7-Mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate substitutes for heat-stable factor (mobile factor) for growth of Methanomicrobium mobile.

Methanomicrobium mobile requires a heat-stable factor present in ruminal fluid and in boiled cell extract from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum for growth. By comparing the growth of M. mobile with boiled cell extract with that observed with various methanogenic cofactors, we found that 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate (HS-HTP) supported sustained growth of M. mobile, at an optimal concentration of 100 microM. No derivatives or possible biosynthetic precursors of HS-HTP could replace HS-HTP as the sole source of growth factor. Results suggest that the growth requirement might be satisfied by 7-mercaptoheptanoic acid plus a second, unidentified heat-stable factor.     

Evidence that the heterodisulfide of coenzyme M and 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate is a product of the methylreductase reaction in Methanobacterium

When 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate (HS-HTP) was used as the sole source of electrons for reductive demethylation of 2-(methylthio)-ethanesulfonic acid (CH3-S-CoM) by cell extracts of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum strain delta H, the heterodisulfide of coenzyme M and HS-HTP (CoM-S-S-HTP) was quantitatively produced: HS-HTP + CH3-S-CoM----CH4 + CoM-S-S-HTP. CH4 and CoM-S-S-HTP were produced stoichiometrically in a ratio of 1:1. Coenzyme M (HS-CoM) inhibited HS-HTP driven methanogenesis indicating that CH3-S-CoM rather than HS-CoM was the substrate for CoM-S-S-HTP formation.     

Structural characterization and physiological function of component B from Methanosarcina thermophila

The electron donor (component B) to the methyl coenzyme M methylreductase system from Methanosarcina thermophila was isolated as the 7-methyl derivative and characterized. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and ¹H NMR analyses identified this derivative as 7-methylthioheptanoylthreonine phosphate (CH₃-S-HTP), indicating that the original component B had the same structure (HS-HTP) as previously determined for component B from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum. The heterodisulfide of HS-HTP and coenzyme M (HS-CoM, 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate) was enzymatically reduced in cell extracts using electrons supplied by either H₂ or CO, confirming that HS-HTP was a functional molecule in M. thermophila.     

Component C of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system contains bound 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate (HS-HTP)

The structure of component B of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum was recently found to be 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate (HS-HTP). The work described here demonstrates that this compound is found in two forms: enzyme-free and enzyme-bound. HS-HTP was found to be bound to component C of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system. The cofactor extracted from the protein by heat denaturation was found to comigrate with the mixed disulfide of HS-HTP and 2-mercaptoethanol by high-performance liquid chromatography, suggesting HS-HTP is not modified in the bound state.     

Isolation and characterization of the carbohydrate moiety bound to N-7-mercaptoheptanoyl-O-threonine phosphate

Abstract Component B ( N -7-mercaptoheptanoyl-threonine- O -3-phosphate) (HS-HTP) which is an absolute requirement in the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase reaction was found to be part of a complex UDP-disaccharide when isolated carefully from cell-free supernant of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum . The site of attachment of HS-HTP to the UDP-disaccharide was through a carboxylic-phosphoric anhydride linkage of the C-6 mannosaminuronic acid to the phosphate group in HS-HTP. This bond is quite labile and this may account for the fact that the intact molecule, called methyl reducing factor (MRF) was not isolated previously. The structure of MRF was determined by combined fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and ¹H-, ¹³C-, and ³¹P-NMR spectroscopy and assigned as: uridine 5'-[ N -7-mercaptoheptanoyl- O -3-phosphothreonine(2-acetamido-2-deoxy- β -mannopyranuronosyl)acid anhydride]-(1 → 4)- O -2-acetamido-2-deoxy α -glucopyranosyl diphosphate.     

Nutritional requirements of Methanomicrobium mobile

A defined medium was developed for Methanomicrobium mobile BP. M. mobile required acetate for growth; the optimal concentration was 30 mM. Other requirements and their optimal concentrations included isobutyrate (0.65 mM), isovalerate (0.73 mM), and 2-methylbutyrate (1.5 mM). The appropriate branched-chain amino acids did not substitute for these branched-chain fatty acids. M. mobile required tryptophan at an optimal concentration of 24 microM. Indole substituted for tryptophan, but the possible precursor compounds shikimic acid and anthranilic acid and the degradation compound skatole did not. Vitamin requirements and their optimal concentrations included pyridoxine (0.49 microM), thiamine (0.15 microM), biotin (0.04 microM), and vitamin B12 (0.04 microM); p-aminobenzoic acid (0.18 microM) was required for optimal growth, but folic acid did not replace p-aminobenzoic acid. M. mobile required an unidentified growth factor found in ruminal fluid or extracts of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum for growth. M. mobile has a complex nutrition compared with that of other methanogens, but not an unusual nutrition in the context of organisms from the ruminal ecosystem.     

