Cofactor activity of dihydroflavin mononucleotide and tetrahydrobiopterin for murine epididymal indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase

Dihydroflavin mononucleotide (FMNH2) and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) serve as cofactors for indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase isolated from mouse epididymis. The optimal pH was between 7 and 8, and FMNH2-dependent activity was 4 to 5-fold higher than activity with methylene blue as the electron donor. Using FMNH2 with a FMN reductase system, the enzyme exhibited higher efficiency and specificity for L-Trp (an apparent Km of 1 X 10(-5)M and an apparent Vmax of 182 nmol/min/mg of protein). The apparent Km and Vmax for D-Trp were 6.2 X 10(-5)M and 31 nmole/min/mg, respectively. Consequently, these observations appear to present the first evidence for a flavin-dependent mammalian dioxygenase.     

Human placental indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase: cellular localization and characterization of an enzyme preventing fetal rejection

In order to test the hypothesis (Munn, Zhou, Attwood, Bondarev, Conway, Marshall, Brown, Mellor, Science 281 (1998) 1191-1193) that localized placental tryptophan catabolism prevents immune rejection of the mammalian fetus, the cellular localization and characteristics of human placental indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.42) were studied. The localization of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase activity was determined quantitatively using cell fractionation by differential and discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation. Enzyme activity was looked for in isolated brush border microvillous plasma membranes of placental syncytiotrophoblast. We found that this membrane preparation (which showed a 32.4-fold purification from the starting homogenate with reference to the activity of a membrane marker enzyme, alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1)) was strongly negatively enriched with indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (which showed a one twenty-fifth decrease in its specific activity). Placental indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase is thus not expressed in the maternal facing brush border membrane of syncytiotrophoblast. 1-Methyl-DL-tryptophan which was used by Munn et al. as a key experimental tool for inhibiting indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in the murine model showed a competitive inhibition of human placental indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase with L-tryptophan. The hypothesis, based on experiments performed in mouse, may therefore be applicable to avoidance of immune rejection of the fetus in human pregnancy.     

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity and L-tryptophan transport in human breast cancer cells

The activity and expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase together with L-tryptophan transport has been examined in cultured human breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 but not MCF-7 cells expressed mRNA for indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. Kynurenine production by MDA-MB-231 cells, which was taken as a measure of enzyme activity, was markedly stimulated by interferon-gamma (1000 units/ml). Accordingly, L-tryptophan utilization by MDA-MB-231 cells was enhanced by interferon-gamma. 1-Methyl-DL-tryptophan (1 mM) inhibited interferon-gamma induced kynurenine production by MBA-MB-231 cells. Kynurenine production by MCF-7 cells remained at basal levels when cultured in the presence of interferon-gamma. L-Tryptophan transport into MDA-MB-231 cells was via a Na(+)-independent, BCH-sensitive pathway. It appears that system L (LAT1/CD98) may be the only pathway for l-tryptophan transport into these cells. 1-Methyl-D,L-tryptophan trans-stimulated l-tryptophan efflux from MDA-MB-231 cells and thus appears to be a transported substrate of system L. The results suggest that system L plays an important role in providing indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase with its main substrate, L-tryptophan, and suggest a mechanism by which estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer cells may evade the attention of the immune system.     

Ligand migration in human indoleamine-2,3 dioxygenase

Human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (hIDO), a monomeric heme enzyme, catalyzes the oxidative degradation of L-tryptophan (L-Trp) and other indoleamine derivatives. Its activity follows typical Michaelis-Menten behavior only for L-Trp concentrations up to 50 μM; a further increase in the concentration of L-Trp causes a decrease in the activity. This substrate inhibition of hIDO is a result of the binding of a second L-Trp molecule in an inhibitory substrate binding site of the enzyme. The molecular details of the reaction and the inhibition are not yet known. In the following, we summarize the present knowledge about this heme enzyme.     

Tryptophan degradation in mice initiated by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase

Tryptophan degradation in mice initiated by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase was characterized, taking advantage of its induction by bacterial lipopolysaccharide. Our results demonstrated that in various tissues, N-formylkynurenine produced by the dioxygenase from tryptophan was rapidly hydrolyzed into kynurenine by a kynurenine formamidase, but it was not further metabolized. The localization in the liver and kidney of the kynurenine-metabolizing enzymes suggested that kynurenine thus formed was transported by the bloodstream to those two organs to be metabolized. In fact, the plasma kynurenine level increased in parallel with the induction of the dioxygenase by lipopolysaccharide, and kinetic analysis indicated that at the maximal induction of the enzyme there was a 3-fold increase in the kynurenine production. The major metabolic route of kynurenine was excretion in urine as xanthurenic acid. This increase in the kynurenine production was not explained by L-tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase in the liver, because during the induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, the hepatic enzyme level was substantially suppressed. These findings indicated that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase actively oxidized tryptophan in mice and that its induction resulted in an increase in tryptophan degradation.     

