Isolation and characterization of 5'-nucleotidase of a human pancreatic tumor cell line

5'-Nucleotidase of a human pancreatic tumor cell line (PaTu II) has been purified to homogeneity after extraction with detergent followed by two affinity chromatographic steps. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified 5'-nucleotidase revealed a single polypeptide band of 67 kDa. The Western blotted enzyme can be overlaid with concanavalin A proving its glycoprotein nature. After treatment with endoglycosidase F the deglycosylated 5'-nucleotidase exhibits an apparent molecular mass of 58 kDa. The kinetic properties of the solubilized enzyme have been determined (Km (AMP) of 4.0 microM; Vmax (AMP) = 8.6 muMOL/min.mg). Adenosine 5'-[alpha,beta-methylene]diphosphate is a competitive inhibitor of 5'-nucleotidase, whereas concanavalin A inhibits the enzymatic activity in a non-competitive manner. Polyclonal antibodies against purified 5'-nucleotidase of PaTu II have been produced which inhibit its enzymatic activity. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the enzyme purified from rat liver or bull seminal plasma also recognize 5'-nucleotidase of PaTu II cells, whereas polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against the enzyme derived from chicken gizzard show no cross-reactivity. 5'-Nucleotidase appears to be concentrated in the plasma membrane of PaTu II cells as judged by cell fractionation and indirect immunofluorescence studies.     

Reconstitution of purified chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase in phospholipid vesicles. Evidence for its transmembraneous character and the existence of functional domains on both sides of the phospholipid bilayer

5'-Nucleotidase, purified to homogeneity from chicken gizzard using published procedures [Dieckhoff, J., Knebel, H., Heidemann, M. and Mannherz, H. G. (1985) Eur. J. Biochem. 151, 377-383] was incorporated into artificial phospholipid vesicles after prolonged dialysis against detergent-free buffer or by a gel filtration procedure. After dialysis the obtained liposomes exhibit a mean diameter of 80 nm and contain 5'-nucleotidase at random orientation, demonstrated by finding up to 50% of the total liposome-incorporated AMPase activity to be cryptic, i.e. could only be measured after their permeabilization by addition of detergent. By affinity chromatography a phospholipid vesicle fraction could be obtained containing almost exclusively cryptic AMPase activity, thus representing the inside-out orientation of 5'-nucleotidase. Comparative analysis of physiochemical and enzymatic properties of 5'-nucleotidase reveals differences between the detergent-solubilized and the liposome-incorporated 5'-nucleotidase including a changed accessibility of the enzyme to polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Binding and AMPase inhibition studies with different polyclonal antibodies strongly indicate to the existence of a cytoplasmic domain of chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase. F-actin appears preferentially to interact with the cytoplasmic domain of liposome-incorporated 5'-nucleotidase.     

Monoclonal antibodies against 5'-nucleotidase from chicken gizzard. Evidence for species and tissue specific differences of 5'-nucleotidase

5'-Nucleotidase from chicken gizzard smooth muscle was purified to homogeneity and used as immunogen for generating monoclonal antibodies. From about 150 positive clones nine IgG producing hybridoma cell lines have been selected for further characterization and antibody preparation. The resulting antibodies bind 5'-nucleotidase from chicken smooth muscle, chicken skeletal muscle, and chicken heart muscle but not the enzyme from chicken liver or rat liver. It could clearly be demonstrated that the nine antibodies recognize different antigenic determinants. Four of these antibodies are strong inhibitors of the AMPase activity of 5'-nucleotidase. One antibody is a weak inhibitor and four other antibodies have no effect on its enzymic activity. One of the monoclonal antibodies was used for immunoaffinity purification of 5'-nucleotidase from chicken heart muscle and chicken skeletal muscle. Pure and active enzymes could be isolated from detergent extracts in one step with a 10 to 20-fold higher yield compared to classical purification procedures. The subcellular distribution of 5'-nucleotidase in chicken gizzard was investigated using indirect immunofluorescence. We found a staining of the plasma membrane of smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells by all of the nine antibodies with variations in the staining intensity.     

