Purification and Characterization of the Bifunctional Enzyme Lysine-Ketoglutarate Reductase-Saccharopine Dehydrogenase from Maize

The first enzyme of the lysine degradation pathway in maize (Zea mays L.), lysine-ketoglutarate reductase, condenses lysine and [alpha]-ketoglutarate into saccharopine using NADPH as a cofactor, whereas the second, saccharopine dehydrogenase, converts saccharopine to [alpha]-aminoadipic-[delta]-semialdehyde and glutamic acid using NAD+ or NADP+ as a cofactor. The reductase and dehydrogenase activities are optimal at pH 7.0 and 9.0, respectively. Both enzyme activities, co-purified on diethylaminoethyl-cellulose and gel filtration columns, were detected on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels as single bands with identical electrophoretic mobilities and share tissue specificity for the endosperm. The highly purified preparation containing the reductase and dehydrogenase activities showed a single polypeptide band of 125 kD on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The native form of the enzyme is a dimer of 260 kD. Limited proteolysis with elastase indicated that lysine-ketoglutarate reductase and saccharopine dehydrogenase from maize endosperm are located in two functionally independent domains of a bifunctional polypeptide.     

Purification and characterization of a mitochondrial isozyme of C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

C1-Tetrahydrofolate synthase is a trifunctional polypeptide found in eukaryotic organisms that catalyzes 10-formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (EC 6.3.4.3), 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate cyclohydrolase (EC 3.5.4.9), and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (EC 1.5.1.5) activities. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase is encoded by the ADE3 locus, yet ade3 mutants have low but detectable levels of these enzyme activities. Synthetase, cyclohydrolase, and dehydrogenase activities in an ade3 deletion strain co-purify 4,000-fold to yield a single protein species as seen on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The native molecular weight of the isozyme (Mr = 200,000 by gel exclusion chromatography) and the size of its subunits (Mr = 100,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) are similar to those of C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase. Cell fractionation experiments show that the isozyme, but not C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase, is localized in the mitochondria. Genetic studies indicate that the isozyme is encoded in the nuclear genome. Peptide mapping experiments show that C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase and the isozyme are not structurally identical. However, immunotitration experiments and amino acid sequence analysis suggest that C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase and the isozyme are structurally related. We propose to call the isozyme "mitochondrial C1-tetrahydrofolate synthase."     

Isolation and characterization of a high molecular weight protein phosphatase from rabbit skeletal muscle

A high molecular weight protein phosphatase (phosphatase H-II) was isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle. The enzyme had a Mr = 260,000 as determined by gel filtration and possessed two types of subunit, of Mr = 70,000 and 35,000, respectively, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. On ethanol treatment, the enzyme was dissociated to an active species of Mr = 35,000. The purified phosphatase dephosphorylated lysine-rich histone, phosphorylase a, glycogen synthase, and phosphorylase kinase. It dephosphorylated both the alpha- and beta-subunit phosphates of phosphorylase kinase, with a preference for the dephosphorylation of the alpha-subunit phosphate over the beta-subunit phosphate of phosphorylase kinase. The enzyme also dephosphorylated p-nitrophenyl phosphate at alkaline pH. Phosphatase H-II is distinct from the major phosphorylase phosphatase activities in the muscle extracts. Its enzymatic properties closely resemble that of a Mr = 33,500 protein phosphatase (protein phosphatase C-II) isolated from the same tissue. However, despite their similarity of enzymatic properties, the Mr = 35,000 subunit of phosphatase H-II is physically different from phosphatase C-II as revealed by their different sizes on sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. On trypsin treatment of the enzyme, this subunit is converted to a form which is a similar size to phosphatase C-II.     

