Purification and properties of spinach leaf cytoplasmic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.

Cytoplasmic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase has been purified from spinach leaves to apparent homogeneity. The enzyme is a tetramer of molecular weight about 130,000. At pH 7.5, the Km for fructose 1.6-bisphosphate was 2.5 micron, and for MgCl2 0.13 mM; the enzyme was specific for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Saturation with Mg2+ was achieved with lower concentrations at pH 8 than at pH 7. AMP and high concentrations of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate inhibited enzyme activity. Ammonium sulfate relieved the latter inhibition but was itself inhibitory when substrate concentrations were low. Acetylation studies demonstrated that the AMP regulatory site was distinct from the catalytic site. Cytoplasmic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase may contribute to the regulation of sucrose biosynthesis in plant leaves.     

Purification and regulation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from Bacillus licheniformis.

The fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11) from the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus licheniformis was purified approximately 800-fold (with a 20% yield of activity) by a procedure that included ammonium sulfate precipitation, precipitation by MnCl2, and gamma-alumina gel absorption. Catalysis by this enzyme in vitro was specific for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Km of approximately 20 muM) and proceeded optimally at pH 8.0 to 8.5. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was found to be rapidly inactivated by incubation in the presence of AMP or in the absence of Mn2+. The AMP inactivation was prevented by adding P-enolpyruvate to the incubation mixture. The enzyme was slowly inactivated when incubated in the presence of stabilizing concentrations of Mn2+ (5 mM) at protein concentrations of less than 8 mg of protein per ml. An additional system is produced during sporulation which specifically inactivates fructose bisphosphatase in vitro. This system, which is distinctly different from the AMP inactivating system, can be blocked by P-enolpyruvate. This fructose bisphosphatase, like fructose bisphosphatases from other sources, was strongly inhibited by AMP, exhibiting a Ki of approximately 5 muM. This inhibition, however, could be completely overcome by P-enolpyruvate. P-enolpyruvate was also found to be an activator of the enzyme and exhibited a Km of approximately 2 muM. This activation was prevented in a competitive manner by AMP, exhibiting a Ki of approximately 5 muM. No other effector of fructose bisphosphatase was identified in an extensive search. The specific activity of fructose bisphosphatase in crude extracts was found to be independent of the stage of the life cycle of the bacterium or of the nature of the carbon-energy source supporting growth. Immunoprecipitation studies indicate that no new species of fructose biphosphatase is produced during gluconeogenic growth or sporulation. The enzyme extracted from cells under a variety of physiological conditions exhibited a molecular weight of about 5 times 10-5 as determined by sucrose density centrifugation. Therefore, it is proposed that a single constitutively synthesized fructose bisphosphatase is present in B. licheniformis. Measurements of the intracellular level of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate indicate that the variation in the level of substrate throughout growth (1 mM) and sporulation (0.3 mM) does not regulate the in vivo activity of this enzyme, since the Km of the enzyme for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate is approximately 10-fold lower than the lowest in vivo concentration of substrate. P-enolpyruvate is proposed as the major regulator of fructose bisphosphatase activity in vivo.     

Effects of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate on the activation of yeast phosphofructokinase by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and AMP

Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate decreases the activation of yeast 6-phosphofructokinase (ATP:fructose 6-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.11) by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, especially at cellular substrate concentrations. AMP activation of the enzyme is not influenced by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Inorganic phosphate increases the activation by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and augments the deactivation of the fructose 2,6-bisphosphate activated enzyme by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Because various states of yeast glucose metabolism differ in the levels of the two fructose bisphosphates, the observed interactions might be of regulatory significance.     

Studies on the hysteretic properties of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase

Chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase hysteresis in response to modifiers was uncovered by carrying out the enzyme assays in two consecutive steps. The activity of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, assayed at low concentrations of both fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and Mg2+, was enhanced by preincubating the enzyme with dithiothreitol, thioredoxin f, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, and Ca2+. In the time-dependent activation process, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and Ca2+ could be replaced by other sugar biphosphates and Mn2+, respectively. Once activated, chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase hydrolyzed fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate in the presence of Mg2+, Mn2+, or Fe2+. The A0.5 for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (activator) was lowered by reduced thioredoxin f and remained unchanged when Mg2+ was varied during the assay of activity. On the contrary, the S0.5 for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (substrate) was unaffected by reduced thioredoxin f and depended on the concentration of Mg2+. Ca2+ played a dual role on the activity of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase; it was a component of the concerted activation and an inhibitor in the catalytic step. Provided dithiothreitol was present, the activating effectors were not required to maintain the enzyme in the active form. Considered together these results strongly suggest that the regulation of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase in chloroplast occurs at two different levels, the activation of the enzyme and the catalysis.     

