Interaction between citrate synthase and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase in the presence of polyethylene glycol

Pig heart citrate synthase and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase interact in polyethylene glycol solutions as indicated by increased solution turbidity. A large percentage of both enzymes sediments when mixtures of the two in polyethylene glycol are centrifuged, whereas little if any of either enzyme sediments in the absence of the other. The observed interaction is highly specific in that neither cytosolic malate dehydrogenase nor nine other proteins showed evidence of specific interaction with either pig heart citrate synthase or mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. Escherichia coli citrate synthase did not interact with pig heart citrate synthase, but did show evidence of interaction with pig heart mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. The relation between enzyme behavior in polyethylene glycol solution and in the mitochondrion and the significance of possible in vivo interactions between citrate synthase and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase are discussed.     

Endurance capacity in maturing mdx mice is markedly enhanced by combined voluntary wheel running and green tea extract.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is characterized by the absence of dystrophin from muscle cells. Dystrophic muscle cells are susceptible to oxidative stress. We tested the hypothesis that 3 wk of endurance exercise starting at age 21 days in young male mdx mice would blunt oxidative stress and improve dystrophic skeletal muscle function, and these effects would be enhanced by the antioxidant green tea extract (GTE). In mice fed normal diet, average daily running distance increased 300% from week 1 to week 3, and total distance over 3 wk was improved by 128% in mice fed GTE. Running, independent of diet, increased serum antioxidant capacity, extensor digitorum longus tetanic stress, and total contractile protein content, heart citrate synthase, and heart and quadriceps beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities. GTE, independent of running, decreased serum creatine kinase and heart and gastrocnemius lipid peroxidation and increased gastrocnemius citrate synthase activity. These data suggest that both endurance exercise and GTE may be beneficial as therapeutic strategies to improve muscle function in mdx mice.     

人柠檬酸合成酶cDNA的克隆及其表达谱分析

在动物、植物、微生物细胞中普遍存在的三羧酸循环(TCA循环)是产生ATP的主要途径,它不仅参与糖的分解代谢,也参与蛋白质和脂肪的分解代谢。柠檬酸合成酶在TCA循环中起着关键的调节作用,它通过催化乙酰辅酶A与草酰乙酸缩合成柠檬酸。本文用基因组信息学方法获得的一个长1636bp的EST重叠群序列,它与猪柠檬酸合成酶cDNA序列高度同源。从这一序列出发,又用PCR方法从人的睾丸组织和骨胳肌组织的cDNA分子库中,分别克隆到一个1492bp的cDNA片段,在其序列中含有一个长1401bp的可读框,该可读框推导的编码蛋白由466个氨基酸组成,它与猪柠檬酸合成酶、鸡柠檬酸合成酶及酵母柠檬酸合成酶的同源度分别达95．9％,92％和60．9％,故认为该cDNA序列可能就是来自人类柠檬酸合成酶基因的转录本。Northern分析表明人类柠檬酸合成酶在心脏和骨胳肌中呈高表达,在脑、肾和胰腺组织中度表达,在小肠和胸腺中未能检出表达,而在其他9种被检测的组织中仅有低表达。     

The effect of endurance-training on the maximum activities of hexokinase, 6-phosphofructokinase,citrate synthase,and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase in red and white muscles of the rat

Adult female rats were subjected to an eleven-week endurance-training programme, and, for the first time, the maximum activities of enzymes that can indicate the quantitative capacities of both anaerobic glycolysis and the Krebs cycle in muscle (viz. 6-phosphofructokinase and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase respectively) were measured in heart plus white and fast-oxidative skeletal muscle. No changes were observed in heart muscle. In fast-oxidative skeletal muscle, activities of hexokinase, citrate synthase, and oxoglutarate dehydrogenase were increased by 51, 26, and 33% respectively but there was no effect on 6-phosphofructokinase. These results demonstrate that in red muscle there is no effect of this training programme on the anaerobic capacity but that of the aerobic system is increased by one third. In white skeletal muscle, only the activity of citrate synthase was increased, which indicates that this activity may not provide even qualitative information about changes in capacity of the Krebs cycle.     