An extracellular blood-anticoagulant glycopeptide produced exclusively during vegetative growth by Myxococcus xanthus and other myxobacteria is not co-regulated with other extracellular macromolecules

We have shown that the blood anticoagulant activity (BAA) secreted by Myxococcus xanthus (designated myxaline) is a heat-stable molecule; a high-molecular-mass extracellular fraction also with an apparent BAA is a thermolabile protease. This property allowed us to assay the BAA content in crude boiled culture supernatants and to study the conditions under which it is produced. Heat-stable BAA is strictly extracellular and its production is restricted to vegetative growth in M. xanthus. Unlike the other extracellular proteins, its production is not affected by mutations that regulate secretion; mutations that modify the extracellular proteolytic activity do not modulate the amount of myxaline produced either. Several other species of Myxococcus and one other myxobacterial species produce a heat-stable BAA during vegetative growth.     

Characterization of a sheep pituitary-derived growth factor for rat and human mammary tumor cells

A growth factor for rat and human mammary tumor cells (MTGF-Pit) was isolated from lyophilized powders of whole sheep pituitaries by a rapid four-step procedure utilizing acetic acid extraction, heating at 93 degrees C, and sequential chromatography in 0.10 M acetic acid on sulphopropyl Sephadex and Sephadex G-50. From 10 g of pituitary powder, 8-10-mg amounts of MTGF-Pit were isolated. By 8 M urea, 0.1% SDS-12.5% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis followed by Coomassie blue staining, this preparation was shown to be one major stained band. When assayed for growth effects on cells maintained in serum-free medium, 5.1-19.2 nM MTGF-Pit half replaced the growth of MTW9/PL rat and MCF-7 and T-47D human mammary tumor cells in response to 2% to 10% serum. MTGF-Pit shows mitogenic activity toward normal human diploid fibroblasts only at concentrations in excess of 2.5 X 10(-4) M, while rat fibroblasts are unresponsive even at this high concentration. From data available, we conclude that a mitogenic activity for epithelial-type mammary cells has been isolated, and this growth factor appears to be a previously undetected acid- and heat-stable activity that is highly abundant (estimated at 0.16% or more of the total dry weight of the pituitary powder). The isolated ovine MTGF-Pit (3,900 +/- 200 daltons) does not share the molecular weight of native prolactin (24,000 daltons), "cleaved" prolactin (16,000 daltons), or growth hormone (22,000 daltons), and by all tests applied cannot be replaced with other known hormones and purified growth factors. We conclude a potent new mammary tumor cell mitogenic activity has been identified from sheep pituitaries.     

Nutritional requirements of Methanomicrobium mobile.

A defined medium was developed for Methanomicrobium mobile BP. M. mobile required acetate for growth; the optimal concentration was 30 mM. Other requirements and their optimal concentrations included isobutyrate (0.65 mM), isovalerate (0.73 mM), and 2-methylbutyrate (1.5 mM). The appropriate branched-chain amino acids did not substitute for these branched-chain fatty acids. M. mobile required tryptophan at an optimal concentration of 24 microM. Indole substituted for tryptophan, but the possible precursor compounds shikimic acid and anthranilic acid and the degradation compound skatole did not. Vitamin requirements and their optimal concentrations included pyridoxine (0.49 microM), thiamine (0.15 microM), biotin (0.04 microM), and vitamin B12 (0.04 microM); p-aminobenzoic acid (0.18 microM) was required for optimal growth, but folic acid did not replace p-aminobenzoic acid. M. mobile required an unidentified growth factor found in ruminal fluid or extracts of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum for growth. M. mobile has a complex nutrition compared with that of other methanogens, but not an unusual nutrition in the context of organisms from the ruminal ecosystem.     