Identification of arginine 331 as an important active site residue in the class II fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase of Escherichia coli.

Treatment of the Class II fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase of Escherichia coli with the arginine-specific alpha-dicarbonyl reagents, butanedione or phenylglyoxal, results in inactivation of the enzyme. The enzyme is protected from inactivation by the substrate, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, or by inorganic phosphate. Modification with [7-14C] phenylglyoxal in the absence of substrate demonstrates that enzyme activity is abolished by the incorporation of approximately 2 moles of reagent per mole of enzyme. Sequence alignment of the eight known Class II FBP-aldolases shows that only one arginine residue is conserved in all the known sequences. This residue, Arg-331, was mutated to either alanine or glutamic acid. The mutant enzymes were much less susceptible to inactivation by phenylglyoxal. Measurement of the steady-state kinetic parameters revealed that mutation of Arg-331 dramatically increased the K(m) for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Comparatively small differences in the inhibitor constant Ki for dihydroxyacetone phosphate or its analogue, 2-phosphoglycolate, were found between the wild-type and mutant enzymes. In contrast, the mutation caused large changes in the kinetic parameters when glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate was used as an inhibitor. Kinetic analysis of the oxidation of the carbanionic aldolase-substrate intermediate of the reaction by hexacyanoferrate (III) revealed that the K(m) for dihydroxyacetone phosphate was again unaffected, whereas that for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate was dramatically increased. Taken together, these results show that Arg-331 is critically involved in the binding of fructose bisphosphate by the enzyme and demonstrate that it interacts with the C-6 phosphate group of the substrate.     

Studies on the regulation of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. Activation by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate

Chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (D-fructose 1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11) isolated from spinach leaves, was activated by preincubation with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The rate of activation was slower than the rate of catalysis, and dependent upon the temperature and the concentration of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The addition of other sugar diphosphates, sugar monophosphates or intermediates of the reductive pentose phosphate cycle neither replaced fructose 1,6-bisphosphate nor modified the activation process. Upon activation with the effector the enzyme was less sensitive to trypsin digestion and insensitive to mercurials. The activity of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, preincubated with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, returned to its basal activity after the concentration of the effector was lowered in the preincubation mixture. The results provide evidence that fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase resembles other regulatory enzymes involved in photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in its activation by chloroplast metabolites.     

Biochemical characterization of cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from apple (Malus domestica) leaves

Cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was purified to apparent homogeneity from the leaves of apple, a sorbitol synthesizing species. The enzyme was a homotetramer with a subunit mass of 37 kDa, and was highly specific for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (F1,6BP) with a Km of 3.1 micro M and a Vmax of 48 units (mg protein)(-1). Either Mg2+ or Mn2+ was required for its activity with a Km of 0.59 mM and 62 micro M, respectively. Li+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Cu2+ and Hg2+ inhibited whereas Mn2+ enhanced the Mg2+ activated enzyme activity. Fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) was found to be a mixed type inhibitor with a Ki of 0.47 mM. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6BP) competitively inhibited the enzyme activity and changed the substrate saturation curve from hyperbolic to sigmoidal. AMP was a non-competitive inhibitor for the enzyme. F6P interacted with F2,6BP and AMP in a synergistic way to inhibit the enzyme activity. Dihydroxyacetone phosphate slightly inhibited the enzyme activity in the presence or absence of F2,6BP. Sorbitol increased the susceptibility of the enzyme to the inhibition by high concentrations of F1,6BP. High concentrations of sorbitol in the reaction mixture led to a reduction in the enzyme activity.     

Control of Photosynthetic Sucrose Synthesis by Fructose 2,6-Bisphosphate : I. Coordination of CO(2) Fixation and Sucrose Synthesis

A mechanism is proposed for a feed-forward control of photosynthetic sucrose synthesis, which allows withdrawal of carbon from the chloroplast for sucrose synthesis to be coordinated with the rate of carbon fixation. (a) Decreasing the rate of photosynthesis of spinach (Spinacia oleracea, U.S. hybrid 424) leaf discs by limiting light intensities or CO₂ concentrations leads to a 2-to 4-fold increase in fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. (b) This increase can be accounted for by lower concentrations of metabolites which inhibit the synthesis of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, such as dihydroxyacetone phosphate and 3-phosphoglycerate. (c) Thus, as photosynthesis decreases, lower levels of dihydroxyacetone phosphate should inhibit the cytosolic fructose bisphosphatase via simultaneously lowering the concentration of the substrate fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, and raising the concentration of the inhibitor fructose 2,6-bisphosphate.     

