Methyl linoleate ozonide as a substrate for rat glutathione S-transferases: reaction pathway and isoenzyme selectivity

The 9,10-mono-ozonide of methyl linoleate was shown to be a substrate for rat hepatic cytosolic, rat lung cytosolic and rat hepatic microsomal glutathione S-transferases (GST). The activities of lung cytosol and liver microsomes with methyl linoleate ozonide (MLO) were found to be high relative to the activity demonstrated by liver cytosol, as compared with their respective activities towards 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB). Only a slight catalytic activity towards the ozonide was noticed for rat lung microsomes. Isoenzyme 2-2 exhibited the highest specific activity (208 nmol/min/mg) when isoenzymes 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4 and 7-7 were compared. This isoenzyme accounts for approx. 25% of cytosolic GST protein in rat lung, while in rat liver it represents approx. 9%. This may partly explain the high activity towards the ozonide noticed for rat lung cytosol. No stable conjugates were formed as products of the reaction of MLO with glutathione; although two glutathione-conjugates were noticed on TLC, they were only formed as intermediate compounds. Coupling of an aldehyde dehydrogenase assay or a glutathione reductase assay to the GST-catalyzed conjugation, demonstrated that oxidized glutathione and aldehydes are formed as the major products in the reaction. To further confirm the formation of aldehydes, the products of the GST-catalyzed reaction were incubated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, which resulted in hydrazone formation. In conclusion, the activity of the GST towards the ozonide of methyl linoleate is similar to their peroxidase activity with lipid hydroperoxides as substrates.     

Trialkyl phosphorothioates and glutathione S-transferases

Using a rat liver cytosol source of enzyme trialkyl phosphorothioates have been shown to be substrates of glutathione S-transferases. Using OSS-trimethyl phosphorodithioate (OSS-Me(O] and OOS-trimethyl phosphorothioate (OOS-Me(O] the methyl transferred to the sulphydryl of glutathione is that attached to phosphorus via an oxygen atom. Fractionation of liver cytosol has shown that although the bulk activity is due to the three isozymes (1-1; 3-4; 1.2), OSS-Me(O) is a general substrate for glutathione S-transferases. The specific activity is low compared with the substrates 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and 1,2-dichloro-4-nitrobenzene.     

Purification and characterization of cytosolic liver protein facilitating heme transport into apocytochrome b5 from mitochondria. Evidence for identifying the heme transfer protein as belonging to a group of glutathione S-transferases

The results of the present experiment are shown in terms of the transport of protoheme from mitochondria to apocytochrome b5 when fresh rat liver mitochondria, apocytochrome b5, and cytosol were incubated. The heme transfer protein was purified from rat liver cytosol up to approximately 133-140-fold with a 43% yield by the procedure discussed herein, including Sephadex G-75 and CM-cellulose column chromatography. The final preparation showed apparent homogeneity upon polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Its native form was found to be a dimeric protein with a Mr = 45,000 which consists of a subunit with a Mr = 23,000. In the transporting system, the heme transfer depended on the concentration of mitochondria (donor), apocytochrome b5 (acceptor), and purified transfer protein, respectively. Omission of one of these components led to an almost complete loss of the transfer activity. The transport of mitochondrial protoheme was a rapid reaction which showed approximate linearity until 1.5 min and after that it became saturated. When the functional capacity was tested by the NADH-cytochrome c reductase system, the reconstituted cytochrome b5 expressed its complete original catalytic properties, as well as its characteristic absorption spectra for the hemoprotein. Furthermore, the detailed physicochemical and immunological characterization of the transfer protein provided evidence that the protein is identical with soluble glutathione S-transferase, which conjugates glutathione with a variety of electrophilic compounds. At least one of the glutathione S-transferase isozymes observed was identified as GST-C2, which comprises the subunit of Yb'Yb' by the immunoprecipitation reaction using various anti-glutathione S-transferase isozyme antibodies.     

