Heme synthesis in Crithidia deanei: influence of the endosymbiote

The activity of the following enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of porphyrins was determined in endosymbiote-free and endosymbiote-containing Crithidia deanei grown in a chemically defined medium: succinyl Coenzyme A synthetase (Suc.CoA-S), 5-aminolevulinate synthetase (ALA-S), 4,5-dioxovaleric acid transaminase (DOVA-T), 5-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALA-D), porphobilinogenase (PBGase), deaminase and heme synthetase (Heme-S). The amount of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen, porphyrins and heme was also determined. ALA and PBG were detected in C. deanei. The levels of free porphyrins was low. Heme concentration was nil. The activity of ALA-D, deaminase and PBGase was not detected in C. deanei. The activity of Suc.CoA-S and ALA-S were twice higher in symbiote-containing than in aposymbiotic C. deanei. Aposymbiotic cells had a higher activity of DOVA-T than symbiote-containing cells. The level of Heme-S, measured using protoporphyrin as substrate, was twice as high in symbiote-containing than in symbiote-free cells.     

Succinylacetone, a potent inhibitor of heme biosynthesis: effect on cell growth, heme content and delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity of malignant murine erythroleukemia cells.

4,6-Dioxoheptanoic acid (succinylacetone, SA) was examined with regard to its ability to a) inhibit the second enzyme of the heme pathway, δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) dehydratase, b) lower the heme concentration, and c) inhibit cell growth of murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells in culture. SA profoundly inhibited ALA dehydratase in broken cell preparations at concentrations as low as 10^?7 M. The stimulation of hemoglobin production by DMSO and butyrate in MEL cells was inhibited by the addition of SA to the cell medium. When 1 mM SA was added to the medium, there was a profound inhibition of ALA dehydratase activity, and the heme concentration of cells declined progressively with each cell division. Cell growth was markedly inhibited after two cell divisions.     

Heme synthesis in Trypanosoma cruzi: influence of the strain and culture medium

The activity of the following enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of porphyrins was determined in two strains of Trypanosoma cruzi (Y and CL) grown in two culture media (LIT and Warren): succinyl coenzyme A synthetase (Suc.CoA-S), 5-aminolevulinate synthetase (ALA-S), 4,5-dioxovaleric acid transaminase (DOVA-T), 5-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALA-D), porphobilinogenase (PBGase), deaminase and heme synthetase (Heme-S). The amount of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and porphobilinogen, porphyrins and heme was also determined. ALA and PGB were detected in both strains of T. cruzi. However, ALA was not detected in epimastigotes of the Y strain grown in the LIT medium. The content of ALA and PBG varied according to the strain and the growth medium. No free porphyrins and heme were detected in both strains of T. cruzi. The activity of Suc.CoA-S and DOVA-T was markedly influenced by the strains of the parasite and the growth medium. No significant DOVA-T activity was detected in epimastigotes of the CL strain grown in the Warren's medium. No significant activity of ALA-D, PBGase and deaminase was detected in T. cruzi. Activity of Heme-S was detected in both strains of T. cruzi when mesoporphyrin, protoporphyrin or deuteroporphyrin was used as substrate. The enzyme activity was influenced by the strain of the parasite, the growth medium and the substrate used.     

Purification, Characterization, and Fractionation of the delta-Aminolevulinic Acid Synthesizing Enzymes from Light-Grown Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Cells

The synthesis of δ-aminolevulinate from glutamate by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii membrane-free cell homogenates requires Mg²⁺, ATP, and NADPH as cofactors. The pH optimum is about 8.3. When analyzed by a Fractogel TSK gel filtration column the δ-aminolevulinate synthesizing enzymes, including glutamate-1-semialdehyde aminotransferase, elute with an apparent molecular weight of about 45,000. The enzymes obtained from the gel filtration column were separated into three fractions by affinity column chromatography. One fraction binds to heme-Sepharose, one to Blue Sepharose, while the enzyme converting the putative glutamate-1-semialdehyde to δ-aminolevulinic acid is retained by neither column. All three fractions are necessary for the conversion of glutamate to δ-aminolevulinate. The δ-aminolevulinate synthesizing enzymes from Chlamydomonas are sensitive to inhibition by heme but not sensitive to inhibition by protoporphyrin.     