A crystallographic investigation of citrate synthase from pig and chicken heart muscle

Citrate synthase (EC 4. 1. 3. 7.) from pig heart and chicken heart muscle can be crystallized from 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7. 0–7. 5) and 10–15% PEG4000 solution. The space group is P4₁2₁2 with one subunit/asymmetric unit for the pig heart enzyme. The chicken heart citrate synthase purified from Blue-dextran as well as ATP-Sepharose affinity chromatography both crystallize in space group P2₁2₁2 with one molecule/asymmetric unit, but they have different unit cell dimensions. The a-axis differs by about 17 Å between these two crystal forms, while b- and c-axis dimensions are virtually identical.     

Crystal structure of an open conformation of citrate synthase from chicken heart at 2.8-A resolution

The X-ray structure of a new crystal form of chicken heart muscle citrate synthase, grown from solutions containing citrate and coenzyme A or L-malate and acetyl coenzyme A, has been determined by molecular replacement at 2.8-A resolution. The space group is P4(3) with a = 58.9 A and c = 259.2 A and contains an entire dimer of molecular weight 100,000 in the asymmetric unit. Both "closed" conformation chicken heart and "open" conformation pig heart citrate synthase models (Brookhaven Protein Data Bank designations 3CTS and 1CTS) were used in the molecular replacement solution, with crystallographic refinement being initiated with the latter. The conventional crystallographic R factor of the final refined model is 19.6% for the data between 6- and 2.8-A resolution. The model has an rms deviation from ideal values of 0.034 A for bond lengths and of 3.6 degrees for bond angles. The conformation of the enzyme is essentially identical with that of a previously determined "open" form of pig heart muscle citrate synthase which crystallizes in a different space group, with one monomer in the asymmetric unit, from either phosphate or citrate solution. The crystalline environment of each subunit of the chicken enzyme is different, yet the conformation is the same in each. The open conformation is therefore not an artifact of crystal packing or crystallization conditions and is not species dependent. Both "open" and "closed" crystal forms of the chicken heart enzyme grow from the same drop, showing that both conformations of the enzyme are present at equilibrium in solution containing reaction products or substrate analogues.     

Engineered citrate synthase alters Acetate Accumulation in Escherichia coli

Metabolic engineering is used to improve titers, yields and generation rates for biochemical products in host microbes such as Escherichia coli. A wide range of biochemicals are derived from the central carbon metabolite acetyl-CoA, and the largest native drain of acetyl-CoA in most microbes including E. coli is entry into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle via citrate synthase (coded by the gltA gene). Since the pathway to any biochemical derived from acetyl-CoA must ultimately compete with citrate synthase, a reduction in citrate synthase activity should facilitate the increased formation of products derived from acetyl-CoA. To test this hypothesis, we integrated into E. coli C ΔpoxB twenty-eight citrate synthase variants having specific point mutations that were anticipated to reduce citrate synthase activity. These variants were assessed in shake flasks for growth and the production of acetate, a model product derived from acetyl-CoA. Mutations in citrate synthase at residues W260, A267 and V361 resulted in the greatest acetate yields (approximately 0.24 g/g glucose) compared to the native citrate synthase (0.05 g/g). These variants were further examined in controlled batch and continuous processes. The results provide important insights on improving the production of compounds derived from acetyl-CoA.     

A multi-center comparison of diagnostic methods for the biochemical evaluation of suspected mitochondrial disorders

A multicenter comparison of mitochondrial respiratory chain and complex V enzyme activity tests was performed. The average reproducibility of the enzyme assays is 16% in human muscle samples. In a blinded diagnostic accuracy test in patient fibroblasts and SURF1 knock-out mouse muscle, each lab made the correct diagnosis except for two complex I results. We recommend that enzyme activities be evaluated based on ratios, e.g. with complex IV or citrate synthase activity. In spite of large variations in observed enzyme activities, we show that inter-laboratory comparison of patient sample test results is possible by using normalization against a control sample.     

