Evidence that catalysis by yeast inorganic pyrophosphatase proceeds by direct phosphoryl transfer to water and not via a phosphoryl enzyme intermediate

In this work, we show that adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (ATP gamma S) is a substrate for yeast inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase) (EC 3.6.1.1) and further, using chirally labeled [gamma-17O,18O]ATP gamma S, that enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis to produce chiral inorganic thio[17O,18O]phosphate proceeds with inversion of configuration. Both the synthesis of chiral ATP gamma S and the determination of inorganic thiophosphate configuration were carried out as described by Webb [Webb, M. R. (1982) Methods Enzymol. 87, 301-316]. We also show in a single turnover experiment performed in H2(18)O that 1 mol each of 18O16O3P and 16O4P is produced per mol of inorganic pyrophosphate hydrolyzed, a strong indication that oxygen uptake to form inorganic phosphate on PPase catalysis of inorganic pyrophosphate hydrolysis comes directly from H2O. These two results provide strong evidence for the conclusion that PPase catalyzes inorganic pyrophosphate hydrolysis via a single-step direct phosphoryl transfer to water and does not involve formation of a phosphorylated enzyme intermediate.     

Marked acceleration of exogenous fatty acid incorporation into cellular triglycerides by fetuin.

Fetuin belongs to a group of fetal glycoproteins whose specific function is not known. In this study we investigated the effect of bovine fetuin on exogenous fatty acid incorporation into lipid classes by fetal rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC) and human fetal skin fibroblasts. When compared with albumin, the addition of fetuin to the culture medium caused a dramatic increase in labeled fatty acid incorporation (nanomoles/mg of protein) by SMC into triglycerides (albumin (control) 2.8 +/- 0.3 + fetuin 178.3 +/- 13.7). This effect was noted at a wide range of fetuin concentrations (0.2-5%) at oleate:fetuin molar ratios of 3.3-0.13, respectively. Similar effects were noted using human fetal skin fibroblasts with both labeled oleic and arachidonic acids (0.1 mM) as substrates (arachidonic acid incorporation into triglycerides, albumin (control) 76.9 +/- 16.2 + fetuin 684.6 +/- 64.1). Stimulation of fatty acid incorporation into di- and monoglycerides was also noted. Although the amount of unbound fatty acid in the presence of fetuin was greater than with albumin, experiments done under conditions that create identical unbound oleate levels (by varying fatty acid concentration) still showed increased fatty acid incorporation into triglycerides by SMC when exposed to fetuin. This marked effect of fetuin on triglyceride accumulation in cells was confirmed by lipid analysis, strong positive staining with oil red O, and transmission of electron microscopy. Furthermore, the potential physiological role of fetuin in terms of fatty acid and transport was attested by (a) the presence of significant amounts of free fatty acids associated with fetuin; and (b) by the stimulatory effect of fetuin, even when added to culture media containing other fatty acid carriers. These results show that (a) fetuin is far more efficient than albumin in incorporating fatty acids into cells; and (b) this might represent a novel function for fetuin during development.     

Reduction of cysteine sulfinic acid in peroxiredoxin by sulfiredoxin proceeds directly through a sulfinic phosphoryl ester intermediate

Sulfiredoxin (Srx) catalyzes a novel enzymatic reaction, the reduction of protein cysteine sulfinic acid, Cys-SO(2)(-). This reaction is unique to the typical 2-Cys peroxiredoxins (Prx) and plays a role in peroxide-mediated signaling by regulating the activity of Prxs. Two mechanistic schemes have been proposed that differ regarding the first step of the reaction. This step involves either the direct transfer of the gamma-phosphate of ATP to the Prx molecule or through Srx acting as a phosphorylated intermediary. In an effort to clarify this step of the Srx reaction, we have determined the 1.8A resolution crystal structure of Srx in complex with ATP and Mg(2+). This structure reveals the role of the Mg(2+) ion to position the gamma-phosphate toward solvent, thus preventing an in-line attack by the catalytic residue Cys-99 of Srx. A model of the quaternary complex is consistent with this proposal. Furthermore, phosphorylation studies on several site-directed mutants of Srx and Prx, including the Prx-Asp mimic of the Prx-SO(2)(-) species, support a mechanism where phosphorylation of Prx-SO(2)(-) is the first chemical step.     

