Ionization state of the coenzyme 5'-phosphate ester in cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase. A Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study

In order to determine the ionization state of the 5'-phosphate of bound pyridoxal phosphate, a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase has been carried out. Dianionic and monoanionic phosphate monoesters give rise to two bands each in the infrared spectrum [Shimanouchi, T., Tsuboi, M., & Kyogoku, Y. (1964) Adv. Chem. Phys. 8, 435-498]. These bands can be identified in infrared spectra of the free coenzyme in solution. Due to interfering bands arising from the protein, only the band assigned to the symmetric stretching of the dianionic phosphate is observed in holoenzyme solutions. The integrated intensity of this band does not change with pH in the range 5.3-8.6, while for free pyridoxal phosphate, the integrated intensity of the same band changes with pH according to the pK value expected for the 5'-phosphate group in solution. Moreover, the value of the integrated intensity for the bound cofactor is close to the value given by free cofactor at pH 8-9. These results suggest that the 5'-phosphate of the bound cofactor remains mostly dianionic throughout the investigated pH range and disfavor other interpretations in terms of ionization of the phosphate group on the basis of the nuclear magnetic resonance 31P chemical shift-pH titration curve of holoenzyme [Schnackerz, K. D. (1984) in Chemical and Biological Aspects of Vitamin B6 Catalysis (Evangelopoulos, E. A., Ed.) Part A, pp 195-208, Alan R. Liss, New York].(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

31P-NMR spectra of aspartate aminotransferase from cytosol of the chicken heart

31P NMR spectra of the cytosolic chicken aspartate aminotransferase have been recorded at 161.7 MHz in the pH range of 5.7 to 8.2. The 31P chemical shift was found to be pH-dependent with a pK of 6.85; difference in the chemical shift at pH 5.7 and 8.2 is only 0.35 ppm. The monoanion-dianion transition of 5'-phosphate group of a model Schiff base of pyridoxal phosphate with 2-aminobutanol in methanol is accompanied by a change in 31P chemical shift of 5.2 ppm. It is inferred that the phosphate group of the protein--bound coenzyme is in dianionic form throughout the investigated pH range; the small pH-dependent change of chemical shift may be due to a protein conformational change that affects O-P-O bond angle. In the presence of the 0.1 M succinate, 31P chemical shift of the enzyme remains constant in the pH range of 5.0 to 8.3.     

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance of aspartate aminotransferase from chicken heart cytosol

31P-nuclear magnetic resonance and absorption spectra of cytosolic chicken aspartate aminotransferase (L-aspartate:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC 2.6.1.1) have been recorded in the pH range from 5 to 8.5. The 31P chemical shift was found to be pH-dependent with a pK of 6.85; the chemical shift change was 0.35 ppm. The pK value found by spectrophotometric titration of the enzyme proved to be about 6.0. The monoanion-dianion transition of the 5'-phosphate group of a model Schiff base of pyridoxal phosphate with 2-aminobutanol in methanol is accompanied by a change in the 31P chemical shift of 5.2 ppm. It is inferred that the phosphate group of the protein-bound coenzyme is in a dianionic form throughout the investigated pH range; the pH-dependence of the 31P chemical shift may be due to a conformational change at the active site. In the presence of 100 mM succinate, 6 mM aminooxyacetate or 25 mM cycloserine, the 31P chemical shift is insensitive to pH variations.     

