Evidence for an essential arginine residue at the active site of ATP citrate lyase from rat liver.

Rat liver ATP citrate lyase was inactivated by 2, 3-butanedione and phenylglyoxal. Phenylglyoxal caused the most rapid and complete inactivation of enzyme activity in 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine-ethanesulphonic acid buffer, pH 8. Inactivation by both butanedione and phenylglyoxal was concentration-dependent and followed pseudo- first-order kinetics. Phenylglyoxal also decreased autophosphorylation (catalytic phosphate) of ATP citrate lyase. Inactivation by phenylglyoxal and butanedione was due to the modification of enzyme arginine residues: the modified enzyme failed to bind to CoA-agarose. The V declined as a function of inactivation, but the Km values were unaltered. The substrates, CoASH and CoASH plus citrate, protected the enzyme significantly against inactivation, but ATP provided little protection. Inactivation with excess reagent modified about eight arginine residues per monomer of enzyme. Citrate, CoASH and ATP protected two to three arginine residues from modification by phenylglyoxal. Analysis of the data by statistical methods suggested that the inactivation was due to modification of one essential arginine residue per monomer of lyase, which was modified 1.5 times more rapidly than were the other arginine residues. Our results suggest that this essential arginine residue is at the CoASH binding site.     

Mechanistic studies on carboxypeptidase A from goat pancreas: role of arginine residue at the active site

Chemical modification of carboxypeptidase Ag1 from goat pancreas with phenylglyoxal or ninhydrin led to a loss of enzymatic activity. The inactivation by phenylglyoxal in 200 mM N-ethylmorpholine, 200 mM sodium chloride buffer, pH 8.0, or in 300 mM borate buffer, pH 8.0, followed pseudo-first-order kinetics at all concentrations of the modifier. The reaction order with respect to phenylglyoxal was 1.68 and 0.81 in 200 mM N-ethylmorpholine, 200 mM NaCl buffer and 300 mM borate buffer, pH 8.0, respectively, indicating modification of single arginine residue per mole of enzyme. The kinetic data were supported by amino acid analysis of modified enzyme, which also showed the modification of single arginine residue per mole of the enzyme. The modified enzyme had an absorption maximum at 250 nm, and quantification of the increase in absorbance showed modification of single arginine residue. Modification of arginine residue was protected by beta-phenylpropionic acid, thus suggesting involvement of an arginine residue at or near the active site of the enzyme.     

Effects of arginine and some analogues of the partial adenosine triphosphate-adenosine diphosphate exchange reaction catalysed by arginine kinase. Evolutionary divergence in the mechanism of action of a monomer and a dimer arginine kinase.

1. Both the monomer arginine kinase from lobster muscle and the dimer arginine kinase from Holothuria forskali catalyse the ATP-ADP partial exchange reaction at rates equal to 3 and 0.6% of the normal rate of transphosphorylation respectively. The Mg2+-nucleotide complex is the substrate for this as it is for the kinase reaction. 2. Analogues of arginine inhibit the exchange reaction of the lobster enzyme but enhance that of the Holothuria enzyme. 3. With the lobster enzyme NO3- has no effect on the exchange reaction alone and inhibit only slightly the apparent enhancement of the exchange reaction produced by the addition of arginine. This is compatible with previous findings for this enzyme that formation of the anion-stabilized dead-end complex, enzyme-arginine-MgADP-NO3-, does not occur to any marked degree. 4. About 80% of the ADP-ATP exchange reaction of the lobster enzyme remains after inhibition with iodoacetamide. This is further decreased to 65% by the addition of L-arginine, indicating that this substrate does bind to the thiolmodified enzyme. 5. It is concluded that the partial exchange reaction is a genuine phenomenon not mediated by trace amounts of arginine. From the effects of arginine and related compounds it would appear that during the normal kinase reaction the partial ATP-ADP exchange reaction is suppressed in the lobster enzyme but enhanced in the Holothuria enzyme. This reflects a remarkable evolutionary divergence of two homologous enzymes.     

