Intermediate Metabolism of Carbohydrates in Mayorella palestinensis

SYNOPSIS. The mechanism of carbohydrate metabolism was studied in homogenates of the ameba, Mayorella palestinensis. The utilization of intermediates with the formation of lactic acid as the end product of the anaerobic breakdown of the carbohydrates was established. Evidence was obtained for the presence of the main enzymes associated with the Embden-Meyerhof glycolytic scheme. The activity of hexokinase and phosphorylase was ascertained in a M. pakstinensis homogenate. These enzymes have not yet been found among other soil amebas grown in axenic cultures.     

Isozymes of phosphorylase kinase in rabbit skeletal muscle. Functional implications of differences in phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase activities in individual muscle fibers

Immunological and microanalytical methods were used to investigate the two isozymes of phosphorylase kinase, enzyme w and enzyme r, in psoas major and tibialis anterior muscles. Peptide mapping experiments indicated that the alpha subunit of enzyme w and alpha' subunit of enzyme r were structurally very similar. Both subunits were completely immunoprecipitated from muscle extracts with an antibody specific for the beta subunit of the kinase, indicating that alpha and alpha' subunits are completely assembled with beta subunits in adult muscle fibers. The relative amounts of enzymes w and r in single fibers were determined from amounts of alpha and alpha' subunits, which were detected by immunoblotting. Phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase activities were measured in the same fibers, as well as in individual fibers from diaphragm and soleus muscles. Slow oxidative fibers were found to contain low levels of enzyme r, but almost no enzyme w. Considerably more enzyme r was present in fast oxidative-glycolytic fibers. Fast glycolytic fibers contained the most enzyme w, and the highest levels of enzyme r were found in a subgroup of such fibers. Interestingly, more than half of the fast glycolytic fibers analyzed contained both isozymes. In these fibers phosphorylase was positively correlated with enzyme w, but negatively correlated with enzyme r. Total kinase activity ranged 30-fold from the highest in one of the psoas fibers to the lowest in one of the soleus fibers and was closely correlated with the phosphorylase levels. In psoas and soleus fibers, calculated absolute maximal rates for phosphorylase b to a conversion varied almost 2,500-fold.     

Antigenic heterogeneity in the 115,000 Mr major surface antigen of Trichomonas vaginalis

The 115,000-molecular-weight antigen of Trichomonas vaginalis was characterized using monoclonal antibodies developed to three different strains of T. vaginalis and one strain of Tritrichomonas foetus. The antigen was found to be present on all strains or isolates of T. vaginalis examined and was demonstrated to be located on the external surface plasma membrane by agglutination assays and complement-mediated lysis assays. Characteristics of the antigen were assessed with a proteolytic enzyme and periodate oxidation. Periodate treatment of whole T. vaginalis abrogated binding for eight antibodies while use of pronase-treated antigen resulted in loss of antibody binding for two different antibodies. Screening of 19 axenized clinical isolates of T. vaginalis and one strain each of T. foetus and Giardia lamblia with type-specific antibodies delineated three major groups of T. vaginalis based on antigenic specificities (epitope distributions) within the 115,000-molecular-weight antigen. In addition, one epitope of the 115,000-molecular-weight antigen was found only on the immunizing strain. Two epitopes were present on all T. vaginalis isolates as well as T. foetus and G. lamblia. One epitope was common to all T. vaginalis except one. A minimum of six different epitopes of the 115,000-molecular-weight antigen were identified. Antigens purified with type-specific or "common" monoclonal antibodies shared the same partial peptide maps demonstrating relatedness.     

Inhibition of muscle phosphorylase a by natural components of the sarcoplasm

Using a reconstituted glycolytic enzyme system from muscle tissue, it was shown that phosphorylase activity was regulated by some process to provide only the required amount of glucose 1-phosphate, regardless of the percentage of phosphorylase in the a form. By carrying out phosphorylase a assays at high enzyme concentration (2 mg ml^?1), the same concentration as in the reconstituted system and comparable with in vivo, it was shown that (a) the K_m for phosphate was higher and V lower than at low enzyme concentration (2 μg ml^?1), (b) the presence of other glycolytic enzymes at 40 mg ml^?1 suppressed the activity a further threefold, and (c) phosphocreatine inhibited the enzyme. Taken together, these three effects were sufficient to explain the relative lack of activity of phosphorylase a in the reconstituted system. The inhibition by phosphocreatine is seen as a mode of feedback control on phosphorylase activity in vivo.     

