Exogenous ornithine is an effective precursor and the δ-ornithine amino transferase pathway contributes to proline accumulation under high N recycling in salt-stressed cashew leaves

The role of the δ-ornithine amino transferase (OAT) pathway in proline synthesis is still controversial and was assessed in leaves of cashew plants subjected to salinity. The activities of enzymes and the concentrations of metabolites involved in proline synthesis were examined in parallel with the capacity of exogenous ornithine and glutamate to induce proline accumulation. Proline accumulation was best correlated with OAT activity, which increased 4-fold and was paralleled by NADH oxidation coupled to the activities of OAT and Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR), demonstrating the potential of proline synthesis via OAT/P5C. Overall, the activities of GS, GOGAT and aminating GDH remained practically unchanged under salinity. The activity of P5CR did not respond to NaCl whereas Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase was sharply repressed by salinity. We suggest that if the export of P5C from the mitochondria to the cytosol is possible, its subsequent conversion to proline by P5CR may be important. In a time-course experiment, proline accumulation was associated with disturbances in amino acid metabolism as indicated by large increases in the concentrations of ammonia, free amino acids, glutamine, arginine and ornithine. Conversely, glutamate concentrations increased moderately and only within the first 24 h. Exogenous feeding of ornithine as a precursor was very effective in inducing proline accumulation in intact plants and leaf discs, in which proline concentrations were several times higher than glutamate-fed or salt-treated plants. Our data suggest that proline accumulation might be a consequence of salt-induced increase in N recycling, resulting in increased levels of ornithine and other metabolites involved with proline synthesis and OAT activity. Under these metabolic circumstances the OAT pathway might contribute significantly to proline accumulation in salt-stressed cashew leaves.     

Fasciola gigantica: enzymes of the ornithine-proline-glutamate pathway--characterization of delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase

Ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), proline oxidase (PO), Delta 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR), and Delta 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (P5CD) were assessed in Fasciola gigantica. All enzymes are involved in the conversion of ornithine into glutamate and proline. High levels of P5CD suggest that the direction of the metabolic flow from ornithine is more toward glutamate than proline. F. gigantica P5CD1 and P5CD2 were separated from the majority of contaminating proteins in crude homogenate using a CM-cellulose column. A Sephacryl S-200 column was employed for P5CD2 to obtain pure enzyme with increased specific activity. The molecular mass of P5CD2 was estimated to be 50kDa using a Sephacryl S-200 column and SDS-PAGE. It migrated as a single band on SDS-PAGE, indicating a monomeric enzyme. P5CD2 had Km values of 1.44mM and 0.37mM for NAD and P5C, respectively. P5CD2 oxidized a number of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, where the aromatic compounds had higher affinity toward the enzyme. All amino acids examined had partial inhibitory effects on the enzyme. While 3mM AMP caused 31% activation of enzyme, 3mM ADP and ATP inhibited activity by 18% and 23%, respectively. Apart from Cu2+, the divalent cations that were studied caused partial inhibitory effects on the enzyme.     

Assay and subcellular localization of pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase in rat liver

Delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (P5CDh) catalyzes the conversion of Delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate to glutamate in a reaction requiring NADP+ as a cofactor. Delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate is formed in liver from proline by proline oxidase (EC number not assigned) or from ornithine via ornithine aminotransferase. A spectrophotometric assay for P5CDh was shown to be valid if rotenone was included in the assay to prevent reoxidation of NADH. Using this new assay, liver was fractionated using differential centrifugation and the distribution of P5CDh was compared to that of appropriate marker enzymes. P5CDh is enriched only in the mitochondrial fractions, as are the mitochondrial enzymes, succinate cytochrome c reductase, proline oxidase, glutaminase, and ornithine aminotransferase. Thus, it can be concluded that P5CDh occurs only in mitochondria, not in both mitochondria and cytoplasm, as had previously been reported.     

Crystal structure of human pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase

Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR) is a universal housekeeping enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of Delta(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) to proline using NAD(P)H as the cofactor. The enzymatic cycle between P5C and proline is very important for the regulation of amino acid metabolism, intracellular redox potential, and apoptosis. Here, we present the 2.8 Angstroms resolution structure of the P5CR apo enzyme, its 3.1 Angstroms resolution ternary complex with NAD(P)H and substrate-analog. The refined structures demonstrate a decameric architecture with five homodimer subunits and ten catalytic sites arranged around a peripheral circular groove. Mutagenesis and kinetic studies reveal the pivotal roles of the dinucleotide-binding Rossmann motif and residue Glu221 in the human enzyme. Human P5CR is thermostable and the crystals were grown at 37 degrees C. The enzyme is implicated in oxidation of the anti-tumor drug thioproline.     