Evidence that 31P NMR is a sensitive indicator of small conformational changes in the coenzyme of aspartate aminotransferase

The pH dependence of 31P-NMR spectra of pig cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase, containing either N-(5'-phosphopyridoxyl)-L-aspartate or pyridoxal 5'-deoxymethylenephosphonate in place of the normal coenzyme pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, has been analysed. The chemical shifts of phosphopyridoxylaspartate and of pyridoxal 5'-deoxymethylenephosphonate model Schiff base in free solution show pK values of 6.3 and 7.4, attributable to the second deprotonation step of phosphate and phosphonate, respectively. However, these compounds behave very differently when bound to apoaspartate aminotransferase. 31P-NMR spectra of these enzyme derivatives indicate that the phosph(on)ate group remains dianionic throughout the pH range 4-8.5. A clear correlation between apparent pK values obtained from spectrophotometric titration of the coenzyme chromophore and those obtained by 31P NMR indicates that the same ionisation is being reported by both methods. The data are interpreted, on the basis of available crystallographic structures of chicken mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase, to indicate that in each case the alteration in 31P chemical shift results from a conformational change in the coenzyme 5' side chain, in which one of the structures involves a near-eclipsed pair of bonds. Such a stressed conformation produces slight alterations in bond angles around the phosphorus atom, which in turn cause the observed change in 31P chemical shift. The evidence is taken to indicate that in this case 31P NMR is a sensitive reporter of stress in enzyme-bound pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and its derivatives.     

Role of Asp222 in the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli aspartate aminotransferase: the amino acid residue which enhances the function of the enzyme-bound coenzyme pyridoxal 5'-phosphate.

Asp222 is an invariant residue in all known sequences of aspartate aminotransferases from a variety of sources and is located within a distance of strong ionic interaction with N(1) of the coenzyme, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), or pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP). This residue of Escherichia coli aspartate aminotransferase was replaced by Ala, Asn, or Glu by site-directed mutagenesis. The PLP form of the mutant enzyme D222E showed pH-dependent spectral changes with a pKa value of 6.44 for the protonation of the internal aldimine bond, slightly lower than that (6.7) for the wild-type enzyme. In contrast, the internal aldimine bond in the D222A or D222N enzyme did not titrate over the pH range 5.3-9.5, and a 430-nm band attributed to the protonated aldimine persisted even at high pH. The binding affinity of the D222A and D222N enzymes for PMP decreased by 3 orders of magnitude as compared to that of the wild-type enzyme. Pre-steady-state half-transamination reactions of all the mutant enzymes with substrates exhibited anomalous progress curves comprising multiphasic exponential processes, which were accounted for by postulating several kinetically different enzyme species for both the PLP and PMP forms of each mutant enzyme. While the replacement of Asp222 by Glu yielded fairly active enzyme species, the replacement by Ala and Asn resulted in 8600- and 20,000-fold decreases, respectively, in the catalytic efficiency (kmax/Kd value for the most active species of each mutant enzyme) in the reactions of the PLP form with aspartate. In contrast, the catalytic efficiency of the PMP form of the D222A or D222N enzyme with 2-oxoglutarate was still retained at a level as high as 2-10% of that of the wild-type enzyme. The presteady-state reactions of these two mutant enzymes with [2-2H]aspartate revealed a deuterium isotope effect (kH/kD = 6.0) greater than that [kH/kD = 2.2; Kuramitsu, S., Hiromi, K., Hayashi, H., Morino, Y., & Kagamiyama, H. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 5469-5476] for the wild-type enzyme. These findings indicate that the presence of a negatively charged residue at position 222 is particularly critical for the withdrawal of the alpha-proton of the amino acid substrate and accelerates this rate-determining step by about 5 kcal.mol-1. Thus it is concluded that Asp222 serves as a protein ligand tethering the coenzyme in a productive mode within the active site and stabilizes the protonated N(1) of the coenzyme to strengthen the electron-withdrawing capacity of the coenzyme.     

Inorganic phosphate binding and electrostatic effects in the active center of aspartate aminotransferase apoenzyme.