Poliovirus induces indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase and quinolinic acid synthesis in macaque brain.

Accumulation of the neurotoxin quinolinic acid within the brain occurs in a broad spectrum of patients with inflammatory neurologic disease and may be of neuropathologic significance. The production of quinolinic acid was postulated to reflect local induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase by cytokines in reactive cells and inflammatory cell infiltrates within the central nervous system. To test this hypothesis, macaques received an intraspinal injection of poliovirus as a model of localized inflammatory neurologic disease. Seventeen days later, spinal cord indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity and quinolinic acid concentrations in spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid were both increased in proportion to the degree of inflammatory responses and neurologic damage in the spinal cord, as well as the severity of motor paralysis. The absolute concentrations of quinolinic acid achieved in spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid exceeded levels reported to kill spinal cord neurons in vitro. Smaller increases in indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity and quinolinic acid concentrations also occurred in parietal cortex, a poliovirus target area. In frontal cortex, which is not a target for poliovirus, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase was not affected. A monoclonal antibody to human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase was used to visualize indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase predominantly in grey matter of poliovirus-infected spinal cord, in conjunction with local inflammatory lesions. Macrophage/monocytes in vitro synthesized [13C6]quinolinic acid from [13C6]L-tryptophan, particularly when stimulated by interferon-gamma. Spinal cord slices from poliovirus-inoculated macaques in vitro also converted [13C6]L-tryptophan to [13C6]quinolinic acid. We conclude that local synthesis of quinolinic acid from L-tryptophan within the central nervous system follows the induction of indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase, particularly within macrophage/microglia. In view of this link between immune stimulation and the synthesis of neurotoxic amounts of quinolinic acid, we propose that attenuation of local inflammation, strategies to reduce the synthesis of neuroactive kynurenine pathway metabolites, or drugs that interfere with the neurotoxicity of quinolinic acid offer new approaches to therapy in inflammatory neurologic disease.     

A kinetic, spectroscopic, and redox study of human tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase

The family of heme dioxygenases, as exemplified by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase, catalyzes the oxidative cleavage of L-tryptophan to N-formylkynurenine. Here, we describe a bacterial expression system for human tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (rhTDO) together with spectroscopic, kinetic, and redox analyses. We find unexpected differences between human tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase and human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase [Chauhan et al. (2008) Biochemistry 47, 4761-4769 ]. Thus, in contrast to indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, the catalytic ferrous-oxy complex of rhTDO is not observed, nor does the enzyme discriminate against substrate binding to the ferric derivative. In addition, we show that the rhTDO is also catalytically active in the ferric form. These new findings illustrate that significant mechanistic differences exist across the heme dioxygenase family, and the data are discussed within this broader framework.     

Characteristics of interferon induced tryptophan metabolism in human cells in vitro

Interferon-gamma-induced tryptophan metabolism of human macrophages was compared to ten human neoplastic cell lines of various tissue origin and to normal dermal human fibroblasts. Tryptophan and metabolites were determined in supernatants of cultures, after incubation for 48 h, by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and fluorescence detection. With the exception of two cell lines (Hep G 2, hepatoma and CaCo 2, colon adenocarcinoma) in all of the ten other cells and cell lines tryptophan degradation was induced by interferon-gamma. Five of these ten formed only kynurenine (SK-N-SH, neuroblastoma; T 24, J 82, bladder carcinoma; A 431, epidermoid carcinoma; normal dermal fibroblasts), three formed kynurenine and anthranilic acid (U 138 MG, glioblastoma; SK-HEP-1, hepatoma; A 549, lung carcinoma). Only one line, A 498 (kidney carcinoma) showed the same pattern of metabolites as macrophages (kynurenine, anthranilic acid and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid). Interferon-gamma regulated only the activity of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. All other enzyme activities detected were independent of interferon-gamma, as shown by the capacity of the cells to metabolize L-kynurenine or N-formyl-L-kynurenine. Increasing the extracellular L-tryptophan concentration resulted in a marked induction of tryptophan degradation by macrophages. Contrarily, a significant decrease of the tryptophan degrading activity was observed when the extracellular L-tryptophan concentration was increased 2-fold with SK-N-SH, T 24 and J 82, 4-fold with A 431 and A 549 and 10-fold with U 138 MG and SK-HEP-1. The activity was unaffected by extracellular L-tryptophan with dermal fibroblasts and A 498. Though interferon-gamma was the most potent inducer of tryptophan metabolism, interferon-alpha and/or -beta showed small but distinct action on some of the cells. In all cells which reacted to interferon-gamma by enhanced expression of class I and/or class II major histocompatibility complex antigens tryptophan degradation was also inducible. These results demonstrate that induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase is a common feature of interferon-gamma action, that the extent of this induction is influenced by extracellular L-tryptophan concentrations and that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase is the only enzyme in the formation of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid from tryptophan which is regulated by interferon-gamma.     