Maltose metabolism in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus litoralis: purification and characterization of key enzymes.

Maltose metabolism was investigated in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus litoralis. Maltose was degraded by the concerted action of 4-alpha-glucanotransferase and maltodextrin phosphorylase (MalP). The first enzyme produced glucose and a series of maltodextrins that could be acted upon by MalP when the chain length of glucose residues was equal or higher than four, to produce glucose-1-phosphate. Phosphoglucomutase activity was also detected in T. litoralis cell extracts. Glucose derived from the action of 4-alpha-glucanotransferase was subsequently metabolized via an Embden-Meyerhof pathway. The closely related organism Pyrococcus furiosus used a different metabolic strategy in which maltose was cleaved primarily by the action of an alpha-glucosidase, a p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside (PNPG)-hydrolyzing enzyme, producing glucose from maltose. A PNPG-hydrolyzing activity was also detected in T. litoralis, but maltose was not a substrate for this enzyme. The two key enzymes in the pathway for maltose catabolism in T. litoralis were purified to homogeneity and characterized; they were constitutively synthesized, although phosphorylase expression was twofold induced by maltodextrins or maltose. The gene encoding MalP was obtained by complementation in Escherichia coli and sequenced (calculated molecular mass, 96,622 Da). The enzyme purified from the organism had a specific activity for maltoheptaose, at the temperature for maximal activity (98 degrees C), of 66 U/mg. A Km of 0.46 mM was determined with heptaose as the substrate at 60 degrees C. The deduced amino acid sequence had a high degree of identity with that of the putative enzyme from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 (66%) and with sequences of the enzymes from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima (60%) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (31%) but not with that of the enzyme from E. coli (13%). The consensus binding site for pyridoxal 5'-phosphate is conserved in the T. litoralis enzyme.     

The purine nucleoside phosphorylase from Trichomonas vaginalis is a homologue of the bacterial enzyme

Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasitic protozoan and the causative agent of trichomoniasis. Its primary purine salvage system, consisting of a purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) and a purine nucleoside kinase, presents potential targets for designing selective inhibitors as antitrichomonial drugs because of lack of de novo synthesis of purine nucleotides in this organism. cDNA encoding T. vaginalis PNP was isolated by complementation of an Escherichia coli strain deficient in PNP and expressed, and the recombinant enzyme was purified to apparent homogeneity. It bears only 28% sequence identity with that of human PNP but 57% identity with the E. coli enzyme. Gel filtration showed the enzyme in a hexameric form, similar to the bacterial PNPs. Steady-state kinetic analysis of T. vaginalis PNP-catalyzed reactions gave K(m)'s of 31.5, 59.7, and 6.1 microM for inosine, guanosine, and adenosine in the nucleosidase reaction and 45.6, 35.9, and 12.3 microM for hypoxanthine, guanine, and adenine in the direction of nucleoside synthesis. This substrate specificity appears to be similar to that of bacterial PNPs. The catalytic efficiency of this enzyme with adenine as substrate is 58-fold higher than that with either hypoxanthine or guanine, representing a distinct disparity with the mammalian PNPs, which have negligible activity with either adenine or adenosine. The kinetic mechanism of T. vaginalis PNP-catalyzed reactions, determined by product inhibition and equilibrium isotope exchange, was by random binding of substrates (purine base and ribose 1-phosphate) with ordered release of the purine nucleoside first, followed by inorganic phosphate. Formycin A, an analogue of adenosine known as an inhibitor of E. coli PNP without any effect on mammalian PNPs, was shown to inhibit T. vaginalis PNP with a K(is) of 2.3 microM by competing with adenosine. T. vaginalis PNP thus belongs to the family of bacterial PNPs and constitutes a target for antitrichomonial chemotherapy.     