Arginine-specific modification of rabbit muscle phosphoglucose isomerase: Differences in the inactivation by phenylglyoxal and butanedione and in the protection by substrate analogs

Rabbit muscle phosphoglucose isomerase was modified with phenylglyoxal or 2,3-butanedione, the reaction with either reagent resulting in loss of enzymatic activity in a biphasic mode. At slightly alkaline pH butanedione was found to be approximately six times as effective as phenylglyoxal. The inactivation process could not be significantly reversed by removal of the modifier. Competitive inhibitors of the enzyme protected partially against loss of enzyme activity by either modification. The only kind of amino acid residue affected was arginine. However, more than one arginine residue per enzyme subunit was found to be susceptible to modification by the dicarbonyl reagents. From protection experiments it was concluded (i) that both modifiers react specifically with an arginine in the phosphoglucose isomerase active site and nonspecifically with one or more arginine residues elsewhere in the enzyme molecule, (ii) that modification at either loci causes loss of catalytic activity, and (iii) that butanedione has a higher preference for active site arginine than for arginine residues outside of the catalytic center whereas the opposite is true for phenylglyoxal.     

Functional arginine residues involved in coenzyme binding by glutamate dehydrogenases.

Reaction of the NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase of Neurospora with 1,2-cyclohexanedione results in a biphasic loss of enzyme activity. At the end of the rapid phase of the reaction (t1/2 = 1.5 min) the enzyme activity is diminished by approximately 60% with the simultaneous loss of 1 residue of arginine per subunit. After 60 min, the enzyme activity is completely lost with the modification of a total of 2 arginine residues per subunit. Reaction of bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase with cyclohexanedione causes a rapid loss of approximately 45% of the enzyme activity and modification of about 1.5 residues of arginine per subunit. More prolonged treatment results in reaction of an additional 4 residues of arginine per subunit but is without further effect on the residual activity. The activity of the Neurospora enzyme is not protected by substrate, coenzyme, or a combination of both; however, the activity of the bovine enzyme is partially protected by high levels of NAD or NADP. Although the Km for alpha-ketoglutarate is unchanged by a limited modification of either enzyme with cyclohexanedione, the Km for coenzyme is increased about 2-fold for the Neurospora enzyme and about 1.5-fold for the bovine enzyme. The Ki of the Neurospora dehydrogenase for the competitive inhibitor 2'-monophosphoadenosine-5'-diphosphoribose is unchanged by the enzyme modification, but nicotinamide mononucleotide, a competitive inhibitor for the native Neurospora enzyme, does not inhibit the glutamate dehydrogenase with 1 modified arginine residue. This finding implies that the modified arginine is at or near the nicotinamide binding iste of the enzyme.     

Purification, characterization, and physiological function of Bacillus subtilis ornithine transcarbamylase

A procedure was developed for purification of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTCase) to near homogeneity from Bacillus subtilis 168. The purified native enzyme existed as a mixture of dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric forms, but was converted to the dimer in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. The molecular weight of the subunit was 44,000. Some general kinetic properties of the enzyme were described. OTCase was repressed by arginine in growing B. subtilis cells, but the enzyme was induced by arginine at the end of exponential growth. Specific antibodies against the purified OTCase were used to show that the same enzyme was produced under all conditions. These results and studies of a mutant lacking OTCase demonstrated that B. subtilis produced only a single OTCase. OTCase was clearly required for arginine biosynthesis, but the physiological function of OTCase induction by arginine was obscure. OTCase was not induced by, or required for, growth on arginine as a carbon and nitrogen source. Absence of OTCase in a mutant did not alter the yield or arginine content of its spores in comparison to a strain containing OTCase.     

N-acetyl-L-glutamate synthase of Neurospora crassa. Characteristics, localization, regulation, and genetic control

N-Acetylglutamate synthase, an early enzyme of the arginine pathway, provides acetylglutamate for ornithine synthesis in the so-called "acetylglutamate cycle." Because acetylglutamate is regenerated as ornithine is formed, the enzyme has only a catalytic or anaplerotic role in the pathway, maintaining "bound" acetyl groups during growth. We have detected this enzyme in crude extracts of Neurospora crassa and have localized it to the mitochondria along with other ornithine biosynthetic enzymes. The enzyme is bound to the mitochondrial membrane. The enzyme has a pH optimum of 9.0 and Km values for glutamate and CoASAc of 6.3 and 1.6 mM, respectively. It is feedback-inhibited by L-arginine (I0.5 = 0.16 mM), and its specific activity is augmented 2-3-fold by arginine starvation of the mycelium. Mutants of the newly recognized arg-14 locus lack activity for the enzyme. Because these mutants are complete auxotrophs, we conclude that N-acetylglutamate synthase is an indispensible enzyme of arginine biosynthesis in N. crassa. This work completes the assignment of enzymes of the arginine pathway of N. crassa to corresponding genetic loci. The membrane localization of the enzyme suggests a novel mechanism by which feedback inhibition might occur across a semipermeable membrane.     

Modification of an arginine residue of a base-nonspecific ribonuclease from Aspergillus saitoi.