Structural comparison of the 68 kDa laminin-binding protein and 5'-nucleotidase from chicken muscular sources: evidence against a gross structural similarity of both proteins

The 68 kDa laminin-binding protein purified from chicken skeletal muscle and the ectoenzyme 5'-nucleotidase from chicken gizzard are both able to interact with laminin. They were both shown to possess a nearly identical amino acid composition. The 79 kDa glycosylated form of 5'-nucleotidase can be transformed into an enzymatically active form by treatment with endoglycosidase F (Endo F). Deglycosylated (Endo F-treated) 5'-nucleotidase exhibits an apparent molecular mass of 68 kDa. Using immunological and finger-printing techniques, both proteins were analysed to determine their structural relatedness. The results obtained indicate that both proteins are not identical but may posses a few common peptides of yet unknown sequence and length.     

Vanadate inhibits degradation of short-lived, but not of long-lived, proteins in L-132 human cells.

We have analysed the membrane anchorage of plasma-membrane 5'-nucleotidase, an ectoenzyme which can mediate binding to components of the extracellular matrix. We demonstrated that the purified enzyme obtained from chicken gizzard and a human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line were both completely transformed into a hydrophilic form by treatment with phospholipases C and D, cleaving glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). These data indicate the presence of a glycolipid linker employed for membrane anchoring of the 5'-nucleotidase obtained from both sources. Incubation of plasma membranes under identical conditions revealed that about half of the AMPase activity was resistant to GPI-hydrolysing phospholipases. Investigation of the enzymic properties of purified chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase revealed only minor changes after removal of the phosphatidylinositol linker. However, cleavage of the membrane anchor resulted in an increased sensitivity towards inhibition by concanavalin A. After tissue fractionation, chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase could be obtained as either a membrane-bound or a soluble protein; the latter is suspected to be released from the plasma membrane by endogenous phospholipases. Higher-molecular-mass proteins immuno-cross-reactive with the purified chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase were detected as both soluble and membrane-bound forms.     

Purification of 5'-nucleotidase from human seminal plasma.

5'-Nucleotidase from human seminal plasma was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity and some of its kinetic and molecular properties compared with those of 5'-nucleotidase from bull seminal plasma. The purification of the enzyme was achieved by using the same affinity chromatography media (Con A-Sepharose and AMP-Agarose or ADP-Agarose) previously used for the purification of bull seminal plasma 5'-nucleotidase (Fini, C., Ipata, P.L., Palmerini, C.A. and Floridi, A. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 748, 405-412). However, in the present purification procedure no detergent was used as it had been necessary for the purification of the bovine enzyme. The experimental data reveal some main differences between these two enzymes; first, the human enzyme seems to be constituted of a single polypeptide chain of about 71 kDa, while the 5'-nucleotidase of bull seminal plasma, in non denaturing detergent solutions, is a homodimer of about 160 kDa. Another most remarkable difference is that the human enzyme does not seem to contain a phosphatidylinositol anchoring system like the one present in the bovine enzyme and in 5'-nucleotidase of different sources (Low, M.G. (1987) Biochem. J. 244, 1-13). Finally, the AMPase activity of 5'-nucleotidase from human seminal plasma is not affected by dithiothreitol which, on the contrary, is a powerful inhibitor of the bovine enzyme causing the dissociation of its subunits which are held together by disulphide bridges (Fini, C., Minelli, A., Camici, M. and Floridi, A. (1985) Biochem. Biophys. Acta 827, 403-409).     

Rabbit liver dCMP phosphohydrolase: a pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase I-like enzyme in non-erythrocytic cells

A nucleotide phosphomonoesterase activity that preferably hydrolyzed dCMP was detected in rabbit liver and purified approximately 20-fold. The enzyme was similar in the catalytic and molecular properties to pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase subclass I (P5N-I), which distributed specifically in vertebrate erythrocytes. In addition to liver, the activity was found in rabbit kidney, spleen, heart, intestine, but was not detected in any rat or chicken tissues tested. The rabbit enzyme protein reacted with antibodies against chicken P5N-I. Its pI was estimated to be approximately 5.3, and the enzyme was concluded to consist of single polypeptide of an approximately 38 kDa based on gel filtration and Western blot analysis. The partially purified enzyme preferentially hydrolyzes dCMP, UMP and CMP, K(m) values for these substrates are approximately 0.3 mM, the optimal pH is approximately 7, and the enzyme requires Mg(2+). This nucleotidase may contribute to the regulation of intracellular pyrimidine nucleotides in the rabbit.     

