A simple procedure for isolating adenosine triphosphatase from mitochondria.

A simple method for isolation of adenosine triphosphatase (EC 3.6.1.3) from mitochondria is described. The enzyme is released from mitochondrial Lubrol particles by drastic sonication and purified by gel filtration on Sepharose 6-B. The described procedure is effective in isolating adenosine triphosphatase from rat liver as it is from beef heart mitochondria. The enzyme isolated from beef heart has a specific activity of 120 mumol P/min per mg protein and enzyme isolated from rat liver has a specific activity of 70 mumol P/min per mg protein when measured as a release of inorganic phosphate.     

Purification and some properties of arylsulphatases A and B from rabbit kidney cortex.

Arylsulphatases A and B (EC 3.1.6.1) of rabbit kidney cortex were purified 5250- and 7720-fold respectively by a multiple-column-chromatography method. The specific activity toward 4-nitrocatechol sulphate was 42mumol/min per mg for arylsulphatase A and 62 mumol/min per mg for arylsulphatase B. Each enzyme migrated as a single band on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, and the enzyme activity corresponded to the band of protein on the gel. The rate of hydrolysis of ascorbic acid 2-sulphate by arylsulphatase A was three times that for cerebroside 3-sulphate. Arylsulphatase B hydrolysed UDP-N--acetylgalactosamine 4-sulphate and glucosamine 4,6-disulphate, but not galactosamine 6-sulphate.     

Purification and properties of the native form of rabbit liver aldolase. Evidence for proteolytic modification after tissue extraction.

Aldolase was purified from rabbit liver by affinity-elution chromatography. By taking precautions to avoid rupture of lysosomes during the isolation procedure, a stable form of liver aldolase was obtained. The stable form of the enzyme had a specific activity with respect to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate cleavage of 20-28 mumol/min per mg of protein and a fructose 1,6-bisphosphate cleavage of 20-28mumol/min per mg of protein and a frutose 1,6-bisphosphate/fructose 1-phosphate activity ratio of 4. It was distinguishable from rabbit muscle aldolase, as previously isolated, on the basis of its electrophoretic mobility and N-terminal analysis. Muscle and liver aldolases were immunologically distinct. The stable liver aldolase was degraded with a lysosomal extract to a form with catalytic properties resembling those reported for aldolase B4. It is postulated that liver aldolase prepared by previously described methods has been modified by proteolysis and does not constitute the native form of the enzyme.     

The distribution and comparison of glutathione, glutathione reductase and glutathione S-transferase in various camel tissues

Extracts prepared from liver, kidney, lung and brain of camel contain glutathione, glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reductase. Liver had the highest level of glutathione (218.7 mumol/g wet weight) whereas brain had the lowest level (66.4 mumol/g wet weight). The highest activity for glutathione reductase was found in the kidney (2.6 mumol/min/mg protein) while the lowest activity was found in the lung (0.9 mumol/min/mg protein). Glutathione S-transferase activity was the highest in liver (4.2 mumol/min/mg protein) and the lowest in brain (1 mumol/min/mg protein). Purified glutathione S-transferases from lung, kidney, brain and liver were similar in their molecular size, subunit composition as well as immuno-reactivity and showed some differences in their response to heat and inhibitors.     

Purification and state of activation of rat kidney phenylalanine hydroxylase

Phenylalanine hydroxylase, the enzyme that catalyzes the irreversible hydroxylation of phenylalanine to tyrosine, was purified from rat kidney with the use of phenyl-Sepharose, DEAE-Sephacel, and gel permeation high pressure liquid chromatography. Our most highly purified fractions had a specific activity in the presence of 6-methyltetrahydropterin, of 1.5 mumol of tyrosine formed/min/mg of protein, which is higher than has been reported hitherto. For the rat kidney enzyme, the ratio of specific activity in the presence of 6-methyltetrahydropterin to the specific activity in the presence of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) is 5. By contrast, this ratio for the unactivated rat liver hydroxylase is 80. These results indicate that the kidney enzyme is in a highly activated state. The rat kidney hydroxylase could not be further activated by any of the methods that stimulate the BH4-dependent activity of the rat liver enzyme. In addition, the kidney enzyme binds to phenyl-Sepharose without prior activation with phenylalanine. The phenylalanine saturation pattern with BH4 as a cofactor is hyperbolic with substrate inhibition at greater than 0.5 mM phenylalanine, a pattern that is characteristic of the activated liver hydroxylase. The molecular weight of the rat kidney enzyme as determined by gel permeation chromatography is 110,000, suggesting that the enzyme might be an activated dimer. We conclude, therefore, that phenylalanine hydroxylases from rat kidney and liver are in different states of activation and may be regulated in different ways.     