Potato tuber succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase: purification and characterization

Succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) has been purified from potato tubers with 39% yield, 832-fold purification, and a specific activity of 6.5 units/mg protein. The final preparation was homogeneous as judged from native and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gel filtration on Sepharose 6B gave a relative molecular mass (Mr) of 145,000 for the native enzyme. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gave a single polypeptide band of Mr 35,000. Thus the enzyme appears to be a tetramer of identical subunits. Chromatofocusing of the enzyme gave a pI of 8.7. The enzyme was maximally active at pH 9.0 in 100 mM sodium pyrophosphate buffer. In 100 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 9.0, the enzyme gave only 20% of the activity found in pyrophosphate buffer and had a shorter linear rate. The enzyme was specific for succinate semialdehyde (SSA) as substrate and could not utilize acetaldehyde, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, malonaldehyde, lactate, or ethanol as substrates. The enzyme was also specific for NAD+ as cofactor and NADP+ and 3-acetylpyridine adenine dinucleotide could not serve as cofactors. Potato SSADH had a Km of 4.6 microM for SSA when assayed in pyrophosphate buffer and was inhibited by that substrate at concentrations greater than 120 microM. The Km for NAD+ was found to be 31 microM. The enzyme required exogenous addition of a thiol compound for maximal activity and was inhibited by the thiol-directed reagents p-hydroxymercuribenzoate, dithionitrobenzoate, and N-ethyl-maleimide, by heavy metal ions Hg2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, and Zn2+, and by arsenite. These results indicate a requirement of a SH group for catalytic activity.     

A mitochondrial NADP+-dependent reductase related to the 4-aminobutyrate shunt. Purification, characterization, and mechanism

Succinic semialdehyde reductase, a NADP+-dependent enzyme, was purified from whole pig brain homogenates. The enzyme preparation migrates as a single protein and activity band on analytical gel electrophoresis. Succinic semialdehyde reductase (Mr 110,000) catalyzes the reduction of succinic semialdehyde to 4-hydroxybutyrate. The equilibrium constant of the reaction is Keq = 5.8 X 10(7) M-1 at pH 7 and 25 degrees C. The inhibition kinetic patterns obtained when 4-hydroxybutyrate or substrate analogs are used as inhibitors of the reaction catalyzed by the reductase are consistent with an ordered sequential mechanism, in which the coenzyme NADPH adds to the enzyme before the aldehyde substrate. A specific aldehyde reductase was also purified to homogeneity from brain mitochondria preparations. Its catalytic properties are identical to those of the enzyme isolated from whole brain homogenates. It is postulated that two enzymes, i.e. a NAD+-dependent dehydrogenase and a NADP+-dependent reductase, participate in the metabolism of succinic semialdehyde in the mitochondria matrix.     

Enzymatic detection of phospholipid biosynthetic enzymes after electroblotting.

The membrane-associated enzymes phosphatidylinositol synthase (CDPdiacylglycerol:myo-inositol 3-phosphatidyltransferase; EC 2.7.8.11) and phosphatidylserine synthase (CDPdiacylglycerol:L-serine O-phosphatidyltransferase; EC 2.7.8.8) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were detected enzymatically after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electroblotting. Enzyme activities were measured on nitrocellulose blots by using pure enzyme preparations as well as Triton X-100-solubilized membranes. Phosphatidylinositol synthase activity migrated to Mr 34,000, and phosphatidylserine synthase activity migrated to Mr 23,000.     

Lysine biosynthesis in selected pathogenic fungi: characterization of lysine auxotrophs and the cloned LYS1 gene of Candida albicans.

The alpha-aminoadipate pathway for the biosynthesis of lysine is present only in fungi and euglena. Until now, this unique metabolic pathway has never been investigated in the opportunistic fungal pathogens Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus fumigatus. Five of the eight enzymes (homocitrate synthase, homoisocitrate dehydrogenase, alpha-aminoadipate reductase, saccharopine reductase, and saccharopine dehydrogenase) of the alpha-aminoadipate pathway and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, a glycolytic enzyme used as a control, were demonstrated in wild-type cells of these organisms. All enzymes were present in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the pathogenic organisms except C. neoformans 32608 serotype C, which exhibited no saccharopine reductase activity. The levels of enzyme activity varied considerably from strain to strain. Variation among organisms was also observed for the control enzyme. Among the pathogens, C. albicans exhibited much higher homocitrate synthase, homoisocitrate dehydrogenase, and alpha-aminoadipate reductase activities. Seven lysine auxotrophs of C. albicans and one of Candida tropicalis were characterized biochemically to determine the biochemical blocks and gene-enzyme relationships. Growth responses to alpha-aminoadipate- and lysine-supplemented media, accumulation of alpha-aminoadipate semialdehyde, and the lack of enzyme activity revealed that five of the mutants (WA104, WA153, WC7-1-3, WD1-31-2, and A5155) were blocked at the alpha-aminoadipate reductase step, two (STN57 and WD1-3-6) were blocked at the saccharopine dehydrogenase step, and the C. tropicalis mutant (X-16) was blocked at the saccharopine reductase step. The cloned LYS1 gene of C. albicans in the recombinant plasmid YpB1078 complemented saccharopine dehydrogenase (lys1) mutants of S. cerevisiae and C. albicans. The Lys1+ transformed strains exhibited significant saccharopine dehydrogenase activity in comparison with untransformed mutants. The cloned LYS1 gene has been localized on a 1.8-kb HindIII DNA insert of the recombinant plasmid YpB1041RG1. These results established the gene-enzyme relationship in the second half of the alpha-aminoadipate pathway. The presence of this unique pathway in the pathogenic fungi could be useful for their rapid detection and control.     