Histochemical studies on the distribution of urease,dopa oxidase and glucosan phosphorylase in Trichomonas vaginalis

Summary Most of the enzyme activity for urease, dopa oxidase and glucosan phosphorylase is contained in the granules in T. vaginalis. The nucleus lacks reaction in all cases, although a positive reaction in the nuclear membrane and perinuclear concentration of reactive granules is often seen.The failures in the preliminary trials and inconsistency of results obtained with glucosan phosphorylase have been discussed. The similar results obtained with both the techniques used for the demonstration of glucosan phosphorylase chiefly suggest that T. vaginalis contains the inactive form of phosphorylase. The cytoplasmic activity for phosphorylase may represent true enzyme site or diffusion of the enzyme or reaction products from the positive granules. This enzyme appears to be labile and some activity is lost during the drying process. The presence of phosphorylase in these organisms along with our previous findings and those of other workers may explain their high glycogen content.     

Purification and properties of phosphorylase from white yam tuber (Dioscorea rotundata)

α-Glucan phosphorylase was extracted fromDioscorea rotundata tubers and purified 55 fold with specific activity of 360 nmol min^-1 mg^-1 protein and a yield of 41.5 %. By electrophoresis of purified enzyme on polyacrylamide gel a single band of phosphorylase activity appeared. The enzyme showed normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics and was activated by AMP. ATP, ADP, ADP-glucose, calcium and magnesium inhibited the enzyme. It is active in the presence and absence of primer. No effects were observed on the addition of glycolytic intermediates or amino acids. Using gel filtration molecular mass of the enzyme determined is 188 000 and the extract seems to contain one form. Properties of the enzyme indicate that phosphorylase from white yam tuber functions primarily as a starch degrading enzyme. The possible role of the enzyme during yam tuber storage is dicussed.     

Some properties of purified phosphoprotein phosphatases from rabbit liver.

The activity of two purified homogeneous phosphoprotein phosphatases types P I and P II) (phosphoprotein phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.16) from rabbit liver (Khandelwal, R.L., Vandenheede, J.R., and Krebs, E.G. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 4850-4858) were examined in the presence of divalent cations, Pi, PPi, nucleotides, glycolytic intermediates and a number of other compounds using phosphorylase a, glycogen synthase D and phosphorylated histone as substrates. Enzyme activities were usually inhibited by divalent cations with all substrates; the inhibition being more pronounced with phosphorylase a. Zn2+ was the most potent inhibitor among the divalent cations tested. The enzyme was competitively inhibited by PPi (Ki = 0.1 mM for P I and 0.3 mM for PII), Pi (Ki = 15 mM for P I and 19.8 mM for P II) and p-nitrophenyl phosphate (Ki = 1 mM and 1.4 mM for P I and P II, respectively) employing phosphorylase a as the substrate. The compounds along with a number of others (Na2SO4, citrate, NaF and EDTA) also inhibited the enzyme activity with the other two substrates. Severe inhibition of the enzyme was also observed in the presence of the adenine and uridine nucleotides; monophosphate nucleotides being more inhibitory with phosphorylase a, whereas the di- and triphosphate nucleotides showed more inhibition with glycogen synthase D and phosphorylated histone. Cyclic AMP had no significant effect on enzyme activity with all the substrates tested. Phosphorylated metabolites did not show any marked effect on the enzyme activity with phosphorylase a as the substrate.     