1. A base-nonspecific ribonuclease from Aspergillus saitoi [RNase Ms, EC 3.1.4.23; molecular weight, 12,500] was modified with phenylglyoxal (PG) and 1,2-cyclohexanedione (CHD) in order to determine whether a single arginine residue was involved in the active site of the enzyme. 2. RNase Ms was inactivated by both PG and CHD with concomitant loss of one arginine residue. A competitive inhibitor of RNase Ms, 2',(3')-AMP, protected the enzyme from inactivation by PG. These findings strongly suggest that one arginine residue is involved in the active site of RNase Ms. 3. Difference CD spectra were measured at pH 5.5 for the binding of 2'-AMP and adenosine to native RNase Ms and the CHD- and PG-modified enzyme derivatives to determine the association constants. The arginine modification brought about a marked decrease in the binding affinity of 2'-AMP for the enzyme, but only a slight decrease for adenosine, suggesting that the arginine residue had interacted with the phosphate groups of the substrate.     

Enzymatic characterization of arginine esterase from dog seminal plasma

Previously purified arginine esterase from dog seminal plasma was characterized enzymatically. The enzyme was found to have a rather narrow specificity for arginine esters, much less for lysine esters and was practically devoid of activity towards tyrosine esters, casein, albumin and azocoll. It had a broad optimum pH between 8 and 9. It presented no kallikrein-like activities either in the blood pressure test in dog or in the rat uterus contraction test. It was inhibited by bovine pancreas trypsin inhibitor, aprotinin, phenylalanylprolyl arginine chloromethyl ketone, diisopropylfluorophosphate, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, sodium dodecyl sulfate and leupeptin, but not by soybean trypsin inhibitor, tosyllysine chloromethyl ketone, tosylamide-2-phenylethyl chloromethyl ketone, iodoacetamide, Triton X-100 and EDTA. Experiments involving incubation of prostatic cytosol with purified arginine esterase showed that actin was the only important prostatic protein that was extensively hydrolyzed by this enzyme. It is not known presently whether the hydrolysis of actin is related to a true physiological function of the enzyme and whether actin and arginine esterase ever come into contact with each other in vivo. These properties indicate that arginine esterase from dog seminal plasma is different from other known proteinases including classical kallikreins, although it presents many similarities with this class of enzyme.     

Modification of an essential arginine of carbamate kinase

Carbamate kinase from Streptococcus faecalis is inactivated by butanedione in borate buffer, which implies the presence of an essential arginine at the active site of the enzyme. The inactivation reaction is first order in [butanedione] and a replot of the inactivation rate data infers that one arginine is modified. The enzyme is protected against inactivation by ADP, ATP, the metal-nucleotides and carbamyl phosphate but not by carbamate. Amino acid analyses reveal that one of three arginines is modified by butanedione in the absence of protecting agents, and the binding of ADP to the enzyme prevents modification. Thus, analysis of the data suggest that (i) substrate binding to arginine and (ii) protein conformational changes at the active site are responsible for protection of an essential arginine against modification by butanedione.     

Implications of the role of reactive cystein in arginine kinase: reactivation kinetics of 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)-modified arginine kinase reactivated by dithiothreitol

The reduction of 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)-modified arginine kinase by dithiothreitol has been investigated using the kinetic theory of the substrate reaction during modification of enzyme activity. The results show that the modified arginine kinase can be fully reactivated by an excess concentration of dithiothreitol in a monophasic kinetic course. The presence of ATP or the transition-state analog markedly slows the apparent reactivation rate constant, while arginine shows no effect. The results of ultraviolet (UV) difference and intrinsic fluorescence spectra indicate that the substrate arginine-ADP-Mg2+ can induce conformational changes of the modified enzyme but adding NO3- cannot induce further changes that occur with the native enzyme. The reactive cysteines' location and role in the catalysis of arginine kinase are discussed. It is suggested that the cysteine may be located in the hinge region of the two domains of arginine kinase. The reactive cysteine of arginine kinase may play an important role not in the binding to the transition-state analog but in the conformational changes caused by the transition-state analog.     

Arginine decarboxylase from a Pseudomonas species.

