Class III adenylyl cyclases: molecular mechanisms of catalysis and regulation

Class III adenylyl cyclases are the most abundant type of cyclic AMP-producing enzymes. The adjustment of the cellular levels of this second messenger is achieved by a variety of regulatory mechanisms which couple signals to adenylyl cyclase activity. Because of the divergent nature of stimuli which impinge on these enzymes, highly individualized class III adenylyl cyclases have evolved in metazoans, eukaryotic unicells and bacteria. Regulation usually exploits the dimeric structure of the catalyst, whose active centres form at the dimer interface. The fold of the catalytic domains and the basic catalytic mechanisms are similar in all class III adenylyl cyclases, and substrate binding generally closes the active site by an induced-fit mechanism. Regulatory inputs can result in dramatic rearrangements of the catalytic domains within the dimer, which often are based on rotational movements.

Paramecium genome survey: a pilot project

A consortium of laboratories undertook a pilot sequencing project to gain insight into the genome of Paramecium. Plasmid-end sequencing of DNA fragments from the somatic nucleus together with similarity searches identified 722 potential protein-coding genes. High gene density and uniform small intron size make random sequencing of somatic chromosomes a cost-effective strategy for gene discovery in this organism.

An isoform-specific interaction of the membrane anchors affects mammalian adenylyl cyclase type V activity

The nine membrane-bound mammalian adenylyl cyclases (ACs) contain two highly diverged membrane anchors, M1 and M2, with six transmembrane spans each and two conserved cytosolic domains which coalesce into a pseudoheterodimeric catalytic unit. Previously, the catalytic segments, bacterially expressed as soluble proteins, were characterized extensively whereas the function of the membrane domains remained unexplored. Using the catalytic C1 and C2 domains of AC type V we employed the membrane anchors from type V and VII ACs for construction of enzymes with duplicated, inverted, fully swapped and chimeric membrane anchors. Further, in the M1 membrane domain individual transmembrane spans were removed or exchanged between type V and VII ACs. The constructs were expressed in HEK293 cells, the expression levels and membrane localization was assessed by Western blotting. Cell-free basal, forskolin-, GTP gamma S-and G(s alpha)/GTP gamma S-stimulated AC activities were determined. The results demonstrate that enzymatic activities were only maintained when the M1 and M2 membrane domains were derived from either AC V or VII. Constructs with chimeric membrane domains, i.e. M1 from type V and M2 from type VII AC or vice versa, were essentially inactive although the expression levels and membrane localization appeared to be normal. The data indicate a functionally important interaction of the membrane domains of ACs in that they seem to interact in a pair-like, isoform delimited manner. This interaction directly impinges on the formation of the catalytic interface. We propose that protein-protein interactions of the AC membrane domains may constitute another, yet unexplored level of AC regulation.

A guanylyl cyclase from Paramecium with 22 transmembrane spans. Expression of the catalytic domains and formation of chimeras with the catalytic domains of mammalian adenylyl cyclases

Paramecium has a 280-kDa guanylyl cyclase. The N terminus resembles a P-type ATPase, and the C terminus is a guanylyl cyclase with the membrane topology of canonical mammalian adenylyl cyclases, yet with the cytosolic loops, C1 and C2, inverted compared with the mammalian order. We expressed in Escherichia coli the cytoplasmic domains of the protozoan guanylyl cyclase, independently and linked by a peptide, as soluble proteins. The His(6)-tagged proteins were enriched by affinity chromatography and analyzed by immunoblotting. Guanylyl cyclase activity was reconstituted upon mixing of the recombinant C1a- and C2-positioned domains and in a linked C1a-C2 construct. Adenylyl cyclase activity was minimal. The nucleotide substrate specificity was switched from GTP to ATP upon mutation of the substrate defining amino acids Glu(1681) and Ser(1748) in the C1-positioned domain to the adenylyl cyclase specific amino acids Lys and Asp. Using the C2 domains of mammalian adenylyl cyclases type II or IX and the C2-positioned domain from the Paramecium guanylyl cyclase we reconstituted a soluble, all C2 adenylyl cyclase. All enzymes containing protozoan domains were not affected by Galpha(s)/GTP or forskolin, and P site inhibitors were only slightly effective.

Guanylyl cyclases with the topology of mammalian adenylyl cyclases and an N-terminal P-type ATPase-like domain in Paramecium, Tetrahymena and Plasmodium

We cloned a guanylyl cyclase of 280 kDa from the ciliate Paramecium which has an N-terminus similar to that of a P-type ATPase and a C-terminus with a topology identical to mammalian adenylyl cyclases. Respective signature sequence motifs are conserved in both domains. The cytosolic catalytic C1a and C2a segments of the cyclase are inverted. Genes coding for topologically identical proteins with substantial sequence similarities have been cloned from Tetrahymena and were detected in sequences from Plasmodium deposited by the Malaria Genome Project. After 99 point mutations to convert the Paramecium TAA/TAG-Gln triplets to CAA/CAG, together with partial gene synthesis, the gene from Paramecium was heterologously expressed. In Sf9 cells, the holoenzyme is proteolytically processed into the two domains. Immunocytochemistry demonstrates expression of the protein in Paramecium and localizes it to cell surface membranes. The data provide a novel structural link between class III adenylyl and guanylyl cyclases and imply that the protozoan guanylyl cyclases evolved from an ancestral adenylyl cyclase independently of the mammalian guanylyl cyclase isoforms. Further, signal transmission in Ciliophora (Paramecium, Tetrahymena) and in the most important endoparasitic phylum Apicomplexa (Plasmodium) is, quite unexpectedly, closely related.