Evidence for existence of a cytosol 5'-nucleotidase in chicken heart: comparison of some properties of heart and liver enzymes

A 5'-nucleotidase was purified from chicken heart. Kinetic properties of the enzyme were similar to the cytosol 5'-nucleotidase previously reported for chicken liver and rat liver. This strongly suggests the existence of the same type of the cytosol 5'-nucleotidase in cardiac tissue that has been reported for hepatic tissue of various animals.     

Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against chicken gizzard 5′-nucleotidase inhibit the spreading process of chicken embryonic fibroblasts on laminin substratum

Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies raised against chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase were tested in adhesion assays of embryonic chicken fibroblasts (CEF) for their ability to interfere with the adhesion process of these cells on either laminin or fibronectin substrata. The initial attachment process of CEF on fibronectin and laminin substrata was not influenced by preincubating these cells with antibodies against chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase. However, the subsequent spreading process of these cells was found to be inhibited for at least 2 h on a laminin substratum. This effect was obtained with a polyclonal antibody as well as with one from 12 monoclonal antibodies raised against the native enzyme purified from chicken gizzard. In vitro assays demonstrated a competition of laminin and this monoclonal antibody for the binding site on purified 5'-nucleotidase. Spreading-arrested and rounded CEF do not develop prominent intracellular stress-fibers like control cells, instead they seem to concentrate their available actin in areas of presumptive initial contact with the laminin substratum.     

Evidence for the direct interaction of chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase with laminin and fibronectin

The ectoenzyme 5'-nucleotidase purified from chicken gizzard is shown to specifically interact with laminin and fibronectin, components of the extracellular matrix, by a number of different techniques: (i) cosedimentation with laminin by sucrose gradient centrifugation; (ii) affinity adsorption to both laminin- and fibronectin-Sepharose 4-B; (iii) specific binding to both laminin and fibronectin dotted onto cellulose filters; and (iv) monoclonal antibodies against 5'-nucleotidase are shown to interfere with the interaction of 5'-nucleotidase with laminin and fibronectin. For all the techniques employed, the interactions were found to be specific, since 5'-nucleotidase did not bind to unrelated proteins such as bovine serum albumin or to monomeric actin. The interaction of purified chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase could be demonstrated for the hydrophobic enzyme solubilized in detergent and after its reconstitution into artificial phospholipid vesicles. The affinity adsorption experiments indicate that reconstituted enzyme binds more strongly to both laminin and fibronectin. The 5'-nucleotidase employed in this study is anchored to the plasma membrane by a glycan-phosphatidylinositol linker. After treatment with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C, the enzyme is transformed into a hydrophilic form, for which interactions with laminin and fibronectin could also be demonstrated by the dot-blot technique. Thus controlled cleavage of the phosphatidylinositol linker of 5'-nucleotidase could enable cells to rapidly alter their adhesiveness to certain components of the extracellular matrix.     

Proteolytic conversion of xanthine dehydrogenase from the NAD-dependent type to the O2-dependent type. Amino acid sequence of rat liver xanthine dehydrogenase and identification of the cleavage sites of the enzyme protein during irreversible conversion by trypsin

The primary structure of rat liver xanthine dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.204) was determined by sequence analysis of cDNA and purified enzyme. The enzyme consists of 1,319 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 145,034 Da, including initiation methionine, and is homologous to the previously reported Drosophila melanogaster enzyme (Lee, C. S., Curtis, D., McCarron, M., Love, C., Gray, M., Bender, W., and Chovnick, A. (1987) Genetics 116, 55-66; Keith, T. P., Riley, M. A., Kreitman, M., Lewontin, R. C., Curtis, D., and Chambers, G. (1987) Genetics 116, 67-73) with an identity of 52%. The enzyme exists originally as the NAD-dependent type in a freshly prepared sample. When the purified NAD-dependent type enzyme was digested with trypsin, it cleaved into three fragments with molecular masses of 20, 40, and 85 kDa and was irreversibly converted to the O2-dependent type. Comparison of the amino-terminal sequences of the three peptide fragments with the cDNA-deduced sequence reveals that the 20-, 40-, and 85-kDa peptide fragments correspond residues to 1-184, 185-539, and 540-1319 of the enzyme, respectively. Comparison of the 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine-labeled peptide sequence of the chicken enzyme (Nishino, T., and Nishino, T. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 5468-5473) reveals that the NAD binding site is associated with the 40-kDa fragment portion of the enzyme. Hydropathy analysis around the cysteine residues suggests that the 2Fe/2S sites are associated with the 20-kDa fragment portion of the enzyme.     

