Stereospecific modulation of the calcium channel in human erythrocytes by cholesterol and its oxidized derivatives.

A marked decrease in activity of ornithine decarboxylase in thymus and spleen occurs soon after treatment of rats with a glucocorticoid. In the present study, evidence was obtained that extracts of these tissues prepared 5 h after administration of dexamethasone, when the enzyme activity is very low, contain an inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase. The inhibitor is also present at 12 h after treatment and, in lesser amount, at 2.5 h, but was not evident at 24 h. The inhibitory activity was destroyed by treatment with heat or with trypsin, and was not lost on dialysis of the extract. Preliminary experiments indicate that the Mr of the inhibitor is greater than 50 000, which differentiates it from antizyme, an inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase found in several other cell types. The inhibitor seems to act by a non-catalytic and non-competitive mechanism. The inhibition is dependent on the amount of inhibitor and does not change with time. Since inhibition is not changed by dialysis of the inhibitory extract, its activity apparently does not require small-Mr substances. This differentiates it from inhibitors which inactivate ornithine decarboxylase by covalent modification, such as the polyamine-dependent protein kinase or transglutaminase. The formation of this inhibitor is an early event in lymphoid tissues in response to dexamethasone and may be important in causing the inhibition of cell division which precedes the destruction of lymphocytes.     

Repeat sequence of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded nuclear antigen 1 protein interrupts proteasome substrate processing

The Epstein-Barr virus thwarts immune surveillance through a Gly-Ala repeat (GAr) within the viral Epstein-Barr virus-encoded nuclear antigen 1 protein. The GAr inhibits proteasome processing, an early step in antigen peptide presentation, but the mechanism of proteasome inhibition has been unclear. By embedding a GAr within ornithine decarboxylase, a natural proteasome substrate that does not require ubiquitin conjugation, we now demonstrate inhibition in a purified system, excluding involvement of ubiquitin conjugation or of proteins extraneous to substrate and proteasome. We show further that the GAr acts as a stop-transfer signal in proteasome substrate processing, resulting in vivo in partial proteolysis that halts just short of the GAr. Similarly, introducing a GAr into green fluorescent protein destabilized by the ornithine decarboxylase degradation domain also stops the progress of proteolysis, leading to the accumulation of partial degradation products. We postulate that the ATP motor of the proteasome slips when it encounters the GAr, impeding further insertion and, in this way, halting degradation.     

Discrimination between ubiquitin-dependent and ubiquitin-independent proteolytic pathways by the 26S proteasome subunit 5a.

The 26S proteasome subunit 5a binds polyubiquitin chains and has previously been shown to inhibit the degradation of mitotic cyclins. Presumably inhibition results from S5a binding and preventing recognition of Ub-cyclin conjugates by the 26S proteasome. Here we show that S5a does not inhibit the degradation of full-length ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) consistent with previous reports that the enzyme is degraded in an antizyme-dependent, but ubiquitin-independent reaction. S5a does, however, inhibit degradation of short ODC translation products generated by internal initiation events. Because in vitro translation often produces some shortened products, the existence of ubiquitin conjugated to a 35S-labeled protein is not necessarily evidence that the full-length protein is a substrate of the Ub-dependent proteolytic pathway.     

Ornithine decarboxylase induction in cells stimulated to proliferate differs from that in continuously dividing cells