Stereochemistry of the microsomal glutathione S-transferase catalyzed addition of glutathione to chlorotrifluoroethene

The stereochemistry of S-(2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl)glutathione formation was studied in rat liver cytosol, microsomes, N-ethylmaleimide-treated microsomes, 9000g supernatant fractions, purified rat liver microsomal glutathione S-transferase, and isolated rat hepatocytes. The absolute configuration of the chiral center generated by the addition of glutathione to chlorotrifluoroethene was determined by degradation of S-(2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl)glutathione to chlorofluoroacetic acid, followed by derivatization to form the diastereomeric amides N-(S)-alpha-methylbenzyl-(S)-chlorofluoacetamide and N-(S)-alpha-methylbenzyl-(R)-chlorofluoroacetamide, which were separated by gas chromatography. Native and N-ethylmaleimide-treated rat liver microsomes, purified rat liver microsomal glutathione S-transferase, rat liver 9000g supernatant, and isolated rat hepatocytes catalyzed the formation of 75-81% (2S)-S-(2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl)glutathione; rat liver cytosol catalyzed the formation of equal amounts of (2R)- and (2S)-S-(2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl)glutathione. In rat hepatocytes, microsomal glutathione S-transferase catalyzed the formation of 83% of the total S-(2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl)glutathione formed. These observations show that the microsomal glutathione S-transferase catalyzes the first step in the intracellular, glutathione-dependent bioactivation of the nephrotoxin chlorotrifluoroethene.     

Reduced glutathione inhibits the alkylation by N-nitrosodimethylamine of liver DNA in vivo and microsomal fraction in vitro

The transfer of radioactivity from N-nitroso-[14C]dimethylamine to trichloroacetic acid precipitable macromolecules in the microsomal fraction of rat liver was investigated. This transfer was found to depend on N-nitrosodimethylamine being metabolized. Cytosolic fraction and cytosol enriched with reduced glutathione inhibited the binding of radioactivity to acid insoluble proteins. Depletion of glutathione in rat liver with diethylmaleate prior to i.v. administration of 10 mg N-nitroso-[14C]dimethylamine/kg led to an increase in O6-methylguanine and N-7-methylguanine in DNA. If rats were fed disulfiram for 6 days (2 g/kg feed), glutathione and glutathione S-transferase were enhanced, and the degree of methylation of guanine by N-nitrosodimethylamine was greatly reduced, as was the metabolism of N-nitrosodimethylamine in the intact animal. Fasting rats for 24 h did not change the N-nitrosodimethylamine-demethylase activity in vitro but greatly enhanced the methylation of guanine in vivo, while the glutathione content and glutathione S-transferase activity were not changed compared to fed animals.     

Lipid and steroid hydroperoxides as substrates for the non-selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase.

The reduction of linoleic acid hydroperoxide catalysed by rat liver cytosol was previously shown to be catalysed by a selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase. In contrast, the enzyme responsible in guinea-pig liver cytosol is not selenium-dependent and appears to be a glutathione transferase.     

Overexpression of glutathione reductase but not glutathione synthetase leads to increases in antioxidant capacity and resistance to photoinhibition in poplar trees.

A poplar hybrid, Populus tremula x Populus alba, was transformed with the bacterial genes for either glutathione reductase (GR) (gor) or glutathione synthetase (GS) (gshII). When the gor gene was targeted to the chloroplasts, leaf GR activities were up to 1000 times greater than in all other lines. In contrast, targeting to the cytosol resulted in 2 to 10 times the GR activity. GR mRNA, protein, and activity levels suggest that bacterial GR is more stable in the chloroplast. When the gshII gene was expressed in the cytosol, GS activities were up to 100 times greater than in other lines. Overexpression of GR or GS in the cytosol had no effect on glutathione levels, but chloroplastic-GR expression caused a doubling of leaf glutathione and an increase in reduction state. The high-chloroplastic-GR expressors showed increased resistance to photoinhibition. The herbicide methyl viologen inhibited CO2 assimilation in all lines, but the increased leaf levels of glutathione and ascorbate in the high-chloroplastic-GR expressors persisted despite this treatment. These results suggest that overexpression of GR in the chloroplast increases the antioxidant capacity of the leaves and that this improves the capacity to withstand oxidative stress.     

