Protein dynamics of glycogen phosphorylase

The glycogen phosphorylase molecule absorbs the ultraviolet energy of a nitrogen laser to form an excited state of the cofactor. The decay rate of this state has a lifetime of 6.7 microseconds, and its sensitivity to bound substrates presents a new perspective of the mechanism. A careful analysis of the decay curve for native enzyme and cofactor analogues showed that the lifetime depends on the conformation of protein groups at the active site and how the residues change with bound substrate. The reactive ternary complexes obtained from either direction of the reaction yielded the same lifetime, indicating a change in the active-site conformation to a common configuration for the cofactor and substrate phosphate. This configuration indicates an increase in the cofactor 5'-PO4 pKa and a possible proton shuttle. The pyridoxal 5'-pyrophosphate reconstituted enzyme showed no conformational change alone or in the presence of oligosaccharide. This result does not support an electrophilic attack by the 5'-PO4 phosphorus.     

Photoaffinity labeling of the glucagon receptor with a new glucagon analog

The flash excitation of the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate cofactor of glycogen phosphorylase b by an ultraviolet laser produces a transient state from a proton transfer of the bound cofactor. The rate of decay of this transient state is sensitive to the ionization state of the cofactor. This proved a useful probe for the ionization state of the 5'-phosphate group of the cofactor on the binding by the enzyme of various substrates. The decay rate data show, for the binding of glucose 1-phosphate, a partially negative 5'-HPO4- and evidence for a PO4-PO4 interaction. The data is interpreted in terms of a dynamic shift of substrates at the active site.     

Further evaluation of cofactor as a turnover label for glycogen phosphorylase

1. The cofactor of glycogen phosphorylase, pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), is stably associated with the enzyme and has been used as a label in the determination of the turnover of the skeletal muscle enzyme in vivo. 2. Mice were injected with radiolabelled pyridoxine that was subsequently converted to PLP and incorporated into phosphorylase. 3. In this study we have resolved phosphorylase-bound label from that associated with the other PLP-containing enzymes and free label by affinity and size-exclusion chromatography. 4. The decay of radioactive pools was assessed after an extended period post-injection to minimize the effects of isotope reutilization. 5. These modifications have allowed refinement of our previous estimate of the rate of degradation of muscle phosphorylase.     

The interplay between covalent and non-covalent regulation of glycogen phosphorylase. The role of different effectors of phosphorylase b on the phosphorylase b to a conversion rate.

Glycogen phosphorylase b is converted to glycogen phosphorylase a, the covalently activated form of the enzyme, by phosphorylase kinase. Glc-6-P, which is an allosteric inhibitor of phosphorylase b, and glycogen, which is a substrate of this enzyme, are already known to have respectively an inhibiting and activating effect upon the rate of conversion from phosphorylase b to phosphorylase a by phosphorylase kinase. In the former case, this effect is due to the binding of glucose-6-phosphate to glycogen phosphorylase b. In order to investigate whether or not the rate of conversion of glycogen phosphorylase b to phosphorylase a depends on the conformational state of the b substrate, we have tested the action of the most specific effectors of glycogen phosphorylase b activity upon the rate of conversion from phosphorylase b to phosphorylase a at 0 degrees C and 22 degrees C : AMP and other strong activators, IMP and weak activators, Glc-6-P, glycogen. Glc-1-P and phosphate. AMP and strong activators have a very important inhibitory effect at low temperature, but not at room temperature, whereas the weak activators have always a very weak, if even existing, inhibitory effect at both temperatures. We confirmed the very strong inhibiting effect of Glc-6-P at both temperatures, and the strong activating effect of glycogen. We have shown that phosphate has a very strong inhibitory effect, whereas Glc-1-P has an activating effect only at room temperature and at non-physiological concentrations. The concomitant effects of substrates and nucleotides have also been studied. The observed effects of all these ligands may be either direct ones on phosphorylase kinase, or indirect ones, the ligand modifying the conformation of phosphorylase b and its interaction with phosphorylase kinase. Since we have no control experiments with a peptidic fragment of phosphorylase b, the interpretation of our results remains putative. However, the differential effects observed with different nucleotides are in agreement with the simple conformational scheme proposed earlier. Therefore, it is suggested that phosphorylase kinase recognizes differently the different conformations of glycogen phosphorylase b. In agreement with such an explanation, it is shown that the inhibiting effect of AMP is mediated by a slow isomerisation which has been previously ascribed to a quaternary conformational change of glycogen phosphorylase b. The results presented here (in particular, the important effect of glycogen and phosphate) are also discussed in correlation with the physiological role of the different ligands as regulatory signals in the in vivo situation where phosphorylase is inserted into the glycogen particle.     