Lysine 274 is essential for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate inhibition of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.

Lysine 274 is conserved in all known fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase sequences. It has been implicated in substrate binding and/or catalysis on the basis of reactivity with pyridoxal phosphate as well as by x-ray crystallographic analysis. Lys274 of rat liver fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was mutated to alanine by the polymerase chain reaction, and the T7-RNA polymerase-transcribed construct containing the mutant sequence was expressed in Escherichia coli. The mutant and wild-type forms of the enzyme were purified to homogeneity, and their specific activity, substrate dependence, and inhibition by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and AMP were compared. While the mutant exhibited no change in maximal velocity, its Km for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate was 20-fold higher than that of the wild-type, and its Ki for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate was increased 1000-fold. Consistent with the unaltered maximal velocity, there were no apparent difference between the secondary structure of the wild-type and mutant enzyme forms, as measured by circular dichroism and ultraviolet difference spectroscopy. The Ki for the allosteric inhibitor AMP was only slightly increased, indicating that Lys274 is not directly involved in AMP inhibition. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate potentiated AMP inhibition of both forms, but 500-fold higher concentrations of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate were needed to reduce the Ki for AMP for the mutant compared to the wild-type. However, potentiation of AMP inhibition of the Lys274----Ala mutant was evident at fructose 2,6-bisphosphate concentrations (approximately 100 microM) well below those that inhibited the enzyme, which suggests that fructose 2,6-bisphosphate interacts either with the AMP site directly or with other residues involved in the active site-AMP synergy. The results also demonstrate that although Lys274 is an important binding site determinant for sugar bisphosphates, it plays a more significant role in binding fructose 2,6-bisphosphate than fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, probably because it binds the 2-phospho group of the former while other residues bind the 1-phospho group of the substrate. It is concluded that the enzyme utilizes Lys274 to discriminate between its substrate and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate.     

Kinetics of the conformational transition of the spinach chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase induced by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate.

The activation of oxidized chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and magnesium previously described at pH 7.5 [Soulié et al. (1988) Eur. J. Biochem. 176, 111-117] has now been studied at pH 8, the pH which prevails under light conditions in the chloroplast stroma. The process obeys a hysteretic mechanism but the rate of activation is considerably increased with half-times down to 50 s and the apparent dissociation constant of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate from the enzyme is lowered from 1 mM at pH 7.5 to 3.3 microM at pH 8. The process is strictly metal-dependent with a half-saturation concentration of 2.54 mM for magnesium. The conformational transition postulated in our hysteretic model has been investigated through both the spectrophometric and chemical modification approaches. The activation of the enzyme by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in the presence of magnesium results in a slow modification of the ultraviolet absorption spectrum of the enzyme with an overall increase of 3% at 290 nm. The same treatment leads to the protection of two free sulfhydryls and an increased reactivity of one sulfhydryl group/enzyme monomer to modification by 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). The titration of the exposed cysteinyl residue prevents the relaxation of enzyme species induced by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to the native form. The activation of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is discussed both with respect to the understanding of the overall regulation properties of the enzyme and to a possible physiological significance of this process.     

An exploration of the binding site of aldolase using alkanediol monoglycolate bisphosphoric esters

Alkanediol monoglycolate bisphosphoric esters (P-O-CH2-CO-O-(CH2)n-O-P), which are analogues of the aldolase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-lyase, EC 4.1.2.13) substrate fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, were synthesized and used for probing its active site. The Ki value was lowest when the maximum distance between the phosphorus atoms of the bisphosphate was brought close to that of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The binding constants estimated from difference spectra correlate well with Ki values for the substrate analogues. Propanediol monoglycolate bisphosphoric ester protected aldolase from inactivation by 1,2-cyclohexanedione, which preferentially attacks arginine-55. However, propanol phosphate had little protective effect. The synthesized phosphate compounds protected the enzyme against inactivation by trypsin, and also against spontaneous denaturation. These results suggest that the synthesized phosphate compounds bind to aldolase at the active site, which tends to keep the distance constant between the two phosphate-binding sites for the open-chain form of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, and stabilize the natural conformation of the enzyme. Both arginine-55 and lysine-146 are shown to participate in the phosphate-binding site for the C-1-phosphate of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate.     