Purification and characterization of three distinct glutathione transferases from mouse liver

Three distinct glutathione transferases in the liver cytosol fraction of male NMRI mice have been purified by affinity chromatography and fast protein liquid chromatofocusing. These enzymes account for approximately 95% of the activity detectable with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as electrophilic substrate. Differences between the three forms are manifested in isoelectric points, apparent subunit molecular mass values, amino acid compositions, N-terminal structures, substrate specificities, and sensitivities to inhibitors, as well as in reactions with specific antibodies raised against glutathione transferases from rat and human tissues. The results indicate strongly that the three mouse enzymes are products of different genes. A comparison of the mouse glutathione transferases with rat and human enzymes revealed similarities between the transferases from different species. Mouse glutathione transferases have been named on the basis of their respective subunit compositions.     

The role of selenium in the regulation of lipid peroxidation in biological membranes and glutathione peroxidase activity

The antioxidative effect of selenium cannot be exclusively due to the functioning of the selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase mechanism of utilization of various hydroperoxides. This hypothesis is based on the following experimental evidence. Selenium ions are readily incorporated into animal organs and tissues immediately after injection (2 hours) as well as into cell organelles and cytosol where they inhibit lipid peroxidation. The activity of glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.1.1.19) in rat liver and guinea pig cytosol is thereby unchanged but increases drastically after 12 hours reaching a maximum an the 3rd-4th day. The effectiveness of lipid peroxidation inhibition does not increase under these conditions. Although the glutathione peroxidase activity is absent in the nuclei and microsomes, exogenous selenium inhibits lipid peroxidation in these organelles. The activity of the rat liver cytosolic enzyme markedly exceeds that of its guinea pig counterpart. However, lipid peroxidation in guinea pig liver occurs less intensively than that in rat liver cytosol.     

A specific glutathione S-transferase isozyme occurring in hereditary hyperbilirubinuria rats

A glutathione S-transferase isozyme which is absent in normal rat liver has been isolated from the hereditary hyperbilirubinuria rat liver cytosol. The enzyme was purified to apparent homogeneity by GSH-affinity chromatography and HPLC on CM-Sepharose CL-6B. It is a heterodimer of two non-identical subunits, i.e., subunit 2 and a previously uncharacterized subunit referred to here as subunit Yx. Immunoblot analysis indicated that GST 2-Yx belongs to the alpha class. GST 2-Yx is characterized by its 4-fold higher activity towards 4-hydroxy-non-2-enal, compared to that of GST 2-2.     

Inhibition of glutathione S-transferase by bile acids.

The effects of bile acids on the detoxification of compounds by glutathione conjugation have been investigated. Bile acids were found to inhibit the total soluble-fraction glutathione S-transferase activity from rat liver, as assayed with four different acceptor substrates. Dihydroxy bile acids were more inhibitory than trihydroxy bile acids, and conjugated bile acids were generally less inhibitory than the parent bile acid. At physiological concentrations of bile acid, the glutathione S-transferase activity in the soluble fraction was inhibited by nearly 50%. This indicates that the size of the hepatic pool of bile acids can influence the ability of the liver to detoxify electrophilic compounds. The A, B and C isoenzymes of glutathione S-transferase were isolated separately. Each was found to be inhibited by bile acids. Kinetic analysis of the inhibition revealed that the bile acids were not competitive inhibitors of either glutathione or acceptor substrate binding. The microsomal glutathione S-transferase from guinea-pig liver was also shown to be inhibited by bile acids. This inhibition, however, showed characteristics of a non-specific detergent-type inhibition.     