Purification and characterization of oxalyl-coenzyme A decarboxylase from Oxalobacter formigenes.

Oxalyl-coenzyme A (oxalyl-CoA) decarboxylase was purified from Oxalobacter formigenes by high-pressure liquid chromatography with hydrophobic interaction chromatography, DEAE anion-exchange chromatography, and gel permeation chromatography. The enzyme is made up of four identical subunits (Mr, 65,000) to give the active enzyme (Mr, 260,000). The enzyme catalyzed the thiamine PPi-dependent decarboxylation of oxalyl-CoA to formate and carbon dioxide. Apparent Km and Vmax values, respectively, were 0.24 mM and 0.25 mumol/min for oxalyl-CoA and 1.1 pM and 0.14 mumol/min for thiamine pyrophosphate. The maximum specific activity was 13.5 microM oxalyl-CoA decarboxylated per min per mg of protein.     

NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase has the activity of NADPH-linked aquacobalamin reductase in rat liver microsomes.

To elucidate the mammalian system for synthesis of cobalamin coenzymes, microsomal NADPH-linked aquacobalamin reductase was purified and characterized. The enzyme was purified about 534-fold over rat liver microsomal fraction in a yield of about 32%. The purified enzyme was homogeneous in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and had a monomeric molecular weight of 79,000. The purified aquacobalamin reductase showed a high specific activity (about 55 mumol/min per mg protein) of NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase. About 33% of the NADPH-cytochrome c reductase activity found in the microsomal fraction was recovered in the final purified preparation. The activity ratio of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase/NADPH-linked aquacobalamin reductase was about 5.0 through the purification steps, indicating that the rat liver microsomal NADPH-linked aquacobalamin reductase is the NADPH-cytochrome c reductase.     

Purification and some properties of tartrate-sensitive acid phosphatase from rabbit kidney cortex.

Two forms of tartrate-sensitive acid phosphatases (EC 3.1.3.2) were purified from rabbit kidney cortex by a multiple-column-chromatography method. The basic form constituted 90% of the enzyme and migrated as a single band of protein on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The proteins contaminating the acidic form did not exceed 5% of the total protein. The specific activity towards p-nitrophenyl phosphate was 12 mumol/min per mg for the basic form and 0.7 mumol/min per mg for the acidic form. The basic form of the enzyme differs from the acidic form in its heat-stability, Km values, inhibition rates by tartrate and fluoride and substrate specificities. Relative to p-nitrophenyl phosphate hydrolysis rate, the acidic form hydrolysed a variety of physiological monophosphate esters, whereas the basic form hydrolysed only CMP and phosphoenolpyruvate. Bacterial neuraminidases had no effect on the activity and mobility of the acidic form on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Both forms have the same molecular weight (101000 +/- 4000) and are probably composed of two identical subunits. The question whether the two forms of the enzyme are different proteins or whether one is a modified form of the other is discussed.     

Solubilization, purification and characterization of lysoplasmalogen alkenylhydrolase (lysoplasmalogenase) from rat liver microsomes

Alkenylhydrolase (EC 3.3.2.2; EC 3.3.2.5) has been purified 200-fold to a specific activity of 8.0 mumol/min per mg from rat liver microsomes with 51% of the activity recovered. Purification was accomplished by solubilization of the membrane-associated enzyme with octylglucoside and chromatographic resolution on sequential DEAE cellulose and hydroxylapatite (HPLC) columns in the presence of octylglucoside. The partially purified enzyme, specific for the 2-deacylated plasmalogen, lysoplasmalogen (1-alk-1'-enyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine or -ethanolamine), had no hydrolytic activity with intact plasmalogens or 1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine. Kinetic analyses of enzymic activity demonstrated apparent Km values of 5.5 and 42 microM for 1-alk-1'-enyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-alk-1'-enyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, respectively. The Vmax values were 11.7 and 13.6 mumol/min per mg with the choline and ethanolamine substrates, respectively. The optimal pH range was between 6.6 and 7.1 with both substrates; the energy of activation for the purified enzyme was 15,200 cal. The enzyme required no cofactors and was unaffected by low millimolar concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+ or EDTA. It was inhibited by the sulfhydryl-reacting reagent, p-chloromercuribenzoate. Mono- or diradylglycerophospholipids or sphingomyelin did not affect the enzymic activity at 37 degrees C. Activity of the purified enzyme, destroyed by freezing at -20 degrees C, was preserved if stored at this temperature in the presence of 300-600 microM diradylglycerophosphocholine or 50% glycerol. A continuous spectrophotometric assay, adapted in our laboratory for the assay of liver alkenylhydrolase, facilitated this purification. This is the first reported purification of alkenylhydrolase.     

