Isoflavones inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in vitro

Isoflavones identified as inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase in soybean paste were assayed using the catalytic portion of Syrian hamster HMG-CoA reductase, and the kinetic values were measured using HMG-CoA and NADPH. The inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase by these inhibitors was competitive with HMG-CoA and noncompetitive with NADPH. Ki values for genistein, daidzein, and glycitein were 27.7, 49.5, and 94.7 microM, respectively.     

Characterization of active and inactive forms of rat hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase

Rat hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase was purified to homogeneity using agarose-HMG-CoA affinity chromatography. Additional protein was isolated from the affinity column with 0.5 M KCl that demonstrated no HMG-CoA reductase activity, yet comigrated with purified HMG-CoA reductase on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. This protein was determined to be an inactive form of HMG-CoA reductase by tryptic peptide mapping, reaction with anti-HMG-CoA reductase antibody, and coelution with purified HMG-CoA reductase from a molecular-sieving high-performance liquid chromatography column. This inactive protein was present in at least fourfold greater concentration than active HMG-CoA reductase, and could not be activated by rat liver cytosolic phosphoprotein phosphatases. Immunotitration studies with microsomal and solubilized HMG-CoA reductase isolated in the presence and absence of proteinase inhibitors suggested that the inactive protein was not generated from active enzyme during isolation of microsomes or freeze-thaw solubilization of HMG CoA reductase.     

Isolation and purification of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A by ion-exchange chromatography

For precise determination of the catalytic activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.34), the HMG-CoA employed as substrate must be free of HMG, CoA, and other inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase activity. The standard purification of HMG-CoA by paper chromatography gives poor resolution of HMG-CoA from CoA and may be accompanied by some decomposition of HMG-CoA. We describe a simplified procedure for synthesis and for isolation from the reaction mixture of homogeneous, high specific activity [3(-14)C]HMG-CoA free of HMG, CoA, or nonpolar contaminants. Isolation of HMG-CoA utilizes ion-exchange chromatography in a gradient of ammonium formate, which is subsequently removed by lyophilization. The methods are proposed for use in the preparation or isolation of HMG0CoA.     

Isolation and immunological characterization of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase from human liver

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) has been isolated from human liver utilizing HMG-CoA affinity chromatography. The apparent monomer molecular weight of purified human HMG-CoA reductase by SDS-gel electrophoresis was 53,000, and the oligomeric molecular weight determined by sucrose density centrifugation was 104,000. A monospecific antibody prepared against rat liver HMG-CoA reductase inhibited the enzymic activity of microsomal and purified human liver enzyme and formed a single immunoprecipitin line by radial immunodiffusion. These results represent the initial isolation and characterization of human liver HMG-CoA reductase.     

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase of Sulfolobus solfataricus: DNA sequence, phylogeny, expression in Escherichia coli of the hmgA gene, and purification and kinetic characterization of the gene product.

The gene (hmgA) for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.34) from the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 was cloned and sequenced. S. solfataricus HMG-CoA reductase exhibited a high degree of sequence identity (47%) to the HMG-CoA reductase of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii. Phylogenetic analyses of HMG-CoA reductase protein sequences suggested that the two archaeal genes are distant homologs of eukaryotic genes. The only known bacterial HMG-CoA reductase, a strictly biodegradative enzyme from Pseudomonas mevalonii, is highly diverged from archaeal and eukaryotic HMG-CoA reductases. The S. solfataricus hmgA gene encodes a true biosynthetic HMG-CoA reductase. Expression of hmgA in Escherichia coli generated a protein that both converted HMG-CoA to mevalonate and cross-reacted with antibodies raised against rat liver HMG-CoA reductase. S. solfataricus HMG-CoA reductase was purified in 40% yield to a specific activity of 17.5 microU per mg at 50 degrees C by a sequence of steps that included heat treatment, ion-exchange chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and affinity chromatography. The final product was homogeneous, as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The substrate was (S)- not (R)-HMG-CoA; the reductant was NADPH not NADH. The Km values for HMG-CoA (17 microM) and NADPH (23 microM) were similar in magnitude to those of other biosynthetic HMG-CoA reductases. Unlike other HMG-CoA reductases, the enzyme was stable at 90 degrees C and was optimally active at pH 5.5 and 85 degrees C.     