The ionization state of the phosphate group bound at the aspartate aminotransferase apoenzyme's active site has been investigated utilizing Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy following the band corresponding to the symmetric stretching of the dianionic phosphate. Unlike free phosphate, when inorganic phosphate is bound at the enzyme's active site, the integrated intensity value of the dianionic band does not change with pH within the studied range, and this value is similar to that for free dianionic phosphate at pH 8.3. From these results, we propose a dianionic state for the phosphate ion bound to cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase throughout the pH range of 5.7-8.3. The presence of other anions such as acetate and chloride or the substrate aspartate and its analogues produces a pH-dependent phosphate removal from the active site which is favored at low pH values. Elimination of the charged primary amine at the active-site Lys-258, through formation of a Schiff base with pyridoxal or chemical modification by carbamylation, also produces a pH-independent phosphate release. These results are interpreted as Lys-258 together with the active-site alpha-helix and other residues may be involved in stabilizing phosphate as a dianion in the apoenzyme phosphate pocket which anchors the phosphate ester of pyridoxal phosphate in the holoenzyme. It is proposed that the dianionic phosphate contributes to the apoenzyme's thermal stability through formation of strong hydrogen bond and salt bridges with the amino acid residues forming the phosphate binding pocket with assistance of Lys-258, and other active-site cationic components.     

Rv2607 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pyridoxine 5'-phosphate oxidase with unusual substrate specificity

Despite intensive effort, the majority of the annotated Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome consists of genes encoding proteins of unknown or poorly understood function. For example, there are seven conserved hypothetical proteins annotated as homologs of pyridoxine 5'-phosphate oxidase (PNPOx), an enzyme that oxidizes pyridoxine 5'-phosphate (PNP) or pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP) to form pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP). We have characterized the function of Rv2607 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and shown that it encodes a PNPOx that oxidizes PNP to PLP. The k(cat) and K(M) for this reaction were 0.01 s(-1) and 360 μM, respectively. Unlike many PNPOx enzymes, Rv2607 does not recognize PMP as a substrate.     

Purification and characterization of aspartate aminotransferase from the thermoacidophilic archaebacterium Sulfolobus solfataricus

Aspartate aminotransferase from the archaebacterium Sulfolobus solfataricus, a thermoacidophilic organism isolated from an acidic hot spring (optimal growth conditions: 87 degrees C, pH 3.5) was purified to homogeneity. The enzyme is a dimer (Mr subunit = 53,000) showing microheterogeneity when submitted to chromatofocusing and/or isoelectric focusing analysis (two main bands having pI = 6.8 and 6.3 were observed). The N-terminal sequence (22 residues) does not show any homology with any stretch of known sequence of aspartate aminotransferases from animal and bacterial sources. The apoenzyme can be reconstituted with pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate and/or pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, each subunit binding 1 mol of coenzyme. The absorption maxima of the pyridoxamine and pyridoxal form are centered at 325 and 335 nm, respectively; the shape of the pyridoxal form band does not change with pH. The enzyme has an optimum temperature higher than 95 degrees C, and at 100 degrees C shows a half-inactivation time of 2 h. The above properties seem to be unique even for enzymes from extreme thermophiles (Daniel, R. M. (1986) in Protein Structure, Folding, and Design (Oxender, D. L., ed) pp. 291-296, Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York) and lead to the conclusion that aspartate aminotransferase from S. solfataricus is one of the most thermophilic and thermostable enzymes so far known.     

Cytosol aspartate aminotransferase from the chicken heart: three-dimensional structure at 2.8 angstroms resolution and the characteristic conformation of various enzyme forms