Ornithine decarboxylase activity increases at least 4–5-fold before DNA synthesis both in synchronous cycling cells and in quiescent cells stimulated to proliferate. The purpose of our experiments was to test whether the transient peaks of ornithine decarboxylase activity in both growth situations were biochemically regulated in a similar manner. We found that the regulation of this particular enzyme activity is distinct in two ways. Firstly, the addition of 2mm-hydroxyurea will block the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in continuously dividing Chinese-hamster ovary cells, while having no effect on ornithine decarboxylase induction in stimulated quiescent cells. Hydroxyurea added after the induction occurs has no effect on the enzyme activity. The apparent half-life of the enzyme is not altered in cells treated with hydroxyurea. Hydroxyurea does not affect the enzyme directly, since incubation of cell homogenates with this drug results in no loss of measurable ornithine decarboxylase activity and hydroxyurea does not markedly alter general RNA- or protein-synthesis rates. The inactivation of ornithine decarboxylase activity by hydroxyurea does not resemble the loss of activity observed with a 90min treatment with spermidine. Thiourea, a less potent inhibitor of ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase, will also inhibit ornithine decarboxylase activity, but to a lesser extent. Secondly, the expression of ornithine decarboxylase in quiescent cells stimulated to proliferate is biphasic as these cells traverse G₁ and enter S phase, whereas only one peak of activity is apparent in synchronous cycling G₁-phase cells. The time interval between the first peak of ornithine decarboxylase activity and the onset of DNA synthesis is approx. 5h longer in non-dividing cells stimulated to proliferate than in continuously dividing cells. The results suggest that the regulation of ornithine decarboxylase activity is different in the two growth systems in that the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in continuously dividing cells occurs closer in time to DNA synthesis and is dependent on deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates.     

Ornithine decarboxylase-antizyme is rapidly degraded through a mechanism that requires functional ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic activity.

Antizyme is a polyamine-induced cellular protein that binds to ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), and targets it to rapid ubiquitin-independent degradation by the 26S proteasome. However, the metabolic fate of antizyme is not clear. We have tested the stability of antizyme in mammalian cells. In contrast with previous studies demonstrating stability in vitro in a reticulocyte lysate-based degradation system, in cells antizyme is rapidly degraded and this degradation is inhibited by specific proteasome inhibitors. While the degradation of ODC is stimulated by the presence of cotransfected antizyme, degradation of antizyme seems to be independent of ODC, suggesting that antizyme degradation does not occur while presenting ODC to the 26S proteasome. Interestingly, both species of antizyme, which represent initiation at two in-frame initiation codons, are rapidly degraded. The degradation of both antizyme proteins is inhibited in ts20 cells containing a thermosensitive ubiquitin-activating enzyme, E1. Therefore we conclude that in contrast with ubiquitin-independent degradation of ODC, degradation of antizyme requires a functional ubiquitin system.     

Immunochemical demonstration of increased accumulation of ornithine decarboxylase in rat liver after partial hepatectomy and growth hormone induction

Antiserum against ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17) was prepared in rabbits using purified ornithine decarboxylase from rat liver as the antigen. Immunoglobulins from the immune sera were covalently coupled to agarose by cyanogen bromide activation. With the aid of this immunoadsorbent against the enzyme it has been shown that following partial hepatectomy and growth hormone administration, the ornithine decarboxylase activity is elevated concomitantly with the increase in the immunoreactive enzyme protein. In addition, the rapid decay in ornithine decarboxylase activity in regenerating rat liver after cycloheximide injection is accompanied by a decrease in the immunoreactive protein. These results suggest that the activity of ornithine decarboxylase in rat liver is regulated through rapid changes in de novo synthesis and degradation of the enzyme protein.     

Inhibition of phorbol ester-caused synthesis of mouse epidermal ornithine decarboxylase by retinoic acid

The mechanisms by which topically applied retinoic acid to mouse skin inhibits tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity were analyzed. Retinoic acid inhibition of the induction of epidermal ornithine decarboxylic activity was not the result of nonspecific cytotoxicity, production of a soluble inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, or direct effect on its activity. In addition, inhibition of TPA-caused increased ornithine decarboxylase activity does not appear to be due to enhanced degradation and/or post-translational modification of ornithine decarboxylase by transglutaminase-mediated putrescine incorporation. We found that retinoic acid inhibits the synthesis of ornithine decarboxylase caused by TPA. Application of 10 nmol TPA to mouse skin led to a dramatic induction of epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity which was paralled by increased [3H]difluoromethylornithine binding and an increased incorporation of [35S]methionine into the enzyme. Application of 17 nmol retinoic acid 1 h prior to application of 10 nmol TPA to skin resulted in inhibition of the induction of activity which accompanied inhibition of [3H]difluoromethylornithine binding and [35S]methionine incorporation into ornithine decarboxylase protein as determined by the tube-gel electrophoresis of the enzyme immunoprecipitated with monoclonal antibodies to it. Inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase synthesis was not the result of the inhibitory effect of retinoic acid on general protein synthesis. The results indicate that retinoic acid possibly inhibits TPA-caused synthesis of ornithine decarboxylase protein selectively.     

