Methionine-mediated lethality in yeast cells at elevated temperature

Sulfotransferase 4A1 activity facilitates sulfate-dependent cellular protection to oxidative stress

Sulfotransferase 4A1 (SULT4A1) is an orphan member of the cytosolic SULT superfamily that contains enzymes that catalyze the sulfonation of hydrophobic drugs and hormones. SULT4A1 has been assessed through all classical SULT approaches yet no SULT activity has been reported. To ascertain SULT4A1 function and activity, we utilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system, which exhibits no endogenous SULT activity nor possesses SULT-related genes. We observed that ectopic SULT4A1 expression in yeast displays similar subcellular localization as reported in mouse neurons and observed that SULT4A1 is associated with the outer mitochondria membrane. SULT4A1 expression stimulates colony formation and protects these cells from hydrogen peroxide and metabolism-associated oxidative stress. These SULT4A1-mediated phenotypes are dependent on extracellular sulfate that is converted in yeast to PAPS, the universal sulfonate donor for SULT activity. Thus, heterologous SULT4A1 expression in yeast is correctly distributed and functional, and SULT4A1 antioxidant activity is sulfate dependent supporting the concept that SULT4A1 has sulfate-associated activity.

Production of 10-methyl branched fatty acids in yeast

BACKGROUND

Despite the environmental value of biobased lubricants, they account for less than 2% of global lubricant use due to poor thermo-oxidative stability arising from the presence of unsaturated double bonds. Methyl branched fatty acids (BFAs), particularly those with branching near the acyl-chain mid-point, are a high-performance alternative to existing vegetable oils because of their low melting temperature and full saturation.

RESULTS

We cloned and characterized two pathways to produce 10-methyl BFAs isolated from actinomycetes and γ-proteobacteria. In the two-step bfa pathway of actinomycetes, BfaB methylates Δ9 unsaturated fatty acids to form 10-methylene BFAs, and subsequently, BfaA reduces the double bond to produce a fully saturated 10-methyl branched fatty acid. A BfaA-B fusion enzyme increased the conversion efficiency of 10-methyl BFAs. The ten-methyl palmitate production (tmp) pathway of γ-proteobacteria produces a 10-methylene intermediate, but the TmpA putative reductase was not active in E. coli or yeast. Comparison of BfaB and TmpB activities revealed a range of substrate specificities from C14-C20 fatty acids unsaturated at the Δ9, Δ10 or Δ11 position. We demonstrated efficient production of 10-methylene and 10-methyl BFAs in S. cerevisiae by secretion of free fatty acids and in Y. lipolytica as triacylglycerides, which accumulated to levels more than 35% of total cellular fatty acids.

CONCLUSIONS

We report here the characterization of a set of enzymes that can produce position-specific methylene and methyl branched fatty acids. Yeast expression of bfa enzymes can provide a platform for the large-scale production of branched fatty acids suitable for industrial and consumer applications.

Ncl1-mediated metabolic rewiring critical during metabolic stress

Accumulation of cysteine induces translational defects and metabolic rewiring that are abrogated by leucine in a transfer RNA (tRNA) methyltransferase NCL1-dependent manner in yeast.

Nutritional limitation has been vastly studied; however, there is limited knowledge of how cells maintain homeostasis in excess nutrients. In this study, using yeast as a model system, we show that some amino acids are toxic at higher concentrations. With cysteine as a physiologically relevant example, we delineated the pathways/processes that are altered and those that are involved in survival in the presence of elevated levels of this amino acid. Using proteomics and metabolomics approach, we found that cysteine up-regulates proteins involved in amino acid metabolism, alters amino acid levels, and inhibits protein translation—events that are rescued by leucine supplementation. Through a comprehensive genetic screen, we show that leucine-mediated effect depends on a transfer RNA methyltransferase (NCL1), absence of which decouples transcription and translation in the cell, inhibits the conversion of leucine to ketoisocaproate, and leads to tricarboxylic acid cycle block. We therefore propose a role of NCL1 in regulating metabolic homeostasis through translational control.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene YPR011c encodes a mitochondrial transporter of adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate and 3'-phospho-adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate

The genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains 35 members of the mitochondrial carrier family, nearly all of which have been functionally characterized. In this study, the identification of the mitochondrial carrier for adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (APS) is described. The corresponding gene (YPR011c) was overexpressed in bacteria. The purified protein was reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles and its transport properties and kinetic parameters were characterized. It transported APS, 3'-phospho-adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, sulfate and phosphate almost exclusively by a counter-exchange mechanism. Transport was saturable and inhibited by bongkrekic acid and other inhibitors. To investigate the physiological significance of this carrier in S. cerevisiae, mutants were subjected to thermal shock at 45°C in the presence of sulfate and in the absence of methionine. At 45°C cells lacking YPR011c, engineered cells (in which APS is produced only in mitochondria) and more so the latter cells, in which the exit of mitochondrial APS is prevented by the absence of YPR011cp, were less thermotolerant. Moreover, at the same temperature all these cells contained less methionine and total glutathione than wild-type cells. Our results show that S. cerevisiae mitochondria are equipped with a transporter for APS and that YPR011cp-mediated mitochondrial transport of APS occurs in S. cerevisiae under thermal stress conditions.

The logic of kinetic regulation in the thioredoxin system

BACKGROUND

The thioredoxin system consisting of NADP(H), thioredoxin reductase and thioredoxin provides reducing equivalents to a large and diverse array of cellular processes. Despite a great deal of information on the kinetics of individual thioredoxin-dependent reactions, the kinetic regulation of this system as an integrated whole is not known. We address this by using kinetic modeling to identify and describe kinetic behavioral motifs found within the system.

RESULTS

Analysis of a realistic computational model of the Escherichia coli thioredoxin system revealed several modes of kinetic regulation in the system. In keeping with published findings, the model showed that thioredoxin-dependent reactions were adaptable (i.e. changes to the thioredoxin system affected the kinetic profiles of these reactions). Further and in contrast to other systems-level descriptions, analysis of the model showed that apparently unrelated thioredoxin oxidation reactions can affect each other via their combined effects on the thioredoxin redox cycle. However, the scale of these effects depended on the kinetics of the individual thioredoxin oxidation reactions with some reactions more sensitive to changes in the thioredoxin cycle and others, such as the Tpx-dependent reduction of hydrogen peroxide, less sensitive to these changes. The coupling of the thioredoxin and Tpx redox cycles also allowed for ultrasensitive changes in the thioredoxin concentration in response to changes in the thioredoxin reductase concentration. We were able to describe the kinetic mechanisms underlying these behaviors precisely with analytical solutions and core models.

CONCLUSIONS

Using kinetic modeling we have revealed the logic that underlies the functional organization and kinetic behavior of the thioredoxin system. The thioredoxin redox cycle and associated reactions allows for a system that is adaptable, interconnected and able to display differential sensitivities to changes in this redox cycle. This work provides a theoretical, systems-biological basis for an experimental analysis of the thioredoxin system and its associated reactions.

Genome-wide transcriptional responses of Escherichia coli K-12 to continuous osmotic and heat stresses

Osmotic stress is known to increase the thermotolerance and oxidative-stress resistance of bacteria by a mechanism that is not adequately understood. We probed the cross-regulation of continuous osmotic and heat stress responses by characterizing the effects of external osmolarity (0.3 M versus 0.0 M NaCl) and temperature (43 degrees C versus 30 degrees C) on the transcriptome of Escherichia coli K-12. Our most important discovery was that a number of genes in the SoxRS and OxyR oxidative-stress regulons were up-regulated by high osmolarity, high temperature, or a combination of both stresses. This result can explain the previously noted cross-protection of osmotic stress against oxidative and heat stresses. Most of the genes shown in previous studies to be induced during the early phase of adaptation to hyperosmotic shock were found to be also overexpressed under continuous osmotic stress. However, there was a poorer overlap between the heat shock genes that are induced transiently after high temperature shifts and the genes that we found to be chronically up-regulated at 43 degrees C. Supplementation of the high-osmolarity medium with the osmoprotectant glycine betaine, which reduces the cytoplasmic K(+) pool, did not lead to a universal reduction in the expression of osmotically induced genes. This finding does not support the hypothesis that K(+) is the central osmoregulatory signal in Enterobacteriaceae.