High level expression in Escherichia coli,purification and properties of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from rapeseed (Brassica napus) leaves

In chloroplasts, the light-modulated fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase catalyzes the formation of fructose 6-bisphosphate for the photosynthetic assimilation of CO₂ and the biosynthesis of starch. We report here the construction of a plasmid for the production of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase in a bacterial system and the subsequent purification to homogeneity of the genetically engineered enzyme. To this end, a DNA sequence that coded for chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase of rapeseed (Brassica napus) leaves was successively amplified by PCR, ligated into the Ndel/EcoRI restriction site of the expression vector pET22b, and introduced into Escherichia coli cells. When gene expression was induced by isopropyl--d-thiogalactopyranoside, supernatants of cell lysates were extremely active in the hydrolysis of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. Partitioning bacterial soluble proteins by ammonium sulfate followed by anion exchange chromatography yielded 10 mg of homogeneous enzyme per 1 of culture. Congruent with a preparation devoid of contaminating proteins, the Edman degradation evinced an unique N-terminal amino acid sequence [A-V-A-A-D-A-T-A-E-T-K-P-]. Gel filtration experiments and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the (recombinant) rapeseed chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases was a tetramer [160 kDa] comprised of four identical subunits. Like other chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases, the recombinant enzyme was inactive at 1 mM fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and 1 mM Mg²⁺ but became fully active after an incubation in the presence of either 10 mM dithiothreitol or 1 mM dithiothreitol and chloroplast thioredoxin. However, at variance with counterparts isolated from higher plant leaves, the low activity observed in absence of reductants was not greatly enhanced by high concentrations of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (3 mM) and Mg²⁺ (10 mM). In the catalytic process, all chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases had identical features; viz., the requirement of Mg²⁺ as cofactor and the inhibition by Ca²⁺. Thus, the procedure described here should prove useful for the structural and kinetic analysis of rapeseed chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase in view that this enzyme was not isolated from leaves.Abbreviation DTT dithiothreitol - PCR polymerase chain reaction - EDTA (ethylenedinitrilo)tetraacetic     

pH and kinetic studies of chloroplast sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase from spinach (Spinacia oleracea).

The aim of this paper is to study some steady-state kinetic properties of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, its pH-dependence and the effect of a substrate analogue, fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. Studies were carried out with sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate and with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, an alternative substrate. The pK values are identical for both substrates, and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate behaves like a competitive inhibitor. These results suggest that there exists a unique active site for either sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate or fructose 1,6-bisphosphate on the enzyme molecule. Increasing Mg2+ concentrations shifted the optimum pH. As for fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, we believe that this shift is due to the neutralization of negative charges near the active centre [Cadet, Meunier & Ferté (1987) Eur. J. Biochem. 162, 393-398]. The free species of sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate are not the usual substrates of enzyme, nor is Mg2+. But the kinetics relative to the (Mg2+-substrate4-)2- complex is not consistent with this complex being the substrate. An explanation of this discrepancy is proposed, involving both the negative charges near the active centre and the positive charges of Mg2+. The observed Vmax. of the reduced enzyme is 65% of the theoretical Vmax. for both substrates, but the observed Vmax. relative to sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate is 3 times the one relative to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The specificity constant (kcat./Km), 1.62 x 10(6) M-1.s-1 with respect to sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate compared with 5.5 x 10(4) M-1.s-1 with respect to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, indicates that the enzyme specificity towards sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate is high but not absolute.     

Fructose bisphosphatase from Escherichia coli. Purification and characterization

Escherichia coli fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase has been purified for the first time, using a clone containing an approximately 50-fold increased amount of the enzyme. The procedure includes chromatography in phosphocellulose followed by substrate elution and gel filtration. The enzyme has a subunit molecular weight of approximately 40,000 and in nondenaturing conditions is present in several aggregated forms in which the tetramer seems to predominate at low enzyme concentrations. Fructose bisphosphatase activity is specific for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Km of approximately 5 microM), shows inhibition by substrate above 0.05 mM, requires Mg2+ for catalysis, and has a maximum of activity around pH 7.5. The enzyme is susceptible to strong inhibition by AMP (50% inhibition around 15 microM). Phosphoenolpyruvate is a moderate inhibitor but was able to block the inhibition by AMP and may play an important role in the regulation of fructose bisphosphatase activity in vivo. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate did not affect the rate of reaction.     

