Rat intestinal nucleotide-sugar pyrophosphatase. Localization, partial purification, and substrate specificity

The nucleotide-sugar pyrophosphatase activity of rat small intestine was studied using GDP-[14C]Man as substrate. The highest specific activities in the gastrointestinal tract were in the proximal small intestine, with a preferential localization in villus tip cells. Purified brush-border membranes were highly enriched in nucleotide-sugar pyrophosphatase. After the enzyme was solubilized with detergent and purified 180-fold, it hydrolyzed FAD and p-nitrophenyl-5'-thymidylate, as well as nucleotide sugars. That the same enzyme, a 5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase, is responsible for nucleotide-sugar pyrophosphatase, phosphodiesterase I, and FAD pyrophosphatase activities is indicated by: co-migration in electrophoresis, parallel thermal inactivation, competitive inhibition studies, and similar regional, cellular, and subcellular localizations.     

Rat red blood cell hexokinase purification,properties and age-dependence

Summary Rat erythrocytes, in contrast to red blood cells from other mammals, have been shown to contain only one hexokinase isozymic form identified as type I by chromatographic and kinetic properties. Rat reticulocytes contain 3.6-times the hexokinase activity found in mature erythrocytes but exactly the same isozyme. By a combination of ion-exchange chromatography, dye-ligand chromatography and high-pressure liquid chromatography the rat erythrocyte hexokinase was purified more than 84 000-fold to a specific activity of 143 units/mg protein and shown to be homogeneous by sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. The native protein showed a molecular weight of 100 000 by gel-filtration and an apparent molecular weight of 98 000 under denaturating conditions in sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. The isoelectric point was shown to be 6.3 pH units. This data provides evidence of only one form of hexokinase in the erythrocytes of a mammal.     

Rat plasma selenoprotein P properties and purification

A selenoprotein in rat plasma, selenoprotein P, was fractionated and characterized. Plasma collected from rats 3 h post injection of 75SeO3(2-) contained one 75Se-labeled protein, selenoprotein P. Selenoprotein P was fractionated using salt precipitation, Affi-Gel Blue, and DEAE chromatography. The 75Se-containing subunit of selenoprotein P was purified to 90% homogeneity using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by electroelution. This isolation resulted in an 850-fold purification of the 75Se-containing subunit of selenoprotein P with a 15% yield of 75Se radioactivity. The molecular weight of selenoprotein P in plasma was 98,000. The 75Se-containing subunit of selenoprotein P had a molecular mass of 57 kDa as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Isoelectric focusing under nondenaturing conditions resulted in a band of 75Se radioactivity at pH 5.4. A comparison of Coomassie Blue- and silver-staining properties of selenoprotein P in SDS-polyacrylamide gels was made. Reverse-phase HPLC and Sephadex G-50 chromatography of tryptic peptides of the 57 kDa subunit of selenoprotein P yielded several peaks of 75Se radioactivity. These results indicate that 75Se is present in several locations within the 57 kDa subunit of selenoprotein P.     

Purification and characterization of human intestinal neutral ceramidase

Sphingolipids are degraded by sphingomyelinase and ceramidase in the gut to ceramide and sphingosine, which may inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, and thus have anti-tumour effects in the gut. Although previous rodent studies including experiments on knockout mice indicate a role of neutral ceramidase in ceramide digestion, the human enzyme has never been purified and characterized in its purified form. We here report the purification and characterization of neutral ceramidase from human ileostomy content, using octanoyl-[(14)C]sphingosine as substrate. After four chromatographic steps, a homogeneous protein band with 116kDa was obtained. MALDI mass spectrometry identified 16 peptide masses similar to human ceramidase previously cloned by El Bawab et al. [Molecular cloning and characterization of a human mitochondrial ceramidase, J. Biol. Chem. 275 (2000) 21508-21513] and Hwang et al. [Subcellular localization of human neutral ceramidase expressed in HEK293 cells, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 331 (2005) 37-42]. By RT-PCR and 5'-RACE methods, a predicted partial nucleotide sequence of neutral ceramidase was obtained from a human duodenum biopsy sample, which was homologous to that of known neutral/alkaline ceramidases. The enzyme has neutral pH optimum and catalyses both hydrolysis and formation of ceramide without distinct bile salt dependence. It is inhibited by Cu(2+) and Zn(2+) ions and by low concentrations of cholesterol. The enzyme is a glycoprotein but deglycosylation does not affect its activity. Our study indicates that neutral ceramidase is expressed in human intestine, released in the intestinal lumen and plays a major role in ceramide metabolism in the human gut.     