Polyethylene glycol-induced heteroassociation of malate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase

Studies by dynamic and total intensity light scattering, ultracentrifugation, electron microscopy, and chemical crosslinking on solutions of the pig heart mitochondrial enzymes, malate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase (separately and together) demonstrate that polyethylene glycol induces very large homoassociations of each enzyme, and still larger heteroenzyme complexes between these two enzymes in the solution phase. Specificity of this heteroassociation is indicated by the facts that heteroassociations with bovine serum albumin were not observed for either the mitochondrial dehydrogenase or the synthase or between cytosolic malate dehydrogenase and citrate synthase. The weight fraction of the enzymes in the mitochondrial dehydrogenase-synthase associated particles in the solution phase was less than 0.03% with the dilute conditions used in the dynamic light scattering measurements. Neither palmitoyl-CoA nor other solution conditions tested significantly increased this weight fraction of associated enzymes in the solution phase. Because of the extremely low solubility of the associated species, however, the majority of the enzymes can be precipitated as the heteroenzyme complex. This precipitation is a classical first-order transition in spite of the large particle sizes and broad size distribution. Ionic effects on the solubility of the heteroenzyme complex appear to be of general electrostatic nature. Polyethylene glycol was found to be more potent in precipitating this complex than dextrans, polyvinylpyrrolidones, ficoll, and beta-lactoglobulin.     

Substrate-specific changes in mitochondrial respiration in skeletal and cardiac muscle of hibernating thirteen-lined ground squirrels

During torpor, the metabolic rate (MR) of thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) is considerably lower relative to euthermia, resulting in part from temperature-independent mitochondrial metabolic suppression in liver and skeletal muscle, which together account for ~40 % of basal MR. Although heart accounts for very little (<0.5 %) of basal MR, in the present study, we showed that respiration rates were decreased up to 60 % during torpor in both subsarcolemmal (SS) and intermyofibrillar (IM) mitochondria from cardiac muscle. We further demonstrated pronounced seasonal (summer vs. winter [i.e., interbout] euthermia) changes in respiration rates in both mitochondrial subpopulations in this tissue, consistent with a shift in fuel use away from carbohydrates and proteins and towards fatty acids and ketones. By contrast, these seasonal changes in respiration rates were not observed in either SS or IM mitochondria isolated from hind limb skeletal muscle. Both populations of skeletal muscle mitochondria, however, did exhibit metabolic suppression during torpor, and this suppression was 2- to 3-fold greater in IM mitochondria, which provide ATP for Ca²⁺- and myosin ATPases, the activities of which are likely quite low in skeletal muscle during torpor because animals are immobile. Finally, these changes in mitochondrial respiration rates were still evident when standardized to citrate synthase activity rather than to total mitochondrial protein.     

Drosophila UNC-45 prevents heat-induced aggregation of skeletal muscle myosin and facilitates refolding of citrate synthase

UNC-45 belongs to the UCS (UNC-45, CRO1, She4p) domain protein family, whose members interact with various classes of myosin. Here we provide structural and biochemical evidence that Escherichia coli-expressed Drosophila UNC-45 (DUNC-45) maintains the integrity of several substrates during heat-induced stress in vitro. DUNC-45 displays chaperone function in suppressing aggregation of the muscle myosin heavy meromyosin fragment, the myosin S-1 motor domain, α-lactalbumin and citrate synthase. Biochemical evidence is supported by electron microscopy, which reveals the first structural evidence that DUNC-45 prevents inter- or intra-molecular aggregates of skeletal muscle heavy meromyosin caused by elevated temperatures. We also demonstrate for the first time that UNC-45 is able to refold a denatured substrate, urea-unfolded citrate synthase. Overall, this in vitro study provides insight into the fate of muscle myosin under stress conditions and suggests that UNC-45 protects and maintains the contractile machinery during in vivo stress.     

