Quinolinate dehydrogenase and 6-hydroxyquinolinate decarboxylase involved in the conversion of quinolinic acid to 6-hydroxypicolinic acid by<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Alcaligenes</Emphasis> sp. strain UK21

In the conversion of quinolinic acid to 6-hydroxypicolinic acid by whole cells of Alcaligenes sp. strain UK21, the enzyme reactions involved in the hydroxylation and decarboxylation of quinolinic acid were examined. Quinolinate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the first step, the hydroxylation of quinolinic acid, was solubilized from a membrane fraction, partially purified, and characterized. The enzyme catalyzed the incorporation of oxygen atoms of H₂O into the hydroxyl group. The dehydrogenase hydroxylated quinolinic acid and pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid to form 6-hydroxyquinolinic acid and 5-hydroxypyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid, respectively. Phenazine methosulfate was the preferred electron acceptor for quinolinate dehydrogenase. 6-Hydroxyquinolinate decarboxylase, catalyzing the nonoxidative decarboxylation of 6-hydroxyquinolinic acid, was purified to homogeneity and characterized. The purified enzyme had a molecular mass of approximately 221 kDa and consisted of six identical subunits. The decarboxylase specifically catalyzed the decarboxylation of 6-hydroxyquinolinic acid to 6-hydroxypicolinic acid, without any co-factors. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was homologous with those of bacterial 4,5-dihydroxyphthalate decarboxylases.     

Effect of quinolinate on aminotransferases

Quinolinate inhibits several aminotransferases (ornithine, alanine, and aspartate). However, it is considerably more potent as an inhibitor of liver and heart cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase. It is a much less potent inhibitor of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferases. Quinolinate is bound to the active site of cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase. It has a much greater affinity for the pyridoximine-P than the pyridoxal-P form of the enzyme. According to kinetic results, the inhibition or dissociation constant of quinolinate is 0.2 and 20 mm, respectively, for the pyridoxamine-P and the pyridoxal-P forms of the enzyme. Since quinolinate is mainly bound to the pyridoxamine-P form: (a) it is a potent competitive inhibitor of α-ketoglutarate but has little effect when α-ketoglutarate is saturating even if the level of aspartate is low; (b) it decreases the effect of α-ketoglutarate on the absorption spectrum of the pyridoxamine-P form; and (c) it enhances the effect of glutamate on the absorption spectrum of the pyridoxal-P form. Quinolinate is also apparently bound to the apoenzyme since it inhibits reconstitution by either pyridoxamine-P or pyridoxal-P. Since quinolinate is a competitive inhibitor of α-ketoglutarate, it is possible that part of the inhibitory effect of quinolinate on hepatic gluconeogenesis could result from quinolinate inhibiting the conversion of aspartate to oxalacetate by the cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase. Quinolinate has no effect on either rat or bovine liver glutamate dehydrogenase or on kidney glutamate dehydrogenase.     

Crystal structure of alpha-amino-beta-carboxymuconate-epsilon-semialdehyde decarboxylase: insight into the active site and catalytic mechanism of a novel decarboxylation reaction

Alpha-amino-beta-carboxymuconate-epsilon-semialdehyde decarboxylase (ACMSD) is a widespread enzyme found in many bacterial species and all currently sequenced eukaryotic organisms. It occupies a key position at the branching point of two metabolic pathways: the tryptophan to quinolinate pathway and the bacterial 2-nitrobenzoic acid degradation pathway. The activity of ACMSD determines whether the metabolites in both pathways are converted to quinolinic acid for NAD biosynthesis or to acetyl-CoA for the citric acid cycle. Here we report the first high-resolution crystal structure of ACMSD from Pseudomonas fluorescens which validates our previous predictions that this enzyme is a member of the metal-dependent amidohydrolase superfamily of the (beta/alpha)(8) TIM barrel fold. The structure of the enzyme in its native form, determined at 1.65 A resolution, reveals the precise spatial arrangement of the active site metal center and identifies a potential substrate-binding pocket. The identity of the native active site metal was determined to be Zn. Also determined was the structure of the enzyme complexed with cobalt at 2.50 A resolution. The hydrogen bonding network around the metal center suggests that Arg51 and His228 may play important roles in catalysis. The metal center configuration of PfACMSD is very similar to that of Zn-dependent adenosine deaminase and Fe-dependent cytosine deaminase, suggesting that ACMSD may share certain similarities in its catalytic mechanism with these enzymes. These data enable us to propose possible catalytic mechanisms for ACMSD which appear to be unprecedented among all currently characterized decarboxylases.     