Accelerated degradation of glycogen phosphorylase in denervated and dystrophic mouse skeletal muscle

Pyridoxal phosphate, the cofactor of glycogen phosphorylase, fulfils the criteria needed of a turnover label for this enzyme. The decay of protein-bound label following administration of [³H]pyridoxine is a good index of the rate of degradation of the enzyme in vivo. This method has been applied to the study of catabolism of the enzyme in normal, denervated and dystrophic mouse skeletal muscle. In both of the pathological conditions the enzyme is degraded more rapidly than normal.     

Activator anion binding site in pyridoxal phosphorylase b: the binding of phosphite, phosphate, and fluorophosphate in the crystal.

It has been established that phosphate analogues can activate glycogen phosphorylase reconstituted with pyridoxal in place of the natural cofactor pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (Change YC. McCalmont T, Graves DJ. 1983. Biochemistry 22:4987-4993). Pyridoxal phosphorylase b has been studied by kinetic, ultracentrifugation, and X-ray crystallographic experiments. In solution, the catalytically active species of pyridoxal phosphorylase b adopts a conformation that is more R-state-like than that of native phosphorylase b, but an inactive dimeric species of the enzyme can be stabilized by activator phosphite in combination with the T-state inhibitor glucose. Co-crystals of pyridoxal phosphorylase b complexed with either phosphite, phosphate, or fluorophosphate, the inhibitor glucose, and the weak activator IMP were grown in space group P4(3)2(1)2, with native-like unit cell dimensions, and the structures of the complexes have been refined to give crystallographic R factors of 18.5-19.2%, for data between 8 and 2.4 A resolution. The anions bind tightly at the catalytic site in a similar but not identical position to that occupied by the cofactor 5'-phosphate group in the native enzyme (phosphorus to phosphorus atoms distance = 1.2 A). The structural results show that the structures of the pyridoxal phosphorylase b-anion-glucose-IMP complexes are overall similar to the glucose complex of native T-state phosphorylase b. Structural comparisons suggest that the bound anions, in the position observed in the crystal, might have a structural role for effective catalysis.     

Dissociative mechanism of thermal denaturation of rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylase b

The thermal stability of rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylase b was characterized using enzymological inactivation studies, differential scanning calorimetry, and analytical ultracentrifugation. The results suggest that denaturation proceeds by the dissociative mechanism, i.e., it includes the step of reversible dissociation of the active dimer into inactive monomers and the following step of irreversible denaturation of the monomer. It was shown that glucose 1-phosphate (substrate), glucose (competitive inhibitor), AMP (allosteric activator), FMN, and glucose 6-phosphate (allosteric inhibitors) had a protective effect. Calorimetric study demonstrates that the cofactor of glycogen phosphorylase-pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-stabilizes the enzyme molecule. Partial reactivation of glycogen phosphorylase b preheated at 53 degrees C occurs after cooling of the enzyme solution to 30 degrees C. The fact that the rate of reactivation decreases with dilution of the enzyme solution indicates association of inactive monomers into active dimers during renaturation. The allosteric inhibitor FMN enhances the rate of phosphorylase b reactivation.     