Maximal enzyme activities, and myoglobin and glutathione concentrations in heart, liver and skeletal muscle of the Northern Short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda; Insectivora: Soricidae)

We measured the enzymes of glycolysis, Krebs Cycle, beta-oxidation and electron transport in the heart, liver and skeletal muscle of the Northern Short-tailed Shrew, Blarina brevicauda. Additionally, we measured the amount of myoglobin in skeletal and heart muscle as well as the concentration of glutathione in heart. The picture that emerges is of an aerobically well-endowed animal with constrained anaerobic capacity as indicated by small activities of glycolytic enzymes and creatine kinase. Lipid metabolism and amino acid transamination, as well as gluconeogenesis, are predominant in processing carbon resources and probably reflect the large contribution lipid and protein make to the diet of this carnivore. The citrate synthase activity is the largest of any reported value for vertebrate heart (250 U/g). The additional, very active cytochrome c oxidase activity (220 U/g) and large myoglobin concentrations (8 mg/g) in heart are clearly the underpinnings of the rapid metabolic rates reported for small insectivores. The potential for generation of reactive oxygen species must be great since the total glutathione concentration (165 mumol/g) is 300-fold greater in shrew hearts than in hearts of rats.     

Mechanistic Drivers of Flexibility in Summit Metabolic Rates of Small Birds

Flexible metabolic phenotypes allow animals to adjust physiology to better fit ecological or environmental demands, thereby influencing fitness. Summit metabolic rate (M_sum = maximal thermogenic capacity) is one such flexible trait. Skeletal muscle and heart masses and myocyte metabolic intensity are potential drivers of M_sum flexibility in birds. We examined correlations of skeletal muscle and heart masses and pectoralis muscle citrate synthase (CS) activity (an indicator of cellular metabolic intensity) with M_sum in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) to determine whether these traits are associated with M_sum variation. Pectoralis mass was positively correlated with M_sum for both species, but no significant correlation remained for either species after accounting for body mass (M_b) variation. Combined flight and leg muscle masses were also not significantly correlated with M_sum for either species. In contrast, heart mass was significantly positively correlated with M_sum for juncos and nearly so (P = 0.054) for sparrows. Mass-specific and total pectoralis CS activities were significantly positively correlated with M_sum for sparrows, but not for juncos. Thus, myocyte metabolic intensity influences M_sum variation in house sparrows, although the stronger correlation of total (r = 0.495) than mass-specific (r = 0.378) CS activity with M_sum suggests that both pectoralis mass and metabolic intensity impact M_sum. In contrast, neither skeletal muscle masses nor pectoralis metabolic intensity varied with M_sum in juncos. However, heart mass was associated with M_sum variation in both species. These data suggest that drivers of metabolic flexibility are not uniform among bird species.     

Dietary supplementation of old mice with flavonoid dihydroquercetin causes recovery of the mitochondrial enzyme activities in skeletal muscles

The effect of a potent antioxidant, flavonoid dihydroquercetin on the activity of three mitochondrial enzymes in mouse skeletal muscles has been investigated. An ability of this substance to restore the activity of mitochondrial enzymes in old animals was demonstrated. The activities of citrate synthase, NADHcoenzymeQ1-oxidoreductase (complex 1) and cytochromc-oxidase (complex 4) were assessed using spectro-photometric analysis in a quadriceps muscle homogenate. It was shown that the citrate synthase activity decreased moderately and the activities of complexes 1 and 4 in skeletal muscles dropped significantly in old mice. Supplementation of drink water with dihydroquercetin for a few weeks led to an increase of citrate synthase and complex 1 activity (P < 0.1) in muscles of old animals. Activity of complex 4 returned to the level found in the tissue of young mice. Maximal activity of citrate synthase and complex 1 was found in muscles of young mice. Sensitivity of NADH-coenzymeQ1-oxidoreductase to a specific inhibitor rotenone differed in all three groups of mice. Young and old mice exhibited about 95% and 84% of the total sensitivity, respectively, while in old mice receiving dihydroquercetin the sensitivity of complex 1 to the inhibitor increased up to 98%. The biochemical alterations entailed an increase in animals’ mobility as well as an improvement of fur and skin condition. Fatty acid composition of homogenate in muscle tissue of all three groups was also investigated. A reliable decline of the amount of linoleic acid and an increase in stearic and docosanoic acid contents as well as an increase of total amount of fatty acids in muscles of old mice were found. Statistically significant changes in fatty acid composition in muscles of old mice in the control group and in old mice receiving antioxidant were not observed.     