An arginine decarboxylase has been isolated from a Pseudomonas species. The enzyme is constitutive and did not appear to be repressed by a variety of carbon sources. After an approximately 40-fold purification, the enzyme appeared more similar in its properties to the Escherichia coli biosynthetic arginine decarboxylase than to the E. coli inducible (biodegradative) enzyme. The Pseudomonas arginine decarboxylase exhibited a pH optimum of 8.1 and an absolute requirement of Mg2+ and pyridoxal phosphate, and was inhibited significantly at lower Mg2+ concentrations by the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and cadaverine. The Km for L-arginine was about 0.25 mM at pH 8.1 AND 7.2. The enzyme was completely inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoate. The inhibition was prevented by dithiothreitol, a feature that suggests the involvement of an -SH group. Of a variety of labeled amino acids tested, only L-arginine, but not D-arginine was decarboxylated. D-Arginine was a potent inhibitor of arginine decarboxylase with a Ki of 3.2 muM.     

An anion binding site in the active centre of phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus

The bi-Zn2+-enzyme phospholipase C (Bacillus cereus) is readilly inhibited by univalent anions. N.m.r. studies on the 113Cd-substituted enzyme showed the presence of an inert and a perturbable metal, neither of which seemed affected by I-. X-ray crystallographic analysis showed the binding of one I- to the enzyme 4.8 A from the nearest metal (too far for a metal-halide bond). Phospholipase C contains an arginine residue apparently necessary for substrate binding and I- partially protected against inactivation by an arginine reagent. Thus an arginine residue may represent the binding site for univalent anions in the enzyme active centre.     

Stimulation of growth and polyamine biosynthesis of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila. Regulation by L-arginine

Tetrahymena thermophila cells grown in a synthetic nutrient medium for 9 h removed 97% of the free L-arginine but less than 50% of any of the other essential amino acids. The major portion of the arginine was degraded rapidly (76-92%) whereas 5-15% was conserved as intact and only 2.5-10% were incorporated into protein. However, if bovine serum albumin (BSA) was present in the medium as a macromolecular arginine source the incorporation of free arginine into protein was reduced to less than 1% but the degraded fraction was increased. Apparently, the uptake mode of arginine determines its fate: arginine taken up by phagocytosis is bound for protein biosynthesis, arginine taken up by membrane receptors is chanelled to degradation. Media without arginine did not support growth of Tetrahymena. Citrulline and ornithine, the precursors of arginine biosynthesis in yeast and vertebrates, were not able to substitute for arginine. Pronounced morphological changes, e.g. greatly reduced ribosome content, were observed in Tetrahymena cells after 24 h of arginine starvation in otherwise complete medium, but not in cells starved in water, salt solution, or buffer. Thus, arginine is an essential nutrient component for Tetrahymena and the rapid degradation of this compound involving the enzymes arginine deiminase (ADI) and citrulline hydrolase (CH) might be of regulatory importance for the unicellular, as it is the case with acetylcholine and catecholamines in mammalian organisms. Since the product of these enzymes, L-ornithine, is the substrate for the regulatory key enzyme of polyamine biosynthesis, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the effects of the presence of absence of arginine on the activities of each particular enzyme of the pathway were studied, including ODC and the enzyme ornithine-oxo-acid aminotransferase (O delta T), which is a competitor of ODC for the common substrate. The arginine-degradative pathway was stimulated by extracellular free but not by peptide-bound arginine and was modulated by extracellular protein which induced phagocytosis; O delta T was stimulated with a time lag. The stimulation of ODC was in a reciprocal relation to the arginine concentration and enhanced by phagocytosis and previous arginine starvation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Dual regulation by arginine of the expression of the Escherichia coli argECBH operon.

The correlation between the level of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) specific for the argECBH gene cluster (argECBH mRNA) measured by ribonucleic acid-deoxyribonucleic acid (RNA-DNA) hybridization and the rates of synthesis of N-acetylornithine deacetylase (argE enzyme) and of argininosuccinate lyase (argH enzyme) of Escherichia coli strain K-12 were determined for steady-state growth with and without added L-arginine and during the transition periods between these two states. During the transient period after arginine removal (transient derepression), the synthesis of enzymes argE and argH was initially three to five times greater than the steady-state derepressed rate finally reached 50 min later. The level of argECHB mRNA correlated well both quantitatively and temporally with the rates of enzyme synthesis during this transition. The level of in vivo charged arginyl-transfer RNA (tRNAarg), monitored simultaneously, was initially only 5 to 10% and gradually increased to a final level of 80% after 45 min. During the transient period after arginine addition (transient repression), the rates of synthesis of enzymes argE and argH decreased to almost zero and gradually reached steady-state repressed rates after about 180 min. The argECBH mRNA level remained constant at the steady-state repressed level throughout transient repression, revealing a discontinuity between the level of this mRNA and rates of enzyme synthesis. A similar discrepancy was noted during the transition after ornithine addition. In vivo charged tRNAarg remained constant at 80% during this transition. After removal of arginine, the zero-level transient enzyme synthesis developed after only 7.5 min of arginine deprivation and was maximum after 30 min. The results suggest an accumulation of a molecule regulated by arginine that plays a role in transient repression. Our data indicate that arginyl-tRNA synthetase is not this molecule since its synthesis was unaffected by arginine. The ratios of steady-state argE and argH enzyme synthesis without arginine to that with arginine were 12 and 20, respectively, whereas the similar ratio for argECBH mRNA was 2 to 3. The repressed level of argECBH mRNA was not affected by attempts to repress or derepress the ppc+ gene (carried on the DNA used for hybridization), and the repressed level of argECBH mRNA was lowered about 50% in cells carrying an internal argBH deletion. These data taken together indicate the presence of an excess of untranslated argECBH mRNA during both transient and steady-state repression by arginine. Thus, a second regulatory mechanism, not yet defined, appears to play an important role in arginine regulation of enzyme synthesis.     