Reversible inactivation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase: reductase kinase and mevalonate kinase are separate enzymes

Reductase kinase and mevalonate kinase are separated by: a) ammonium sulfate fractionation; b) chromatography on agarose-Procion Red HE3B; and c) chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel. Fractions containing only reductase kinase reversibly inactivated microsomal or homogeneous HMG-CoA reductase. Fractions containing only mevalonate kinase revealed artifactual reductase kinase activity in the absence of EDTA or mevalonic acid; however, addition of EDTA or mevalonate before reductase assay completely blocked any apparent decline in HMG-CoA reductase activity. Under these conditions no dephosphorylation (reactivation) was observed by phosphatase. The combined results demonstrate unequivocally that reductase kinase and mevalonate kinase are two different enzymes and inactivation of HMG-CoA reductase is catalyzed by ATP-Mg-dependent reductase kinase.     

Modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase by azole antimycotics requires lanosterol demethylation, but not 24,25-epoxylanosterol formation

The lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylase inhibitors miconazole and ketoconazole have been used to assess their effects upon cholesterol biosynthesis in cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells. In Chinese hamster ovary cells treated with either agent, an initial accumulation of lanosterol and dihydrolanosterol has been observed. At elevated concentrations, however, ketoconazole, but not miconazole, causes the preferential accumulation of 24,25-epoxylanosterol and squalene 2,3:22,23-dioxide. These metabolites accumulate at the expense of lanosterol, thereby demonstrating a second site of inhibition for ketoconazole in the sterol biosynthetic pathway. Both demethylase inhibitors produced a biphasic modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. The biphasic modulation is characterized by low levels of the drugs suppressing HMG-CoA reductase activity which is restored to either control or above control values at higher drug concentrations. This modulatory effect of the lanosterol demethylase inhibitors upon HMG-CoA reductase was not observed in the lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylase-deficient mutant AR45. Suppression of HMG-CoA reductase activity is shown to be due to a decrease in the amount of enzyme protein consistent with a steroidal regulatory mechanism. Collectively, the results establish that lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylation, but not 24,25-epoxylanosterol formation, is required to suppress HMG-CoA reductase in the manner described by lanosterol demethylase inhibitors.     

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase is sterol-dependently cleaved by cathepsin L-type cysteine protease in the isolated endoplasmic reticulum

We have recently shown that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein, is degraded in ER membranes prepared from sterol pretreated cells and that such degradation is catalyzed by a cysteine protease within the reductase membrane domain. The use of various protease inhibitors suggested that degradation of HMG-CoA reductase in vitro is catalyzed by a cathepsin L-type cysteine protease. Purified ER contains E-64-sensitive cathepsin L activity whose inhibitor sensitivity was well matched to that of HMG-CoA reductase degradation in vitro. CLIK-148 (cathepsin L inhibitor) inhibited degradation of HMG-CoA reductase in vitro. Purified cathepsin L also efficiently cleaved HMG-CoA reductase in isolated ER preparations. To determine whether a cathepsin L-type cysteine protease is involved in sterol-regulated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase in vivo, we examined the effect of E-64d, a membrane-permeable cysteine protease inhibitor, in living cells. While lactacystin, a proteasome-specific inhibitor, inhibited sterol-dependent degradation of HMG-CoA reductase, E-64d failed to do so. In contrast, degradation of HMG-CoA reductase in sonicated cells was inhibited by E-64d, CLIK-148, and leupeptin but not by lactacystin. Our results indicate that HMG-CoA reductase is degraded by the proteasome under normal conditions in living cells and that it is cleaved by cathepsin L leaked from lysosomes during preparation of the ER, thus clarifying the apparently paradoxical in vivo and in vitro results. Cathepsin L-dependent proteolysis was observed to occur preferentially in sterol-pretreated cells, suggesting that sterol treatment results in conformational changes in HMG-CoA reductase that make it more susceptible to such cleavage.     