Production of an auto-stimulatory growth factor by human hepatoma cells abrogates requirement for a brain-derived factor

Summary Human hepatoma cells grow at high cell density in the absence of exogenous growth factors. At low cell density, two different hepatoma cell lines required a novel growth factor from brain tissue. A factor with similar physico-chemical properties in the concentrated medium from high density cultures completely substituted for the brain extract. The autogenous secretion of a novel liver cell growth factor that is concentrated in brain tissue may underlie in part the unregulated growth of hepatomas. EDITOR'S STATEMENT Collective properties of growth factor activities for hepatoma cells in bovine brain extract and the medium of hepatoma cells suggest a neural tissue-derived liver cell growth factor that may be autogenously produced by liver tumor cells. Purification and characterization of such a factor may lead to selective inhibition of hepatoma, cell proliferation. David W. Barnes     

Inhibition of methylcoenzyme M methylreductase by a uridine 5'-diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine derivative

Uridine-5'-diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine, when oxidized with periodate to the corresponding aldehyde (o-UDP-GlcNAc), was a potent inhibitor of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase reaction which catalyzes the reductive demethylation of methylcoenzyme M to methane. The oxidation product, o-UDP-GlcNAc, appears to bind to the UDP-GlcNAc site of the enzyme and inhibits the reduction of methylcoenzyme M both by MRF or its active hydrolytic fragment HS-HTP. The kinetic patterns indicate that o-UDP-GlcNAc inhibition is noncompetitive with HS-HTP or MRF, and the Hill coefficient indicated that there was cooperativity between the UDP and HS-HTP binding sites. The methylreductase enzyme was protected from o-UDP-GlcNAc inhibition by prior exposure to low concentrations of MRF. HS-HTP, at the same concentration as MRF, was not effective in protecting the enzyme from inhibition by o-UDP-GlcNAc.     

The role of 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate in the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum

The structure of component B of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum was recently found to be 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate (HS-HTP). Three potential roles for this cofactor were considered. First, a methyl thioether derivative of the cofactor was synthesized to investigate its possible role as a methyl donor. This derivative was found to be incapable of acting as a substrate for methanogenesis and proved inhibitory. Secondly, an adenylated form of the cofactor was considered as the potential active form of the coenzyme. This possibility was ruled out based upon collaborative observations with Ankel-Fuchs et al. (FEBS Lett., in press) that HS-HTP is required by the methylreductase system even when ATP is not. Finally, HS-HTP was found to act as a reductant in a partially-purified methylreductase preparation that was incubated under nitrogen. The rate of methane production from HS-HTP exceeded that from other thiols or hydrogen.     

The heat-stable cytosolic factor that promotes glucocorticoid receptor binding to DNA is neither thioredoxin nor ribonuclease

Treatment of rat liver cytosol containing temperature-transformed [3H]dexamethasone-bound receptors at 0 degree C with the sulfhydryl modifying reagent methyl methanethiosulfonate (MMTS) inhibits the DNA-binding activity of the receptor, and DNA-binding activity is restored after addition of dithiothreitol (DTT). However, transformed receptors that are treated with MMTS and then separated from low Mr components of cytosol by passage through a column of Sephadex G-50 have very little DNA-binding activity when DTT is added to regenerate sulfhydryl moities. The receptors will bind to DNA if whole liver cytosol or boiled liver cytosol is added in addition to DTT. The effect of boiled cytosol is mimicked by purified rat thioredoxin or bovine RNase A in a manner that does not reflect the reducing activity of the former or the catalytic activity of the latter. This suggests that the reported ability of each of these heat-stable peptides to stimulate DNA binding by glucocorticoid receptors is not a biologically relevant action. We suggest that stimulation of DNA binding of partially purified receptors by boiled cytosol does not constitute a reconstitution of a complete cytosolic system in which the dissociated receptor must associate with a specific heat-stable accessory protein required for DNA binding, as has been suggested in the "two-step" model of receptor transformation recently proposed by Schmidt et al. (Schmidt T.J., Miller-Diener, A., Webb M.L. and Litwack G. (1985) J. biol. Chem. 260, 16255-16262).     