Synthesis of 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-1-oxo-pyrido[l ,2-a]benzimidazole

In Euglena gracilis arginine deiminase was located in the mitochondrial matrix. The highly purified enzyme required Co²⁺ for the enzyme reaction with the Km value of 0.23 mM, and its optimum pH was 9.7 to 10.3. The molecular weight of the native enzyme protein was 87,000 by gel filtration, and SDS-acrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the enzyme consisted of two identical subunits with a molecular weight of 48,000. Euglena arginine deiminase was inhibited by sulfhydryl inhibitors, indicating that a sulfhydryl group is involved in the active center of the enzyme. It exhibited negative cooperativity in binding with arginine. l-α-amino-β-guanidino-propionate, d-arginine, and l-homoarginine strongly inhibited the enzyme while β-guanidinopro-pionate, γ-guanidinobutyrate, and guanidinosuccinate did not. Considerable inhibition was also observed with citrulline and ornithine. We discuss the effects of the unique properties of the Euglena arginine deiminase on the regulation of arginine metabolism in this protozoon.     

Arginine catabolism in Neurospora: cycling of ornithine.

We measured the metabolism of ornithine in Neurospora during the transition from minimal medium to arginine-supplemented medium. Within an hour after arginine supplementation, the amount of intracellular ornithine (95% of which had been stored in vesicles) dropped by 65%, even though the catabolism of arginine produces as much ornithine as had been produced on minimal medium. The arginine level in the cell rose 10-fold. Ornithine flux through the catabolic enzyme ornithine aminotransferase increased fivefold, but flux through the mitochondrial enzyme ornithine transcarbamylase (leading to arginine synthesis) was only 20% of the rate seen on minimal medium. During this transition to arginine catabolism, the enzymes of the arginine pathway operate as an ornithine cycle, but at a restricted rate. We suggest the hypothesis that high levels of arginine may inhibit the movement of ornithine into the vesicles and into the mitochondria.     

Purification and properties of arginine esterases from Bitis arietans (puff adder) venom

An arginine esterase (FT1) was purified from B. arietans venom by gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme contains 21.6% of carbohydrate, 240 amino acids including 12 half-cystine residues and has a mol. wt of approximately 43,000. The purified enzyme has a high esterolytic activity towards N-alpha-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester but shows no proteolytic activity against Azocoll and no clotting activity with fibrinogen. The N-terminal sequence of the arginine esterase from B. arietans venom shares a significant degree of sequence homology with the arginine esterase of B. nasicornis, the thrombin-like enzyme of C. adamanteus and the kallikrein-like enzymes of C. atrox venoms. It would appear that the arginine esterase from B. arietans venom exists in various multiple forms of the enzyme.     

On the probable involvement of arginine residues in the bile-salt-binding site of human pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase

Modification of arginine residues with 2,3-butanedione inhibits the carboxylic-ester hydrolase activity on soluble and emulsified substrates when assayed with bile salts. The alpha-dicarbonyl reagent modifies seven of the nineteen arginine residues present per enzyme molecule. Nevertheless the inactivation with butanedione is greatly diminished when the protein is in the presence of negatively charged micellar bile salt. In these conditions we observe the protection of one arginine residue by sodium taurodeoxycholate and of two arginine residues by sodium cholate. This suggests that the carboxylic-ester hydrolase from human pancreatic juice contains at least two arginine residues essential for the activation by bile salts. All our data confirm the presence of two bile-salt-binding sites on the enzyme in which one arginine per site is involved and plays the general role of an anionic binding site. This study provides evidence that arginine residues may play an essential role in the interaction between bile salts and protein.