Purification and characterization of aldehyde dehydrogenase from human brain

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.3) has been purified from human brain; this constitutes the first purification to homogeneity from the brain of any mammalian species. Of the three isozymes purified two are mitochondrial in origin (Peak I and Peak II) and one is cytoplasmic (Peak III). By comparison of properties, the cytoplasmic Peak III enzyme could be identified as the same as the liver cytoplasmic E1 isozyme (N.J. Greenfield and R. Pietruszko (1977) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 483, 35-45). The Peak I and Peak II enzymes resemble the liver mitochondrial E2 isozyme, but both have properties that differ from those of the liver enzyme. The Peak I enzyme is extremely sensitive to disulfiram while the Peak II enzyme is totally insensitive; liver mitochondrial E2 isozyme is partially sensitive to disulfiram. The specific activity is 0.3 mumol/mg/min for the Peak I and 3.0 mumol/mg/min for the Peak II enzyme; the specific activity of the liver mitochondrial E2 isozyme is 1.6 mumol/min/mg under the same conditions. The Peak I enzyme is also inhibited by acetaldehyde at low concentrations, while the Peak II enzyme and the liver mitochondrial E2 isozyme are not inhibited under the same conditions. The precise relationship of brain Peak I and II enzymes to the liver E2 isozyme is not clear but it cannot be excluded at the present time that the two brain mitochondrial enzymes are brain specific.     

Purification and characterization of extracellular pectate lyase from Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis strain SO113 secretes a pectate lyase which is produced during the exponential death phase of growth, just before sporulation. This extracellular pectate lyase, which produces unsaturated products from polygalacturonate, was purified 35-fold from the culture supernatant of Bacillus subtilis by a CM Sephadex chromatography. It has an isoelectric point of about 9.6 and an Mr of 42,000. Optimum activity occurred at pH 8.4 and at 42 degrees C. Calcium has a stimulative effect on the enzyme activity while EDTA leads to enzyme inactivation. The pectate lyase has a specific activity of 131 mumol of aldehyde groups per min and per mg of protein. The Km of the purified enzyme for polygalacturonic acid was 0.862 g.l-1 and the Vmax for polygalacturonic acid hydrolysis was 1.475 mumol of unsaturated products per min and per mg of protein. By using monoclonal antibodies raised against Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937 pectate lyases, it was shown that pectate lyases b and c of this strain are immunologically closely related to the Bacillus subtilis pectate lyase.     

Heparin-sepharose affinity chromatography for purification of bull seminal-plasma hyaluronidase.

Bull seminal-plasma hyaluronidase was purified 180-fold by chromatography on concanvalin A-Sepharose, heparin Sepharose, Sephadex G-200 and Sephacryl S-200. With hyaluronic acid as the substrate, the specific activity and turnover number of purified hyaluronidase were 3.63 mumol/min per mg (104000 National Formulary units/mg of protein) and 214 min-1 (mol of product formed/mol of enzyme per min) respectively. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis indicated that the purified enzyme migrated as a single band on 7.5 and 10% (w/v) gels at pH 4.3 and 5.3. Bull seminal-plasma hyaluronidase was markedly inhibited by hydroxylamine, phenylhydrazine and semicarbazide. Purified hyaluronidase (1.25 munits; 1 unit = 1 mumol of N-acetylglucosamine liberated/min at 37 degrees C) dispersed the cumulus clot of rabbit ova in 1 h at 22 degrees C.     

Production of delta-aminolevulinate: subcellular localization and purification of murine hepatic L-alanine: 4,5-dioxovaleric acid aminotransferase

1. L-Alanine: 4,5-dioxovaleric acid aminotransferase (DOVA transaminase) activity was measured in murine liver, kidney and spleen homogenates. 2. Among the organs examined, the specific activity of the enzyme was highest in kidney, followed by liver then spleen. 3. No differences in DOVA transaminase activity in kidney, liver and spleen homogenates were detected between mouse strains C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. 4. Based on enzyme activity, the capacity of DOVA transaminase to catalyze the formation of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) in liver appeared much greater than the capacity of ALA synthase. 5. In DBA/2J animals, DOVA transaminase activity in liver mitochondrial fractions prepared by differential centrifugation was 24 nmol ALA formed/hr/mg protein compared with 0.63 nmol ALA formed/hr/mg protein for ALA synthase. 6. Cell fractionation analyses indicated that liver DOVA transaminase is located in the mitochondrial matrix. 7. The liver enzyme was purified from mitoplasts by chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel followed by affinity chromatography on L-alanine-AH-Sepharose. 8. The specific activity of the purified DOVA transaminase was 1600 nmol ALA formed/hr/mg protein. 9. The yield of the purification was ca 90 micrograms of protein per gram liver wet weight. 10. The purified enzyme had a subunit mol. wt of 146,000 +/- 5000 as determined by electrophoresis under denaturing conditions.     