Absence of pyridoxine- (pyridoxamine-) 5'-phosphate oxidase in Morris hepatoma 7777

Morris hepatoma 7777 previously has been shown to have no detectable pyridoxine- (pyridoxamine-) 5'-phosphate oxidase activity [Thanassi, J. W., Nutter, L. M., Meisler, N. T., Commers, P., & Chiu, J.-F. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 3370-3375]. In order to determine if this enzyme was missing in the hepatoma, we purified rat liver oxidase and raised antibodies to it in rabbits. Final purification of rat liver oxidase for use as an antigen was accomplished by affinity chromatography and gel electrophoresis. The rat liver enzyme is similar to rabbit liver oxidase [Kazarinoff, M. N., & McCormick, D. B. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3436-3442] having two noncovalently linked subunits with molecular weights in the range of 25 000-28 000. Evidence indicating that inactive enzyme was simultaneously purified with native enzyme was obtained. The IgG fraction was purified from the serum of a rabbit that had been immunized with rat liver oxidase. This was used in the development of ELISA and immunoblot analyses for the presence of antigenically active pyridoxine- (pyridoxamine-) 5'-phosphate oxidase in cytosolic preparations from normal rat liver and Morris hepatoma 7777. The results indicated that there was no immunologically detectable oxidase protein in the tumor. An alternate pathway of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate synthesis, involving oxidation of pyridoxine to pyridoxal followed by phosphorylation, was ruled out. The implications of these findings with respect to acquisition of nutrients by tumors are discussed.     

Chicken gizzard 5'-nucleotidase is a receptor for the extracellular matrix component fibronectin

The smooth muscle cells of chicken gizzard harbor the ectoenzyme 5'-nucleotidase. The purified enzyme was reconstituted into 3H-labeled proteoliposomes which were used as a model to study the association of a membrane protein with fibronectin. We demonstrated that the binding process between proteoliposomes and fibronectin has the qualities of a receptor-ligand interaction, i.e., is saturable and specific. In contrast to the association of fibronectin with integrins, the interaction with 5'-nucleotidase does not require divalent metal ions. Synthetic peptides containing the RGD-sequence or a monoclonal antibody interfering with binding of other receptors to the cell-binding domain of fibronectin did not abolish the interaction with 5'-nucleotidase. This indicates that the RGDS-sequence does not represent the major contact site for the AMPase and that the 5'-nucleotidase belongs to a separate class of fibronectin receptors with distinct properties as compared to the integrins.     

A reappraisal of the subunit molecular mass of chicken liver cytosol 5'-nucleotidase

The subunit molecular mass of chicken liver cytosol 5'-nucleotidase was earlier reported to be 51 kDa upon sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Naito, Y. and Tsushima, K. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 438, 159-168). By immunoblot analyses after SDS-gel electrophoresis, however, a fraction from the liver homogenized in the presence of leupeptin showed multiple bands with molecular masses around 57 kDa, and SDS-extracted proteins directly from the liver exhibited a single 70 kDa component. These results indicate that the 51 kDa peptide observed in the cytosol 5'-nucleotidase preparation might, in fact, be a proteolytic artifact.     

Isoforms of the small non-catalytic subunit of smooth muscle myosin light chain phosphatase.

Chicken gizzard smooth muscle myosin light chain phosphatase is composed of a approximately 37 kDa catalytic subunit, a approximately 110 kDa myosin binding or targeting subunit and a approximately 20 kDa subunit (MPs) whose function is as yet undefined. It was reported previously that a cloned chicken gizzard MPs cDNA encodes a protein of 186 amino acids (aa) [Y.H. Chen, M.X. Chen, D.R. Alessi, D.G. Gampbell, C. Shanahan, P. Cohen, P.T.W. Cohen, FEBS Lett. 356 (1994) 51-55]. More recently, we obtained by PCR amplification another MPs cDNA that encodes a protein of only 161 aa [Y. Zhang, K. Mabuchi, T. Tao, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1343 (1997) 51-58]. In this work we obtained cDNAs corresponding to both sequences using a different set of PCR primers, indicating that the two sequences correspond to isoforms that most likely arose from alternative splicing of the same gene. Using two polyclonal antibodies, one raised against the recombinant 161 aa isoform of chicken gizzard MPs and the other against a C-terminal polypeptide that is present only in the 186 aa isoform, we found that while the 161 aa isoform is the predominant one in chicken gizzard, in chicken aorta it is the 186 aa one; in chicken stomach both isoforms are present, and in mammalian tissues such as ferret and rat only the 186 aa isoform is detected. Furthermore, we purified the MPs associated with the chicken gizzard myosin light chain phosphatase holoenzyme and determined its molecular weight, amino acid composition and six residues of its C-terminal sequence. The results from these analyses showed conclusively that the predominant isoform in chicken gizzard is the 161 aa one.     