Regulation of photosynthetic carbon metabolism. The effect of inorganic phosphate on stromal sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase

The activation and steady-state kinetics of wheat chloroplast sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase at several concentrations of inorganic phosphate are examined. Inorganic phosphate competitively inhibits substrate binding to both the active and inactive forms of the enzyme and reduces the rate of enzyme activation. Modulation of the apparent Km of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase for their substrates by inorganic phosphate is discussed in terms of the control of intermediate pool sizes in the reductive pentose phosphate pathway and of the flux of fixed carbon towards starch synthesis or export from the chloroplast.     

Kinetic studies on the activation of pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase from mung bean by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and related compounds

Pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PPi-PFK) was purified from the mung bean Phaseolus aureus. The enzyme is activated by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate at nanomolar concentrations. The enzyme exhibits Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and the reaction mechanism, deduced from initial velocity studies in the absence of inhibitors as well as product and dead-end inhibition studies, is rapid equilibrium random in the presence and absence of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. In the direction of fructose 6-phosphate phosphorylation, saturating fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (1 microM) increases V congruent to 9-fold and increases V/KMgPPi and V/KF6P about 30-fold. In the reverse direction (phosphate phosphorylation), the same concentration of activator has little if any effect on V or the Km for inorganic phosphate (Pi) and Mg2+ but does increase V/KFBP about 42-fold. No changes were observed in any of the other rate constants. The binding affinity of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to all enzyme forms is identical. The activator site of the mung bean PPi-PFK binds fructose 2,6-bisphosphate with a Kact of 30 nM with the 2,5-anhydro-D-glucitol 1,6-bisphosphate (the most effective analogue) 33-fold less tightly. Of the alkanediol bisphosphate series, 1,4-butanediol bisphosphate exhibited the tightest binding (Kact congruent to 3 microM). These and a series of other activating analogues are discussed in relation to the activator site.     

Hepatic 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase. The role of surface loop basic residues in substrate binding to the fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase domain.

Lys-356 has been implicated as a critical residue for binding the C-6 phospho group of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate to the fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase domain of rat liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (Li, L., Lin, K., Correia, J., and Pilkis, S. J. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 16669-16675). To ascertain whether the three other basic residues (Arg-352, Arg-358, and Arg-360), which are located in a surface loop (residues 331-362) which contains Lys-356, are important in substrate binding, these arginyl residues were mutated to Ala, and each arginyl mutant was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. The far UV circular dichroism spectra of the mutants were identical to that of the wild-type enzyme. The kinetic parameters of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase of the mutants revealed only small changes. However, the Km for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, Ki for fructose 6-phosphate, and Ka for inorganic phosphate of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase for Arg352Ala were, respectively, 2,800-, 4,500-, and 1,500-fold higher than those for the wild-type enzyme, whereas there was no change in the maximal velocity or the Ki for inorganic phosphate. The Km for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and Ki for inorganic phosphate of Arg360Ala were 10- and 12-fold higher, respectively, than those of the wild-type enzyme, whereas the maximal velocity and Ki for fructose 6-phosphate were unchanged. In addition, substrate inhibition was not observed with Arg352Ala and greatly reduced with Arg360Ala. The properties of the Arg358Ala mutant were identical to those of the wild-type enzyme. The results demonstrate that in addition to Lys-356, Arg-352 is another critical residue in fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase for binding the C-6 phospho group of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and that Arg-360 binds the C-2 phospho group of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in the phosphoenzyme.fructose 2,6-bisphosphate complex. The results also provide support for Arg-352, Lys-356, and Arg-360 constituting a specificity pocket for fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase.     