Cloning, overexpression, and purification of Escherichia coli quinolinate synthetase

Quinolinate synthetase catalyzes the second step of the de novo biosynthetic pathway of pyridine nucleotide formation. In particular, quinolinate synthetase is involved in the condensation of dihydroxyacetone phosphate and iminoaspartate to form quinolinic acid. To study the mechanism of action, the specificity of the enzyme and the interaction with l-aspartate oxidase, the other component of the so-called "quinolinate synthetase complex," the cloning, the overexpression, and the purification to homogeneity of Escherichia coli quinolinate synthetase were undertaken. The results are presented in this paper. Since the overexpression of the enzyme resulted in the formation of inclusion bodies, a procedure of renaturation and refolding had to be set up. The overexpression and purification procedure reported in this paper allowed the isolation of 12 mg of electrophoretically homogeneous quinolinate synthetase from 1 liter of E. coli culture. A new, continuous, method for the evaluation of quinolinate synthetase activity was also devised and is presented. Finally, our data definitely exclude the possibility that other enzymes are involved in the biosynthesis of quinolinic acid in E. coli, since it is possible to synthesize quinolinic acid from l-aspartate, dihydroxyacetone phosphate, and O(2) by using only nadA and nadB gene overexpressed products.     

Molecular biology of pyridine nucleotide biosynthesis in Escherichia coli. Cloning and characterization of quinolinate synthesis genes nadA and nadB

The two genes, nadA and nadB, responsible for quinolinate biosynthesis from aspartate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate in Escherichia coli were cloned and characterized. Quinolinate (pyridine-2,3-dicarboxylate) is the biosynthetic precursor of the pyridine ring of NAD. Gene nadA was identified by complementation in three different nadA mutant strains. Sequence analysis provided an 840-bp open reading frame coding for a 31,555-Da protein. Gene nadB was identified by complementation in a nadB mutant strain and by the L-aspartate oxidase activity of its gene product. Sequence analysis showed a 1620-bp open reading frame coding for a 60,306-Da protein. For both genes, promoter regions and ribosomal binding sites were assigned by comparison to consensus sequences. The nadB gene product, L-aspartate oxidase, was purified to homogeneity and the N-terminal sequence of 19 amino acids was determined. The enzyme was shown to be specific for L-aspartate. High-copy-number vectors, carrying either gene nadA, nadB or nadA + nadB, increased quinolinate production 1.5-fold, 2.0-fold and 15-fold respectively. Both gene products seem to be equally rate-limiting in quinolinate synthesis.     

Effects of systemic and central nervous system localized inflammation on the contributions of metabolic precursors to the L-kynurenine and quinolinic acid pools in brain

L-Kynurenine and quinolinic acid are neuroactive L-tryptophan-kynurenine pathway metabolites of potential importance in pathogenesis and treatment of neurologic disease. To identify precursors of these metabolites in brain, [(2)H(3) ]-L-kynurenine was infused subcutaneously by osmotic pump into three groups of gerbils: controls, CNS-localized immune-activated, and systemically immune-activated. The specific activity of L-kynurenine and quinolinate in blood, brain and systemic tissues at equilibrium was then quantified by mass spectrometry and the results applied to a model of metabolism to differentiate the relative contributions of various metabolic precursors. In control gerbils, 22% of L-kynurenine in brain was derived via local synthesis from L-tryptophan/formylkynurenine versus 78% from L-kynurenine from blood. Quinolinate in brain was derived from several sources, including: local tissue L-tryptophan/formylkynurenine (10%), blood L-kynurenine (35%), blood 3-hydroxykynurenine/3-hydroxyanthranilate (7%), and blood quinolinate (48%). After systemic immune-activation, however, L-kynurenine in brain was derived exclusively from blood, whereas quinolinate in brain was derived from three sources: blood L-kynurenine (52%), blood 3-hydroxykynurenine or 3-hydroxyanthranilate (8%), and blood quinolinate (40%). During CNS-localized immune activation, > 98% of both L-kynurenine and quinolinate were derived via local synthesis in brain. Thus, immune activation and its site determine the sources from which L-kynurenine and quinolinate are synthesized in brain. Successful therapeutic modulation of their concentrations must take into account the metabolic and compartment sources.     