Inhibition of degradation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase in vivo by cysteine protease inhibitors

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase is a key regulatory enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis and is located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A fusion protein, HMGal, consisting of the membrane domain of HMG-CoA reductase fused to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells from the SV40 promoter, was previously constructed and was found to respond to regulatory signals for degradation in a similar fashion to the intact HMG-CoA reductase. Degradation of both HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal in CHO cells was enhanced by addition of mevalonate or low density lipoprotein (LDL). In this report we show that 2 cysteine protease inhibitors, N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal (ALLN) and N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-methioninal (ALLM), completely inhibit the mevalonate- or LDL-accelerated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal and also block the basal degradation of these enzymes. It has been shown that in vitro these protease inhibitors inhibit the activities of Ca(2+)-dependent neutral proteases as well as lysosomal proteases, including cathepsin L, cathepsin b, and cathepsin D. However, the mevalonate-accelerated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal is not affected by lysosomotropic agents, suggesting that the site of action of these inhibitor peptides in preventing the degradation is not the cathepsins. In brefeldin A-treated cells, where protein export from the ER is blocked, ALLN is still effective in inhibiting the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal. These results indicate the involvement of non-lysosomal Ca(2+)-dependent proteases in the basal and the accelerated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal. Enzymatic assays in vitro and immunoblot analyses have revealed calpain- and calpastatin-like proteins in CHO cells. The activities and the amount of these proteins do not change under conditions of enhanced degradation, indicating that the levels of these proteins are not subject to mevalonate regulation.     

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase and T cell receptor alpha subunit are differentially degraded in the endoplasmic reticulum.

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) is located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and responds to rapid degradation which is regulated by mevalonate or sterols. T cell antigen receptor alpha chain (TCR alpha) is also known to be rapidly degraded within the ER. In both cases, the membrane domains of the proteins have a crucial role in their rapid degradation. In order to investigate protein degradation in the ER, we compared the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and TCR alpha in the same Chinese hamster ovary cells. Among the protease inhibitors tested, N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-methioninal blocks the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and also inhibits the degradation of TCR alpha. On the other hand, N-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone and N-carbobenzoxy-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone inhibit the degradation of TCR alpha but have no effect on the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase. Diamide, a thiol-oxidizing agent, blocks the degradation of both HMG-CoA reductase and TCR alpha. Perturbation of cellular Ca2+ attenuates the rapid degradation of HMG-CoA reductase but does not affect the degradation of TCR alpha. Furthermore, thapsigargin, a selective ER Ca(2+)-ATPase inhibitor, and Co2+, a potent Ca2+ antagonist, increase the half-life of HMG-CoA reductase but not that of TCR alpha. Energy inhibitors diminish the rapid degradation of HMG-CoA reductase but not that of TCR alpha. These results suggest that although HMG-CoA reductase and TCR alpha appear to be degraded in the same subcellular compartment, the mechanisms responsible for degradation differ.     

The role of N-linked glycosylation in the regulation of activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase and proliferation of SV40-transformed 3T3 cells.

The effects of glycosylation inhibitors on the proliferation of SV40-transformed 3T3 cells (SV-3T3) were examined in vitro. Whereas swainsonine and castanospermine, which inhibit distal steps in the glycosylational processing, exerted marginal or no effects on cell proliferation, a proximal inhibitor, tunicamycin, efficiently decreased the rate of DNA synthesis and also inhibited the activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase. The inhibitory effects of tunicamycin on cell proliferation could be partially reversed by addition of dolichol, a metabolite in the pathway regulated by HMG-CoA reductase. This finding suggests that tunicamycin exerts at least one of its effects on cell proliferation by modulating the activity of HMG-CoA reductase.     

In situ accumulation of 3 beta-hydroxylanost-8-en-32-aldehyde in hepatocyte cultures. A putative regulator of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase activity

Biphasic modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) has been demonstrated in primary hepatocyte cultures treated with the lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylase inhibitor miconazole. At concentrations of the drug which lead to suppressed levels of reductase activity, the appearance of a polar, mevalonate-derived sterol is noted. Cochromatography of the identified sterol with 3 beta-hydroxylanost-8-en-32-aldehyde tentatively identified the metabolite as a lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylation intermediate. Subsequent isolation and characterization of the metabolite by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy confirmed this structural assignment. When the lanosterol 14 alpha-methyl demethylase-deficient mutant, AR45, was treated with authentic metabolite, a suppression of HMG-CoA reductase was observed. These results demonstrate that metabolism of the oxygenated biosynthetic intermediate is not required to suppress reductase activity. The results also strongly support the hypothesis that oxygenated 14 alpha-methyl demethylase intermediates are endogenously generated modulators of HMG-CoA reductase activity.     

Regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity in human fibroblasts by reversible phosphorylation: modulation of enzymatic activity by low density lipoprotein, sterols, and mevalonolactone

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase exists in interconvertible active and inactive forms in cultured fibroblasts from normal and familial hypercholesterolemic subjects. The inactive form can be activated by endogenous or added phosphoprotein phosphatase. Active or partially active HMG-CoA reductase in cell extracts was inactivated by a ATP-Mg-dependent reductase kinase. Incubation of phosphorylated (inactive) HMG-CoA reductase with purified phosphoprotein phosphatase was associated with dephosphorylation (reactivation) and complete restoration of HMG-CoA reductase activity. Low density lipoprotein, 25-hydroxycholesterol, 7-ketocholesterol, and mevalonolactone suppressed HMG-CoA reductase activity by a short-term mechanism involving reversible phosphorylation. 25-Hydroxycholesterol, which enters cells without the requirement of low density lipoprotein-receptor binding, inhibited the HMG-CoA reductase activity in familial hypercholesterolemic cells by reversible phosphorylation. Measurement of the short-term effects of inhibitors on the rate of cholesterol synthesis from radiolabeled acetate revealed that HMG-CoA reductase phosphorylation was responsible for rapid suppression of sterol synthesis. Reductase kinase activity of cultured fibroblasts was also affected by reversible phosphorylation. The active (phosphorylated) reductase kinase can be inactivated by dephosphorylation with phosphatase. Inactive reductase kinase can be reactivated by phosphorylation with ATP-Mg and a second protein kinase from rat liver, designated reductase kinase kinase. Reductase kinase kinase activity has been shown to be present in the extracts of cultured fibroblasts. The combined results represent the initial demonstration of a short-term regulation of HMG-CoA reductase activity and cholesterol synthesis in normal and receptor-negative cultured fibroblasts involving reversible phosphorylation of both HMG-CoA reductase and reductase kinase.     

Rat liver 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase. Catalysis of the reverse reaction and two half-reactions

Rat liver 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase catalyzes, in addition to its normal biosynthetic or forward reaction (HMG-CoA + 2 NADPH + 2H+----mevalonate + 2 NAD+ + CoASH), the reverse reaction (mevalonate + CoASH + 2 NADP+----HMG-CoA + 2 NADPH + 2H+) and two "half-reactions" that involve the presumed intermediate mevaldate (mevaldate + CoASH + NADP+----HMG-CoA + NADPH + H+ and mevaldate + NADPH + H+----mevalonate + NADP+). These reactions were studied using both enzyme solubilized by the traditional freeze-thaw method and enzyme solubilized with a nonionic detergent in the presence of inhibitors of proteolysis. All four reactions were inhibited by mevinolin, a known inhibitor of the forward (biosynthetic) reaction catalyzed by HMG-CoA reductase. When the enzyme was inactivated by ATP and a cytosolic, ADP-dependent HMG-CoA reductase kinase, the rates of both the forward reaction and the half-reactions decreased to comparable extents. Although coenzyme A is not a stoichiometric participant in the second half-reaction (mevaldate + NADPH + H+----mevalonate + NADP+), it was required as an activator of this reaction. This observation implies that coenzyme A may remain bound to the enzyme throughout the normal catalytic cycle of HMG-CoA reductase.     

Phosphorylation and modulation of the enzymic activity of native and protease-cleaved purified hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase by a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase

A Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase has been purified which catalyzed the phosphorylation and concomitant inactivation of both the microsomal native (100,000 Da) and protease-cleaved purified 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) (53,000 Da) fragments. This low molecular weight brain cytosolic Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase phosphorylates histone H1, synapsin I, and purified HMG-CoA reductase as major substrates. The kinase, purified by sequential chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, calmodulin affinity resin, and high performance liquid chromatography (TSKG 3000 SW) is an electrophoretically homogeneous protein of approximately 110,000 Da. The molecular weight of the holoenzyme, substrate specificity, subunit protein composition, subunit autophosphorylation, subunit isoelectric points, and subunit phosphopeptide analysis suggest that this kinase of Mr 110,000 may be different from other previously reported Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinases. Maximal phosphorylation by the low molecular form of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase of purified HMG-CoA reductase revealed a stoichiometry of approximately 0.5 mol of phosphate/mol of 53,000-Da enzyme. Dephosphorylation of phosphorylated and inactivated native and purified HMG-CoA reductase revealed a time-dependent loss of 32P-bound radioactivity and reactivation of enzyme activity. Based on the results reported here, we propose that HMG-CoA reductase activity may be modulated by yet another kinase system involving covalent phosphorylation. The elucidation of a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent HMG-CoA reductase kinase-mediated modulation of HMG-CoA reductase activity involving reversible phosphorylation may provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of cholesterol biosynthesis.     