The association of phosphorylase kinase with membranes of rat liver smooth endoplasmic reticulum

Upon fractionation of a post mitochondrial supernatant from rat liver, phosphorylase kinase activity was largely recovered in the cytosol and the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) fraction. The presence of phosphorylase kinase in SER vesicles was not due to an interaction of the enzyme with glycogen particles, since previous elimination of SER glycogen either by 48 h animal starvation or by treatment of the membrane fraction with -amylase did not significantly alter phosphorylase kinase activity content. Washing of the initial pellet of SER fraction (crude SER) by dilution and recentrifugation, released in the supernatant an amount of phosphorylase kinase activity, which is dependent on: i) the degree of dilution, ii) the number of washes, iii) the ionic strength of the washing solution and iii) the presence or absence of Ca²⁺. Crude SER-associated phosphorylase kinase was marginally affected by increased concentrations of antibody against rabbit skeletal muscle holoenzyme which nevertheless drastically inhibited cytosolic enzyme activity, while it showed a higher resistance to partial proteolysis and a different Western blotting profile with anti-phosphorylase kinase when compared with the soluble kinase. A small but significant fraction of SER phosphorylase kinase was strongly associated with the microsomal fraction being partly extractable only in presence of detergents. This membrane-bound enzyme form exhibited an alkaline pH optimum, in contrast to the neutral pH optima of both soluble and weakly associated phosphorylase kinase.Abbreviations SER smooth endoplasmic reticulum - RER rough endoplasmic reticulum - PMS post mitochondrial supernatant - MES 2-(N-morpholino) ethane sulfonic acid - PMSF phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride - SDS-PAGE sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis     

The role of PNP enzyme in autologous rosette-forming cells

Since purine nucleoside phosphorylase has been associated with suppressor function in lymphocytes, enzyme activities were studied in autologous rosette-forming cells, a subset showing suppressor properties. Levels of this enzyme were higher in these cells than in other T cells. Con A induction of autologous red cell receptors and suppressor activity of T cells were both inhibited in dose-dependent fashion by Formycin B, a well known inhibitor of purine nucleoside phosphorylase. Inhibition of autologous rosette-forming cells was obtained after pulse treatment of cells with Formycin B for as little as 1 hr, whereas cell proliferation was only inhibited when Formycin B was present throughout culture; this confirms the independence of cell proliferation, and development of red cell receptors and suppressor activity. This study indicates a crucial role for purine nucleoside phosphorylase enzyme in induction of T cell suppressor activity.     

Regulatory properties of phosphorylase from chicken skeletal muscle

The main kinetic parameters for purified phosphorylase kinase from chicken skeletal muscle were determined at pH 8.2: Vm = 18 micromol/min/mg; apparent Km values for ATP and phosphorylase b from rabbit muscle were 0.20 and 0.02 mM, respectively. The activity ratio at pH 6.8/8.2 was 0.1-0.4 for different preparations of phosphorylase kinase. Similar to the rabbit enzyme, chicken phosphorylase kinase had an absolute requirement for Ca2+ as demonstrated by complete inhibition in the presence of EGTA. Half-maximal activation occurred at [Ca2+] = 0.4 microM at pH 7.0. In the presence of Ca2+, the chicken enzyme from white and red muscles was activated 2-4-fold by saturating concentrations of calmodulin and troponin C. The C0.5 value for calmodulin and troponin C at pH 6.8 was 2 and 100 nM, respectively. Similar to rabbit phosphorylase kinase, the chicken enzyme was stimulated about 3-6-fold by glycogen at pH 6.8 and 8.2 with half-maximal stimulation occurring at about 0.15% glycogen. Protamine caused 60% inhibition of chicken phosphorylase kinase at 0.8 mg/ml. ADP (3 mM) at 0.05 mM ATP caused 85% inhibition with Ki = 0.2 mM. Unlike rabbit phosphorylase kinase, no phosphorylation of the chicken enzyme occurred in the presence of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Incubation with trypsin caused 2-fold activation of the chicken enzyme.     

Purification and properties of glycogen phosphorylase isolated from bovine skeletal muscles

Glycogen phosphorylase isolated from bovine skeletal muscles was found to be homogeneous during polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme phosphorylation by phosphorylase kinase is accompanied by the incorporation of one mole of labeled phosphate per protein dimer; therefore the enzyme is represented by a partly phosphorylated form. The presence of a phosphate group prevents the removal of the protein-bound pyridoxal phosphate. The partly phosphorylated bovine phosphorylase possesses a low affinity for AMP and is inactive in the presence of IMP. Bovine phosphorylase a obtained from the partly phosphorylated enzyme has a molecular mass corresponding to a dimer. Both forms of bovine phosphorylase exhibit high cooperativity towards the substrate. The mechanism of phosphorylase a activation by AMP and IMP is identical: the nucleotides increase the enzyme affinity for the substrate as well as the maximal rate of the enzymatic reaction. Study of the enzyme inhibition by caffeine revealed the cooperativity of caffeine-binding centers. The equilibrium between the active and inactive enzyme conformations in the presence of caffeine is markedly shifted towards the inactive (T) form of glycogen phosphorylase.     