Lipogenic enzyme induction and incorporation of exogenous fatty acid into liver and liver nuclei

The incorporation of exogenous fatty acid into lipids of liver and liver nuclei of rats fed diets with or without fat was compared. When [3H]palmitic acid was injected into rats, more radioactivity was incorporated into triacylglycerols and phospholipids of liver and liver nuclei from rats fed the fat-free diet than from those fed the fat diet. The results were supported further by an autoradiographic study. On the other hand, the enzyme induction and quantity of malic enzyme mRNA were decreased by fat feeding. Other lipogenic enzymes were also coordinately decreased. Thus, it may be possible that exogenous fatty acid is involved in nuclear regulation in addition to cytosolic regulation of lipogenic enzyme induction.     

Palmitoyl-L-carnitine, a metabolic intermediate of the fatty acid incorporation pathway in erythrocyte membrane phospholipids

In this paper we report that palmitoyl-L-carnitine can be a metabolic intermediate of the fatty acid incorporation pathway into erythrocyte membrane phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine. Phospholipid acylation was evaluated by measuring the incorporation of radioactive [1-14C]-palmitoyl-L-carnitine in membrane erythrocyte ghost phospholipids in the presence or absence of CoA. CoA highly stimulated the incorporation of [1-14C]-palmitic acid into both the phospholipids examined, although the incorporation was also evident in the absence of added CoA. Incorporation of [1-14C]-palmitic acid into phosphatidylcholine was greater than into phosphatidylethanolamine. 2-Bromo-palmitoyl-CoA, an irreversible inhibitor of the erythrocyte carnitine palmitoyltransferase, inhibited the acylation process.     

Mechanism of phosphoryl transfer by hexokinase

Yeast hexokinase was incubated with [γ¹⁸O]-ATP alone or with lyxose. The recovered ATP was found not to have undergone any significant transfer of ¹⁸O from the βγ-bridge to the β-nonbridge position. These results are contrary to mechanisms in which the ATP is reversibly cleaved prior to transfer to give product. During hydrolysis of ATP stimulated by lyxose there was no mixing of the P_i formed with water. When glucose was present positional exchange was observed. However, its rate was consistent with earlier measurements of the partition of the enzyme·products complex between return to substrate and release of products and thus does not signify cleavage of the ATP by mechanisms other than direct phosphoryl transfer to glucose. This agreement indicates that rotational freedom of the βPO₃ of ADP on the enzyme·Glc-6-P·ADP complex is not a limiting factor for scrambling oxygens within the ternary complexes.     

Control of fatty acid incorporation in membrane phospholipids. X-ray-induced changes in fatty acid uptake by tumor cells

Lymphosarcoma cells isolated from the spleens of tumor-bearing mice were used to study the effect of a low dose of X-rays (5 Gy) on the incorporation of [³H]palmitate and [¹⁴C]arachidonate into the lipids of the tumor cells. Palmitate and arachidonate were rapidly incorporated especially into the phospholipids of the cells. Between one and three hours after the start of the incubation with radiactive palmitate 80–90% of the label of the total lipids was found in the phospholipid fraction. Already after a few minutes of incubation with radioactive arachidonate, about 95% of the label was incorporated in the phospholipids. Irradiation caused a small but significant increase in the rate of fatty acid incorporation for both fatty acids. Concomitantly, a significantly increased amount of fatty acid was removed from the medium by the cells as a result of the irradiation, and the specific radioactivity of the free fatty acids in the cells was found to be enhanced. The radiation effect on the tumor cells could be mimicked by a hypotonic treatment. The magnitude of the radiation-induced stimulation of the fatty acid incorporation was similar to that of the hypotonically induced effect. Cells which had received a hypotonic treatment before the irradiation, did not show an additional radiation-induced enhancement of fatty acid incorporation into the cellular lipids. When the cells were incubated with serum albumin loaded with a relatively large (non-physiological) amount of complexed fatty acids (fatty acid: albumin molar ratio, $\text{ν}\text{= 3.7}$), no radiation effect on the fatty acid incorporation could be detected. It is concluded that hypotonic treatment, irradiation, and increased supply of exogenous fatty acids all lead to an enhanced flux of fatty acids into the cells. These results confirm our previous suggestion that the uptake of fatty acids through the plasma membrane is the rate-limiting step in the fatty acid incorporation into the phospholipids and that ionizing radiation is one of the means to enhance fatty acid uptake through the plasma membrane leading to an increased incorporation into the phospholipids.     

