulated by phosphorylation and reveals an unusual pattern of basic surface patches that may mediate membrane association or macromolecular interactions.

Identification of an active site arginine in rat choline acetyltransferase by alanine scanning mutagenesis

Kinetic as well as chemical modification studies have implicated the presence of an active site arginine in choline acetyltransferase, whose function is to stabilize coenzyme binding by interacting with the 3'-phosphate of the coenzyme A substrate. In order to identify this residue seven conserved arginines in rat choline acetyltransferase were converted to alanine by site-directed mutagenesis, and the properties of these mutants were compared with the wild type enzyme. Substitution of arginine 452 with alanine resulted in a 7-12-fold increase in the Km for both CoA and acetylcholine as well as kcat, with little change in the Km for dephospho-CoA. Product inhibition studies showed choline to be a competitive inhibitor with respect to acetylcholine, indicating R452A follows the same Theorell-Chance kinetic mechanism as the wild type enzyme. Similar results were obtained with R452Q and R452E, with the latter showing the largest changes in kinetic parameters. These findings are consistent with Arg-452 mutations increasing the rate constant, k5, for dissociation of the coenzyme from the enzyme. Direct evidence that arginine 452 is involved in coenzyme A binding was obtained by showing a 5-10-fold decrease in affinity of the R452A mutant for coenzyme A as determined by the ability to protect against phenylglyoxal inactivation as well as thermal inactivation.

Functional analysis of conserved histidines in choline acetyltransferase by site-directed mutagenesis

The choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) reaction involves the transfer of the acetyl group of acetyl-CoA to choline, in which an active site histidine is believed to act as a general acid/base catalyst. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of the enzyme from Drosophila, pig, rat, and Caernohabditis elegans revealed three conserved histidines: Drosophila His268, His393, and His426. Each of these histidines was replaced by a leucine and a glutamine, and the kinetic properties of each of the recombinant mutant enzymes were determined. The mutations yielded active His268Leu-ChAT, His268Gln-ChAT, and His393Gln-ChAT and inactive His393Leu-ChAT, His426Leu-ChAT, and His426Gln-ChAT. The kinetic constants Km(CoA), Km(acetylcholine), and Vmax were essentially the same for all of the active mutants. When the integrity of the CoASAc binding site was investigated in the inactive mutants, the data suggested that the binding site in His393Leu-ChAT is disrupted but conserved in His426Leu-ChAT and His426Gln-ChAT. These results suggest that His426 is an essential catalytic residue and could serve as an acid/base catalyst.

Effects of arsenic on cholinergic parameters in brain in vitro

The effects of sodium arsenite (arsenite) on the cholinergic system in the brain of the mouse were investigated in vitro and compared with those of N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and iodoacetate, both of which are alkylating sulfhydryl reagents. Arsenite, at concentrations greater than 10(-4) M, inhibited depolarized and nondepolarized release of acetylcholine (ACh) from cerebral slices, the synthesis of ACh in the slices, high-affinity uptake of choline into synaptosomes and activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). On the other hand, arsenite potentiated dose-dependently the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). N-Ethylmaleimide and iodoacetate showed inhibitory effects similar to those of arsenite. However, some exceptions were that N-ethylmaleimide did not have any effect on the nondepolarized release of ACh while iodoacetate had no effect on high affinity uptake of choline and activity of AChE. In contrast to arsenite, N-ethylmaleimide and iodoacetate inhibited the activity of ChAT. Neither of arsenite, N-ethylmaleimide nor iodoacetate showed any effect on the binding of [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate to muscarinic ACh receptors. Although arsenite is thought to inhibit the cholinergic system in brain in vivo, its potentiating effect on ChAT and inhibition of AChE may reduce this harmful effect.

Evidence for presence of an arginine residue in the coenzyme A binding site of choline acetyltransferase

Choline acetyltransferase (acetyl-CoA:choline O-acetyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.6) may be inactivated by arginine-specific reagents such as butanedione, phenylglyoxal, and camphorquinone-10-sulfonic acid. The enantiomers of the latter compound were prepared, but inactivation was not stereospecific. Protection against inactivation by the arginine-specific reagents was provided by CoA and, to a lesser extent, by 3'-dephospho-CoA. No protection was provided by choline, NAD+, NADH, NADP+, or NADPH. Sodium chloride could protect, to some extent, against inactivation by arginine-specific reagents; this protection showed no cation or anion specificity. The data are compatible with the postulate that the salt anion competes with the attachment of the 3'-phospho group of CoA to an active site arginine residue.

High affinity choline transport and acetylCoA production in brain and their roles in the regulation of acetylcholine synthesis

This review describes recent advances made in the understanding of the regulation of acetylcholine synthesis in brain with regard to the availability of its two precursors, choline and acetylCoA. Choline availability appears to be regulated by the high affinity choline transport system. Investigations of the localization and inhibition of this system are reviewed. Procedures for measuring high affinity choline transport and their shortcomings are described. The kinetics and effects of previous in vivo and in vitro treatments on high affinity choline transport are reviewed. Kinetic and direct coupling of the transport and acetylation of choline are discussed. Recent investigations of the source of acetylCoA used for the synthesis of acetylcholine are reviewed. Three sources of acetylCoA have recently received support: citrate conversion catalyzed by citrate lyase, direct release of acetylCoA from mitochondria following its synthesis from pyruvate catalyzed by pyruvate dehydrogenase, and production of acetylCoA by cytoplasmic pyruvate dehydrogenase. Investigations indicating that acetylCoA availability may limit acetylcholine synthesis are reviewed. A model for the regulation of acetylcholine synthesis which incorporates most of the reviewed material is presented.