Purification and properties of the catalytic subunit of the branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase phosphatase from bovine kidney mitochondria

The catalytic subunit of the branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase (BCKDH) phosphatase (Damuni, Z., Merryfield, M.L., Humphreys, J.S., and Reed, L.J., (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 4335-4338) has been purified over 50,000-fold from extracts of bovine kidney mitochondria. The apparently homogeneous protein consists of a single polypeptide chain with an apparent Mr = approximately 33,000 as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. BCKDH phosphatase, with an apparent Mr = 460,000, was dissociated to its catalytic subunit with no apparent change in activity, at an early stage in the purification procedure by treatment with 6 M urea. The specific activity of the catalytic subunit was 1,500-2,500 units/mg. The catalytic subunit exhibited approximately 10% maximal activity with 32P-labeled pyruvate dehydrogenase complex but was inactive with phosphorylase a and with p-nitrophenyl phosphate. The catalytic subunit, like the Mr = 460,000 species, was inhibited by nanomolar concentrations of BCKDH phosphatase inhibitor protein, was unaffected by protein phosphatase inhibitor 1 and inhibitor 2, and was inhibited by nucleoside tri- and diphosphates but not by nucleoside monophosphates.     

Characterization of a Mg2+-dependent phosphatase from turkey gizzard smooth muscle

A Mg2+-dependent phosphatase has been purified to apparent homogeneity from turkey gizzard smooth muscle. The enzyme has a Mr = 43,000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 44,500 as determined by sedimentation equilibrium centrifugation under nondenaturing conditions. Using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate all of the phosphatase activity was found to migrate as a single band, subsequently shown to have an Mr = 43,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme is inactive in the absence of Mg2+ and maximum activity is reached at a free concentration of 12 mM Mg2+. Mn2+ can replace Mg2+, but the activity is only about one-fifth of that found with 12 mM Mg2+. NaF and the nucleotides ATP, ADP, and AMP inhibit phosphatase activity. This inhibition appears to be independent of their ability to bind Mg2+. The phosphatase purified from turkey smooth muscle appears to be identical with that purified from canine heart (Binstock, J. F., and Li, H. C. (1979) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 87, 1226-1234) and rat liver (Hiraga, A., Kikuchi, K., Tamura, S., and Tsuiki, S. (1981) Eur. J. Biochem. 119, 503-510).     

Regulation of lysine catabolism through lysine-ketoglutarate reductase and saccharopine dehydrogenase in Arabidopsis.

In plant and mammalian cells, excess lysine is catabolized by a pathway that is initiated by two enzymes, namely, lysine-ketoglutarate reductase and saccharopine dehydrogenase. In this study, we report the cloning of an Arabidopsis cDNA encoding a bifunctional polypeptide that contains both of these enzyme activities linked to each other. RNA gel blot analysis identified two mRNA bands-a large mRNA containing both lysine-ketoglutarate reductase and saccharopine dehydrogenase sequences and a smaller mRNA containing only the saccharopine dehydrogenase sequence. However, DNA gel blot hybridization using either the lysine-ketoglutarate reductase or the saccharopine dehydrogenase cDNA sequence as a probe suggested that the two mRNA populations apparently are encoded by the same gene. To test whether these two mRNAs are functional, protein extracts from Arabidopsis cells were fractionated by anion exchange chromatography. This fractionation revealed two separate peaks-one containing both coeluted lysine-ketoglutarate reductase and saccharopine dehydrogenase activities and the second containing only saccharopine dehydrogenase activity. RNA gel blot analysis and in situ hybridization showed that the gene encoding lysine-ketoglutarate reductase and saccharopine dehydrogenase is significantly upregulated in floral organs and in embryonic tissues of developing seeds. Our results suggest that lysine catabolism is subject to complex developmental and physiological regulation, which may operate at gene expression as well as post-translational levels.     