The spatial structure of cytosolic chicken aspartate aminotransferase (AAT) has been determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis at 2.8 A resolution. AAT consists of two chemically identical subunits. Each subunit can be subdivided into the large pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) binding domain and the small domain. The two active sites of AAT are situated in deep clefts at the subunit interface. The binding of PLP and 2-oxoglutarate is described. Conformations of the following enzyme forms have been compared by difference Fourier syntheses: the nonliganded PLP-form in phosphate and acetate buffers; the non-liganded pyridoxamine phosphate (PMP) form; complexes of the PLP-form with glutarate and 2-oxoglutarate. Lattice-induced dynamic asymmetry of the dimeric AAT molecules was revealed. In one subunit the small domain is mobile and shifted either toward the active site ("closed" conformation) or in the opposite direction ("open" conformation). The closed conformation is induced by the binding of dicarboxylate anions. In the second subunit the small domain is immobile and shifted toward the active site in all enzyme forms or complexes studied. In this subunit, there occurs a rotation of the PLP ring by approximately 20 degrees toward the substrate site. The rotation is observed when crystals are soaked in 0.6 saturated (NH4)2SO4 solution buffered with 0.3 M potassium phosphate, pH 7.5; it was explained by formation of an external aldimine between PLP and NH3. This aldimine is not formed in the presence of dicarboxylates or acetate. It was inferred that dicarboxylate or acetate anions stabilize the internal PLP-lysine aldimine and prevent its reaction with ammonia. Conversion of AAT from the PLP- to PMP-form is accompanied by rotation of the coenzyme ring by approximately 20 degrees; the rotation occurs in both subunits.     

Intracellular predominance of the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form of aspartate aminotransferase in Escherichia coli B and reversible transformation of this form by extracellular substances

The intracellular proportion of the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form of aspartate aminotransferase to the total enzyme in E. coli B cells was determined by a newly devised method, dependent on selective inactivation of the intracellular pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form of the enzyme by extracellularly added sodium borohydride. A large portion (80-99%) of the intracellular aspartate aminotransferase was in pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form in both natural and synthetic medium-grown bacterial cells. The intracellular predominancy of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate did not vary during the growth of bacteria and during incubation of bacterial cells in various kinds of buffers with different pH values. In contrast, the saturation levels generally used to describe in vivo the proportions of the apo and holo vitamin B6-dependent enzymes did not reflect the intracellular amount of the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (holo) form of aspartate aminotransferase probably because the intracellular pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form was changed to an apo form by the disruption of bacterial cells for preparing crude extract. Various extracellularly-added vitamin B6 antagonists decreased the intracellular amount of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate without decrease in the total intracellular activity of the enzyme. The modified forms were stable in E. coli B cells and reversed into pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form by incubation of the antagonist-treated cells in the buffer containing pyridoxal. The present results showed that the sodium borohydride reduction method can be used for further analysis of the in vivo interaction of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and apoaspartate aminotransferase. The fact that about 50% of the intracellular pyridoxal 5'-phosphate form was changed to a modified form without impairment of cell growth in the presence of 4-deoxypyridoxine, and that about 50% of intracellular modified aspartate aminotransferase was reversed to pyridoxal 5'-phosphate by the removal of antagonist followed by incubation suggested that there exists characteristically 2 different fractions of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate forms of aspartate aminotransferase in E. coli cells.     

Activity and spectroscopic properties of the Escherichia coli glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase and the putative active site mutant K265R.

Glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase (glutamate 1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase; EC 5.4.3.8; GSA-AT) catalyzes the transfer of the amino group on carbon 2 of glutamate 1-semialdehyde (GSA) to the neighboring carbon 1 to form delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). To gain insight into the mechanism of this enzyme, possible intermediates were tested with purified enzyme and the reaction sequence was followed spectroscopically. While 4,5-dioxovaleric acid (DOVA) was efficiently converted to ALA by the pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP) form of the enzyme, 4,5-diaminovaleric acid (DAVA) was a substrate for the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) form of GSA-AT. Thus, both substances are reaction intermediates. The purified enzyme showed an absorption spectrum with a peak around 338 nm. Addition of PLP led to increased absorption at 338 nm and a new peak around 438 nm. Incubation of the purified enzyme with PMP resulted in an additional absorption peak at 350 nm. The reaction of the PLP and PMP form of the enzyme with GSA allowed the detection of a series of peaks which varied in their intensities in a time-dependent manner. The most drastic changes to the spectrum that were observed during the reaction sequence were at 495 and 540 nm. Some of the detected absorption bands during GSA-AT catalysis were previously described for several other aminotransferases, indicating the relationship of the mechanisms. The reaction of the PMP form of the enzyme with DOVA resulted in a similar spectrum as described above, while the spectrum for the conversion of DAVA by the PLP form of the enzyme indicated a different mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A simple preparation method for apoaspartate aminotransferase from Escherichia coli B, and its application for the assay of pyridoxal and pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate

A simple and rapid preparation method for apoaspartate aminotransferase from Escherichia coli B was developed. A crude extract of the bacterial cells was treated batchwise with DEAE-cellulose. The enzyme fraction obtained was then applied to a pyridoxamine-Sepharose column. Apoaspartate aminotransferase was eluted with 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), and found to be electrophoretically homogeneous. The apoenzyme preparation thus obtained showed very low holoenzyme activity (only 0.4% of the activity seen in the fully saturated condition with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate) and was successfully used for assaying pyridoxal and pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate.     

Reversible modification of amino groups in aspartate aminotransferase.

Amino groups in the pyridoxal phosphate, pyridoxamine phosphate, and apo forms of pig heart cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase (L-aspartate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC .2.6.1.1) have been reversibly modified with 2,4-pentanedione. The rate of modification has been measured spectrophotometrically by observing the formation of the enamine produced and this rate has been compared with the rate of loss of catalytic activity for all three forms of the enzyme. Of the 21 amino groups per 46 500 molecular weight, approx. 16 can be modified in the pyridoxal phosphate form with less than a 50% change in the catalytic activity of the enzyme. A slow inactivation occurs which is probably due to reaction of 2,4-pentanedione with the enzyme-bound pyridoxal phosphate. The pyridoxamine phosphate enzyme is completely inactivated by reaction with 2,4-pentanedione. The inactivation of the pyridoxamine phosphate enzyme is not inhibited by substrate analogs. A single lysine residue in the apoenzyme reacts approx. 100 times faster with 2,4-pentanedione than do other amino groups. This lysine is believed to be lysine-258, which forms a Schiff base with pyridoxal phosphate in the holoenzyme.     

Ionization state of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate in D-serine dehydratase, dialkylglycine decarboxylase and tyrosine phenol-lyase and the influence of monovalent cations as inferred by 31P NMR spectroscopy

The 31P NMR spectroscopy of three pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzymes, monomeric D-serine dehydratase, tetrameric dialkylglycine decarboxylase and tetrameric tyrosine phenol-lyase, whose enzymatic activities are dependent on alkali metal ions, was studied. 31P NMR spectra of the latter two enzymes have never been reported, their 3D-structures, however, are available. The cofactor phosphate chemical shift of all three enzymes changes by approximately 3 ppm as a function of pH, indicating that the phosphate group changes from being monoanionic at low pH to dianionic at high pH. The 31P NMR signal of the phosphate group of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate provides a measure of the active site changes that occur when various alkali metal ions are bound. Structural information is used to assist in the interpretation of the chemical shift changes observed. For D-serine dehydratase, no structural data are available but nevertheless the metal ion arrangement in the PLP binding site can be predicted from 31P NMR data.     

31P nuclear-magnetic-resonance studies of pyridoxal and pyridoxamine phosphates. Interaction with cytoplasmic aspartate transaminase.

The 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of the phosphate in free pyridoxal or pyridoxamine phosphate reveals a resonance signal that is coupled to the methylene protons of the 5-CH2 with JHP of 6.0 +/- 0.3 Hz. Proton noise decoupling results in a single signal with a pH-dependent chemical shift with deprotonation of the phosphate resulting in a shift of the 31P resonance to lower fields. A single 31P NMR signal at a frequency corresponding to fully ionized phosphate monoesters is observed in aspartate-transaminase-bound pyridoxal or pyridoxamine phosphate. The 31P resonance in the holotransaminase is pH-independent and is unaffected by saturating concentrations of substrates or inhibitors. Only denaturation with 6 M guanidine with HCl results in changes in the 31P of the holoenzyme. It appears that the phosphate group of pyridoxal phosphate is bound to a positive pocket in the holoenzyme and remains fully ionized in the pH range of 5.6 to 9.2. The phosphate-binding properties are present even in the apoenzyme which is able to bind inorganic phosphate which then can be displaced by pyridoxal or pyridoxamine phosphate in the process of holoenzyme formation.     