The roles of superoxide anion and methylene blue in the reductive activation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase by ascorbic acid or by xanthine oxidase-hypoxanthine

To clarify the roles of superoxide anion (O2.-) and methylene blue in the reductive activation of the heme protein indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, effects of xanthine oxidase-hypoxanthine used at various oxidase concentration levels as an O2.- source and an electron donor on the catalytic activity of the dioxygenase have been examined in the presence and absence of either methylene blue or superoxide dismutase using L- and D-tryptophan as substrates. In the absence of methylene blue, initial rates of the product N-formylkynurenine formation are enhanced in parallel with the xanthine oxidase level up to approximately 100 and approximately 50% of the apparent maximal activity (approximately 2 s-1) for L- and D-Trp, respectively. Superoxide dismutase effectively inhibits the reactions by 80-98% for both isomers. Additions of methylene blue (25 microM) help to maintain the linearity of the product formation that would be rapidly lost a few minutes after the start of the reaction without the dye, especially for L-Trp. Additions of methylene blue also enhance the activity to the maximal level for D-Trp. In the presence of methylene blue, the inhibitory effects of superoxide dismutase are considerably decreased with the increase in xanthine oxidase concentration, and at near maximal dioxygenase activity levels superoxide dismutase is totally without effect. In separate anaerobic experiments leuco-methylene blue, generated either by photoreduction or by ascorbate reduction, is shown to be able to reduce the ferric dioxygenase up to 25-40%. Substrate Trp and heme ligands (CO, n-butyl isocyanide) help to shift a ferric form----ferrous form equilibrium to the right. Thus, under aerobic conditions leuco-methylene blue might similarly be able to reduce the dioxygenase in the presence of an electron donor with the aid of substrate and O2. These results strongly suggest that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase can be activated through different pathways either by O2.- or by an electron donor-methylene blue system. For the latter case, the dye is acting as an electron mediator from the donor to the ferric dioxygenase.     

Inhibition of indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase activity by H2O2

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase is the first and rate limiting enzyme of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism, has potent effects on cell proliferation and mediates antimicrobial, antitumorogenic, and immunosuppressive effects. As a potent cytotoxic effector, the mechanisms of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibition deserve greater attention. The work presented here represents the first systematic study exploring the mechanisms by which low levels of hydrogen peroxide (10-100 microM) inhibit indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in vitro. Following brief peroxide exposure both enzyme inhibition and structural changes were observed. Loss of catalysis was accompanied by oxidation of several cysteine residues to sulfinic and sulfonic acids, observed by electrospray and MALDI mass spectrometry. Enzyme activity could in part be preserved in the presence of sulfhydryl containing compounds, particularly DTT and methionine. However, these structural alterations did not prevent substrate (l-tryptophan) binding. Some enzyme activity could be recovered in the presence of thioredoxin, indicating that the inhibitory effect of H(2)O(2) is at least partially reversible in vitro. We present evidence that cysteine oxidation represents one mechanism of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibition.     

Effect of substrate and small doses of cortisone on the induction of Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (author's transl)]

A number of enzymes are induced by steroid hormones. In this paper the reaction of tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase is further analyzed. In particular we show in which way the substrate and low doses of cortisone cause an induction. 1) For the induction of tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase in adrenalectomized rats by 2.5 mg cortisone/kg, the presence of the substrate is necessary as well. Under these conditions an induction of the enzyme can already be registered in the presence of 12.5 mg L-tryptophan/kg. 2) In animals treated before with cortisone, the enzyme maximum appears 30 min after L-tryptophan injection, The enhancement of enzyme activity in animals which are treated with 2.5 mg cortisone/kg before is blocked by actidione only until 30 min after L-tryptophan injection. 3) Experiments with antibodies in animals treated with a low dosis of cortisone show that L-tryptophan acts mainly via enzyme degradation or the saturation with the coenzyme hematin, respectively.     