Large-scale purification and characterization of recombinant Pseudomonas ceramidase: regulation by calcium

Ceramidases (CDases) hydrolyze ceramide to sphingosine (SPH) and fatty acid. Pseudomonas CDase (pCDase) is a homolog of mammalian neutral ceramidases and may play roles in disease pathogenesis. In this study, pCDase was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli). The expressed recombinant pCDase was solubilized by optimizing several factors, including culture medium, the concentration of isopropyl-beta-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), temperature, and time of induction, which were identified to be critical for the optimal production of recombinant pCDase. The recombinant pCDase was purified using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid affinity, phenyl-Sepharose, and Q-Sepharose column chromatography, which gave an overall yield of 0.45 mg/l purified protein of starting culture. The activity of the recombinant pCDase followed classical Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with optimum activity in the neutral pH range. Both the hydrolytic and the reverse activities of CDase were stimulated by calcium with an affinity constant (K(a)) of 1.5 microM. Kinetics studies showed that calcium caused a decrease of K(m) and an increase in V(max) of pCDase. Calcium and D-erythro-sphingosine caused significant changes in the near ultraviolet circular dichroism (CD) spectra and the changes were inhibited in the presence of EGTA. These results identify important interactions between calcium and pCDase, which may play an essential role in the interaction of pCDase and its substrate.     

Rat liver mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase: purification, kinetic properties, and role in ethanol metabolism

Malate dehydrogenase was purified from the mitochondrial fraction of rat liver by ion-exchange chromatography with affinity elution. The kinetic parameters for the enzyme were determined at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, yielding the following values (microM): Ka, 72; Kia, 11; Kb, 110; Kp, 1600; Kip, 7100; Kq, 170; Kiq, 1100, where a = NADH, b = oxalacetate, p = malate, and q = NAD+. Kib was estimated to be about 100 microM. The maximum velocities for mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase in rat liver homogenates, at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C, were 380 +/- 40 mumol/min per gram of liver, wet weight, for oxalacetate reduction and 39 +/- 3 mumol/min per gram of liver, wet weight, for malate oxidation. Rates of the reaction catalyzed by mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase under conditions similar to those in vivo were calculated using these kinetic parameters and were much lower than the maximum velocity of the enzyme. Since mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase is not saturated with malate at physiological concentrations, its kinetic parameters are probably important in the regulation of mitochondrial malate concentration during ethanol metabolism. For the mitochondrial enzyme to operate at a rate comparable to the flux through cytosolic malate dehydrogenase during ethanol metabolism (about 4 mumol min-1 per gram liver), the mitochondrial [malate] would need to be about 2 mM and the mitochondrial [oxalacetate] would need to be less than 1 microM.     

Phloridzin: Biosynthesis,distribution and physiological relevance in plants

The phenolic compound phloridzin (phloretin 2′-O-glucoside, phlorizin, phlorrhizin, phlorhizin or phlorizoside) is a prominent member of the chemical class of dihydrochalcones, which are phenylpropanoids. The apple tree (Malus sp.) accumulates high amounts of phloridzin, whereas few other species contain this compound only in low amounts. Additionally, Malus sp. show a species- and tissue-specific distribution of phloridzin and its derivatives. Whereas the physiological role of phloridzin in planta is not fully understood, the effect on human health – especially diabetes – and membrane permeability is well documented. The biosynthesis of phloridzin was investigated only recently with recombinant enzymes and plant protein extracts and involved a NADPH-dependent dehydrogenase, chalcone synthase and UDP-glucose:phloretin 2′-O-glycosyltransferase.     