Identification of coenzyme aldimine proton in 1H NMR spectra of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate dependent enzymes: aspartate aminotransferase isoenzymes

The pyridoxal form of the alpha subform of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1) is fully active and binds pyridoxal 5'-phosphate via an aldimine formation with Lys-258 whereas the gamma subform is virtually inactive and lacks the aldimine linkage. Comparison of 1H NMR spectra between the alpha and gamma subforms suggested that peak 1 of the alpha subform at 8.89 ppm contains a resonance assignable to the internal aldimine 4'-H. Reaction with a reagent that cleaves or modifies the internal aldimine bond [(amino-oxy)acetate, L-cysteinesulfinate, NH2OH, NaBH4, or NaCNBH3] caused the disappearance of a resonance line at 8.89 ppm that possessed a broad line width and corresponded in intensity to a single proton. These reagents were also used successfully for the identification of the aldimine 4'-H resonance in the mitochondrial isoenzyme. In contrast to the cytosolic isoenzyme whose resonance for the 4'-H did not show any detectable change in chemical shift with pH, the corresponding resonance in the mitochondrial isoenzyme exhibited pH-dependent chemical shift change (8.84 ppm at pH 5 and 8.67 ppm at pH 8) with a pK value of 6.3, reflecting the interisozymic difference in the microenvironment provided for the internal aldimine. Validity of the signal assignment was further shown by the two findings: the resonance assigned to the 4'-H emerged upon conversion of the pyridoxamine into the pyridoxal form, and the resonance appeared upon reconstitution of the apoenzyme with [4'-1H]pyridoxal phosphate but not with [4'-2H]pyridoxal phosphate.     

The role of His143 in the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli aspartate aminotransferase

In aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT), His143 is located within a hydrogen-bonding distance to Asp222 that forms a strong ion pair with the ring nitrogen of the coenzyme, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) or pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP). His143 of Escherichia coli AspAT was replaced by Ala or Asn. The mutant enzyme H143A showed a slight increase in the maximum velocity of the overall transamination reaction between aspartate and 2-oxoglutarate, while H143N AspAT showed a decrease to 60% in the maximum rate of the overall reactions in both directions. In all of the half-transamination reactions with four substrates, aspartate, glutamate, oxalacetate, and 2-oxoglutarate, the catalytic competence as defined by kmax/Kd decreased by 3-18-fold upon replacing His143 by either Ala or Asn. The extent of the decrease varied from one substrate to another; it was largely contributed to by the decrease in affinities for all substrates. The equilibrium constants, [PMP-form] [keto acid]/[( PLP-form] [amino acid]), decreased by over 10-fold upon the mutations at position 143. Both H143A and H143N AspATs exhibited a considerably decreased affinity for 2-methylaspartate, an external-aldimine-forming substrate analogue, yet without appreciable alteration in the affinity for succinate and glutarate, which are non-aldimine-forming analogues. All these findings suggest that, although His143 is not essential for catalysis, it might assist the formation of enzyme-substrate complex.     

Reaction of pyridoxamine-5-P with pyrroloquinoline quinone (coenzyme PQQ)

PQQ catalyzes the oxidation of pyridoxamine (PM) and pyridoxamine-5-P (PMP) to pyridoxal and pyridoxal-5-P (PLP) at 37 degrees C in the absence of micelles and proteins. The time course of conversion of PMP into PLP was monitored by absorption spectroscopy; a rate of 10 nmol PLP/min was determined. The product of the reaction was identified by TLC, HPLC and its ability to restore the catalytic activity of apoaspartate aminotransferase. The conversion of PMP into PLP by free PQQ is more efficient than reactions catalyzed by the enzymes plasma amine oxidase and pyridoxamine-5-P oxidase at optimal pH values.     