Purification and characterization of bovine lung calmodulin-dependent cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase. An enzyme containing calmodulin as a subunit

A rabbit lung cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) prepared by successive chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and G-200 Sephadex columns in the presence of EGTA was activated by Ca2+ and contained calmodulin (CaM), suggesting that the enzyme exists as a stable CaM X PDE complex (Sharma, R. K., and Wirch, E. (1979) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 91, 338-344). An enzyme with similar properties was demonstrated to exist in bovine lung extract. C1, a monoclonal antibody previously shown to react with the 60-kDa subunit of bovine brain PDE isozymes (Sharma, R. K., Adachi, A.-M., Adachi, K., and Wang, J. H.) (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 9248-9254), cross-reacted with the lung enzyme. Purification of the lung enzyme by C1 antibody immunoaffinity chromatography rendered the enzyme dependent on exogenous CaM for Ca2+ stimulation. Further purification was achieved by CaM affinity chromatography. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of the purified enzyme showed a predominant polypeptide of Mr 58,000 and a minor band of about 50,000. The purified enzyme could be reconstituted into a PDE X CaM complex upon incubation with CaM in the presence of either Ca2+ or EGTA. The reconstituted protein complex did not dissociate in buffers containing 0.1 mM EGTA. Analysis of the purified and reconstituted lung phosphodiesterase by Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration indicated that the lung enzyme is a dimeric protein and that the reconstituted enzyme contained two molecules of calmodulin. Analysis of the reconstituted phosphodiesterase by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis also showed it to contain equimolar calmodulin and the enzyme subunit. The CaM antagonists, fluphenazine, compound 48/80, and calcineurin at concentrations abolishing CaM stimulation of bovine brain PDE had little effect on the activity of reconstituted bovine lung phosphodiesterase.     

The co-purification and common identity of cholyl CoA:glycine- and cholyl CoA:taurine-N-acyltransferase activities from bovine liver.

A procedure for the purification of cholyl CoA:glycine and taurine N-acyltransferase activities from the soluble cell fraction of bovine liver is described. The procedure results is an 900-fold enrichment relative to the soluble cell fraction. The final preparation gives a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Mr = 50,900, and runs as a single peak, Mr = 47,000, on gel filtration. The preparation is approximately 80% pure as judged by isoelectric focusing and focuses at a pH of 6.6. The glycine and taurine conjugating activities co-purified and did not separate to any extent in any of the chromatographic steps employed, including a gradient elution from an affinity column and an isoelectric focusing column. Also, kinetic analysis revealed that glycine and taurine appear to compete for a common active site. The two activities had identical temperature-denaturation curves and were equivalently stabilized against temperature denaturation by taurocholate. This data provides strong evidence for a common enzyme for both glycine and taurine conjugation in bovine liver. A preliminary kinetic characterization of the enzyme revealed non-Michaelis-Menten kinetics.     

Nitric oxide reductase. Purification from Paracoccus denitrificans with use of a single column and some characteristics.