Rat liver chitobiase: purification, properties, and role in the lysosomal degradation of Asn-linked glycoproteins

Chitobiase, the lysosomal glycosidase responsible for splitting the GlcNAc beta-D-(1-4)GlcNAc moiety in Asn-linked glycoproteins, was purified over 600-fold from frozen rat livers utilizing an assay with di-N-acetylchitobiose as the substrate. The final preparation showed a major polypeptide of Mr 43,000 (sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) that was determined to be the chitobiase by an immunological method. The purified chitobiase also hydrolyzed tri- and tetrasaccharides of chitin, which like di-N-acetylchitobiose were not substrates if first reduced by NaBH4. The initial products formed during hydrolysis of the tetrasaccharide were trisaccharide and GlcNAc. These results imply that chitobiase is a "reducing-end exohexosaminidase" which cleaves single GlcNAc units only from the reducing end of oligosaccharides. Fucose, typically found linked to the reducing-end GlcNAc in complex oligosaccharide chains, was found to block this reaction. Additional substrates that were hydrolyzed included GlcNAc beta-D-(1-4)MurNAc, the repeating structure from bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan, and the Man beta-D-(1-4)GlcNAc reducing-end component of glycoproteins. Km and Vm for hydrolysis of these substrates were of similar magnitude as for di-N-acetylchitobiose (6.3 mM and 15 mumol/min/mg protein, respectively). Liver tissues from nin mammalian species were surveyed for the presence of chitobiase activity. The activity was found in rat, mouse, rabbit, and guinea pig liver (Stirling [(1974) FEBS Lett. 39, 171-175] previously observed the enzyme in human liver), but not in dog, sheep, pig, cat, and cow liver. The presence or absence of chitobiase so far observed was found to exactly correlate with the type of oligosaccharide fragments found to accumulate in animals containing genetic or inhibitor-induced lysosomal storage pathologies. The presence of the chitobiase corresponds to the occurrence of one GlcNAc unit at the reducing end of stored oligosaccharides, while the absence of this glycosidase yields fragments with an intact GlcNAc beta-D-(1-4)GlcNAc moiety. These results verify our previous proposal that lysosomal disassembly of glycoproteins to free amino acids and sugars is an ordered, bidirectional pathway in which chitobiase (when present) catalyzes the last step during digestion of the protein-oligosaccharide linkage region.     

d-Alanine: Distribution,origin, physiological relevance,and implications in disease

d-Alanine (d-Ala) is an unusual endogenous amino acid present in invertebrates and vertebrates. Compared to its l-isomer, the characterization of d-Ala is challenging because of the need for chiral resolution and the low amounts of the d-enantiomer present. With recent improvements in measurement capabilities, research on d-Ala, along with other d-amino acids, has been growing, especially as the functional significance of d-Ala in the mammalian nervous and endocrine systems is becoming known. Here we provide an overview of the distribution, origin, function, and disease implications of d-Ala.     

Chaperone-mediated autophagy: Molecular mechanisms and physiological relevance

Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) is a selective lysosomal pathway for the degradation of cytosolic proteins. We review in this work some of the recent findings on this pathway regarding the molecular mechanisms that contribute to substrate targeting, binding and translocation across the lysosomal membrane. We have placed particular emphasis on the critical role that changes in the lipid composition of the lysosomal membrane play in the regulation of CMA, as well as the modulatory effect of other novel CMA components. In the second part of this review, we describe the physiological relevance of CMA and its role as one of the cellular mechanisms involved in the response to stress. Changes with age in CMA activity and the contribution of failure of CMA to the phenotype of aging and to the pathogenesis of several age-related pathologies are also described.     