Molecular cloning and expression of human bile acid beta-glucosidase

A novel microsomal beta-glucosidase was recently purified and characterized from human liver that catalyzes the hydrolysis of bile acid 3-O-glucosides as endogenous compounds. The primary structure of this bile acid beta-glucosidase was deduced by cDNA cloning on the basis of the amino acid sequences of peptides obtained from the purified enzyme by proteinase digestion. The isolated cDNA comprises 3639 base pairs containing 524 nucleotides of 5'-untranslated and 334 nucleotides of 3'-untranslated sequences including the poly(A) tail. The open reading frame predicts a 927-amino acid protein with a calculated M(r) of 104,648 containing one putative transmembrane domain. Data base searches revealed no homology with any known glycosyl hydrolase or other functionally identified protein. The cDNA sequence was found with significant identity in the human chromosome 9 clone RP11-112J3 of the human genome project. The recombinant enzyme was expressed in a tagged form in COS-7 cells where it displayed bile acid beta-glucosidase activity. Northern blot analysis of various human tissues revealed high levels of expression of the bile acid beta-glucosidase mRNA (3.6-kilobase message) in brain, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, and placenta and lower levels of expression in the liver and other organs.     

Molecular gene cloning, expression, and characterization of bovine brain glutamate dehydrogenase

A cDNA of bovine brain glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was isolated from a cDNA library by recombinant PCR. The isolated cDNA has an open-reading frame of 1677 nucleotides, which codes for 559 amino acids. The expression of the recombinant bovine brain GDH enzyme was achieved in E. coli. BL21 (DE3) by using the pET-15b expression vector containing a T7 promoter. The recombinant GDH protein was also purified and characterized. The amino acid sequence was found 90% homologous to the human GDH. The molecular mass of the expressed GDH enzyme was estimated as 50 kDa by SDS-PAGE and Western blot using monoclonal antibodies against bovine brain GDH. The kinetic parameters of the expressed recombinant GDH enzymes were quite similar to those of the purified bovine brain GDH. The Km and Vmax values for NAD+ were 0.1 mM and 1.08 micromol/min/mg, respectively. The catalytic activities of the recombinant GDH enzymes were inhibited by ATP in a concentration-dependent manner over the range of 10 - 100 microM, whereas, ADP increased the enzyme activity up to 2.3-fold. These results indicate that the recombinant-expressed bovine brain GDH that is produced has biochemical properties that are very similar to those of the purified GDH enzyme.     

Structure of the precursor to an enzyme mediating COOH-terminal amidation in peptide biosynthesis

Many bioactive peptides terminate with an amino acid alpha-amide at their COOH terminus. The enzyme responsible for this essential posttranslational modification is known as peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase or PAM. We identified cDNAs encoding the enzyme by using antibodies to screen a bovine intermediate pituitary lambda gt11 expression library. Antibodies to a beta-galactosidase/PAM fusion protein removed PAM activity from bovine pituitary homogenates. The 108,207 dalton protein predicted by the complete cDNA is approximately twice the size of purified PAM. An NH2-terminal signal sequence and short propeptide precede the NH2 terminus of purified PAM. The sequences of several PAM cyanogen bromide peptides were localized in the NH2-terminal half of the predicted protein. The cDNA encodes an additional 430 amino acid intragranular domain followed by a putative membrane spanning domain and a hydrophilic cytoplasmic domain. The forms of PAM purified from bovine neurointermediate pituitary may be generated by endoproteolytic cleavage at a subset of the 10 pairs of basic amino acids in the precursor. High levels of PAM mRNA were found in bovine pituitary and cerebral cortex. In corticotropic tumor cells, levels of PAM mRNA and pro-ACTH/endorphin mRNA were regulated in parallel by glucocorticoids and CRF.     