Nitric oxide reductase was purified from Paracoccus denitrificans very nearly to homogeneity by a simple method that involved the use of octyl glucoside to solubilize the enzyme from membranes and required a single hydroxyapatite column. The enzyme had specific activities of about 10 mumol NO reduced x min-1 x mg-1 at pH 6.5 in an amperometric assay system using phenazine methosulfate/ascorbate as the reducing agent and about 22 mumol NO reduced x min-1 x mg-1 at pH 5.0, which is the optimum pH. These values are based on average rates over kinetically complex progress curves and would be about three times greater if based on maximum rate values. The enzyme appeared to be reversibly inhibited by NOaq and to have a Km too low (probably less than or equal to 1 microM) to measure reliably by the amperometric method. The effective second-order rate constant of the enzyme lay within 1 to 2 orders of magnitude of the diffusion controlled limit. The enzyme was composed of a tight complex of two cytochromes: a cytochrome c (Mr = 17,500) and a cytochrome b (Mr = 38,000). The mole ratios of cytochrome c to cytochrome b and Mr 17,500 peptide to Mr 38,000 peptide were both about 1.7, and the heme content was about 3 mol/73,000 g (38,000 + 2(17,500)). Each subunit therefore contained only one heme group. The Mr 38,000 peptide aggregated when heated in the sample buffer used for sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition to the ascorbate-based activity, the enzyme showed a little NADH-NO oxidoreductase activity which was not inhibited by antimycin A. The enzyme lost activity with a half-life of about 2 days at 4 degrees C but could be preserved at -20 degrees C and in liquid nitrogen. It seemed not to be inactivated by aerobic solutions. These observations, and the recent ones by Carr and Ferguson (Carr, G.J., and Ferguson, S.J. (1990) Biochem. J. 269, 423-429) with a partially purified preparation of nitric oxide reductase, establish that the enzyme from Pa. denitrificans is a cytochrome bc complex which resembles that from Pseudomonas stutzeri (Heiss, B., Frunzke, K., and Zumft, W.G. (1989) J. Bacteriol. 171, 3288-3297). There would appear to be no functional relationship between nitric oxide reductase and a Mr = 34,000 peptide of Pa. denitrificans membranes reported previously to be present in purified preparations of a nitric oxide reductase (Hoglen, J., and Hollocher, T.C. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 7556-7563).     

Biosynthesis of human cystathionine beta-synthase in cultured fibroblasts

A single specific radiolabeled polypeptide with an apparent Mr = 63,000 was recovered when cystathionine beta-synthase (EC 4.2.1.22) was precipitated from extracts of radiolabeled cultured human fibroblasts with an antiserum raised against pure human liver synthase, and the immunocomplexes were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Partial proteolysis of this fibroblast subunit and of the subunit of pure human liver synthase (Mr = 48,000) produced similar peptide patterns. Pulse-chase experiments, however, did not provide any evidence for post-translational modification of the fibroblast synthase subunit into a smaller "hepatic" form. Immunoprecipitation of polypeptides synthesized in vitro from human fibroblast mRNA revealed a polypeptide with the same mobility on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as the synthase subunit found in whole cell extracts. We conclude that the Mr = 63,000 subunit is the primary translational product of the gene for cystathionine beta-synthase in human fibroblasts.     

Solubilization of the 97-kDa native form of liver microsomal 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase

Liver microsomal 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase was partially purified from cholestyramine-fed rats by sequential extraction of the membrane with 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) and polyethylene glycol nonylphenyl ether (Triton N-101) and solubilized by incorporation of the resulting insoluble protein preparation into a detergent mixture of Triton N-101 and sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate (Sarkosyl) in the presence of high salt. The purification procedure resulted in approximately a 3-4-fold increase in specific activity compared with the microsomal fraction, and the enzyme was recovered with yields as high as 63%. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and a blotting experiment using antiserum to the purified 53,000-dalton reductase fragment showed that the major immunoreactive polypeptide had a Mr of 97,000, that expected for the native intact form of the enzyme (Chin, D. J., Gil, G., Russell, D. W., Liscum, L., Luskey, K. L., Basu, S. K., Okayama, H., Berg, P., Goldstein, J. L., and Brown, M. S. (1984) Nature 308, 613-617). In addition, the effect of various detergents on the activity and stability of the membrane-bound and the partially purified enzyme was determined, and a method for protection of the reductase from inactivation caused by the addition of anionic detergents to the assay mixture is described.     

Purification and characterization of saccharopine dehydrogenase from baker's yeast.

Saccharopine dehydrogenase (N6-(glutar-2-yl)-L-ly-sine:NAD oxidoreductase (L-lysine-forming)) from baker's yeast was purified to homogenicity. The overall purification was about 1,200-fold over the crude extract with a yield of about 24%. The purified enzyme had a sedimentation coefficient (S20,w) of 3.0 S. The molecular weight determinations by sedimentation equilibrium, Sephadex G-100 gel filtration, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gave a value of about 39,000 and, therefore, saccharopine dehydrogenase is a single polypeptide chain enzyme. A Stokes radius of 27 A and a diffusion constant of 7.9 X 10(-7) cm2 s-1 were obtained from Sephadex gel filtration chromatography. The enzyme had a high isoelectric pH of 10.1. The NH2-terminal sequence was Ala-Ala----. The enzyme possessed 3 cysteine residues/molecule; no disulfide bond was present. Incubation of saccharopine dehydrogenase with p-chloromercuribenzoate or iodoacetate resulted in complete loss of enzyme activity. Whereas the coenzyme and substrates were ineffective in protecting from inactivation by p-chloromercuribenzoate, iodoacetate inhibition was protected by excess coenzyme.     