Hemin feedback inhibition at reticulocyte δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase and δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase

Addition of hemin (5–200 μM) to a rabbit reticulocyte iron-free incubation medium, resulted in a progressive inhibition of heme synthesis as measured by incorporation of (¹⁴C)-glycine. In contrast when (¹⁴C) δ-aminolevulinic acid incorporation into heme was studied, significant inhibition below that of the (¹⁴C)-glycine control only occurred with hemin concentrations greater than 100 μM. Hemin progressively inhibited cellular and mitochondrialδ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity, as well as cellular δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity. The results indicated that elevated levels of hemin initially control heme synthesis by feedback inhibition at the rate-limiting enzyme of heme synthesis, δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase. Hemin inhibition of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase is only significant for the entrire heme synthetic pathway when greater than one-third of this enzyme's activity is inhibited.     

Porphyrogenic effects and induction of heme oxygenase in vivo by δ-aminolevulinic acid

The effects of single large doses of the porphyrin-heme precursor ?d-aminolevulinic acid on tissue porphyrins and on δ-aminolevulinate synthase and heme oxygenase, the rate-living enzymes of liver heme synthesis and degradation respectively, were studied in the chick embryo in ovo, in the mouse and in the rat. δ-Aminolevulinic acid treatment produced a distinctive pattern characterized by extensive tissue porphyrin accumulation and alterations in these rate-limiting enzymes in the liver. Repression of basal or allylisopropylacetamide-induced liver δ-aminolevulinate synthase was observed and, in the mouse and the rat, induction of liver heme oxygenase after δ-aminolevulinic acid treatment, in a manner similar to the known effects of hemin on these enzymes. In the chick embryo liver in ovo heme oxygenase was substantially higher than in rat and mouse liver, and was not significantly induced by δ-aminolevulinic acid or other compounds, including hemin, CS₂ and CoCl₂. Levulinic acid, an analogue of δ-aminolevulinic acid, did not induce heme oxygenase in mouse liver. δ-Aminolevunilic acid treatment did not impair ferrochelatase activity but was associated with slight and variable decreases in liver cytochrome P-450. Treatment of chick embryos with a small ‘priming’ dose of 1,4-dihydro-3,5-dicarbethoxycollidine, which impairs liver ferrochelatase activity, accentuated porphyrin accumulation after δ-aminolevulinic acid in the liver. These observations indicate that exogenous δ-aminolevulinic acid is metabolized to porphyrins in a number of tissues and, at least in the liver, to a physiologically significant amount of heme, thereby producing an increase in the size of one or more of the heme pools that regulate both heme systhesis and degradation. It is also possible than when δ-aminolevulinic acid is markedly overproduced in vivo it may be transported to many tissues and re-enter the heme pathway and alter porphyrin-heme metabolism in cells and tissues other than those in which its overproduction primarily occurs.     

Novel inhibitors of glutamyl-tRNA(Glu) reductase identified through cell-based screening of the heme/chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway

The metabolite 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is an early committed intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway of heme and chlorophyll formation. In plants, 5-aminolevulinic acid is synthesized via a two-step pathway in which glutamyl-tRNA(Glu) is reduced by glutamyl-tRNA(Glu) reductase (GluTR) to glutamate 1-semialdehyde, followed by transformation to 5-aminolevulinic acid catalyzed by glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase. Using an Escherichia coli cell-based high-throughput assay to screen small molecule libraries, we identified several chemical classes that specifically inhibit heme/chlorophyll biosynthesis at this point by demonstrating that the observed cell growth inhibition is reversed by supplementing the medium with 5-aminolevulinic acid. These compounds were further tested in vitro for inhibition of the purified enzymes GluTR and glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase as confirmation of the specificity and site of action. Several promising compounds were identified from the high-throughput screen that inhibit GluTR with an I(0.5) of less than 10 microM. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of cell-based high-throughput screening for identifying inhibitors of 5-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis, thus representing the first report of exogenous inhibitors of this enzyme.     