Regulation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in the small intestine and the epididymis of mice

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity was found to be ubiquitously distributed in various tissues of mice, such as brain, lung, stomach, intestine, and epididymis. The highest enzyme activity was detected in the alimentary canal and the epididymis. Developmental and daily rhythmic changes of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity and the effects of various regulatory factors were studied with the supernatant fractions derived from the small intestine and the epididymis. The enzyme activity in these two tissues was absent during the first 2 weeks (the weaning period). From the third week, there was a rapid increase in activities and a maximum was reached when the mice were 8 to 10 weeks of age (adolescence). The enzyme activity in the small intestine then gradually diminished to zero level at 30 weeks of age (prime) or later, while that in the epididymis remained at the high level throughout 69 weeks of age (senescence). The enzyme activity of the small intestine from mice fed during the hours 9:00–13:00 showed daily rhythmic changes; high in the daytime and low at night. Under night feeding (21:00–1:00), the enzyme activity was high at night and low in the daytime. The epididymal enzyme activity showed no daily fluctuations by either feeding schedule. With regard to the developmental and daily rhythmic changes, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in the small intestine was similar to that of hepatic tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase. However, in contrast to the hepatic tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase activity, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in the small intestine and the epididymis was not affected by adrenalectomy or intraperitoneal administration of adrenal steroid or tryptophan.     

Human indolylamine 2,3-dioxygenase. Its tissue distribution, and characterization of the placental enzyme.

The presence of indolylamine 2,3-dioxygenase was examined in human subjects by determining its activity with L-tryptophan as substrate. Enzyme activity was detected in various tissues, and was relatively high in the lung, small intestine and placenta. Human indolylamine 2,3-dioxygenase, partially purified from the placenta, had an Mr of about 40 000 by gel filtration and exhibited a single pI of 6.9. The human enzyme required a reducing system, ascorbic acid and Methylene Blue, for maximal activity and was able to oxidize D-tryptophan, 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan as well as L-tryptophan, but kinetic studies indicated that the best substrate of the enzyme was L-tryptophan.     

Intracellular utilization of superoxide anion by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase of rabbit enterocytes.

The participation of superoxide anion (O2-) in the intracellular indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity was studied using the dispersed cell suspension of the rabbit small intestine. The dioxygenase activity was assayed by measuring [14C]formate released from DL-[ring-2-14C]tryptophan. The addition of diethyldiethiocarbamate, a superoxide dismutase inhibitor, markedly accelerated the intracellular dioxygenase activity while the superoxide dismutase activity decreased concomitantly. Furthermore, substrates of xanthine oxidase such as inosine, adenosine, and hypoxanthine also increased the dioxygenase activity in the cells, particularly in the presence of methylene blue. This increase was completely abolished by the addition of allopurinol, a specific inhibitor of xanthine oxidase. These results, taken together, indicate that the intracellular accumulation of O2- results in acceleration of the in situ dioxygenase activity, and that indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase utilizes O2- in the isolated intestinal cells.     

Stereospecificity of hepatic L-tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase.

Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase [L-tryptophan--oxygen 2,3-oxidoreductase (decyclizing), EC 1.13.11.11] has been reported to act solely on the L-isomer of tryptophan. However, by using a sensitive assay method with D- and L-[ring-2-14C]tryptophan and improved assay conditions, we were able to demonstrate that both the D- and L-stereoisomers of tryptophan were cleaved by the supernatant fraction (30000 g, 30 min) of liver homogenates of several species of mammals, including rat, mouse, rabbit and human. The ratio of activities toward D- and L-tryptophan was species variable, the highest (0.67) in ox liver and the lowest (0.07) in rat liver, the latter being hitherto exclusively used for the study of hepatic tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase. In the supernatant fraction from mouse liver, the ratio was 0.23 but the specific activity with D-tryptophan was by far the highest of all the species tested. To identify the D-tryptophan cleaving enzyme activity, the enzyme was purified from mouse liver to apparent homogeneity. The specific activities toward D- and L-tryptophan showed a parallel rise with each purification step. The electrophoretically homogeneous protein had specific activities of 0.55 and 2.13 mumol/min per mg of protein at 25 degrees C toward D- and L-tryptophan, respectively. Additional evidence from heat treatment, inhibition and kinetic studies indicated that the same active site of a single enzyme was responsible for both activities. The molecular weight (150000), subunit structure (alpha 2 beta 2) and haem content (1.95 mol/mol) of the purified enzyme from mouse liver were similar to those of rat liver tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase. The assay conditions employed in the previous studies on the stereospecificity of hepatic tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase were apparently inadequate for determination of the D-tryptophan cleaving activity. Under the assay conditions in the present study, the purified enzyme from rat liver also acted on D-tryptophan, whereas the pseudomonad enzyme was strictly specific for the L-isomer.     