Translational regulation of mammalian ornithine decarboxylase by polyamines

Ornithine decarboxylase, which catalyses the formation of putrescine, is the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines in mammalian cells. The enzyme is highly regulated, as indicated by rapid changes in its mRNA and protein during cell growth. Here we report that ornithine decarboxylase is regulated at the translational level by polyamines in difluoromethylornithine-resistant mouse myeloma cells that overproduce the enzyme due to amplification of an ornithine decarboxylase gene. When such cells are exposed to putrescine or other polyamines, there is a rapid and specific decrease in the rate of synthesis of ornithine decarboxylase, assayed by pulse-labeling. Neither the cellular content of ornithine decarboxylase mRNA nor the half-life of ornithine decarboxylase protein is affected. Our results indicate that polyamines negatively regulate the translation of ornithine decarboxylase mRNA, thereby controlling their own synthesis.     

Comparison of ornithine decarboxylase from rat liver, rat hepatoma and mouse kidney.

Comparisons were made of ornithine decarboxylase isolated from Morris hepatoma 7777, thioacetamide-treated rat liver and androgen-stimulated mouse kidney. The enzymes from each source were purified in parallel and their size, isoelectric point, interaction with a monoclonal antibody or a monospecific rabbit antiserum to ornithine decarboxylase, and rates of inactivation in vitro, were studied. Mouse kidney, which is a particularly rich source of ornithine decarboxylase after androgen induction, contained two distinct forms of the enzyme which differed slightly in isoelectric point, but not in Mr. Both forms had a rapid rate of turnover, and virtually all immunoreactive ornithine decarboxylase protein was lost within 4h after protein synthesis was inhibited. Only one form of ornithine decarboxylase was found in thioacetamide-treated rat liver and Morris hepatoma 7777. No differences between the rat liver and hepatoma ornithine decarboxylase protein were found, but the rat ornithine decarboxylase could be separated from the mouse kidney ornithine decarboxylase by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The rat protein was slightly smaller and had a slightly more acid isoelectric point. Studies of the inactivation of ornithine decarboxylase in vitro in a microsomal system [Zuretti & Gravela (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 742, 269-277] showed that the enzymes from rat liver and hepatoma 7777 and mouse kidney were inactivated at the same rate. This inactivation was not due to degradation of the enzyme protein, but was probably related to the formation of inactive forms owing to the absence of thiol-reducing agents. Treatment with 1,3-diaminopropane, which is known to cause an increase in the rate of degradation of ornithine decarboxylase in vivo [Seely & Pegg (1983) Biochem. J. 216, 701-717] did not stimulate inactivation by microsomal extracts, indicating that this system does not correspond to the rate-limiting step of enzyme breakdown in vivo.     

The Action of Adenosine Analogs on PC12 Cells

Abstract: PC12 cells, a nerve growth factor–responsive clone of rat pheochromocytoma, contain a membrane–bound adenylate cyclase, which can be activated by adenosine analogs. The characteristics of the cyclase response indicate the presence of stimulatory adenosine receptors. Adenosine analogs also produce a marked increase in the ornithine decarboxylase levels of the cells, and the characteristics of this response suggest that it is linked to the adenylate cyclase–stimulatory adenosine receptors. The ornithine decarboxylase response elicited by 5'- N -ethyIcarboxamideadenosine (NECA), a potent stimulatory adenosine analog, is synergistic with that produced by nerve growth factor. Differentiation of the cells with nerve growth factor, however, does not substantially alter either the response of cyclase to the adenosine analog or the magnitude of the adenosine–evoked ornithine decarboxylase response. Treatment of the cells with NECA produces an increase in the phosphorylation of a specific non–histone nuclear protein. While causing little or no morphological alteration by itself, NECA is synergistic with nerve growth factor in producing neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. NECA does not cause an induction of acetylcholinesterase in the cells, nor does it appear to affect the induction of this enzyme by nerve growth factor.     