Isolation and characterization of a new mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with altered synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid

A new gene, RHM1, required for normal production of 5-aminolevulinic acid by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was identified by a novel screening method. Ethyl methanesulfonate treatment of a fluorescent porphyric strain bearing the pop3-1 mutation produced nonfluorescent or weakly fluorescent mutants with defects in early stages of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. Class I mutants defective in synthesis of 5-aminolevulinate regained fluorescence when grown on medium supplemented with 5-aminolevulinate, whereas class II mutants altered in later biosynthetic steps did not. Among six recessive class I mutants, at least three complementation groups were found. One mutant contained an allele of HEM1, the structural gene for 5-aminolevulinate synthase, and two mutants contained alleles of the regulatory gene CYC4. The remaining mutants contained genes complementary to both hem1 and cyc4. Mutant strain DA3-RS3/68 contained mutant gene rhm1, which segregated independently of hem1 and cyc4 during meiosis. 5-Aminolevulinate synthase activity of the rhm1 mutant was 35 to 40% of that of the parental pop3-1 strain, whereas intracellular 5-aminolevulinate concentration was only 3 to 4% of the parental value. Transformation of an rhm1 strain with a multicopy plasmid containing the cloned HEM1 gene restored normal levels of 5-aminolevulinate synthase activity, but intracellular 5-aminolevulinate was increased to only 9 to 10% of normal. We concluded that RHM1 could control either targeting of 5-aminolevulinate synthase to the mitochondrial matrix or the activity of the enzyme in vivo.     

Role of Heme in Synthesis and Membrane Binding of Succinic Dehydrogenase in Bacillus subtilis

A 5-aminolevulinic acid-requiring mutant of Bacillus subtilis was isolated. When the mutant is shifted from medium containing 5-aminolevulinic acid to medium lacking this growth factor, the bacteria continued to grow at undiminished rate for about three generations. The membranes from these bacteria contained severely reduced amounts of cytochrome. The mutant was used to study the role of heme synthesis on synthesis and membrane binding of succinic dehydrogenase (SDH). The amount of SDH in whole-cell lysates in the soluble cytoplasmic fraction and in membranes was determined by one-dimensional (rocket) immunoelectrophoresis with an SDH-specific antiserum. After heme synthesis was blocked, the relative amount of SDH in the membrane decreased, whereas increasing amounts of SDH antigen were found in the cytoplasm. When heme synthesis was resumed on readdition of 5-aminolevulinic acid, the amount of membrane-bound SDH antigen increased at a much faster rate than net synthesis. During a 3-h growth period without 5-aminolevulinic acid, there was little change in the pattern of membrane proteins as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of radioactively labeled membranes, as compared to membranes from control cultures. However, both the 65,000-dalton and the 28,000-dalton polypeptides of the SDH complex (L. Hederstedt, E. Holmgren, and L. Rutberg, J. Bacteriol. 138:370-376, 1979) were present in decreasing amounts in membranes from 5-aminolevulinic acid-starved bacteria. From these results we suggest that SDH in B. subtilis is synthesized as a soluble protein and becomes membrane bound only when it attaches to a site in the membrane, (part of) which is a cytochrome of b type.     

Affinity labelling of 5-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase with 2-bromo-3-(5-imidazolyl)propionic acid

2-Bromo-3-(5-imidazolyl)propionic acid, a zinc-directed thiol reagent, inactivates the enzyme 5-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase from bovine liver (5-aminolevulinate hydro-lyase (adding 5-aminolevulinate and cyclizing, EC 4.2.1.24). The substrate, 5-aminolevulinic acid, completely protects against inactivation. The reagent inhibits the zinc-containing enzyme to a greater extent than the zinc-deprived enzyme; and it competes with the zinc chelator 1,10-phenanthroline. The reagent alkylates essential sulfhydryl groups of the enzyme, since the extent of the inactivation depends on the reduction of the enzyme protein by thiol compounds. It is concluded that the zinc site, the substrate site and the essential sulfhydryl groups are in close proximity in the active site.     

In situ assay for 5-aminolevulinate dehydratase and application to the study of a catabolite repression-resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant.