Mevalonolactone inhibits the rate of synthesis and enhances the rate of degradation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in rat hepatocytes

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl(HMG)-coenzyme A reductase purified from rat liver in the absence of protease inhibitors is composed of two distinct polypeptides of Mr = 51,000 and 52,500. Antibody raised to enzyme purified from rats fed a diet supplemented with cholestyramine and mevinolin inactivated HMG-CoA reductase. The antibody specifically precipitated a polypeptide of Mr = 94,000 from rat liver cells that had been previously incubated with [35S]methionine. The immunoprecipitation of the 35S-labeled polypeptide of Mr = 94,000 was prevented by addition of unlabeled pure HMG-CoA reductase (Mr = 51,000 and 52,500). Incubation of rat liver cells with mevalonolactone resulted in a decreased activity of HMG-CoA reductase and in a 40% decrease in the rate of incorporation of [35S]methionine into the immunoprecipitable reductase polypeptide of Mr = 94,000. In pulse-chase experiments, mevalonolactone enhanced the rate of degradation of the Mr = 94,000 polypeptide 3-fold. We propose that endogenous microsomal HMG-CoA reductase has a subunit of Mr = 94,000 and that the synthesis and degradation of this polypeptide are regulated by either mevalonolactone or, more likely, a product of mevalonolactone metabolism.     

Tissue-selective acute effects of inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase on cholesterol biosynthesis in lens

Inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the key enzyme that regulates cholesterol synthesis, lower serum cholesterol by increasing the activity of low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors in the liver. In rat liver slices, the dose-response curves for inhibition of [14C]acetate incorporation into cholesterol were similar for the active acid forms of lovastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin. The calculated IC50 values were approximately 20-50 nM for all three drugs. Interest in possible extrahepatic effects of reductase inhibitors is based on recent findings that some inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, lovastatin and simvastatin, can cause cataracts in dogs at high doses. To evaluate the effects of these drugs on cholesterol synthesis in the lens, we developed a facile, reproducible ex vivo assay using lenses from weanling rats explanted to tissue culture medium. [14C]Acetate incorporation into cholesterol was proportional to time and to the number of lenses in the incubation and was completely eliminated by high concentrations of inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase. At the same time, incorporation into free fatty acids was not inhibited. In marked contrast to the liver, the dose-response curve for pravastatin in lens was shifted two orders of magnitude to the right of the curves for lovastatin acid and simvastatin acid. The calculated IC50 values were 4.5 +/- 0.7 nM, 5.2 +/- 1.5 nM, and 469 +/- 42 nM for lovastatin acid, simvastatin acid, and pravastatin, respectively. Thus, while equally active in the liver, pravastatin was 100-fold less inhibitory in the lens compared to lovastatin and simvastatin. Similar selectivity was observed with rabbit lens. Following oral dosing, ex vivo inhibition of [14C]acetate incorporation into cholesterol in rat liver was similar for lovastatin and pravastatin, but cholesterol synthesis in lens was inhibited by lovastatin by as much as 70%. This inhibition was dose-dependent and no inhibition in lens was observed with pravastatin even at very high doses. This tissue-selective inhibition of sterol synthesis by pravastatin was likely due to the inability of pravastatin to enter the intact lens since pravastatin and lovastatin acid were equally effective inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase enzyme activity in whole lens homogenates. We conclude that pravastatin is tissue-selective with respect to lens and liver in its ability to inhibit cholesterol synthesis.     