Kinetics of the interaction of rabbit skeletal muscle phosphorylase kinase with glycogen

The kinetics of the interaction of rabbit skeletal muscle phosphorylase kinase with glycogen was studied by the turbidimetric method at pH 6.8 and 8.2. Binding of phosphorylase kinase by glycogen occurs only in the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+. The initial rate of complex formation is proportional to the enzyme and polysaccharide concentration; this suggests the formation of a complex with 1:1 stoichiometry in the initial step of phosphorylase kinase binding by glycogen. The kinetic data suggest that phosphorylase kinase substrate--glycogen phosphorylase b--favors the binding of phosphorylase kinase with glycogen. This conclusion is supported by direct experiments on the influence of phosphorylase b on the interaction of phosphorylase kinase with glycogen using analytical sedimentation analysis. The kinetic curves of the formation of the complex of phosphorylase kinase with glycogen obtained in the presence of ATP are characterized by a lag period. Preincubation of phosphorylase kinase with ATP in the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+ causes the complete disappearance of the lag period. On changing the pH from 6.8 to 8.2, the rate of phosphorylase kinase binding by glycogen is appreciably increased, and complex formation becomes possible even in the absence of Mg2+. A model of phosphorylase kinase and phosphorylase b adsorption on the surface of the glycogen particle explaining the increase in the strength of phosphorylase kinase binding with glycogen in the presence of phosphorylase b is proposed.     

The turnover of skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylase studied using the cofactor, pyridoxal phosphate, as a specific label

The turnover of glycogen phosphorylase has been measured using the cofactor, pyridoxal phosphate, as a label specific for this enzyme in skeletal muscle. Radiolabelled pyridoxine administered in vivo is incorporated into a protein-bound fraction in skeletal muscle, shown by several criteria to be equivalent to glycogen phosphorylase. This pool of radiolabel disapears slowly with a half-life of 11.9 days, taken to be a good estimate of the intracellular half-life of the enzyme. The use of the cofactor in this fashion minimises overestimation of half-life that results from reincorporation of the label. Further, premature dissociation of the cofactor from native enzyme, which would lead to underestimation of half-life, is unlikely. At the level of sensitivity given by this method there was little evidence for the appearance of pyridoxal phosphate-labelled degradation intermediates of the enzyme.     

Molecular heterogeneity in McArdle's disease

Biopsies were taken from a group of eleven patients with McArdle's disease, a congenital deficiency in muscle glycogen phosphorylase. The biopsies were screened by Western and Northern blotting for phosphorylase protein, phosphotrylase-bound pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (the cofactor of the enzyme) and for phosphorylase mRNA. Of the eleven patients, three expressed phosphorylase mRNA at near normal levels and at the expected size. One of these patients also expressed low levels of phosphorylase protein that correlated with a small amount of measurable phosphorylase activity. These data support the contention of molecular heterogeneity in the presentation of this phenotype.     

In vivo synthesis of glycogen by phosphorylase system

Summary Application of conventional histochemical techniques to the living chick retina demonstrates that phosphorylase can synthesize glycogen (polyglucose) in vivo, in the paraboloid of the accessory cone. Natural in vivo glycogen synthesis may therefore be due to glycogen synthetase and phosphorylase systems, although phosphorylase is normally regarded as a glycolytic enzyme.     

Pyridoxal-5′-phosphate as a probe for rotational diffusion

Pyridoxal-5′-phosphate, a metabolic derivative of vitamin B6, was successfully used as a probe for rotational diffusion. As the intrinsic cofactor in glycogen phosphorylase b, in binding with bovine serum albumin and in mixed micelles, the Schiff base adduct exhibited transient absorption dichroism at μs times.Its usefulness in measuring the slow rotation of proteins and micelles was demonstrated.     

Histochemical demonstration of rat liver glycogen phosphorylase activity with iron (Fe++)

Summary A new histochemical method for light microscopic demonstration of liver glycogen phosphorylase activity has been introduced in this study.The method demonstrates phosphorylase activity by precipitating phosphate ions, liberated in the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme, with Fe⁺⁺ present in the incubating medium. The precipitate is visualized as ferrous sulphide.The new glycogen, formed in the same reaction, can also be demonstrated in this method after staining with iodine.The lobular localization of the reaction products obtained according to this method in the liver, corresponds well to that obtained according to earlier methods for the demonstration of only new-formed glycogen.     

