Two tissue-specific factors bind the erythroid promoter of the human porphobilinogen deaminase gene.

We have studied the erythroid-specific promoter of the human gene coding for Porphobilinogen Deaminase (PBGD) by DNaseI footprinting, gel retardation and methylation interference assays. We show that this promoter, which is inducible during MEL cell differentiation, contains three binding sites for the erythroid-specific factor NF-E1 and one site for a second erythroid-specific factor, which we name NF-E2. NF-E1 is a factor that also binds the promoter and the enhancer (present in the 3' flanking region) of the human beta-globin gene. NF-E2 has not yet been described and although it binds to a sequence containing the Ap1 consensus, it appears to be different from Ap1.     

Two new polymorphisms in introns 2 and 3 of the human porphobilinogen deaminase gene

Sequencing of the polymerase chain reaction amplified exon 2–4 fragment of the human porphobilinogen deaminase gene revealed a G/T polymorphism (I2G and I2T) in intron 2, and a G/A polymorphism (I3G and I3A) in intron 3 of the gene. The frequencies of these alleles are presented.The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper (the sequence of introns 2 and 3, and the polymorphic sites) will appear in the DDBJ, EMBL, and GenBank Nucleotide Sequence Database with accession nos. D10608 and D12722     

Linkage disequilibrium between DNA polymorphisms within the porphobilinogen deaminase gene

Summary Three restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) (MspI, PstI, ScrFI/BstNI) within the human porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D) gene have been studied in 47 unrelated patients with the autosomal dominant disorder, acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), and in 92 control subjects. Each enzyme identified a two-allele polymorphism with allele frequencies close to 0.50; however, marked linkage disequilibrium limited the number of observed haplotypes to four, of which one is uncommon. No association was detected between any haplotype and AIP.     

Selection by genetic complementation and characterization of the gene coding for the yeast porphobilinogen deaminase.

The porphobilinogen deaminase (PBG-D) gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been isolated by genetic complementation of a mutant GL7 (alpha hem 3) strain, previously shown to be defective in this haembiosynthetic enzyme [Gollub, Liu, Dayan, Adlersberg & Sprinson (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 2846-2854]. The gene was selected from a yeast wild-type genomic DNA library ligated into the shuttle vector YEp13. The complementing gene restored growth of the hem 3 (PBG-D) mutant strain on media in the absence of exogeneous haem or fatty acid and sterol supplements. The recombinant plasmid was retained in the Hem+ transformant provided that selective pressure for plasmid-dependent growth was maintained. Transformation of the mutant strain (hem 3) restored the PBG-D activity to levels up to 10-fold those of the parental strain. The mutant strain GL7 does not show any measurable enzymic activity. Analysis of the plasmid designated YEpPBG-D (containing the PBG-D gene) by hybrid-selected translation revealed that it contained the coding information for a single protein of apparent Mr 43,000. The coding region was localized on an 1.5 kb endonuclease-EcoRI fragment (E4), within the 5.5 kb genomic insert in YEpPBG-D.     

Tissue-specific expression of porphobilinogen deaminase. Two isoenzymes from a single gene

Porphobilinogen deaminase (hydroxymethylbilane synthase; EC 4.3.1.8), the third enzyme of the heme biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes the stepwise condensation of four porphobilinogen units to yield hydroxymethylbilane, which is in turn converted to uroporphyrinogen III by cosynthetase. We compared the apparent molecular mass of porphobilinogen deaminase from erythropoietic and from non-erythropoietic cells by sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immune-blotting. The results indicate that two isoforms of porphobilinogen deaminase can be distinguished and differ by 2000 Da. Analysis of cell-free translation products directed by mRNAs from human erythropoietic spleen and from human liver demonstrates that the two isoforms of porphobilinogen deaminase are encoded by distinct messenger RNAs. We cloned and sequenced cDNAs complementary to the non-erythropoietic form of porphobilinogen deaminase encoding RNA. Comparison of these sequences to that of human erythropoietic mRNA [Raich et al. (1986) Nucleic Acids Res. 14, 5955-5968] revealed that the two mRNA species differ by their 5' extremity. From the mRNA sequences we could deduce that an additional peptide of 17 amino acid residues at the NH2 terminus of the non-erythropoietic isoform of porphobilinogen deaminase accounts for its higher molecular mass. RNase mapping experiments demonstrate that the two porphobilinogen deaminase mRNAs are distributed according to a strict tissue-specificity, the erythropoietic form being restricted to erythropoietic cells. We propose that a single porphobilinogen deaminase gene is transcribed from two different promoters, yielding the two forms of porphobilinogen deaminase mRNAs. Our present finding may have some relevance for further understanding the porphobilinogen deaminase deficiency in certain cases of acute intermittent porphyria with an enzymatic defect restricted in non-erythropoietic cells.     

Haplotyping of the human porphobilinogen deaminase gene in acute intermittent porphyria by polymerase chain reaction

Summary Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is due to a defect in porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD, E.C. 4.1.3.8) inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Presymptomatic carrier detection is important in order to avoid exposure to factors inducing severe clinical symptoms. Carriers and noncarriers of the AIP gene can be distinguished by linkage analysis using three intragenic RFLPs in AIP families. In the present study, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify 3.3-kb genomic sequences covering three polymorphic sites. Haplotypes were identified after cleavage of amplified products with three restriction enzymes, showing that the technique can be successfully used for linkage analysis in AIP families.     

Mechanism of action of porphobilinogen deaminase. The participation of stable enzyme substrate covalent intermediates between porphobilinogen and the porphobilinogen deaminase from Rhodopseudomonas spheroides.

Highly stable labelled complexes are formed between porphobilinogen deaminase and stoicheiometric amounts of [14C]porphobilinogen. On completion of the catalytic cycle by the addition of excess of substrate, the complexes yield labelled product and display all the properties expected from covalently bound enzyme intermediates involved in the deaminase catalytic sequence.