Relationships between polyamine metabolism and RNA synthesis in post-ischemic liver cell repair

In liver cells recovering from reversible ischemia the increase in RNA synthesis by isolated nuclei is preceded by activation of ornithine decarboxylase, leading in turn to an increase in putrescine concentration. Treatment of the animals with 1,3-diaminopropane and putrescine prevents ornithine decarboxylase activation but does not hinder the enhancement of RNA synthesis in post-ischemic liver nuclei; therefore, ornithine decarboxylase activation does not seem to be a necessary prerequisite for the increase in RNA synthesis. Hypophysectomy does not prevent the post-ischemic increases of ornithine decarboxylase and RNA synthesis; but pre-treatment of the animals with cycloheximide—which has a dual effect on the activity of ornithine decarboxylase—abolishes the post-ischemic enhancement of RNA synthesis. In contrast with regenerating liver, changes in ornithine decarboxylase activity and putrescine concentrations in reversible ischemia are not associated to changes in S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity and in spermine and spermidine concentrations that seem to be characteristic of tissues where increases in RNA synthesis are followed by DNA synthesis and cell multiplication.     

Effects of Ca2+ ionophore A23187, 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol, and dibutyryl cAMP on the activity and expression of ornithine decarboxylase in guinea pig lymphocytes

The Ca2+ ionophore A23187 induced small increases in ornithine decarboxylase activity and ornithine decarboxylase mRNA in guinea pig lymphocytes. 1,2-Dioctanoylglycerol potentiated the A23187-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity and the accumulation of mRNA for this enzyme. Dibutyryl cAMP also potentiated the enzyme activity, but had little effect on the accumulation of mRNA. 1,2-Dioctanoylglycerol and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate potentiated ornithine decarboxylase activity that had been increased by treatment with both A23187 and dibutyryl cAMP with a consistent increase in the ornithine decarboxylase mRNA. However, dibutyryl cAMP augmented ornithine decarboxylase activity that had been increased by the combination of A23187 and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol without affecting the ornithine decarboxylase mRNA level. These results suggest that the protein kinase C and cyclic AMP pathways are involved in the enhancement of ornithine decarboxylase activity in guinea pig lymphocytes, but that the mechanisms of the enhancement differ for each pathway, the former increasing the ornithine decarboxylase mRNA level, but not the latter.     

Polyamines regulate their synthesis by inducing expression and blocking degradation of ODC antizyme

Polyamines are essential organic cations with multiple cellular functions. Their synthesis is controlled by a feedback regulation whose main target is ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis. In mammals, ODC has been shown to be inhibited and targeted for ubiquitin-independent degradation by ODC antizyme (AZ). The synthesis of mammalian AZ was reported to involve a polyamine-induced ribosomal frameshifting mechanism. High levels of polyamine therefore inhibit new synthesis of polyamines by inducing ODC degradation. We identified a previously unrecognized sequence in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encoding an orthologue of mammalian AZ. We show that synthesis of yeast AZ (Oaz1) involves polyamine-regulated frameshifting as well. Degradation of yeast ODC by the proteasome depends on Oaz1. Using this novel model system for polyamine regulation, we discovered another level of its control. Oaz1 itself is subject to ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis by the proteasome. Degradation of Oaz1, however, is inhibited by polyamines. We propose a model, in which polyamines inhibit their ODC-mediated biosynthesis by two mechanisms, the control of Oaz1 synthesis and inhibition of its degradation.     

Distinct domains of antizyme required for binding and proteolysis of ornithine decarboxylase.

Selective degradation by proteasomes of ornithine decarboxylase, the initial enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, is mediated by the polyamine-inducible protein antizyme. Antizyme binds to a region near the N terminus of ornithine decarboxylase (X. Li and P. Coffino, Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:3556-3562, 1992). This interaction induces a conformational change in ornithine decarboxylase that exposes its C terminus and inactivates the enzyme (X. Li and P. Coffino, Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:1487-1492, 1993). Here we show that the C-terminal half of antizyme alone can inactivate ornithine decarboxylase and alter its conformation, but it cannot direct degradation of the enzyme, either in vitro or in vivo. A portion of the N-terminal half of antizyme must be present to promote degradation.     