Purification and properties of guinea-pig submandibular-gland kallikrein.

Guinea-pig submandibular kallikrein has been purified from the glands to electrophoretic homogeneity by conventional procedures. The enzyme is active as a kininogenase, releasing kallidin at a rate of 462 micrograms/min per mg of protein from bovine kininogen, and proved potently hypotensive in the guinea pig and in the dog, properties which indicate its tissue kallikrein nature. The specific activity determined on the substrate N-alpha-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester (11.1 mumol/min per mg of protein) is much lower than that measured with N-acetyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-arginine ethyl ester (483 mumol/min per mg of protein). The latter value is of an order of magnitude comparable with the specific activities of other tissue kallikreins determined with this sensitive kallikrein substrate. The enzyme is a glycoprotein consisting of 237 amino acid residues and containing three to four glucosamine molecules. Its amino acid composition is not identical with that reported for guinea-pig coagulating-gland kallikrein, but is remarkably similar to that of the porcine tissue kallikreins. Apparent Mr values are 29000 (sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis) or 34000 (gel filtration). The amino acid sequence of the first 31 N-terminal residues was determined and was found to be closely homologous with that of other tissue kallikreins.     

Purification and characterization of D-3-aminoisobutyrate-pyruvate aminotransferase from rat liver

D-3-Aminoisobutyrate-pyruvate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.40) was purified 1900-fold from rat liver extract. The purified enzyme showed a molecular mass of 180 kDa by gel-permeation HPLC analysis using a TSK gel G3000SW column. Reductive polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate resulted in identification of a single band of approx. 50 kDa, indicating that the native enzyme is probably a tetrametric protein. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 1.14 mumol/min per mg protein. D-3-Aminoisobutyrate and beta-alanine were good amino donors. The Km value for L-3-aminoisobutyrate was 100-times larger than that for the D-isomer. The apparent Km values for D-3-aminoisobutyrate and beta-alanine were 35 and 282 microM, respectively. Pyruvate, glyoxylate, oxalacetate, 2-oxo-n-valerate, and 2-oxo-n-butyrate were good amino acceptors. The apparent Km values for pyruvate and glyoxylate were 32 and 44 microM, respectively.     

Purification and properties of NADH-specific dihydropteridine reductase from human erythrocytes

NADH-specific dihydropteridine reductase (EC 1.6.99.7) has been purified from human erythrocytes in essentially homogeneous form. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 46,000 by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. The enzyme reacted with antiserum against NADH-specific dihydropteridine reductase from bovine liver and formed a single immunoprecipitin line in the Ouchterlony double-diffusion system. This precipitin line completely fused with that formed between the human liver enzyme and the antiserum. With use of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-6-methylpterin, Km values of the erythrocyte enzyme for NADH and NADPH were determined to be 0.94 and 47 mumol/l, respectively. Vmax values were 58.7 mumol/min/mg with NADH and 6.41 mumol/min/mg with NADPH. The average activity of NADH-specific dihydropteridine reductase of 9 human blood samples from healthy males (20-25 years old) was calculated to be approximately 600 mU/g of hemoglobin, 1.8 mU per 20 microliters of blood, or 1.9 mU per 10(8) erythrocytes.     

Purification and characterization of aminopeptidase N from human plasma

Human plasma aminopeptidase N (EC 3.4.11.2) was homogeneously purified from outdated bank plasma. Purification procedures included ammonium sulfate fractionation, immunoaffinity chromatography, DEAE-cellulose column chromatography, hydroxyapatite column chromatography and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. The final recovery of the enzyme was 18% and its specific activity was 71.6 mumol/min/mg protein. SDS-polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis and analytical ultracentrifugation showed the homogeneity of the enzyme. Equilibrium ultracentrifugation showed a molecular weight of 210,800. SDS-polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis indicated that the enzyme was a dimer consisting of two identical subunits. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was 3.9 at 4 degrees C. The amino acid composition of the enzyme was very similar to those of aminopeptidase N from human kidney, small intestine, and placenta which we have reported previously. Neutral sugar accounted for 11.6%. The Km, Vmax and Kcat values and hydrolytic coefficient (Kcat/Km) of the enzyme with L-alanyl-beta-naphthylamide as substrate were 8.7 X 10(-5) mol/l, 85.9 mumol/min/mg protein, 303/s and 3,483/mmol/l/s, respectively. The enzyme was activated by cobalt ions and markedly inhibited by amastatin. Plasma aminopeptidase N was immunologically indistinguishable from kidney aminopeptidase N.     