Concerted action of cosolvents, chaotropic anions and thioredoxin on chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. Reactivity to iodoacetamide

The incubation of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase with both dithiothreitol and protein denaturants made sulfhydryl groups available for reaction with [1-14C]iodoacetamide (10-12 mol iodoacetamide incorporated/mol enzyme). Digestion of S-carboxyamidomethylated enzyme with trypsin and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate, yielded two 14C-labeled fragments whose apparent molecular mass were 10 kDa and 16 kDa. In the absence of either dithiothreitol or protein denaturants the incorporation of iodoacetamide to the enzyme was lower than 4 mol. When chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was initially incubated with dithiothreitol (2.5 mM) and (a) high concentrations of both fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (4 mM) and Ca2+ (0.3 mM) or (b) low concentrations of both fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (0.8 mM) and Ca2+ (0.05 mM) in the presence of either 2-propanol (15%, by vol.), trichloroacetate (0.15 M) or chloroplast thioredoxin-f (0.5 microM) and subsequently subjected to proteolysis and electrophoresis, S-carboxyamidomethylated tryptic fragments had similar molecular masses. Thus, conditions that stimulated the specific activity of chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase caused conformational changes which favoured both the reduction of disulfide bridges and the exposure of sulfhydryl groups. In this aspect, thioredoxin exerted structural and kinetic effects similar to compounds not involved in redox reactions (organic solvents, chaotropic anions). These results indicated that the modification of hydrophobic (intramolecular) interactions in chloroplast fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase constituted the underlying mechanism in light-activation by the ferredoxin-thioredoxin system.     

Effects of various metabolic conditions and of the trivalent arsenical melarsen oxide on the intracellular levels of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and of glycolytic intermediates in Trypanosoma brucei

Upon differential centrifugation of cell-free extracts of Trypanosoma brucei, 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase and fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase behaved as cytosolic enzymes. The two activities could be separated from each other by chromatography on both blue Sepharose and anion exchangers. 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase had a Km for both its substrates in the millimolar range. Its activity was dependent on the presence of inorganic phosphate and was inhibited by phosphoenolpyruvate but not by citrate or glycerol 3-phosphate. The Km of fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase was 7 microM; this enzyme was inhibited by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Ki = 10 microM) and, less potently, by fructose 6-phosphate, phosphoenolpyruvate and glycerol 3-phosphate. Melarsen oxide inhibited 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (Ki less than 1 microM) and fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (Ki = 2 microM) much more potently than pyruvate kinase (Ki greater than 100 microM). The intracellular concentrations of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and hexose 6-phosphate were highest with glucose, intermediate with fructose and lowest with glycerol and dihydroxyacetone as glycolytic substrates. When added with glucose, salicylhydroxamic acid caused a decrease in the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, ATP, hexose 6-phosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. These studies indicate that the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is mainly controlled by the concentration of the substrates of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase. The changes in the concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate were in agreement with the stimulatory effect of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate on pyruvate kinase. At micromolar concentrations, melarsen oxide blocked almost completely the formation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate induced by glucose, without changing the intracellular concentrations of ATP and of hexose 6-phosphates. At higher concentrations (3-10 microM), this drug caused cell lysis, a proportional decrease in the glycolytic flux, as well as an increase in the phosphoenolypyruvate concentrations which was restricted to the extracellular compartment. Similar changes were induced by digitonin. It is concluded that the lytic effect of melarsen oxide on the bloodstream form of T. brucei is not the result of an inhibition of pyruvate kinase.     

Phosphate dependency of phosphofructokinase 2

Experiments performed at micromolar concentrations of inorganic phosphate support the conclusion that liver phosphofructokinase 2 would be completely inactive in the absence of inorganic phosphate or arsenate. The concentration of inorganic phosphate that allowed half-maximal activity decreased with increasing pH, being approximately 0.11 mM at pH 6.5 and 0.05 mM at pH 8. The effect of phosphate was to increase V and to decrease Km for fructose 6-phosphate, without affecting Km for ATP. Citrate and P-enolpyruvate inhibited the enzyme non-competitively with fructose 6-phosphate and independently of the concentration of inorganic phosphate. Phosphorylation of the enzyme by the catalytic subunit of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase did not markedly modify the phosphate requirement and its effect of inactivating phosphofructokinase 2 could not be counteracted by excess phosphate. A nearly complete phosphate dependency was also observed with phosphofructokinase 2 purified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae or from spinach leaves. By contrast, the fructose 2,6-bisphosphatase activity of the liver bifunctional enzyme was not dependent on the presence of inorganic phosphate. Phosphate increased this activity about threefold when measured in the absence of added fructose 6-phosphate and a half-maximal effect was reached at approximately 0.5 mM phosphate. Like glycerol phosphate, phosphate counteracted the inhibition of fructose 2,6-bisphosphatase by fructose 6-phosphate, but a much higher concentration of phosphate than of glycerol phosphate was required to reach this effect.