Evidence for glycolytic enzyme binding during anaerobiosis of the foot muscle ofPatella caerulea (L.)

Summary The effect of anaerobiosis and aerobic recovery on the degree of binding of glycolytic enzymes to the particulate fraction of the cell was studied in the foot muscle of the marine molluscP. caerulea, in order to assess the role of glycolytic enzyme binding in the metabolic transition between aerobic and anoxic states. Short periods of anoxia (2 h, 4 h) resulted in an increase in enzyme binding in association with the increased glycolytic rate observed; this was particularly pronounced for phosphorylase, phosphofructokinase, aldolase, pyruvate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase. Decreased enzyme binding was observed after prolonged periods of anoxia. These effects were reversed and control values re-established when animals were returned to aerobic conditions. The results suggest that glycolytic rate could be regulated by changes in the distribution of glycolytic enzymes between free and bound forms inP. caerulea foot muscle. This reversible interaction of glycolytic enzymes with structural proteins may constitute an additional mechanism for metabolic control.     

Cysteine biosynthesis in Trichomonas vaginalis involves cysteine synthase utilizing O-phosphoserine

Trichomonas vaginalis is an early divergent eukaryote with many unusual biochemical features. It is an anaerobic protozoan parasite of humans that is thought to rely heavily on cysteine as a major redox buffer, because it lacks glutathione. We report here that for synthesis of cysteine from sulfide, T. vaginalis relies upon cysteine synthase. The enzyme (TvCS1) can use either O-acetylserine or O-phosphoserine as substrates. The K(m) values of the enzyme for sulfide are very low (0.02 mm), suggesting that the enzyme may be a means of ensuring that sulfide in the parasite is maintained at a low level. T. vaginalis appears to lack serine acetyltransferase, the source of O-acetylserine in many cells, but has a functional 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase and an O-phosphoserine aminotransferase that together result in the production of O-phosphoserine, suggesting that this is the physiological substrate. TvCS1 can also use thiosulfate as substrate. Overall, TvCS1 has substrate specificities similar to those reported for cysteine synthases of Aeropyrum pernix and Escherichia coli, and this is reflected by sequence similarities around the active site. We suggest that these enzymes are classified together as type B cysteine synthases, and we hypothesize that the use of O-phosphoserine is a common characteristic of these cysteine synthases. The level of cysteine synthase in T. vaginalis is regulated according to need, such that parasites growing in an environment rich in cysteine have low activity, whereas exposure to propargylglycine results in elevated cysteine synthase activity. Humans lack cysteine synthase; therefore, this parasite enzyme could be an exploitable drug target.     

Antibodies and autoantibodies of glycogen phosphorylase b: inactivation of pig and rabbit enzymes.

Pig skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylase b was purified using ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and Sephadex G-200 column chromatography. The purified enzyme was used to immunize rabbits in the presence or in the absence of complete Freund adjuvant. Antibodies against pig phosphorylase in pure form were isolated from rabbit antisera using insoluble immunoadsorbents of pig phosphorylase. Autoantibodies against the rabbit enzyme were obtained from the same antisera using insoluble immunoadsorbents of rabbit phosphorylase. Complete inactivation of pig phosphorylase was accomplished by an antibody/enzyme molar ratio equal to 4 and autoantibody/enzyme molar ratio equal to 130. Complete inactivation of rabbit phosphorylase was accomplished by an antibody/enzyme molar ratio equal to 250 and autoantibody/enzyme molar ratio equal to 160. Passive haemagglutination technique gave positive results with minimum amounts of 0.02 microng/ml and 0.8 microng/ml for pig and rabbit phosphorylase respectively. Kinetic experiments have shown that antibodies and autoantibodies act as noncompetitive inhibitors of both enzymes with respect to AMP and glucose 1-phosphate but exhibit a mixed type of inhibition with respect to glycogen. When glycogen hydrolysates were used as substrate in place of intact glycogen molecules a pronounced decrease in the inhibitory capacity of antienzyme on the enzyme was demonstrated.     