Control of the tricarboxylate cycle and its interactions with glycolysis during acetate utilization in rat heart

1. Transient and steady-state changes caused by acetate utilization were studied in perfused rat heart. The transient period occupied 6min and steady-state changes were followed in a further 6min of perfusion. 2. In control perfusions glucose oxidation accounted for 75% of oxygen utilization; the remaining 25% was assumed to represent oxidation of glyceride fatty acids. With acetate in the steady state, acetate oxidation accounted for 80% of oxygen utilization, which increased by 20%; glucose oxidation was almost totally suppressed. The rate of tricarboxylate-cycle turnover increased by 67% with acetate perfusion. The net yield of ATP in the steady state was not altered by acetate. 3. Acetate oxidation increased muscle concentrations of acetyl-CoA, citrate, isocitrate, 2-oxoglutarate, glutamate, alanine, AMP and glucose 6-phosphate, and lowered those of CoA and aspartate; the concentrations of pyruvate, ATP and ADP showed no detectable change. The times for maximum changes were 1min, acetyl-CoA, CoA, alanine and AMP; 6min, citrate, isocitrate, glutamate and aspartate; 2-4min, 2-oxoglutarate. Malate concentration fell in the first minute and rose to a value somewhat greater than in the control by 6min. There was a transient and rapid rise in glucose 6-phosphate concentration in the first minute superimposed on the slower rise over 6min. 4. Acetate perfusion decreased the output of lactate, the muscle concentration of lactate and the [lactate]/[pyruvate] ratio in perfusion medium and muscle in the first minute; these returned to control values by 6min. 5. During the first minute acetate decreased oxygen consumption and lowered the net yield of ATP by 30% without any significant change in muscle ATP or ADP concentrations. 6. The specific radioactivities of cycle metabolites were measured during and after a 1min pulse of [1-(14)C]acetate delivered in the first and twelfth minutes of acetate perfusion. A model based on the known flow rates and concentrations of cycle metabolites was analysed by computer simulation. The model, which assumed single pools of cycle metabolites, fitted the data well with the inclusion of an isotope-exchange reaction between isocitrate and 2-oxoglutarate+bicarbonate. The exchange was verified by perfusions with [(14)C]bicarbonate. There was no evidence for isotope exchange between citrate and acetyl-CoA or between 2-oxoglutarate and malate. There was rapid isotope equilibration between 2-oxoglutarate and glutamate, but relatively poor isotope equilibration between malate and aspartate. 7. It is concluded that the citrate synthase reaction is displaced from equilibrium in rat heart, that isocitrate dehydrogenase and aconitate hydratase may approximate to equilibrium, that alanine aminotransferase is close to equilibrium, but that aspartate transamination is slow for reasons that have yet to be investigated. 8. The slow rise in citrate concentration as compared with the rapid rise in that of acetyl-CoA is attributed to the slow generation of oxaloacetate by aspartate aminotransferase. 9. It is proposed that the tricarboxylate cycle may operate as two spans: acetyl-CoA-->2-oxoglutarate, controlled by citrate synthase, and 2-oxoglutarate-->oxaloacetate, controlled by 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase; a scheme for cycle control during acetate oxidation is outlined. The initiating factors are considered to be changes in acetyl-CoA, CoA and AMP concentrations brought about by acetyl-CoA synthetase. 10. Evidence is presented for a transient inhibition of phosphofructokinase during the first minute of acetate perfusion that was not due to a rise in whole-tissue citrate concentration. The probable importance of metabolite compartmentation is stressed.     