Porcine cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase reconstituted with [4'-13C]pyridoxal phosphate. pH- and ligand-induced changes of the coenzyme observed by 13C NMR spectroscopy

Apoenzyme samples of aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) purified from the cytosolic fraction of pig heart were reconstituted with [4'-13C]pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (pyridoxal-P). The 13C NMR spectra of AspAT samples thus generated established the chemical shift of 165.3 ppm for C4' of the coenzyme bound as an internal aldimine with lysine 258 of the enzyme at pH 5. In the absence of ligands the chemical shift of C4' was shown to be pH dependent, shifting 5 ppm upfield to a constant value of 160.2 ppm above pH 8, the resulting pKa of 6.3 in agreement with spectrophotometric titrations. The addition of the competitive inhibitor succinate to the internal aldimine raises the pKa of the imine to 7.8, consistent with the theory of charge neutralization in the active site. In the presence of saturating concentrations of 2-methylaspartic acid the C4' signal of the coenzyme was shown to be invariant with pH and located at 162.7 ppm, midway between the observed chemical shifts of the protonated and unprotonated forms of the internal aldimine. The intermediate chemical shift of the external aldimine complex is thought to reflect the observation of an equilibrium mixture composed of roughly equal populations of the protonated ketoenamine and a dipolar anion species, corresponding to their respective spectral bands at 430 and 360-370 nm. Conversion to the pyridoxamine form was accomplished via reaction of the internal aldimine with L-cysteinesulfinate or by reduction with sodium borohydride, and the resulting C4' chemical shifts were identified by difference spectroscopy. Finally, the line widths of the C4' resonance under the various conditions were measured and qualitatively compared. The results are discussed in terms of the current mechanism and molecular models of the active site of AspAT.     

Determination of vitamin B6 vitamers and pyridoxic acid in plasma: development and evaluation of a high-performance liquid chromatographic assay

Marginal deficiency of vitamin B6 has recently been related to cardiovascular diseases. Because of that there is an increasing interest in a suitable and reliable method for quantifying this vitamin in routine laboratory medicine. We have developed a HPLC-based method able to quantify the B6 vitamers pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), pyridoxal (PL), pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (PMP), pyridoxine (PN), and pyridoxamine (PM) and the degradation product 4-pyridoxic acid (4-PA). The separation was accomplished using a C18 (ODS) analytical column and an ion-pair reversed-phase chromatography. B6 vitamers were eluted with a gradient of acetonitrile (0.5-15%) in a potassium phosphate buffer with 1-octanesulfonic acid and triethylamine, pH 2.16. The concentration of the vitamers was determined with fluorescence detector (328 nm excitation, 393 nm emission) after postcolumn derivatization with phosphate buffer containing 1 g/L sodium bisulfite. The performance of the assay was evaluated by analyzing six plasma samples with interrelated concentration and two control samples (unspiked and vitamer spiked) over a 3-months period. The HPLC method was able to identify PLP, 4-PA, PM, PL, PN, and PMP from all other compounds in plasma in an analytical run of 46 min. The imprecisions and mean values (presented in parenthesis in nmol/L) were (unspiked and spiked sample) 9-8% (41-65) for PLP, 12-7% (18-40) for 4-PA, 67-28% (4-19) for PL, 15% (21) for PN, 10% (27) for PM, and 27% (17) for PMP. All three B6 vitamers (PLP, 4-PA, and PL) present in unspiked plasma showed an excellent linearity within the range of (nM) 8-60 (4-PA), 1-19 (PL), and 11-99 (PLP). In conclusion, we report a HPLC-based method that separates and detects nanomolar quantities of six B6 vitamers and demonstrate that the method will be suitable for routine quantitation of PLP and 4-PA in human plasma.