Sulfur and adenine metabolisms are linked, and both modulate sulfite resistance in wine yeast

Sulfite treatment is the most common way to prevent grape must spoilage in winemaking because the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is particularly resistant to this chemical. In this paper we report that sulfite resistance depends on sulfur and adenine metabolism. The amount of adenine and methionine in a chemically defined growth medium modulates sulfite resistance of wine yeasts. Mutations in the adenine biosynthetic pathway or the presence of adenine in a synthetic minimal culture medium increase sulfite resistance. The presence of methionine has the opposite effect, inducing a higher sensitivity to SO(2). The concentration of methionine, adenine, and sulfite in a synthetic grape must influences the progress of fermentation and at the transcriptional level the expression of genes involved in sulfur (MET16), adenine (ADE4), and acetaldehyde (ALD6) metabolism. Sulfite alters the pattern of expression of all these genes. This fact indicates that the response to this stress is complex and involves several metabolic pathways.

Alteration of lithium pharmacology through manipulation of phosphoadenosine phosphate metabolism

Bisphosphate 3'-nucleotidase (BPNT1 in mammals and Met22/Hal2 in yeast) is one of five members of a family of signaling phosphatases united through a common tertiary structure and inhibition by subtherapeutic doses of the antibipolar drug lithium. Here we report a role for 3'-nucleotidase and its substrate, 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP), in mediating the cellular effects of lithium. Lithium-induced inhibition of growth in yeast cells may be overcome by dose-dependent heterologous expression of human BPNT1. Disruption of the yeast 3'-nucleotidase gene or treatment of cells with lithium results in a >80-fold accumulation of PAP and leads to potent growth inhibition. These data indicate that the accumulation of a 3'-nucleotidase substrate, such as PAP, mediates the toxicity of lithium. To further probe this model we examined the growth inhibitory effects of lithium under conditions in which PAP biosynthetic machinery was concomitantly down-regulated. Disruption of met3 or met14 genes (ATP sulfurylase or phosphosulfate kinase), transcriptional down-regulation of MET3 through methionine addition, or administration of chlorate, a widely used cell-permeable sulfurylase inhibitor, function to reduce lithium-induced intracellular PAP accumulation and lithium toxicity; all of these effects were reversed by heterologous expression of human sulfurylase and kinase. Collectively, our data support a role for 3'-nucleotidase activity and PAP metabolism in aspects of lithium's mechanism of action and provide a platform for development of novel pharmacological modulators aimed at improving therapies for the treatment of bipolar disorder.

Inhibition of 5' to 3' mRNA degradation under stress conditions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: from GCN4 to MET16

After deadenylation, most cytoplasmic mRNAs are decapped and digested by 5' to 3' exonucleases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Capped and deadenylated mRNAs are degraded to a lesser extent by 3' to 5' exonucleases. We have used a method, based on the electroporation of in vitro synthetised mRNAs, to study the relative importance of these two exonucleolytic pathways under stress conditions. We show that derepression of GCN4 upon amino acid starvation specifically limits the 5'-to-3'-degradation pathway. Because adenosine 3'-5' biphosphate (pAp), which is produced by Met16p, inhibits this degradation pathway to a comparable extent, we were prompted to analyse the role of Met16p in this phenomenon. We show that the inhibitory effects of amino acid limitation on 5' to 3' mRNA degradation are absent in a met16 mutant. We therefore conclude that the GCN4 dependence of MET16 expression is responsible for the decrease in 5' to 3' digestion under stress conditions and that cells use pAp as a signal to limit 5' to 3' RNA degradation under stress conditions. Because 3' to 5' mRNA degradation is unaffected, the relative importance of this pathway in the decay of certain RNAs may be increased under stress conditions.

N-terminal methionine removal and methionine metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP) catalyzes removal of the initiator methionine from nascent polypeptides. In eukaryotes, there are two forms of MetAP, type 1 and type 2, whose combined activities are essential, but whose relative intracellular roles are unclear. Methionine metabolism is an important aspect of cellular physiology, involved in oxidative stress, methylation, and cell cycle. Due to the potential of MetAP activity to provide a methionine salvage pathway, we evaluated the relationship between methionine metabolism and MetAP activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We provide the first demonstration that yeast MetAP1 plays a significant role in methionine metabolism, namely, preventing premature activation of MET genes through MetAP function in methionine salvage. Interestingly, in cells lacking MetAP1, excess methionine dramatically inhibits cell growth. Growth inhibition is independent of the ability of methionine to repress MET genes and does not result from inhibition of synthesis of another metabolite, rather it results from product inhibition of MetAP2. Inhibition by methionine is selective for MetAP2 over MetAP1. These results provide an explanation for the previously observed dominance of MetAP1 in terms of N-terminal processing and cell growth in yeast. Additionally, differential regulation of the two isoforms may be indicative of different intracellular roles for the two enzymes.