Properties of cytosolic components activating rat hepatic 5'' [corrected]-deiodination in the presence of NADPH.

The effects of cytosol, NADPH and reduced glutathione (GSH) on the activity of 5'-deiodinase were studied by using washed hepatic microsomes from normal fed rats. Cytosol alone had little stimulatory effect on the activation of microsomal 5'-deiodinase. NADPH had no stimulatory effect on the microsomal 5'-deiodinase unless cytosol was added. 5'-deiodinase activity was greatly enhanced by the simultaneous addition of NADPH and cytosol (P less than 0.001); this was significantly higher than that with either NADPH or cytosol alone (P less than 0.001). GSH was active in stimulating the enzyme activity in the absence of cytosol, but the activity of 5'-deiodinase with 62 microM-NADPH in the presence of cytosol was significantly higher than that with 250 microM-GSH in the presence of the same concentration of cytosol (P less than 0.001). The properties of the cytosolic components essential for the NADPH-dependent activation of microsomal 5'-deiodinase independent of a glutathione/glutathione reductase system were further assessed using Sephadex G-50 column chromatography to yield three cytosolic fractions (A, B and C), wherein A represents pooled fractions near the void volume, B pooled fractions of intermediate Mr (approx. 13 000), and C of low Mr (approx. 300) containing glutathione. In the presence of NADPH (1 mM), the 5'-deiodination rate by hepatic washed microsomes is greatly increased if both A and B are added and is a function of the concentrations of A, B, washed microsomes and NADPH. A is heat-labile, whereas B is heat-stable and non-dialysable. These observations provide the first evidence of an NADPH-dependent cytosolic reductase system not involving glutathione which stimulates microsomal 5'-deiodinase of normal rat liver. The present data are consistent with a deiodination mechanism involving mediation by a reductase (other than glutathione reductase) in fraction A of an NADPH-dependent reduction of a hydrogen acceptor in fraction B, followed by reduction of oxidized microsomal deiodinase by the reduced acceptor (component in fraction B).     

Inactivation of phosphorylase phosphatase by a factor from rabbit liver and its chemical characterization as glutathione disulfide.

A factor inactivating phosphorylase phosphatase was isolated from rabbit liver. The isolation procedure consisted of heat treatment at 85 degrees C, extraction with n-butyl alcohol, and chromatography on Dowex 1 and DEAE-cellulose columns. The purified factor was different from the known protein inhibitors and was shown to be tripeptide composed of equimolar amounts of glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. The NH2-terminal and COOH-terminal amino acids were determined as glutamic acid and glycine, respectively. The factor was finally identified as glutathione disulfide by high voltage paper electrophoresis, paper chromatography, and liquid column chromatography using an amino acid analyzer. Addition of the purified factor or glutathione disulfide converted phosphorylase phosphatase to a stable, less active enzyme species, the extent of conversion depending on the amount added. The inactivated phosphatase was completely reactivated by addition of both glutathione (or 2-mercaptoethanol) and Mn2+ and partially reactivated by adding glutathione alone. Injection of glutathione disulfide into the portal vein of rabbits caused a rapid increase in phosphorylase alpha activity in the liver. These results suggest that glutathione disulfide is involved in regulation of phosphorylase activity in vivo, by causing inactivation of phosphorylase phosphatase in the liver.     