To facilitate the study of the effects of carbon catabolite repression and mutations on 5-aminolevulinate dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.24) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a sensitive in situ assay was developed, using cells permeabilized by five cycles of freezing and thawing. Enzymatic activity was measured by colorimetric determination of porphobilinogen with a modified Ehrlich reagent. For normal strains, porphobilinogen production was linear for 15 min, and the reaction rate was directly proportional to the permeabilized cell concentration up to 20 mg (dry weight) per ml. The reaction exhibited Michaelis-Menten-type kinetics, and an apparent Km of 2.6 mM was obtained for 5-aminolevulinic acid. This value is only slightly higher than the value of 1.8 mM obtained for the enzyme assayed in cell extracts. The in situ assay was used to assess catabolite repression-dependent changes in 5-aminolevulinate dehydratase during batch culture on glucose medium. In normal S. cerevisiae cells, the enzyme is strongly repressed as long as glucose is present in the medium. In contrast, a strain bearing the hex2-3 mutation exhibits derepressed levels of enzyme activity during growth on glucose. Synthesis of cytochromes by this strain is also resistant to catabolite repression. Similar studies employing a strain containing the glc1 mutation, which enhances porphyrin accumulation, did not reveal any significant phenotypic change in catabolite regulation of 5-aminolevulinate dehydratase.     

Biosynthetic Preparation of Isotopically Labeled Heme

An efficient method for the preparation of isotopically enriched heme has been developed. This method utilizes a commercially available bacterial host and plasmid, into which a synthetic gene encoding for rat liver outer mitochondrial membrane cytochrome b₅ a heme-binding protein, has been inserted. The method described in this report utilizes the efficient synthesis of the cytochrome b₅ polypeptide together with the enhanced biosynthesis of heme brought about by addition of the first committed precursor in heme biosynthesis, δ-aminolevulinic acid. Apocytochrome b₅ sequesters heme as the macrocycle is being synthesized in order to form holocytochrome b₅, thus avoiding toxic concentrations of free macrocycle in the cell. Relatively high concentrations of free heme in the cell have been shown to stimulate excretion of heme precursors such as coproporphyrinogen and uroporphyrinogen (W. F. Harris III, R. S. Burkhalter, W. Lin and R. Timkovich, (1993) Bioorg. Chem. 21, 209-220), therefore causing isotopic dilution of the labeled material. The heme obtained using this methodology was determined to be >85% enriched. Because the heme in cytochrome b₅ is not covalently attached to the polypeptide, it can be extracted and used in other applications. Use of glutamate, a precursor of δ-aminolevulinate biosynthesis in Escherichia coli, did not result in high levels of isotopic incorporation into heme, thus pointing out to the importance of using a labeled precursor that is committed to heme biosynthesis in order to obtain high levels of isotopic labeling.     

Interaction of the inhibitor of the 3',5' cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase of Dictyostelium discoideum with the Affi-Gel blue

Disodium ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and/or allylisopropylacetamide administration to rat pups did not evoke a premature induction of hepatic δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase. Administration of iron to adult rats did not alter δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity and had little inductive effect on heme oxygenase activity. Both heme and cobalt/dextran rapidly induced microsomal heme oxygenase by 3–8 fold. Induction of heme oxygenase by heme could be totally blocked by concurrent administration of cycloheximide. These results argue against the hypothesis that iron is the physiological mediator of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity.     

Probing heme propionate involvement in transmembrane proton transfer coupled to electron transfer in dihemic quinol:fumarate reductase by 13C-labeling and FTIR difference spectroscopy

Quinol:fumarate reductase (QFR) is the terminal enzyme of anaerobic fumarate respiration. This membrane protein complex couples the oxidation of menaquinol to menaquinone to the reduction of fumarate to succinate. Although the diheme-containing QFR from Wolinella succinogenes is known to catalyze an electroneutral process, its three-dimensional structure at 2.2 A resolution and the structural and functional characterization of variant enzymes revealed locations of the active sites that indicated electrogenic catalysis. A solution to this apparent controversy was proposed with the so-called "E-pathway hypothesis". According to this, transmembrane electron transfer via the heme groups is strictly coupled to a parallel, compensatory transfer of protons via a transiently established pathway, which is inactive in the oxidized state of the enzyme. Proposed constituents of the E-pathway are the side chain of Glu C180 and the ring C propionate of the distal heme. Previous experimental evidence strongly supports such a role of the former constituent. Here, we investigate a possible heme-propionate involvement in redox-coupled proton transfer by a combination of specific (13)C-heme propionate labeling and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopy. The labeling was achieved by creating a W. succinogenes mutant that was auxotrophic for the heme-precursor 5-aminolevulinate and by providing [1-(13)C]-5-aminolevulinate to the medium. FTIR difference spectroscopy revealed a variation on characteristic heme propionate vibrations in the mid-infrared range upon redox changes of the distal heme. These results support a functional role of the distal heme ring C propionate in the context of the proposed E-pathway hypothesis of coupled transmembrane electron and proton transfer.     