Regulation of hepatic glycogen phosphorylase and glycogen synthase by calcium and diacylglycerol

Incubation of rat hepatocytes with angiotensin II (1 nM) produced a time-dependent accumulation of 1, 2-diacylglycerol and inactivation of glycogen synthase with maximum effects at 10 min. The level of diacylglycerol then gradually declined and the activity of glycogen synthase I returned to control values at 30 min. In contrast, angiotensin II caused an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ and an activation of glycogen phosphorylase which were rapid and transient, reaching maximum values in less than 2 min and then returning to control levels at 15 min. There were excellent correlations between the changes in glycogen synthase I and diacylglycerol levels and between the changes in phosphorylase alpha and cytosolic Ca2+ in these time-course studies. However, there was no correlation between the changes in diacylglycerol and phosphorylase alpha or between the changes in cytosolic Ca2+ and glycogen synthase I. Norepinephrine also caused a slow increase in diacylglycerol and inactivation of glycogen synthase, and a rapid increase in cytosolic free Ca2+ and activation of glycogen phosphorylase. Addition of an alpha1-adrenergic blocker (prazosin or phentolamine) caused rapid decreases in cytosolic free Ca2+ and phosphorylase alpha, but only slowly reversed the inactivation of synthase and accumulation of diacylglycerol. The dose-response curves for norepinephrine and prazosin on glycogen synthase were well correlated with those on diacylglycerol. It is proposed that in liver cells, Ca2+-mobilizing hormones regulate phosphorylase a through a Ca2+-dependent mechanism and inactivate glycogen synthase through the generation of diacylglycerol, at least in part. The data provide additional support for the view that protein kinase C may be important in the regulation of glycogen synthase in liver.     

FR258900, a potential anti-hyperglycemic drug, binds at the allosteric site of glycogen phosphorylase

FR258900 has been discovered as a novel inhibitor of human liver glycogen phosphorylase a and proved to suppress hepatic glycogen breakdown and reduce plasma glucose concentrations in diabetic mice models. To elucidate the mechanism of inhibition, we have determined the crystal structure of the cocrystallized rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase b-FR258900 complex and refined it to 2.2 A resolution. The structure demonstrates that the inhibitor binds at the allosteric activator site, where the physiological activator AMP binds. The contacts from FR258900 to glycogen phosphorylase are dominated by nonpolar van der Waals interactions with Gln71, Gln72, Phe196, and Val45' (from the symmetry-related subunit), and also by ionic interactions from the carboxylate groups to the three arginine residues (Arg242, Arg309, and Arg310) that form the allosteric phosphate-recognition subsite. The binding of FR258900 to the protein promotes conformational changes that stabilize an inactive T-state quaternary conformation of the enzyme. The ligand-binding mode is different from those of the potent phenoxy-phthalate and acyl urea inhibitors, previously described, illustrating the broad specificity of the allosteric site.     

Function of the phosphate group of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate in the glycogen phosphorylase reaction

To understand the catalytic mechanism of glycogen phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1), pyridoxal(5')phospho(1)-beta-D-glucose was synthesized and examined as a hypothetical intermediate in the catalysis. Pyridoxal phosphoglucose bound stoichiometrically to the cofactor site of rabbit muscle phosphorylase b in a similar mode of binding to the natural cofactor, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. The rate of binding of pyridoxal phosphoglucose was only 1/100 compared with that of pyridoxal phosphate. The enzyme reconstituted with pyridoxal phosphoglucose showed no enzymatic activity at all even after prolonged incubation of the enzyme with substrates and activator. The present data would contradict participation of the phosphate group of pyridoxal phosphate in a covalent glucosyl-enzyme intermediate even if the covalent intermediate was formed during the catalysis.     