Enzymes regulating glycogen metabolism in swine subcutaneous adipose tissue. I. Phosphorylase and phosphorylase phosphatase.

Glycogen phosphorylase from swine adipose tissue was purified nearly 700-fold using ethanol precipitation, DEAE-cellulose adsorption, AMP-agarose affinity chromatography, and agarose gel filtration. The purified enzyme migrated as one major and several minor components during polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Activity was associated with the major component and at least one of the minor components. The molecular weight of the disaggregated, reduced, and alkylated enzyme, estimated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis performed in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, was 90,000. Stability of the purified enzyme was considerably increased in the presence of AMP. The isoelectric pH of the enzyme in crude homogenates was 6.3. The sedimentation coefficient of the purified enzyme (7.9 S) and that in crude homogenates (7.3 S) was determined by sucrose density gradient sedimentation. Optimal pH for activity was between pH 6.5 and 7.1. Apparent Km values for glycogen and inorganic phosphate were 0.9 mg/ml and 6.6 mM, respectively. The Ka for AMP was 0.21 mM. Enzyme activity was increased by K2SO4, KF, KCl, and MgCl2 and decreased by NaCl, Na2SO4, D-glucose, and ATP. Inhibition by glucose was noncompetitive with the activator AMP; inhibition by ATP was partially competitive with AMP. The purified enzyme was activated by incubation with skeletal muscle phosphorylase kinase. Enzyme in crude homogenates was activated by the addition of MgCl2 and ATP; activation was not blocked by addition of protein kinase inhibitor, suggesting that phosphorylase kinase in homogenates of swine adipose tissue is present largely in an activated form. Deactivation of phosphorylase a by phosphorylase phosphatase was studied using enzyme purified approximately 200-fold from swine adipose tissue by ethanol precipitation, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, and gel filtration. The Km of the adipose tissue phosphatase for skeletal muscle phosphorylase a was 6 muM. The purified swine adipose tissue phosphorylase, labeled with 32-P, was inactivated and dephosphorylated by the adipose tissue phosphatase. Dephosphorylation of both skeletal muscle and adipose tissue substrates was inhibited by AMP and glucose reversed this inhibition. Several lines of evidence suggest that AMP inhibition was due to an action on the substrate rather than on the enzyme. We have previously reported that the system for phosphorylase activation in rat fat cells differs in some important characteristics from that in skeletal muscle. However, both swine fat phosphorylase and phosphorylase phosphatase have major properties very similar to those described for the enzymes from skeletal muscle.     

Synthesis of adenosine triphosphate by myelin of spinal nerves of rabbit

Abstract—

• 1 The myelin fraction isolated by isopycnic gradient centrifugation from rabbit nerve is able to synthesize ATP at substrate level through the Embden-Meyerhof pathway. Suitable conditions are described to preserve the association of glycolytic enzymes with isolated myelin.
• 2 Except for phosphofructokinase and ketose-1-phosphate aldolase, all the remaining glycolytic enzymes are present in the myelin. A wide divergence was found in the firmness of the association of individual glycolytic enzymes with myelin under the condition of isolation; some, like glucosephosphate isomerase and glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase were retained in high percentage (about 60 per cent of the activity of the homogenate is myelin-bound); others were weakly bound (no more than 7–6 percent of the lactate dehydrogenase activity of the homogenate is myelin-bound).
• 3 By using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate as substrate for glycolysis, about 25 per cent of the total glycolytic activity of rabbit-nerve homogenate is associated with the myelin.
• 4 Glucosephosphate isomerase and lactate dehydrogenase may be extracted from and readily recombined with the myelin.