Molecular and genetic analysis of the Cryptococcus neoformans MET3 gene and a met3 mutant

The Cryptococcus neoformans MET3 cDNA (encoding ATP sulfurylase) was cloned by complementation of the corresponding met3 mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sequence analysis showed high similarity between the deduced amino acid sequence of the C. neoformans Met3p and other fungal ATP sulfurylases. A C. neoformans met3 mutant was made by targeted insertional mutagenesis, which had the expected auxotrophic phenotype, and reconstituted the met3 mutant to Met(+). In vitro, the C. neoformans met3 mutant had a substantial defect in melanin formation, significantly reduced growth rate, and greatly increased thermotolerance. In the murine inhalation infection model, the met3 mutant was avirulent and was deficient in its ability to survive in mice. It is concluded that, in contrast to the yeast form of Histoplasma capsulatum, in C. neoformans the sulfate-assimilation arm of the methionine biosynthetic pathway plays an important role in vitro, even in the presence of abundant exogenous methionine, and is critical for virulence, and indeed for survival, in vivo.

Metabolism of sulfur amino acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sulfur amino acid biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves a large number of enzymes required for the de novo biosynthesis of methionine and cysteine and the recycling of organic sulfur metabolites. This review summarizes the details of these processes and analyzes the molecular data which have been acquired in this metabolic area. Sulfur biochemistry appears not to be unique through terrestrial life, and S. cerevisiae is one of the species of sulfate-assimilatory organisms possessing a larger set of enzymes for sulfur metabolism. The review also deals with several enzyme deficiencies that lead to a nutritional requirement for organic sulfur, although they do not correspond to defects within the biosynthetic pathway. In S. cerevisiae, the sulfur amino acid biosynthetic pathway is tightly controlled: in response to an increase in the amount of intracellular S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet), transcription of the coregulated genes is turned off. The second part of the review is devoted to the molecular mechanisms underlying this regulation. The coordinated response to AdoMet requires two cis-acting promoter elements. One centers on the sequence TCACGTG, which also constitutes a component of all S. cerevisiae centromeres. Situated upstream of the sulfur genes, this element is the binding site of a transcription activation complex consisting of a basic helix-loop-helix factor, Cbf1p, and two basic leucine zipper factors, Met4p and Met28p. Molecular studies have unraveled the specific functions for each subunit of the Cbf1p-Met4p-Met28p complex as well as the modalities of its assembly on the DNA. The Cbf1p-Met4p-Met28p complex contains only one transcription activation module, the Met4p subunit. Detailed mutational analysis of Met4p has elucidated its functional organization. In addition to its activation and bZIP domains, Met4p contains two regulatory domains, called the inhibitory region and the auxiliary domain. When the level of intracellular AdoMet increases, the transcription activation function of Met4 is prevented by Met30p, which binds to the Met4 inhibitory region. In addition to the Cbf1p-Met4p-Met28p complex, transcriptional regulation involves two zinc finger-containing proteins, Met31p and Met32p. The AdoMet-mediated control of the sulfur amino acid pathway illustrates the molecular strategies used by eucaryotic cells to couple gene expression to metabolic changes.

The yeast HAL2 nucleotidase is an in vivo target of salt toxicity

The yeast halotolerance gene HAL2 encodes a nucleotidase that dephosphorylates 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP) and 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS), intermediates of the sulfate assimilation pathway. This nucleotidase is inhibited by Na+ and Li+ but not by K+. Incubation of wild-type yeast cells with NaCl and LiCl, but not with KCl, increased intracellular PAP to millimolar concentrations. No depletion of the pool of adenine nucleotides (AMP, ADP, ATP) was observed. Other stresses such as heat shock or oxidative stress did not result in PAP accumulation. PAPS concentrations also increased during salt stress but remained lower than 0.5 microM. S-Adenosylmethionine concentrations decreased by 50%, reflecting inhibition of sulfate assimilation during salt stress. Salt-induced PAP accumulation was attenuated in a yeast strain overexpressing HAL2. This strain grew better than the wild type under salt stress. These results suggest that the cation sensitivity of the HAL2 nucleotidase is an important determinant of the inhibition of yeast growth by sodium and lithium salts. In addition to blocking sulfate assimilation by product inhibition of PAPS reductase, PAP accumulation may have other unidentified toxic effects.