Characterization and molecular cloning of a glutathione S-transferase gene from the tick, Boophilus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae).

A glutathione S-transferase (GST) was purified from the larval cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Acari: Ixodidae), by glutathione-affinity chromatography. The purified enzyme appeared as a single band on SDS-PAGE and has a molecular mass of 25.8 kDa determined by mass spectrometry. The N-terminus of the purified enzyme was sequenced. The full-length cDNA of the enzyme was isolated by RT-PCR using degenerate oligonucleotides derived from the N-terminal amino acid sequence. The cDNA contains an open reading frame encoding a 223-amino-acid protein with the N-terminus identical to the purified GST. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with GSTs from other species revealed that the enzyme is closely related to the mammalian mu class GST.     

Molecular cloning and expression of chondroitin 4-sulfotransferase

Chondroitin 4-sulfotransferase (C4ST) catalyzes the transfer of sulfate from 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate to position 4 of N-acetylgalactosamine residue of chondroitin. The enzyme has been previously purified to apparent homogeneity from the serum-free culture medium of rat chondrosarcoma cells (Yamauchi, A., Hirahara, Y., Usui, H., Takeda, Y., Hoshino, M., Fukuta, M., Kimura, J. H., and Habuchi, O. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 2456-2463). The purified enzyme also catalyzed the sulfation of partially desulfated dermatan sulfate. We have now cloned the cDNA of the mouse C4ST on the basis of the amino acid sequences of peptides obtained from the purified enzyme by protease digestion. This cDNA contains a single open reading frame that predicts a protein composed of 352 amino acid residues. The protein predicts a Type II transmembrane topology. The predicted sequence of the protein contains all of the known amino acid sequence and four potential sites for N-glycosylation, which corresponds to the observation that the purified C4ST is an N-linked glycoprotein. The amino acid sequence of mouse C4ST showed significant sequence homology to HNK-1 sulfotransferase. Comparison of the sequence of mouse C4ST with human HNK-1 sulfotransferase revealed approximately 29% identity and approximately 48% similarity at the amino acid level. When the cDNA was introduced in a eukaryotic expression vector and transfected in COS-7 cells, the sulfotransferase activity that catalyzes the transfer of sulfate to position 4 of GalNAc residue of both chondroitin and desulfated dermatan sulfate was overexpressed. Northern blot analysis showed that, among various mouse adult tissues, 5.7-kilobase message of C4ST was mainly expressed in the brain and kidney.     

Effect of protein level in the diet on quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase of rat liver

Quinolinate phosphoribosyl-transferase is the rate limiting enzyme in the NAD pathway of tryptophan metabolism. Results of a preliminary study reported here have indicated an inverse relationship between dietary protein and activity of liver quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase. An elevated activity of quinolinate phosphoribosyl-transferase on a low protein diet may represent an adaptive mechanism for efficient utilisation of limited dietary tryptophan for synthesis of NAD.     

Primary structure of rat brain prostaglandin D synthetase deduced from cDNA sequence

The amino acid sequence of rat brain prostaglandin D synthetase (Urade, Y., Fujimoto, N., and Hayaishi, O. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 12410-12415) was determined by a combination of cDNA and protein sequencing. cDNA clones specific for this enzyme were isolated from a lambda gt11 rat brain cDNA expression library. Nucleotide sequence analyses of cloned cDNA inserts revealed that this enzyme consisted of a 564- or 549-base pair open reading frame coding for a 188- or 183-amino acid polypeptide with a Mr of 21,232 or 20,749 starting at the first or second ATG. About 60% of the deduced amino acid sequence was confirmed by partial amino acid sequencing of tryptic peptides of the purified enzyme. The recognition sequence for N-glycosylation was seen at two positions of amino acid residues 51-53 (-Asn-Ser-Ser-) and 78-80 (-Asn-Leu-Thr-) counted from the first Met. Both sites were considered to be glycosylated with carbohydrate chains of Mr 3,000, since two smaller proteins with Mr 23,000 and 20,000 were found during deglycosylation of the purified enzyme (Mr 26,000) with N-glycanase. The prostaglandin D synthetase activity was detected in fusion proteins obtained from lysogens with recombinants coding from 34 and 19 nucleotides upstream and 47 and 77 downstream from the first ATG, indicating that the glycosyl chain and about 20 amino acid residues of N terminus were not essential for the enzyme activity. The amino acid composition of the purified enzyme indicated that about 20 residues of hydrophobic amino acids of the N terminus are post-translationally deleted, probably as a signal peptide. These results, together with the immunocytochemical localization of this enzyme to rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum and other nuclear membrane of oligodendrocytes (Urade, Y., Fujimoto, N., Kaneko, T., Konishi, A., Mizuno, N., and Hayaishi, O. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 15132-15136) suggest that this enzyme is a membrane-associated protein.     