Hepatic glutathione S-transferases in rainbow trout and their interaction with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 1,4-benzoquinone

Glutathione S-transferase in the cytosol of rainbow trout liver was partially purified by affinity chromatography on a column with glutathione coupled to epoxy-activated Sepharose 6B, which retained 94% of the total activity. Chromatofocussing on a Polybuffer exchanger 118 column separated the glutathione S-transferase into six major cationic isoenzymes (K1-K6), and some minor fractions. SDS-polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis showed K1-K3 to be heterodimers with subunits of Mr 25,000 and 26,500, and K4-K6 to be homodimers with subunits of Mr 25,000. The glutathione S-transferase isoenzymes were partially characterized by different biochemical parameters. The hepatic rainbow trout glutathione S-transferases were inhibited by the organic water pollutants, 1,4-benzoquinone and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The same kinetic inhibition patterns were observed with these inhibitors as for rat liver glutathione S-transferases. It is concluded that rainbow trout glutathione S-transferases can play a key role in the detoxication of organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment.     

Membrane-bound glutathione peroxidase-like activity in mitochondria

A membrane-bound glutathione peroxidase-like activity has been detected in liver and cardiac mitochondrial membrane. This enzyme activity differs from the cytosol and mitochondrial matrix selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase in that it is membrane bound, sensitive to sonication and triton-X-100, and is unaffected by prolonged feeding of a selenium-free diet. This mitochondrial membrane-bound enzyme activity differs from the glutathione-S-transferases which exhibit glutathione peroxidase activity in that it is capable of utilizing both cumene hydroperoxide and hydrogen peroxide as substrates. Digitonin fractionation studies indicate that this enzyme is not located in either inner or outer mitochondrial membrane but rather within inter-membrane space. This newly described membrane-bound enzyme activity may play an important role in the maintenance of cardiac mitochondrial integrity in that mitochondrial matrix does not contain glutathione peroxidase.     

Identification of a high affinity leukotriene C4-binding protein in rat liver cytosol as glutathione S-transferase

A soluble high affinity binding unit for leukotriene (LT) C4 in the high speed supernatant of rat liver homogenate was characterized at 4 degrees C as having a single type of saturable affinity site with a dissociation constant of 0.77 +/- 0.27 nM (mean +/- S.E., n = 5). The binding activity was identified as the liver cytosolic subunit 1 (Ya) of glutathione S-transferase, commonly known as ligandin, by co-purification with the catalytic activity during DEAE-cellulose column chromatography and 11,12,14,15-tetrahydro-LTC4 (LTC2)-affinity gel column chromatography; resolution into two major bands by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of Mr 23,000 and 25,000, of which only the smaller protein was labeled with [3H]LTC4 coupled via a photoaffinity cross-linking reagent; and immunodiffusion analysis with rabbit antiserum to glutathione S-transferase which showed a line of identity between the purified LTC4-binding protein and rat liver glutathione S-transferase. The affinity-purified binding protein bound 800 pmol of [3H] LTC4/mg of protein and possessed 12 mumol/min/mg of glutathione transferase activity as assayed with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as substrate. The enzyme activity of the cytosolic LTC4-binding protein was inhibited by submicromolar quantities of unlabeled LTC4, and the binding activity for [3H]LTC4 was blocked by the ligandin substrates, hematin and bilirubin. The high affinity interaction between LTC4 and glutathione S-transferase suggests that glutathione S-transferase may have a role in LTC4 disposition and that previous studies of LTC4 binding to putative receptors in nonresponsive tissues may require redefinition of the binding unit.     

Protein Carboxyl Methylation Increases in Parallel With Differentiation of Neuroblastoma Cells

Abstract: Cells of mouse neuroblastoma clone N1E-115 in the confluent phase of growth can catalyze the formation of endogenous protein carboxyl methyl esters, using a protein carboxyl methylase and membrane-bound methyl acceptor proteins. The enzyme is localized predominantly in the cytosol of the cells and has a molecular weight of about 20,000 daltons. Treatment of the cells with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or hexamethylenebisacetamide (HMBA), agents that induce morphological and electrophysiological differentiation, results in a marked increase in protein carboxyl methylase activity. Maximal levels are reached 6–7 days after exposure to the agents, a time course that closely parallels the development of electrical excitability mechanisms in these cells. Serum deprivation also causes neurite outgrowth but does not enhance electrical excitability or enzyme activity. The capacity of membrane-bound neuroblastoma protein(s) to be carboxyl methylated is increased by the differentiation procedures that have been examined. However, the increase in methyl acceptor proteins induced by DMSO or HMBA is the largest and its time course parallels electrophysiological differentiation. In contrast, serum deprivation induced a small increase that reached maximal levels within 24 h. The data suggest that increased protein carboxyl methylation is a developmentally regulated property in neuroblastoma cells and that at least two groups of methyl acceptor proteins are induced during differentiation: a minor group related to morphological differentiation and a major group that may be related to ionic permeabilitys mechanisms of the excitable membrane.     