Studies on the mechanisms of ornithine decarboxylase in vitro inactivation

Hydrocortisone-induced rat liver ornithine decarboxylase appears quite stable in the soluble fraction of the homogenate incubated at 37 degrees C. In contrast, the incubation of the whole homogenate causes a rapid loss of activity. The ornithine decarboxylase-inactivating capacity appears mainly bound to microsomes. Lysosomes seem to play a role only after the microsome-induced inactivation. Different reducing agents (dithiothreitol, NADPH, NADH, GSH) are effective both in preventing and in reversing ornithine decarboxylase inactivation. NADPH is peculiar in that it can reactivate the enzyme at very low concentrations. Oxidized glutathione potentiates the inactivating effect of microsomes. On the basis of present results it is suggested that ornithine decarboxylase may be reversibly inactivated through microsome-catalyzed formation of mixed or enzyme-enzyme disulfides and that NADPH plays a crucial role in ornithine decarboxylase reactivation, probably by cytosolic reductase(s).     

Effect of 1,3-diaminopropane on ornithine decarboxylase enzyme protein in thioacetamide-treated rat liver.

A radioimmunoassay for ornithine decarboxylase was used to study the regulation of this enzyme in rat liver. The antiserum used reacts with ornithine decarboxylase from mouse, human or rat cells. Rat liver ornithine decarboxylase enzyme activity and enzyme protein (as determined by radioimmunoassay) were measured in thioacetamide-treated rats at various times after administration of 1,3-diaminopropane. Enzyme activity declined rapidly after 1,3-diaminopropane treatment as did the amount of enzyme protein, although the disappearance of enzyme activity slightly preceded the loss of immunoreactive protein. The loss of enzyme protein after cycloheximide treatment also occurred rapidly, but was significantly slower than that seen with 1,3-diaminopropane. When 1,3-diaminopropane and cycloheximide were injected simultaneously, the rate of disappearance of enzyme activity and enzyme protein was the same as that seen with cycloheximide alone. These results show that the rapid loss in enzyme activity after 1,3-diaminopropane treatment is primarily due to a loss in enzyme protein and that protein synthesis is needed in order for 1,3-diaminopropane to exert its full effect. A macromolecular inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase that has been termed antizyme is induced in response to 1,3-diaminopropane, but our results indicate that the loss of enzyme activity is not due to the accumulation of inactive ornithine decarboxylase-antizyme complexes. It is possible that the antizyme enhances the degradation of the enzyme protein. Control experiments demonstrated that the antiserum used would have detected any inactive antizyme-ornithine decarboxylase complexes present in liver since addition of antizyme to ornithine decarboxylase in vitro did not affect the amount of ornithine decarboxylase detected in our radioimmunoassay. Anti-(ornithine decarboxylase) antibodies may be useful in the purification of antizyme since the antizyme-ornithine decarboxylase complex can be immunoprecipitated, and antizyme released from the precipitate with 0.3 M-NaCl.     

Diamine-induced inhibition of liver ornithine decarboxylase

Repeated injections of 1,3-diaminopropane, a potent inhibitor of mammalian ornithine decarboxylase, induced protein-synthesis-dependent formation of macromolecular inhibitors or ;antienzymes' [Heller, Fong & Canellakis (1976) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.73, 1858-1862] to ornithine decarboxylase in normal rat liver. Addition of the macromolecular inhibitors, produced in response to repeated injections of diaminopropane, to active ornithine decarboxylase in vitro resulted in a profound loss of the enzyme activity, which, however, could be partly recovered after passage of the enzyme-inhibitor mixture through a Sephadex G-75 columin in the presence of 0.4m-NaCl. This treatment also resulted in the appearance of free inhibitor. In contrast with the separation of the enzyme and inhibitory activity after combination in vitro, it was not possible to re-activate, by using identical conditions of molecular sieving, any inhibited ornithine decarboxylase from cytosol fractions obtained from animals injected with diaminopropane. However, the idea that injection of various diamines, also in vivo, induces acute formation of macromolecular inhibitors, which reversibly combine with the enzyme, was supported by the finding that the ornithine decarboxylase activity remaining after diaminopropane injection appeared to be more stable to increased ionic strength than the enzyme activity obtained from somatotropin-treated rats. Incubation of the inhibitory cytosol fractions with antiserum to ornithine decarboxylase did not completely abolish the inhibitory action of either the cytosolic inhibitor or the antibody. A single injection of diaminopropane produced an extremely rapid decay of liver ornithine decarboxylase activity (half-life about 12min), which was comparable with, or swifter than, that induced by cycloheximide. However, although after cycloheximide treatment the amount of immunotitrable ornithine decarboxylase decreased only slightly more slowly than the enzyme activity, diaminopropane injection did not decrease the amount of the immunoreactive protein, but, on the contrary, invariably caused a marked increase in the apparent amount of antigen, after some lag period. The diamine-induced increase in the amount of the immunoreactive enzyme protein could be totally prevented by a simultaneous injection of cycloheximide. These results are in accord with the hypothesis that various diamines may result in rapid formation of macromolecular inhibitors to ornithine decarboxylase in vivo, which, after combination with the enzyme, abolish the catalytic activity but at the same time prevent the intracellular degradation of the enzyme protein.     