Influence of interferon-gamma and extracellular tryptophan on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in T24 cells as determined by a non-radiometric assay.

The indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.17) activity in human T24 cells has been investigated in cell extracts by using a non-radioactive assay. It is enhanced in a dose-dependent manner up to 25-fold by interferon-gamma. The maximum reaction velocity is increased rather than the Km, which remains at 4 mumol/l. Induction of activity starts 3 h after stimulation and reaches a plateau at 21-48 h. Decreased stimulation was observed in the presence of high L-tryptophan concentrations.     

Extensive studies of the heme coordination structure of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and of tryptophan binding with magnetic and natural circular dichroism and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

In order to probe the active site of the heme protein indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, magnetic and natural circular dichroism (MCD and CD) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies of the substrate (L-tryptophan)-free and substrate-bound enzyme with and without various exogenous ligands have been carried out. The MCD spectra of the ferric and ferrous derivatives are similar to those of the analogous myoglobin and horseradish peroxidase species. This provides strong support for histidine imidazole as the fifth ligand to the heme iron of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. The substrate-free native ferric enzyme exhibits predominantly high-spin EPR signals (g perpendicular = 6, g parallel = 2) along with weak low-spin signals (g perpendicular = 2.86, 2.28, 1.60); similar EPR, spin-state and MCD features are found for the benzimidazole adduct of ferric myoglobin. This suggests that the substrate-free ferric enzyme has a sterically hindered histidine imidazole nitrogen donor sixth ligand. Upon substrate binding, noticeable MCD and EPR spectral changes are detected that are indicative of an increased low spin content (from 30 to over 70% at ambient temperature). Concomitantly, new low spin EPR signals (g = 2.53, 2.18, 1.86) and MCD features characteristic of hydroxide complexes of histidine-ligated heme proteins appear. For almost all of the other ferric and ferrous derivatives, only small substrate effects are observed with MCD spectroscopy, while substantial substrate effects are seen with CD spectroscopy. Thus, changes in the heme coordination structure of the ferric enzyme and in the protein conformation at the active site of the ferric and ferrous enzyme are induced by substrate binding. The observed substrate effects on the ferric enzyme may correlate with the previously observed kinetic substrate inhibition of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity, while such effects on the ferrous enzyme suggest the possibility that the substrate is activated during turnover.     

Studies on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. I. Superoxide anion as substrate.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase purified to apparent homogeneity from rabbit intestine was inhibited by scavengers for superoxide anion such as superoxide dismutase and 1,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonic acid (Tiron). On the other hand, beta-carotene and 1,4-diazobicyclo-(2,2,2)-octane, scavengers for singlet oxygen, did not affect the enzyme activity significantly. The degree of inhibition of the dioxygenase by superoxide dismutase preparations from bovine erythrocytes, green peas, spinach leaves, and Escherichia coli paralleled that observed with these dismutase preparations on the aerobic reduction of cytochrome c by xanthine oxidase and its substrate. The pH profiles of the inhibition by dismutase of the dioxygenase and cytochrome c reduction were also similar and the maximal inhibition was observed around pH 10 in both cases. The degree of inhibition was not affected by the concentration of substrate but was a function of the concentration of dismutase. It was inversely related to the concentrations of the dioxygenase and its cofactors, ascorbic acid and methylene blue, both of which were required for maximum activity. Ascorbic acid could be replaced either by xanthine oxidase and its substrate, or by tetrabutylammonium superoxide prepared by electrolytic reduction of molecular oxygen, or by potassium superoxide. When limited amounts of superoxide anion were added to the reaction mixture containing a substrate amount of the dioxygenase, the ratio of the amount of superoxide anion added to that of the product formed was approximately unity both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Taken together, these findings indicate that superoxide anion, rather than molecular oxygen, is utilized as substrate by indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.