14 C incorporation from exogenous compounds into -aminolevulinic acid by greening cucumber cotyledons

Greening cucumber cotyledons accumulate δ-aminolevulinic acid when treated with levulinic acid. A variety of specifically labelled compounds were applied to the tissue and label was measured in the δ-aminolevulinic acid. Glutamate, glutamine and α-ketoglutarate were found to be incorporated into δ-aminolevulinic acid to a much greater extent than were glycine and succinate. A new route of δ-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis is proposed wherein the carbon skeleton of α-ketoglutarate is incorporated intact.     

A new abscisic acid catabolic pathway

We report the discovery of a new hydroxylated abscisic acid (ABA) metabolite, found in the course of a mass spectrometric study of ABA metabolism in Brassica napus siliques. This metabolite reveals a previously unknown catabolic pathway for ABA in which the 9'-methyl group of ABA is oxidized. Analogs of (+)-ABA deuterated at the 8'-carbon atom and at both the 8'- and 9'-carbon atoms were fed to green siliques, and extracts containing the deuterated oxidized metabolites were analyzed to determine the position of ABA hydroxylation. The results indicated that hydroxylation of ABA had occurred at the 9'-methyl group, as well as at the 7'- and 8'-methyl groups. The chromatographic characteristics and mass spectral fragmentation patterns of the new ABA metabolite were compared with those of synthetic 9'-hydroxy ABA (9'-OH ABA), in both open and cyclized forms. The new compound isolated from plant extracts was identified as the cyclized form of 9'-OH ABA, which we have named neophaseic acid (neoPA). The proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of pure neoPA isolated from immature seeds of B. napus was identical to that of the authentic synthetic compound. ABA and neoPA levels were high in young seeds and lower in older seeds. The open form (2Z,4E)-5-[(1R,6S)-1-Hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-2,6-dimethyl-4-oxo-cyclohex-2-enyl]-3-methyl-penta-2,4-dienoic acid, but not neoPA, exhibited ABA-like bioactivity in inhibiting Arabidopsis seed germination and in inducing gene expression in B. napus microspore-derived embryos. NeoPA was also detected in fruits of orange (Citrus sinensis) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), in Arabidopsis, and in chickpea (Cicer arietinum), as well as in drought-stressed barley (Hordeum vulgare) and B. napus seedlings.     

Dramatic alteration of sphingolipid bases of Hansenula ciferrii by exogenous fatty acid

$\text{Hansenula}\text{ciferrii}$, a yeast which normally excretes large amounts of C₁₈-phytosphingosine in the form of its tetra-acetyl derivative, was grown in basal medium containing added pentadecanoic acid (0.1%) and Brij 58 (1%). Analyses of the sphingolipid bases recovered from the culture medium indicated the presence of significant quantities of C₁₇-phytosphingosine (39%) and C₁₉-phytosphingosine (15%) in addition to the normal C₁₈-phytosphingosine (46%). The sphingolipid bases were characterized by gas-liquid chromatography combined gasliquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and chemical degradation.     

Synthesis of fatty acid anhydrides by reaction with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide

A simple method is described for the preparation of caprylic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic anhydrides. Reaction of the free fatty acid and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in carbon tetrachloride at room temperature gives the corresponding anhydrides in high yield (87-94%).     