Effects of bile diversion in rats on intestinal sphingomyelinases and ceramidase

Alkaline sphingomyelinase (Alk-SMase) and neutral ceramidase (N-CDase) in the intestinal microvillar membrane are responsible for dietary sphingomyelin digestion. The activities of the enzymes require the presence of bile salt, and the enzymes can be released into the gut lumen in active forms by bile salts and trypsin. It is unclear to what extent that the intestinal presence of bile salts is critical for the intraluminal activity of these enzymes. We compared the activities of Alk-SMase, N-CDase, and other types of SMases in control and permanently bile diverted rats. In the intestinal tract of control rats, the activity of Alk-SMase was profoundly higher than those of acid and neutral SMases. Bile diversion reduced Alk-SMase activity by 85% in the small intestinal content, and by 68% in the faeces, but did not significantly change the activity in the intestinal mucosa. Western blot showed a marked reduction of the enzyme in the intestinal lumen but not mucosa. N-CDase activities both in the intestinal mucosa and content were reduced by bile diversion. Bile diversion also decreased aminopeptidase N activity in the content and increased that in the mucosa, but had no effects on that of alkaline phosphatase. In conclusion, the presence of bile salts is important for maintaining high intraluminal levels of Alk-SMase and N-CDase, two key enzymes for hydrolysis of sphingomyelin in the gut. We speculate that the sphingomyelin hydrolysis in cholestatic conditions is impaired not only by reduced hydrolytic activity but also by deficient dissociation of the enzymes from the membrane.     

Rat pancreas actin: purification and characterization

Isolation of rat pancreas actin was performed with three different technics: polymerization-depolymerization method, affinity chromatography on DNase I-Sepharose 4B or ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Inhibition of DNase I activity, localization by SDS polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis and presence of microfilaments allowed its identification. Affinity process led us to obtain actin which kept inhibitory activity (30,000 U per mg) on DNase I when using vacuum dialysis. Actin eluted from DEAE-cellulose associated reversibly in 50-70 A microfilaments in the presence of phalloidin, was pure at 95% and had a satisfactory inhibitor activity (77,000 U per mg).     

Mitochondrial malic enzyme from the crayfish abdomen muscle,purification, regulatory properties and possible physiological role

• 1.1. Mitochondrial malic enzyme (l-Malate: NADP oxidoreductase (oxaloacetate decarboxylating) EC 1.1.1.40) has been isolated from abdomen muscle of crayfish Orconectes limosus by chromatography on Sepharose 6B and DEAE cellulose. Specific activity of the purified enzyme was about 5 μmols per min per mg protein, which corresponds to about 30-fold purification.
• 2.2. This enzyme showed extremely small reversiblity, since the reaction in the direction of decarboxylation is at least 37, 190 and 760 times that for the carboxylation at pH 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0 respectively.
• 3.3. Purified enzyme showed allosteric properties, which was more accentuated at more alkaline pH (Hill coefficients were 1.1, 1.7 and 1.8 at pH 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0 respectively). The activity of malic enzyme was increased considerably in the presence of succinate and fumarate.
• 4.4. Mitochondira isolated from abdomen muscle of Orconectes limosus incubated in the presence of malate, fumate and succinate catalysed pyruvate production which was stimulated by ADP and inhibited by respiratory chain inhibitors.
• 5.5. NADH but not NADPH oxidation was catalysed by broken mitochondria or sonic particles. When NADPH and NAD were added simultaneously the rate of oxidation. This suggests the presence of active NADPH:NAD transhydrogenase in mitochondria isolated from the crayfish abdomen muscle.
• 6.6. A possible metabolic role for NADP-linked malic enzyme/transhydrogenase couple in abdomen muscle of crayfish Orconectes limosus is proposed.