Primary structure of rat liver 5'-nucleotidase deduced from the cDNA. Presence of the COOH-terminal hydrophobic domain for possible post-translational modification by glycophospholipid

Rat liver 5'-nucleotidase was purified from a crude microsomal fraction, and its molecular mass was estimated to be 73 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified protein was subjected to cleavage with CNBr or lysyl endopeptidase, and the resulting 21 peptides as well as the NH2 terminus of the native protein were sequenced by Edman degradation. For further information on the molecular structure, we constructed a lambda gt11 liver cDNA library and isolated two cDNA clones for 5'-nucleotidase, lambda cNTP6 and lambda cNT34. The 3.2-kilobase cDNA insert of lambda cNTP6 contains an open reading frame that encodes a 576-residue polypeptide with a calculated size of 63,965 Da, which is in reasonable agreement with that of 5'-nucleotidase (62 kDa) immunoprecipitated from cell-free translation products. The NH2-terminal 28 residues comprise a signal peptide, which is followed by the NH2-terminal sequence of the purified protein. The predicted structure contains all the other peptide sequences determined by Edman degradation. Five potential N-linked glycosylation sites are found in the molecule, accounting for the difference in mass between the precursor and mature forms. Another characteristic feature is that the primary structure contains a highly hydrophobic amino acid sequence at the COOH terminus, a possible signal for the post-translational modification by glycophospholipid. In fact, labeling experiments of rat hepatocytes demonstrated that 3H-labeled compounds such as ethanolamine, myo-inositol, and palmitic acid, components of the glycolipid anchor, were incorporated into 5'-nucleotidase. Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C released 5'-nucleotidase from the cell surface, and the released protein no longer contained the radioactivity of [3H]palmitic acid incorporated.     

A conserved cysteine in molybdenum oxotransferases

The amino acid sequences of peptides derived from rat hepatic sulfite oxidase have been determined by a combination of amino acid analysis and Edman degradation of the purified protein. The data obtained showed the rat liver enzyme contained 3 cysteine residues which was confirmed by thiol modification studies using 4,4'-dithiodipyridine of the native enzyme. Combining these data with that previously published for chicken liver sulfite oxidase (Neame, P. J., and Barber, M. J. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 20894-20901) indicates that 2 cysteines (Cys186 and Cys430, based upon the numbering for the chicken sequence) are conserved in both chicken and rat liver enzymes with all the cysteine residues being present in the molybdenum-containing domain. Further comparison of the sequences of the molybdenum domains of rat and chicken liver sulfite oxidase with the amino acid sequences published for the molybdenum domains of a variety of assimilatory nitrate reductases suggests that only a single cysteine residue (Cys186) is conserved in all these enzymes, indicating that it may play a role in the binding of Mo-pterin to the protein.     

Turkey gizzard caldesmon: molecular weight determination and calmodulin binding studies

Sedimentation equilibrium and sedimentation velocity measurements demonstrate that turkey gizzard caldesmon is an elongated molecule of molecular mass 75 +/- 2 kDa. The frictional ratio (2.14) is consistent with a prolate ellipsoid of axial ratio 24, corresponding to an apparent length and width of 516 and 21.5 A, respectively. As was previously determined for chicken gizzard caldesmon [Graceffa, P., Wang, C.-L.A., & Stafford, W.F. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 14196-14202], this molecular weight is appreciably smaller than the value (approximately 135,000) estimated from the results of NaDodSO4 gel electrophoresis experiments. However, a significant difference between the true molecular weights of turkey and chicken gizzard caldesmons--75,000 versus 93,000--also points to probable molecular weight variations within the subclass. Binding measurements, based on perturbation of the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence of caldesmon in the presence of calmodulin, show that the interaction between the two proteins is strongly ionic strength and temperature dependent. Dissociation constants of 0.075 and 0.38 microM were determined in solutions containing 0.1 and 0.2 M KCl, respectively, at 24.3 degrees C. Fluorescence emission spectra and fluorescence anisotropy excitation spectra indicate that the tryptophanyl residues of caldesmon are located in solvent-accessible regions of the molecule, where they exhibit a high degree of mobility even when calmodulin is bound.     