Pathways for the incorporation of exogenous fatty acids into phosphatidylethanolamine in Escherichia coli

Two distinct pathways for the incorporation of exogenous fatty acids into phospholipids were identified in Escherichia coli. The predominant route originates with the activation of fatty acids by acyl-CoA synthetase followed by the distribution of the acyl moieties into all phospholipid classes via the sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase reaction. This pathway was blocked in mutants (fadD) lacking acyl-CoA synthetase activity. In fadD strains, exogenous fatty acids were introduced exclusively into the 1-position of phosphatidylethanolamine. This secondary route is related to 1-position fatty acid turnover in phosphatidylethanolamine and proceeds via the acyl-acyl carrier protein synthetase/2-acylglycerophosphoethanolamine acyltransferase system. The turnover pathway exhibited a preference for saturated fatty acids, whereas the acyl-CoA synthetase-dependent pathway was less discriminating. Both pathways were inhibited in mutants (fadL) lacking the fatty acid permease, demonstrating that the fadL gene product translocates exogenous fatty acids to an intracellular pool accessible to both synthetases. These data demonstrate that acyl-CoA synthetase is not required for fatty acid transport in E. coli and that the metabolism of exogenous fatty acids is segregated from the metabolism of acyl-acyl carrier proteins derived from fatty acid biosynthesis.     

Mitochondrial glycerol phosphate acyltransferase directs the incorporation of exogenous fatty acids into triacylglycerol

The mitochondrial isoform of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT), the first step in glycerolipid synthesis, is up-regulated by insulin and by high carbohydrate feeding via SREBP-1c, suggesting that it plays a role in triacylglycerol synthesis. To test this hypothesis, we overexpressed mitochondrial GPAT in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. When GPAT was overexpressed 3.8-fold, triacylglycerol mass was 2.7-fold higher than in control cells. After incubation with trace [(14)C]oleate ( approximately 3 microm), control cells incorporated 4.7-fold more label into phospholipid than triacylglycerol, but GPAT-overexpressing cells incorporated equal amounts of label into phospholipid and triacylglycerol. In GPAT-overexpressing cells, the incorporation of label into phospholipid, particularly phosphatidylcholine, decreased 30%, despite normal growth rate and phospholipid content, suggesting that exogenous oleate was directed primarily toward triacylglycerol synthesis. Transiently transfected HEK293 cells that expressed a 4.4-fold increase in GPAT activity incorporated 9.7-fold more [(14)C]oleate into triacylglycerol compared with control cells, showing that the effect of GPAT overexpression was similar in two different cell types that had been transfected by different methods. When the stable, GPAT-overexpressing CHO cells were incubated with 100 microm oleate to stimulate triacylglycerol synthesis, they incorporated 1.9-fold more fatty acid into triacylglycerol than did the control cells. Confocal microscopy of CHO and HEK293 cells transfected with the GPAT-FLAG construct showed that GPAT was located correctly in mitochondria and was not present elsewhere in the cell. These studies indicate that overexpressed mitochondrial GPAT directs incorporation of exogenous fatty acid into triacylglycerol rather than phospholipid and imply that (a) mitochondrial GPAT and lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase produce a separate pool of lysophosphatidic acid and phosphatidic acid that must be transported to the endoplasmic reticulum where the terminal enzymes of triacylglycerol synthesis are located, and (b) this pool remains relatively separate from the pool of lysophosphatidic acid and phosphatidic acid that contributes to the synthesis of the major phospholipid species.     

Effect of supplementation with exogenous fatty acid on the biological properties of a fatty acid requiring auxotroph ofSalmonella typhimurium

The effects of changes in fatty acid composition of the cell membrane on different biological functions ofSalmonella typhimurium have been studied with the help of a temperature sensitive fatty acid auxotroph which cannot synthesise unsaturated fatty acids at high temperature. On being shifted to nonpermissive temperature the cells continue growing for another one and half to two generations. The rates of protein and DNA syntheses run parallel to the growth rate but the rate of RNA synthesis is reduced. Further, there is a gradual reduction in the rate of transport of exogenous uridine and thymidine into the soluble pool. The transport process can be restored by supplementing the growth medium with cis-unsaturated fatty acids but not trans-unsaturated ones although the growth of the cells is resumed by supplementation with eithercis or trans-unsaturated fatty acids. However, supplementation withtrans, trans-unsaturated fatty acids leads to only partial recovery of the transport process. The rate of oxygen uptake is also affected in cells grown in the presence of thetrans-unsaturated fatty acids, elaidic acid and palmitelaidic acid. Analysis of cells grown under different fatty acid supplementation indicate that fatty acid composition of the cell membrane, especially the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids varies with temperature shift and supplementation of the growth media with fatty acids.