Hepatic and pulmonary cytosolic metabolism of epoxides effects of aging on conjugation with glutathione

In liver cytosol from male Fischer 344 rats, glutathione S-transferase specific activities with six epoxide substrates were lower in the 24-month-old (senescent) group than in the 3-month-old (young) group. With lung cytosol from males and liver and lung cytosol from females, specific activities declined with only some of the substrates. Age-related increases in protein content in male and female rat liver occurred by 12 months of age (middle-age) and remained elevated through senescence. In addition, increases in liver weights in males similarly occurred so that total metabolic rates tended to be highest in middle-aged males and similar in young and senescent groups. Few changes similar to these were found in liver cytosol from females or lung cytosol from males or females. Thus, tissue-, sex-, and substrate-specific alterations in epoxide metabolism occurred during aging.     

A major fraction of endoplasmic reticulum-located glutathione is present as mixed disulfides with protein

The tripeptide glutathione is the most abundant thiol/disulfide component of the eukaryotic cell and is known to be present in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen. Accordingly, the thiol/disulfide redox status of the endoplasmic reticulum lumen is defined by the status of glutathione, and it has been assumed that reduced and oxidized glutathione form the principal redox buffer. We have determined the distribution of glutathione between different chemical states in rat liver microsomes by labeling with the thiol-specific label monobromobimane and subsequent separation by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. More than half of the microsomal glutathione was found to be present in mixed disulfides with protein, the remainder being distributed between the reduced and oxidized forms of glutathione in the ratio of 3:1. The high proportion of the total population of glutathione that was found to be in mixed disulfides with protein has significant implications for the redox state and buffering capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum and, hence, for the formation of disulfide bonds in vivo.     

Protein Methylation in Cerebellar Synaptosomes

Abstract: Synaptosomes from five regions of adult rat brain were isolated, analyzed for methyl acceptor proteins, and probed for methyltransferases by photoaffinity labeling. Methylated proteins of 17 and 35 kDa were observed in all regions, but cerebellar synaptosomes were enriched in a 21–26-kDa family of methyl acceptor proteins and contained a unique major methylated protein of 52 kDa and a protein of 50 kDa, which was methylated only in the presence of EGTA. When cerebellar and liver subcellular fractions were compared, the cytosolic fractions of each tissue contained methylated proteins of 17 and 35 kDa; liver membrane fractions contained few methylated proteins, whereas cerebellar microsomes had robust methylation of the 21–26-kDa group. Differential centrifugation of lysed cerebellar synaptosomes localized the 17- and 35-kDa methyl acceptor proteins to the synaptoplasm, the 21–26-kDa family to the synaptic membranes, and the 52-kDa to synaptic vesicles. The 21–26-kDa family was identified as GTP-binding proteins by [α-³²P]GTP overlay assay; these proteins contained a putative methylated carboxyl cysteine, based on the presence of volatile methyl esters and the inhibition of methylation by acetylfarnesylcysteine. The 52-kDa methylated protein also contained volatile methyl esters, but did not bind [α-³²P]GTP. When synaptosomes were screened for putative methyltransferases by S -adenosyl-L-[ methyl -³H]methionine photoaffinity labeling, a protein of 24 kDa was detected only in cerebellum, and this labeled protein was localized to synaptic membranes.