Presence of three acyl-CoA oxidases in rat liver peroxisomes. An inducible fatty acyl-CoA oxidase, a noninducible fatty acyl-CoA oxidase, and a noninducible trihydroxycoprostanoyl-CoA oxidase

Mammalian liver peroxisomes are capable of beta-oxidizing a variety of substrates including very long chain fatty acids and the side chains of the bile acid intermediates di- and trihydroxycoprostanic acid. The first enzyme of peroxisomal beta-oxidation is acyl-CoA oxidase. It remains unknown whether peroxisomes possess one or several acyl-CoA oxidases. Peroxisomal oxidases from rat liver were partially purified by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation and heat treatment, and the preparation was subjected to chromatofocusing, chromatography on hydroxylapatite and dye affinity matrices, and gel filtration. The column eluates were assayed for palmitoyl-CoA and trihydroxycoprostanoyl-CoA oxidase activities and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results revealed the presence of three acyl-CoA oxidases: 1) a fatty acyl-CoA oxidase with a pI of 8.3 and an apparent molecular mass of 145 kDa. The enzyme consisted mainly of 52- and 22.5-kDa subunits and could be induced by clofibrate treatment; 2) a noninducible fatty acyl-CoA oxidase with a pI of 7.1 and an apparent molecular mass of 427 kDa. It consisted mainly, if not exclusively, of one polypeptide component of 71 kDa; and 3) a noninducile trihydroxycoprostanoyl-CoA oxidase with a pI of 7.1 and an apparent molecular mass of 139 kDa. It consisted mainly, if not exclusively, of one polypeptide component of 69 kDa. Our findings are probably related to the recent discovery of two species of acyl-CoA oxidase mRNA in rat liver (Miyazawa, S., Hayashi, H., Hijikata, M., Ishii, N., Furata, S., Kagamiyama, H., Osumi, T., and Hashimoto, T. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 8131-8137) and they probably also explain why in human peroxisomal beta-oxidation defects an accumulation of very long chain fatty acids is not always accompanied by an excretion of bile acid intermediates and vice versa.     

Purification and characterization of myosin light-chain kinase from the rat pancreas.

We have partially purified a protein kinase from rat pancreas that phosphorylates two light-chain subunits of pancreatic myosin, a doublet with components of 18 and 20 kDa. This protein kinase was purified approx. 1000-fold by sequential (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, gel filtration, ion-exchange and affinity chromatography on calmodulin-Sepharose 4B. The resultant enzyme preparation is free of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C and calmodulin-dependent type I or II kinase activities. The purified protein kinase is completely dependent on Ca2+ and calmodulin, and phosphorylates a 20 kDa light-chain subunit of intact gizzard myosin, suggesting that it belongs to a class of enzymes known as myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK). The apparent Km values of the putative pancreatic MLCK for ATP (73 microM), gizzard myosin light chains (18 microM) and calmodulin (2 nM) are similar to those reported for MLCKs isolated from smooth muscle, platelet and other sources. The enzyme is half-maximally activated at a free Ca2+ concentration of 2.5 microM. A single component of the affinity-purified kinase reacts with antibodies to turkey gizzard MLCK. The apparent molecular mass of this component is 138 kDa. Immunoprecipitation of a pancreatic homogenate with these antibodies decreases calmodulin-dependent kinase activity for pancreatic myosin by over 85%. The immunoprecipitate contains a single electrophoretic band of 138 kDa. Tryptic phosphopeptide analyses of pancreatic myosin, phosphorylated by either gizzard or pancreatic MLCK, are identical. Thus the enzyme that we have purified from rat pancreas is a MLCK, as judged by (1) absolute dependence on Ca2+ and calmodulin, (2) high affinity for calmodulin, (3) narrow substrate specificity for the light-chain subunit of myosin, and (4) reactivity with antibodies to turkey gizzard MLCK. These studies establish the existence of a pancreatic MLCK which may be responsible for regulating myosin phosphorylation and enzyme secretion in situ.