Enterococcus faecalis acetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase/3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, a dual-function protein of isopentenyl diphosphate biosynthesis

Many bacteria employ the nonmevalonate pathway for synthesis of isopentenyl diphosphate, the monomer unit for isoprenoid biosynthesis. However, gram-positive cocci exclusively use the mevalonate pathway, which is essential for their growth (E. I. Wilding et al., J. Bacteriol. 182:4319-4327, 2000). Enzymes of the mevalonate pathway are thus potential targets for drug intervention. Uniquely, the enterococci possess a single open reading frame, mvaE, that appears to encode two enzymes of the mevalonate pathway, acetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. Western blotting revealed that the mvaE gene product is a single polypeptide in Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus hirae. The mvaE gene was cloned from E. faecalis and was expressed with an N-terminal His tag in Escherichia coli. The gene product was then purified by nickel affinity chromatography. As predicted, the 86.5-kDa mvaE gene product catalyzed both the acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and HMG-CoA reductase reactions. Temperature optima, DeltaH(a) and K(m) values, and pH optima were determined for both activities. Kinetic studies of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase implicated a ping-pong mechanism. CoA acted as an inhibitor competitive with acetyl-CoA. A millimolar K(i) for a statin drug confirmed that E. faecalis HMG-CoA reductase is a class II enzyme. The oxidoreductant was NADP(H). A role for an active-site histidine during the first redox step of the HMG-CoA, reductase reaction was suggested by the ability of diethylpyrocarbonate to block formation of mevalonate from HMG-CoA, but not from mevaldehyde. Sequence comparisons with other HMG-CoA reductases suggest that the essential active-site histidine is His756. The mvaE gene product represents the first example of an HMG-CoA reductase fused to another enzyme.     

Allosteric activation of rat liver cytosolic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase kinase by nucleoside diphosphates

Extensively purified rat liver cytosolic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase kinase was used to examine the role of ADP in inactivation of HMG-CoA reductase (EC 1.1.1.34). Solubilized HMG-CoA reductase was a suitable substrate for HMG-CoA reductase kinase. At sufficiently high concentrations of solubilized HMG-CoA reductase, reductase kinase activity approached that measured using microsomal HMG-CoA reductase as substrate. Inactivation of solubilized HMG-CoA reductase by HMG-CoA reductase kinase required both MgATP and ADP. Other nucleoside diphosphates, including alpha, beta-methylene-ADP, could replace ADP. HMG-CoA reductase kinase catalyzed phosphorylation of bovine serum albumin fraction V by [gamma-32P]ATP. This process also required a nucleoside diphosphate (e.g. alpha, beta-methylene-ADP). Nucleoside diphosphates thus act on HMG-CoA reductase kinase, not on HMG-CoA reductase. For inactivation of HMG-CoA reductase, the ability of nucleoside triphosphates to replace ATP decreased in the order ATP greater than dATP greater than GTP greater than ITP, UTP. TTP and CTP did not replace ATP. Both for inactivation of HMG-CoA reductase and for phosphorylation of bovine serum albumin protein, the ability of nucleoside diphosphates to replace ADP decreased in the order ADP greater than CDP, dADP greater than UDP. GDP did not replace ADP. Nucleoside di- and triphosphates thus appear to bind to different sites on HMG-CoA reductase kinase. Nucleoside diphosphates act as allosteric activators of HMG-CoA reductase kinase. For inactivation of HMG-CoA reductase by HMG-CoA reductase kinase, Km for ATP was 140 microM and the activation constant, Ka, for ADP was 1.4 mM. The concentration of ADP required to modulate reductase kinase activity in vitro falls within the physiological range. Modulation of HMG-CoA reductase kinase activity, and hence of HMG-CoA reductase activity, by changes in intracellular ADP concentrations thus may represent a control mechanism of potential physiological significance.     

Effects of hypocholesterolaemic agents on the expression and activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase in the fat body of the German cockroach

In the fat body of adult Blattella germanica females, the expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) during the first reproductive cycle is parallel to that of vitellogenin, suggesting a functional link between the mevalonate pathway, and vitellogenesis and reproduction. We have studied the effects of compactin and fluvastatin, two inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, on the expression and activity of the enzyme in the fat body, and on the ootheca formation, ootheca viability, and number of larvae per viable ootheca. Short-term assays showed that both compounds reduce the protein levels and enzymatic activity of HMG-CoA reductase, and long-term experiments revealed that fluvastatin impairs embryo development.