The crystal structure of seabream antiquitin reveals the structural basis of its substrate specificity

The crystal structure of seabream antiquitin in complex with the cofactor NAD(+) was solved at 2.8A resolution. The mouth of the substrate-binding pocket is guarded by two conserved residues, Glu120 and Arg300. To test the role of these two residues, we have prepared the two mutants E120A and R300A. Our model and kinetics data suggest that antiquitin's specificity towards the substrate alpha-aminoadipic semialdehyde is contributed mainly by Glu120 which interacts with the alpha-amino group of the substrate. On the other hand, Arg300 does not have any specific interaction with the alpha-carboxylate group of the substrate, but is important in maintaining the active site conformation.     

Enzymes of the ornithine-glutamate-proline pathway in the sheep abomasal nematode parasites Haemonchus contortus and Teladorsagia circumcincta

A fully functional ornithine–glutamate–proline pathway was detected in L3 and adult Haemonchus contortus and Teladorsagia circumcincta, making the parasites capable of interconversion of these amino acids. Ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) (E.C. 2.6.1.13) was a reversible pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme with an optimum pH 8.5. Hydroxylamine completely inhibited OAT activity in both parasites. For all five enzymes, substrate affinity was similar for each species and life cycle stage, the notable exceptions being the nearly 10-fold lower affinity for Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) of P5C reductase (E.C. 1.5.1.2) in adult T. circumcincta and about half for P5C for L3 H. contortus P5C dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.5.1.12). P5C synthase (E.C. 1.2.1.41) activity was similar with either NADPH or NADH as co-factor. Proline oxidase (E.C. 1.5.99.8) was a co-factor independent enzyme with an optimal pH 8.5. Despite similarities to those in the host, enzymes of this pathway may still be useful as control targets if they differ antigenically, as a supply of proline is necessary for cuticle formation.     

Regional Distribution in Rat Brain of 1-Pyrroline-5-Carboxylate Dehydrogenase and Its Localization to Specific Glial Cells

A possible alternative route for production of a small glutamate pool in brain is from proline or ornithine to 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) and thence to glutamate. The conversion from ornithine to P5C is catalyzed by ornithine delta-aminotransferase (OrnT) whereas that from proline is catalyzed by proline oxidase (PrO). The conversion of P5C to glutamate is catalyzed by 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (PDH). Biochemical assays of PDH and PrO in various rat brain regions indicate no positive correlation between the two enzymes nor between either activity and high-affinity glutamate uptake or the regional distribution of OrnT. We have localized PDH and PrO histochemically by modifications of the Van Gelder [J. Neurochem. 12, 231-237, (1965)] method for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase. The enzymes were found only in certain types of glial cells; the best stained were the Bergmann glial cells of the cerebellum but, for PDH, there was also good staining of astrocytes in the dentate area of the hippocampus. Since both these areas are believed to have heavy glutamate innervation and numerous GABA interneurons, these findings may reflect an alternative route of glutamate production in glial cells near some glutamate and/or GABA tracts but they do not support this as a possible route for glutamate formation in most brain regions. The findings do, however, provide further evidence for chemical specialization of glial cells.     

Crystal structures of delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase from human pathogens Neisseria meningitides and Streptococcus pyogenes

L-proline is an amino acid that plays an important role in proteins uniquely contributing to protein folding, structure, and stability, and this amino acid serves as a sequence-recognition motif. Proline biosynthesis can occur via two pathways, one from glutamate and the other from arginine. In both pathways, the last step of biosynthesis, the conversion of delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) to L-proline, is catalyzed by delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR) using NAD(P)H as a cofactor. We have determined the first crystal structure of P5CR from two human pathogens, Neisseria meningitides and Streptococcus pyogenes, at 2.0 angstroms and 2.15 angstroms resolution, respectively. The catalytic unit of P5CR is a dimer composed of two domains, but the biological unit seems to be species-specific. The N-terminal domain of P5CR is an alpha/beta/alpha sandwich, a Rossmann fold. The C-terminal dimerization domain is rich in alpha-helices and shows domain swapping. Comparison of the native structure of P5CR to structures complexed with L-proline and NADP+ in two quite different primary sequence backgrounds provides unique information about key functional features: the active site and the catalytic mechanism. The inhibitory L-proline has been observed in the crystal structure.     