A novel bovine spinal cord endoprotease with high specificity for dynorphin B

An endopeptidase that converts the opioid peptide dynorphin B (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu-Arg-aRg-Gln-Phe-Lys-Val-Val-Thr) to its bioactive fragment Leu-enkephalin-Arg6 was isolated from bovine spinal cord. The enzyme was purified about 230-fold from a concentrated spinal cord extract. Upon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it stained as a protein of Mr 55,000. The purified enzyme is optimally active at around pH7 and has essential thiol groups. It appears to be highly specific for dynorphin B (Km = 11 microM) but not for alpha-neoendorphin or dynorphin A, two other opioids included in the prodynorphin precursor. From its specificity, molecular size, and inhibitory spectrum, this enzyme is different from other known dynorphin-converting or -degrading enzymes and appears to be a unique and novel endoprotease.     

Structural analysis of NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase from porcine hepatic microsomes. Sequences of proteolytic fragments, cysteine-containing peptides, and a NADPH-protected cysteine peptide

Detergent-solubilized NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase was purified from porcine hepatic microsomes and compared to the rabbit enzyme isolated under identical conditions. The porcine enzyme had an equivalent specific activity toward cytochrome c compared to the rabbit enzyme. When analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the porcine enzyme exhibited a major band at Mr = 80,000 and two additional bands at Mr = 20,000 and 60,000. The 20-kDa fragment was shown to be the COOH-terminal portion of the protein which contains a hydrophobic sequence of 28 residues homologous to the pyrophosphate-binding portion of the FAD-binding protein p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase. The 60-kDa fragment corresponded to the NH2-terminal portion of the protein since this peptide and the intact protein have blocked NH2 terminal. The trypsin-solubilized porcine enzyme has an NH2-terminal sequence which is homologous to the equivalent trypsin-solubilized enzymes from rat and rabbit (80% sequence homology). Eight cysteine-containing peptides were isolated from a tryptic digest of the S-carboxymethylated pig enzyme. Significant sequence homology was not found between these peptides and other flavoproteins, except for one peptide (Glu-Val-Gly-Glu-Thr-Leu-Leu-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys-Arg) which exhibited partial homology with the known NADPH-binding site of glutathione reductase. When the NADPH-protected enzyme was first S-alkylated with unlabeled iodoacetate, NADPH depleted, and further alkylated with 14C-labeled iodoacetate, the above radiolabeled peptide was isolated from a tryptic digest. The equivalent peptide was also isolated by a similar procedure from rabbit liver cytochrome P-450 reductase.     

Purification, Characterization, and Sequence Analysis of 2-Aminomuconic 6-Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes JS45

2-Aminonumconic 6-semialdehyde is an unstable intermediate in the biodegradation of nitrobenzene and 2-aminophenol by Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes JS45. Previous work has shown that enzymes in cell extracts convert 2-aminophenol to 2-aminomuconate in the presence of NAD⁺. In the present work, 2-aminomuconic semialdehyde dehydrogenase was purified and characterized. The purified enzyme migrates as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a molecular mass of 57 kDa. The molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be 160 kDa by gel filtration chromatography. The optimal pH for the enzyme activity was 7.3. The enzyme is able to oxidize several aldehyde analogs, including 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde, hexaldehyde, and benzaldehyde. The gene encoding 2-aminomuconic semialdehyde dehydrogenase was identified by matching the deduced N-terminal amino acid sequence of the gene with the first 21 amino acids of the purified protein. Multiple sequence alignment of various semialdehyde dehydrogenase protein sequences indicates that 2-aminomuconic 6-semialdehyde dehydrogenase has a high degree of identity with 2-hydroxymuconic 6-semialdehyde dehydrogenases.