Effect of alterations in membrane lipid unsaturation on the properties of the insulin receptor of Ehrlich ascites cells

Rat heart ornithine decarboxylate activity from isoproterenol-treated rats was inactivated in vitro by reactive species of oxygen generated by the reaction xanthine/xanthine oxidase. Reduced glutathione, dithiothreitol and superoxide dismutase has a protective effect in homogenates and in partially purified ornithine decarboxylase exposed to the xanthine/xanthine oxidase reaction, while diethyldithiocarbamate, which is an inhibitor of superoxide dismutase, potentiated the damage induced by O2- on enzyme activity. Dithiothreitol at concentrations above 1.25 mM had an inhibitory effect upon supernatant ornithine decarboxylase activity, while at 2.5 mM it was most effective in the recovery of ornithine decarboxylase activity, after the purification of the enzyme by the ammonium sulphate precipitation procedure. The ornithine decarboxylase inactivated by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase reaction showed a higher value of Km and a reduction of Vmax with respect to control activity. The exposure of rats to 100% oxygen for 3 h reduced significantly the isoproterenol-induced heart ornithine decarboxylase activity. The injection with diethyldithiocarbamate 1 h before hyperoxic exposure further reduced heart ornithine decarboxylase activity.     

Trypanosoma brucei ornithine decarboxylase: enzyme purification, characterization, and expression in Escherichia coli

Ornithine decarboxylase from the African trypanosome is an important target for antitrypanosomal chemotherapy. Despite this, the enzyme had not been previously purified or extensively characterized as it is a very low level protein. In this paper we describe the purification of Trypanosoma brucei brucei ornithine decarboxylase from bloodstream form trypomastigotes by 107,000-fold to a specific activity of 2.7 x 10(6) nmol CO2/h/mg of protein in the parasite. T. brucei ornithine decarboxylase had a native molecular weight of 90,000 and a subunit molecular weight of 45,000. The isoelectric point of the protein was 5.0. The Km for ornithine was 280 microM and the Ki for the irreversible inhibitor alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) was 220 microM with a half-time of inactivation at saturating DFMO concentration of 2.7 min. T. brucei ornithine decarboxylase appears similar to mouse ornithine decarboxylase, further supporting our previous suggestion that the selective toxicity of DFMO to the parasite is not due to catalytic differences between the two proteins. Although a small quantity of T. brucei ornithine decarboxylase was purified from T. brucei, extensive structural and kinetic studies will require a more ample source of the enzyme. We therefore expressed our previously cloned T. brucei ornithine decarboxylase gene in Escherichia coli using a vector that contains an inducible lambda promoter. T. brucei ornithine decarboxylase activity was induced in E. coli to levels that were 50 to 200 fold of that present in the long-slender bloodstream form of T. brucei. Ornithine decarboxylase activity in the crude E. coli lysate was 1500-6000 nmol of CO2/h/mg of protein and represented 0.05-0.2% of the total cell protein. The recombinant T. brucei ornithine decarboxylase was purified to apparent homogeneity from the transformed E. coli. The purified recombinant enzyme had kinetic and physical properties essentially identical to those of the native enzyme.