Glycogen phosphorylase from Neurospora crassa: purification of a high-specific-activity, non-phosphorylated form.

A highly active glycogen phosphorylase was purified from Neurospora crassa by polyethylene glycol fractionation at pH 6.16 combined with standard techniques (chromatography and salt fractionation). The final preparation had a specific activity of 65 +/- 5 U/mg of protein (synthetic direction, pH 6.1, 30 degrees C) and was homogeneous by the criteria of gel electrophoresis, amino-terminal analysis, gel filtration, and double immunodiffusion in two dimensions. The enzyme had a native molecular weight of 180,000 +/- 10,000 (by calibrated gel filtration and gel electrophoresis) and a subunit molecular weight of 90,000 +/- 5,000 (by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Each subunit contained one molecule of pyridoxal phosphate. No phosphoserine or phosphothreonine was detected by amino acid analysis optimized for phosphoamino acid detection. The enzyme isolated from cells grown on high-specific-activity 32Pi (as sole source of phosphorus) contained one atom of 32P per subunit. All the radioactivity was removed by procedures that removed pyridoxal phosphate. Thus, the enzyme could not be classified as an a type (phosphorylated, active in the absence of a cofactor) or as a b type (non-phosphorylated, inactive in the absence of a cofactor). The level of phosphorylase was markedly increased in mycelium taken from older cultures in which the carbon source (glucose or sucrose) had been depleted. The polyethylene glycol fractionation scheme applied at pH 7.5 to mycelial extracts of younger cultures (taken before depletion of the sugar) resulted in co-purification of glycogen phosphorylase and glycogen synthetase.     

Peculiarities of Activation of Glycogenolysis Enzymes in Skeletal Muscles of the Trout Salmo trutta morpha Fario

In skeletal muscles of the trout, a fish that intensively swims and is capable for sharp sprinting movements, an active form of ATP: phosphorylase b phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.1.38, glycogen phosphorylase kinase; GPK) and partially active 1,4-D-glucan:orthophosphate glucosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.1, glycogen phosphorylase; GP) are revealed in the state of a relative rest. The isolated GP ab has a higher affinity to substrates (glucose-1-phosphate and glycogen) than GP b and is able to split glycogen without pre-activation with AMP or GPK. The presence of the activated forms of GPK and GP in resting muscles of the trout provides an opportunity for the very fast Ca²⁺-activation of glycogenolysis, coupled with activation of muscle contraction. This seems to be a biochemical mechanism of adaptation for the energy supply of intense muscle activity in this fish species inhabiting rapid cataracted rivers.     

Phosphorylase: control and activity

Recent results from the crystallographic studies on glycogen phosphorylase b at 2 A resolution are reviewed with special reference to other themes of the meeting. The structural similarity of the fold of 150 residues in phosphorylase to the observed in lactate dehydrogenase is discussed and the binding sites for NADH in phosphorylase are described. The binding of the potent inhibitor glucose-1,2-cyclic phosphate to phosphorylase b in the crystal has been studied at 3 A resolution. The results are compared with those previously obtained for glucose-1-phosphate and discussed with reference to proposals for a mechanism of catalysis that involves the essential cofactor pyridoxal phosphate.     

Effect of denervation on the expression of glycogen phosphorylase in mouse skeletal muscle.

After sciatectomy of the left hind-limb of C57BL/J mice, a denervation-induced muscular atrophy ensued and was accompanied by a decrease in the specific activity of glycogen phosphorylase to approx. 25% of control values. The cofactor of phosphorylase, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, was used as a specific label in the determination of the degradation rate of the enzyme following nerve section. After a delay of 3-4 days, phosphorylase was degraded approx, twice as rapidly in the denervated gastrocnemius (0.20 day-1) as in the control muscle (0.12 day-1). The effect of denervation on phosphorylase mRNA was measured by quantitative Northern-blot analysis using a rat skeletal-muscle phosphorylase cDNA probe. After an initial rapid decline, phosphorylase mRNA levels stabilized in denervated muscle at 50% of the value measured in the contralateral control muscle.