Heme regulation of HeLa cell transferrin receptor number

The number of diferic transferrin receptors on HeLa cells decreases when cells are grown in iron-supplemented media. The experiments reported here suggest that heme is the iron-containing compound which serves as the signal for receptor number regulation. When HeLa cells were grown in the presence of hemin, transferrin receptor number decreased to a greater degree than when cells were grown in equivalent amounts of iron supplied as ferric ammonium citrate. Incubation of cells in conditions which increased cellular heme content resulted in a decrease in cellular transferrin receptors. Incubating cells with 5-aminolevulinic acid (thus bypassing the rate-limiting step in heme biosynthesis, 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase) led to a decrease in transferrin receptor number. Incubation of cells with an inhibitor of heme oxygenase, Sn-protoporphyrin IX, also led to a decrease in transferrin receptor number. When cellular heme content was decreased by inhibiting heme synthesis with succinylacetone (an inhibitor of 5-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase), or by depriving cells of iron with deferoxamine, an increase in HeLa cell transferrin receptor number was seen. When HeLa cells were incubated with inducers of heme oxygenase (CoCl2, SnCl2, Co-protoporphyrin IX), transferrin receptor number also increased. The effects of all compounds which alter transferrin receptor number were dependent on the concentration of the supplement, as well as the duration of the supplementation. These experiments suggest that intracellular heme content may be an important signal controlling transferrin receptor number.     

Effects of succinylacetone on dimethylsulfoxide-mediated induction of heme pathway enzymes in mouse Friend virus-transformed erythroleukemia cells

Heme has been reported to exert a control over its own biosynthesis and to affect the erythroid differentiation process at different sites. In this study, succinylacetone, a powerful inhibitor of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydrase was used to block heme synthesis and to study the effects of heme depletion on the dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)-mediated induction of the heme pathway enzymes in Friend virus-transformed erythroleukemia cells. The presence of succinylacetone in the medium during the DMSO treatment (1) potentiates the induction of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase (the first enzyme of the pathway) and this effect is reversed by the addition of exogenous hemin; (2) does not affect the induction of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydrase (the second enzyme); (3) prevents the induction of porphobilinogen deaminase (the third enzyme), since no increase could be detected in either the enzyme activity or the immunoreactive protein and this effect could not be reversed by the addition of exogenous hemin; (4) does not affect the induction of ferrochelatase. The possible role of heme or of intermediate metabolites of the pathway on the induction of these enzymes during the erythroid differentiation process is discussed.     

δ-aminolevulinic acid transport and synthesis,porphyrin synthesis and heme catabolism in chick embryo liver and heart cells

Liver and heart represent two organs with markedly different needs for heme as related to their metabolic roles. To examine these diferences chick embryo heart and liver cells were compared with respect to transport of δ-aminolevulinic acid and activity of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase, porphyrin synthesis and heme oxygenase. Heart cells were found to have a low rate of δ-aminolevulinic acid uptake, a high resting level of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity and a lower level of heme oxygenase activity as compared with liver cells. The hepatic cell uptake of δ-aminolevulinic acid was 6–25-times that of heart cells. The embryonal heart cell appears to be a balanced autonomous system for the synthesis and degradation of heme. The embryonal liver cell represents a cell system permeable to exogenous δ-aminolevulinic acid, which is also responsive to and inducible by external stimuli.     

New pathway for delta-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis: formation from alpha-ketoglutaric acid by two partially purified plant enzymes.

Two enzymes which catalyze the formation of δ-aminolevulinic acid in two steps from α-ketoglutaric acid have been partially purified from $\text{Zea mays}$ leaf extracts. The enzymes catalyze the following reactions: (1) a novel NADH-dependent reduction of the 1-carboxyl group of α-ketoglutarate, yielding 4,5-dioxovaleric acid, followed by (2) a transamination of this product with L-alanine to yield δ-aminolevulinate. The dehydrogenase cannot be demonstrated in crude extracts since it is masked by glutamic dehydrogenase. This pathway, in which the 5-carbon skeleton of α-ketoglutarate is utilized intact for δ-aminolevulinate formation, differs radically from the classical δ-aminolevulinate synthase reaction between glycine and succinyl-CoA.