Isolation and characterization of angiotensin converting enzyme from human kidney

Angiotensin converting enzyme [EC 3.4.15.1] was solubilized from the membrane fraction of human kidney cortex using trypsin and purified to homogeneity by DEAE-cellulose, hydroxylapatite and DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column chromatographies, preparative isoelectric focusing, and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration. The final recovery of the enzyme was 13.9%. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be 199,000 by a sedimentation equilibrium method. A value of 170,000 was obtained for the reduced and denatured enzyme by dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme was a glycoprotein consisting of a single polypeptide chain with an isoelectric point of 5.10. Neutral sugar accounted for 13% per weight of the enzyme. The purified enzyme had a specific activity of 96.9 mumol/min/mg protein for hippurylhistidylleucine. The Km value, Kcat value and hydrolytic coefficient (Kcat/Km) of the enzyme for hippurylhistidylleucine were 2.0 mM, 545 s-1 and 273 mM-1 . s-1, respectively. Rabbit antibody against the human kidney converting enzyme inhibited the activities of the enzymes from human lung and serum as equally as that from human kidney, but not those from sheep, dog, or rat sera. The human kidney and lung converting enzymes were immunologically identical on double immunodiffusion analysis.     

Purification and properties of an alpha-D-xylosidase from Aspergillus niger

Two components of alpha-D-xylosidase (alpha-D-xylosidase I and II) were detected in the culture filtrate of Aspergillus nigher grown in a medium containing Sanzyme 1000-treated Glyloid 2A. The major component (alpha-D-xylosidase I) was purified to an electrophoretically pure state. The purified enzyme showed approximately 540-fold increase in specific activity over the original culture filtrate. The purified enzyme was shown to be an oligomeric protein consisting of four subunits, each of which had a molecular weight of 123,000. The enzyme showed the highest activity at pH 2.5-3.0 and 45 degrees C, and was stable in the pH range from 3.0 to 7.0 and at the temperatures up to 60 degrees C. The isoelectric point of this enzyme was pH 5.6. The purified enzyme was highly specific for p-nitrophenyl alpha-D-xylopyranoside and isoprimeverose (6-O-alpha-D-xylopyranosyl-D-glucopyranose). The apparent Km and Vmax values of the enzyme for p-nitrophenyl alpha-D-xylopyranoside and isoprimeverose were 10.5 mM and 40.8 mumol/min/mg protein, and 2.2 mM and 30 mumol/min/mg protein, respectively. The purified enzyme could also split off the alpha-D-xylopyranosyl residue on the non-reducing terminal of the backbone of oligoxyloglucans such as alpha-D-xylopyranosyl-(1----6)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl- (1----4)-[(alpha-D-xylopyranosyl-(1----6)-]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl- (1----4)-] 2-D-glucopyranose.     

Purification and characterization of lysophospholipase-transacylase of pathogenic fungus Candida albicans

A lysophospholipase-transacylase was purified to homogeneity from the culture broth of Candida albicans by ammonium sulfate precipitation and chromatographs on DEAE-cellulose, Ultrogel AcA-44, first Mono Q, hydroxyapatite, TSKgel-3000 and second Mono Q columns. The purified protein was a single band (Mr 41,000) as inferred by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It had a specific activity of 78 mumol/min per mg protein for fatty acid release and 320 mumol/min per mg protein for phosphatidylcholine formation. Fatty acid release obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics and the apparent Km was 76 microM of 1-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine, but Lineweaver-Burk plots of transacylase activity was parabolic. The ratio of hydrolase to transacylase activity of the purified enzyme was varied depending upon the concentration of lysophosphatidylcholine. Transacylation was prominent at high concentration of substrate and the ratio of hydrolase to transacylase was 0.24. Low concentration of palmitoylcarnitine (50 microM) inhibited markedly phosphatidylcholine formation but stimulated fatty acid release. The degree of esterification of 1-acyllysophosphatidylcholine was altered with mixtures of different molecular species of substrate, demonstrating acyl chain selectivity in the transfer process. These results suggest that C. albicans lysophospholipase-transacylase is different from the corresponding mammalian enzymes in enzymatic properties.