Δ1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate: The product of proline dehydrogenase from Cucurbita moschata cotyledons

The product of oxidation of proline by pumpkin proline dehydrogenase reacted with o-aminobenzaldehyde to give a yellow compound that had an absorption spectrum similar to that obtained from chemically synthesized Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate. The product of the proline dehydrogenase reaction and synthetic Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate had identical R_f values. Both authentic Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate and the product of the enzyme gave a pink colour with acid ninhydrin on paper chromatograms and both had identical elution patterns on Dowex 50(H⁺) columns. Neither synthetic Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate nor the product of proline-dehydrogenase produced γ-amino butyrate with hydrogen peroxide.     

Two continuous coupled assays for ornithine-δ-aminotransferase

We have developed two new continuous coupled assays for ornithine-δ-aminotransferase (OAT) that are more sensitive than previous methods, measure activity in real time, and can be carried out in multiwell plates for convenience and high throughput. The first assay is based on the reduction of Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C), generated from ornithine by OAT, using human pyrroline 5-carboxylate reductase 1 (PYCR1), which results in the concomitant oxidation of NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, reduced form) to NAD⁺ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, oxidized form). This procedure was found to be three times more sensitive than previous methods and is suitable for the study of small molecules as inhibitors or inactivators of OAT or as a method to determine OAT activity in unknown samples. The second method involves the detection of l-glutamate, produced during the regeneration of the cofactor pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) of OAT by an unamplified modification of the commercially available Amplex Red l-glutamate detection kit (Life Technologies). This assay is recommended for the determination of the substrate activity of small molecules against OAT; measuring the transformation of l-ornithine at high concentrations by this assay is complicated by the fact that it also acts as a substrate for the l-glutamate oxidase (GluOx) reporter enzyme.     

The proline biosynthesis in living organisms

Summary In this article we review recent work on the physiology of proline and ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) in living organisms and consider recent progress in our understanding of the role of P5C synthetase in collagen metabolism and the regulation of urea cycle in vertebrates. Much of this recent progress has been made possible by advances in our knowledge of the enzymes and genes involved in proline biosynthesis in man. The availability of well characterized P5C synthetase deficiency in man has been an impetus for the cloning of the cDNA encoding for this enzyme from man and facilitated the establishment of the phenotype-genotype relationships in P5C synthetase deficiency in higher vertebrates.Abbreviations GK -glutamyl kinase - GPR -glutamyl phosphate reductase - P5CR ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase - GSA glutamic--semialdehyde - P5C ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate - P₁ Inorganic phosphate - AMP, ADP, ATP Adenosine 5-mono-, di-, triphosphate - NAD⁺, NADH nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and its reduced form - NADP⁺, NADPH nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, and its reduced form; DEAF: diethylaminoethyle - OAT ornithine amino transferase; CHO: Chinese hamster ovary - IGF-1 insulin-like growth factor-1 - P5CDH pyrroline 5carboxylate dehydrogenase - IMP inosine 5-monophosphate     

Hydrogen sulfide donor sodium hydrosulfide-improved heat tolerance in maize and involvement of proline

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) has long been considered as a phytotoxin, but nowadays as a cell signal molecule involved in growth, development, and the acquisition of stress tolerance in higher plants. In the present study, hydrogen sulfide donor, sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), pretreatment markedly improved germination percentage of seeds and survival percentage of seedlings of maize under heat stress, and alleviated an increase in electrolyte leakage of roots, a decrease in tissue vitality and an accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) in coleoptiles of maize seedlings. In addition, pretreatment of NaHS could improve the activity of Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) and lower proline dehydrogenase (ProDH) activity, which in turn induced accumulation of endogenous proline in maize seedlings. Also, application of proline could enhance endogenous proline content, followed by mitigated accumulation of MDA and increased survival percentage of maize seedlings under heat stress. These results suggest that sodium hydrosulfide pretreatment could improve heat tolerance of maize and the acquisition of this heat tolerance may be involved in proline.     

A proline shuttle in insect flight muscle.