Expression and base sequence of the citrate synthase gene of Acinetobacter anitratum

The sequence of 1895 base pairs of Acinetobacter anitratum genomic DNA, containing the structural gene for the allosteric citrate synthase of that Gram-negative bacterium, is presented. The sequence contains an open reading frame of 424 codons, the 5' end of which is the same as the N-terminal sequence of A. anitratum citrate synthase, less the initiator methionine. The inferred amino acid sequence of the enzyme is about 70% identical with that of citrate synthase from Escherichia coli, which like the A. anitratum enzyme is sensitive to allosteric inhibition by NADH. There is also a more distant homology with the nonallosteric citrate synthases of pig heart and yeast. The gene contains sequences that strongly resemble those found in E. coli promoters, an E. coli type of ribosomal binding site, and a hyphenated dyad sequence at the 3' end of the gene which resembles the rho-independent terminators found in some E. coli genes. The plasmid clone containing the A. anitratum citrate synthase gene pLJD1, originally isolated because it hybridized with the cloned E. coli citrate synthase gene under conditions of reduced stringency, produces large amounts of A. anitratum citrate synthase in an E. coli host which lacks citrate synthase. This work completes proof of the hypothesis that the three major kinds of citrate synthases are formed of similar subunits, although their functional properties are different.     

Enzymatic and mitochondrial responses to 5 months of aerial exposure in the slender lungfish Protopterus dolloi

Mitochondrial respiration and activities of key metabolic enzymes from liver and white skeletal muscle were compared between control aquatic slender lungfish Protopterus dolloi , and those exposed to air for 5 months. Activities of citrate synthase, glycogen phosphorylase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase in liver were not affected by air-exposure. In muscle, air-exposure reduced citrate synthase and pyruvate kinase activities (relative to tissue wet mass) by 63 and 50%, respectively. Liver carnitine palmitoyl transferase activity (relative to mitochondrial protein) decreased by half following air-exposure, but there was no change in muscle. In mitochondria isolated from muscle, state 3 and state 4 respiration were reduced by 74 and 89%, respectively following air-exposure, but liver mitochondria were not affected. In liver, air-exposure increased activities of ornithine-urea cycle enzymes including glutamine synthase, carbamoyl-phosphate synthase III and arginase, by 1·9- to 4·2-fold. Carbamoyl-phosphate synthase III activity could not be detected in muscle, indicating that urea is not synthesized in this tissue. These data suggest that skeletal muscle metabolism is downregulated in air-exposure, conserving energy and protein during a period when the animals cannot forage. In contrast, ATP production capacities in the liver are maintained, and this may permit expensive urea biosynthesis to continue during aerial exposure.     

Citrate synthases from germinating castor bean seeds – II. Time course of synthesis and immunochemical comparison

The time course of total citrate synthase activity in castor bean ( Ricinus communis L., type Sanzibariensis) endosperm showed a 7-fold increase during the initial 5 days of germination and a decrease thereafter. All citrate synthase activity in the ungerminated seeds was due to the mitochondrial isoenzyme. After two days of germination the glyoxysomal isoenzyme began to appear. After 5 days the glyoxysomal citrate synthase represented 50 to 55% of the total activity and the mitochondrial enzyme the remainder. This was estimated from (a) inactivation of the glyoxysomal citrate synthase by 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid); (b) solid phase adsorption of the glyoxysomal synthase by a specific antiserum; (c) separation of isoenzymes by (NH₄)₂SO₄ gradient solubilization.
The increase of both citrate synthases during the initial 4 days of germination could be prevented by 10 μg cycloheximide ml⁻¹, but not by 40 or 400 μg chloramphenicol ml⁻¹, indicating a synthesis on 80 S ribosomes. Actinomycin D completely inhibited the appearance of the glyoxysomal enzyme while the mitochondrial enzyme was not affected. Antisera against the two isoenzymes revealed major structural differences between two citrate synthases, however, also some common determinants. No cross-reaction was observed with the citrate synthase from pig heart or E. coli.