Catalytic component of calmodulin-independent adenylate cyclase from bovine brain. Isolation and determination of partial amino acid sequence

The catalytic component of calmodulin-independent adenylate cyclase of cattle cerebral cortex was solubilized and purified to the homogeneous state. The conditions for preparative obtaining of the enzyme on the column with immobilized antibodies to adenylate cyclase were found. These antibodies were proved to interact with the calmodulin-independent rather than the calmodulin-dependent form of the enzyme. Molecular mass of the calmodulin-independent adenylate cyclase determined electrophoretically is 140 +/- 10 kDa. Amino acid composition of the enzyme and sequences of its fragments (in total 300 amino acid residues) obtained upon treatment with lysyl-specific proteinase from Achromobacter liticus were determined. Clone containing a cDNA 605 bp insertion coding for the 183 amino acid residue fragment of adenylate cyclase was isolated from the bovine brain cDNA library. Homology of this fragment to the known sequences of Escherichia coli and Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclases was revealed.     

Isolation, characterization, and expression of cDNA encoding a rat liver endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase

We have isolated a cDNA encoding an endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase, an asparagine-linked oligosaccharide processing enzyme, from a rat liver lambda gt11 library. Two degenerate oligonucleotides, based on amino acid sequence data from the purified enzyme, were used as primers in the polymerase chain reaction with liver cDNA as a template to generate an unambiguous cDNA probe. The cDNA fragment (524 base pair) obtained was then used to isolate cDNA clones by hybridization. We isolated two overlapping clones which were used to construct a full-length cDNA of 3392 base pairs. A single open reading frame of 1040 amino acids encodes a protein with a molecular mass of 116 kilodaltons containing the six known peptide sequences. The deduced amino acid sequence revealed no classical signal sequence or membrane-spanning domain. The alpha-mannosidase encoding cDNA can be expressed transiently in COS cells using the mammalian expression vector pXM, causing a 400-fold increase in alpha-mannosidase activity as well as a dramatic increase in immunoreactive polypeptide. The rat liver endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase bears striking homology to the vacuolar alpha-mannosidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

Molecular cloning and primary structure of rat testes metalloendopeptidase EC 3.4.24.15

The complete amino acid sequence of rat testes metalloendopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.15) was deduced from the nucleotide sequence of a cDNA clone isolated by screening a rat testes library with a polyclonal antibody raised against a homogeneous preparation of the rat testes enzyme. The correctness of the sequence was verified by N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of the isolated enzyme and by partial amino acid sequence analysis of three tryptic peptides located near the N-terminus, the middle, and C-terminus of the native protein. The enzyme is composed of 645 amino acids with a molecular weight of 72,985. This value is close to that of the purified rat testes and brain enzyme as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under denaturing and reducing conditions and by molecular sieving chromatography. The enzyme contains the putative active-site sequence -H-E-F-G-H- that is homologous to the sequence in the active site of thermolysin and several other related bacterial enzymes, as well as to active-site sequences of several mammalian zinc metallopeptidases. No amino acid sequence homology, beyond this active site, was found with thermolysin, a bacterial zinc metalloendopeptidase, nor with several mammalian zinc metallopeptidases. Northern blot hybridization analyses showed the presence of mRNA encoding the enzyme in rat testes, but not in other rat tissues in spite of the finding that enzyme activity is widely distributed in all tissues and that relatively high activities are present in rat brain and pituitary.