A proline shuttle for oxidation of extramitochondrial NADH was reconstituted from soluble and mitochondrial fractions of blowfly ($\text{Phormia}$$\text{regina}$) flight muscle. The soluble fraction catalyzed reduction of Δ′-pyrroline-5-carboxylate to proline via the action of Δ′-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (EC 1.5.1.2). The reaction required NADH as hydrogen donor, NAD (P) H being ineffective in this regard. Mitochondria catalyzed regeneration of Δ′-pyrroline-5-carboxylate from proline via action of proline oxidase. The capacity of the shuttle to operate under conditions of possible competition for Δ′-pyrroline-5-carboxylate between Δ′-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase and Δ′-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (EC 1.5.1.12) was incestigated. Results of these investigations indicate that dehydrogenase activity does not significantly interfere with shuttle activity.     

Fungal metabolism of biphenyl.

gamma-Glutamyl phosphate reductase, the second enzyme of proline biosynthesis, catalyses the formation of l-glutamic acid 5-semialdehyde from gamma-glutamyl phosphate with NAD(P)H as cofactor. It was purified 150-fold from crude extracts of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO 1 by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and hydroxyapatite adsorption chromatography. The partially purified preparation, when assayed in the reverse of the biosynthetic direction, utilized l-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid as substrate and reduced NAD(P)(+). The apparent K(m) values were: NAD(+), 0.36mm; NADP(+), 0.31mm; l-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid, 4mm with NADP(+) and 8mm with NAD(+); P(i), 28mm. 3-(Phosphonoacetylamido)-l-alanine, a structural analogue of gamma-glutamyl phosphate, inhibited this enzyme competitively (K(i)=7mm). 1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (EC 1.5.1.2), the third enzyme of proline biosynthesis, was purified 56-fold by (NH(4))(2)SO(4) fractionation, Sephadex G-150 gel filtration and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. It reduced l-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate with NAD(P)H as a cofactor to l-proline. NADH (K(m)=0.05mm) was a better substrate than NADPH (K(m)=0.02mm). The apparent K(m) values for l-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate were 0.12mm with NADPH and 0.09mm with NADH. The 3-acetylpyridine analogue of NAD(+) at 2mm caused 95% inhibition of the enzyme, which was also inhibited by thio-NAD(P)(+), heavy-metal ions and thiol-blocking reagents. In cells of strain PAO 1 grown on a proline-medium the activity of gamma-glutamyl kinase and gamma-glutamyl phosphate reductase was about 40% lower than in cells grown on a glutamate medium. No repressive effect of proline on 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase was observed.     

Purification, characterization, and crystallization of human pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase

Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR) catalyzes the reduction of Delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) to proline with concomitant oxidation of NAD(P)H to NAD(P)(+). The enzymatic cycle between P5C and proline is very important in many physiological and pathological processes. Human P5CR was over-expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity by chromatography. Enzymatic assays of the wild-type protein were carried out using 3,4-dehydro-L-proline as substrate and NAD(+) as cofactor. The homopolymer was characterized by cross-linking and size exclusion gel filtration chromatography. Human P5CR was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method at 37 degrees C. Diffraction data were obtained to a resolution of 2.8A and were suitable for high resolution X-ray structure determination.     

Isolation and expression analysis of proline metabolism-related genes in Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium

Proline plays a significant role in plant resistance to abiotic stresses, and its level is determined by a combination of synthesis, catabolism and transport. The primary proteins involved are Δ¹-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), proline dehydrogenase (PDH) and proline transporter (ProT). To utilise proline metabolism to improve the stress resistance of Chrysanthemum × morifolium, we isolated two P5CS-homologous genes (ClP5CS1 and ClP5CS2), one PDH gene (ClPDH) and four ProT-homologous genes (ClProT1-4) (GenBANK accession numbers: KF743136–KF743142) from Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium, which is closely related to chrysanthemums and exhibits strong resistance to stresses. Expression analysis of these genes in different organs and under various stresses indicated that ClP5CSs showed substantial constitutive expression, while ClPDH was only strongly expressed in the capitulum and was inhibited under most stresses. The expression patterns of four ClProT genes presented characteristics of organ specificity and disparity under stresses. Above all, the expression of ClProT2 was restricted to above-ground organs, especially strong in the capitulum and could be obviously induced by various stress conditions. Promoters of ClPDH and ClProTs contained many cis-acting regulatory elements involved in stress responses and plant growth and development. High levels of free proline were found in flower buds, the capitulum under the non-stress condition and later periods of stress conditions except cold treatment. Interestingly, organ specificity and disparity also exist in the level of free proline under different stress conditions. Our study indicates that ClProTs play significant roles in proline accumulation and stress responses, and that ClProT2 could be used to genetically modify the stress resistance of chrysanthemums. In addition, proline metabolism might be closely related to plant flowering and floral development.