Synthesis of 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate and its activity in the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system

The structure of component B of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum was recently assigned as 7-mercaptoheptanoylthreonine phosphate (HS-HTP) (Noll, K. M., Rinehart, K. L., Jr., Tanner, R.S., and Wolfe, R.S. (1986) (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 4238-4242). We report here the chemical synthesis and biochemical activity of this compound. Thiourea and 7-bromoheptanoic acid were used to to synthesize 7,7'-dithiodiheptanoic acid. This disulfide was then condensed with DL-threonine phosphate using N-hydroxysuccinimide and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The product was reduced with dithiothreitol to give HS-HTP. It could be oxidized in air in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol to give the compound as it was isolated from cell extracts. The resulting product was identical to the authentic compound by 1H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and coelution using high performance liquid chromatography. The synthetic compound is active in the in vitro methanogenic assay at concentrations comparable to the authentic compound. This confirms the structure of component B as HS-HTP and provides a means to synthesize quantities sufficient for studies of the methylreductase system.     

ATP synthesis from 2,3-diphosphoglycerate by cell-free extract of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (strain ΔH)

Cell-free extracts of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum were found to catalyze ATP synthesis from an endogeneous substrate. Synthesis was stimulated under hydrogen atmosphere and inhibited by KCL (K _i =150 mM). Comparison of the properties of a number of cell constituents showed the endogeneous substrate to be 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. The compound is converted into 3-phosphoglycerate, and via 2-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate into pyruvate, at which the latter reaction is linked with ATP synthesis.Abbreviations HS-CoM Coenzyme M, 2-mercaptoethanesulfonate - CH₃S-CoM methylcoenzyme m, 2-(methylthio)ethanesulfonate - HS-HTP 7-mercaptoheptanoyl-l-threonine phosphate - CoM-SS-HTP the heterodisulfide of HS-CoM and HS-HTP - BCFE bolled cell-free extract - TES N-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-2-aminoethanesulfonate - HEPES N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N-ethanesulfonic acid - PEP phosphoenolpyruvate - 2,3-DPG 2,3-diphosphoglycerate - cDPG cyclic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate - 3-PG 3-phosphoglycerate - 2-PG 2-phosphoglycerate     

Identification of Propionate as an Endogenous CO2 Acceptor in Rhodospirillum rubrum and Properties of Purified Propionyl-Coenzyme A Carboxylase

A heat-stable endogenous CO(2) acceptor has been found in extracts of Rhodospirillum rubrum grown photoheterotrophically on acetate. Evidence is presented which suggests that this factor is propionic acid. Thus, paper and gas chromatographic analyses have indicated that propionic acid is present in boiled extracts prepared from R. rubrum cells. The products of (14)CO(2) fixation obtained with either the boiled extract or propionic acid as the CO(2) acceptor were identical and were identified as methylmalonic acid and succinic acid by paper chromatography. The enzyme which catalyzes the carboxylation of propionyl-coenzyme A (propionyl-CoA carboxylase) was purified from R. rubrum cells grown on acetate and its properties were studied. The enzyme is similar to propionyl-CoA carboxylases isolated from mammalian sources.     

A factor from bovine granulosa cells preventing oocyte maturation

Abstract. A factor preventing spontaneous dissolution of germinal vesicle (GVBD) of mouse oocytes in vitro was isolated from bovine granulosa cells and designated as granulosa cell factor (GCF). Granulosa cells from medium sized (2–5 mm) follicles were suspended in 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.3, containing 1 M urea and 5 mM EDTA. GCF was separated from the extract by gel filtration on Sephadex G-25 column. The molecular weight (Mr) of GCF was estimated to be less than 6,000 daltons. Oocytes treated with GCF and resuspended in control medium resumed GVBD. The partially purified GCF lost GVBD-preventing activity when digested with pronase but retained its activity when treated with DNase, RNase, or glycosidase. GCF was stable to heating at 100° C for 15 min, not absorbed by charcoal, and did not bind to Concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B. The present findings suggest that GCF is a heat-stable polypeptide and its action is reversible.     

An unusual thiol-driven fumarate reductase in Methanobacterium with the production of the heterodisulfide of coenzyme M and N-(7-mercaptoheptanoyl)threonine-O3-phosphate

An unusual fumarate reductase was purified from cell extracts of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum and partially characterized. Two coenzymes previously isolated from cell extracts, 2-mercaptoethane-sulfonic acid (HS-CoM) and N-(7-mercaptoheptanoyl)threonine-O3-phosphate (HS-HTP), were established as direct electron donors for fumarate reductase. By measuring the consumption of free thiol, we determined that fumarate reductase catalyzed the oxidation of HS-CoM and HS-HTP; by the direct measurement of succinate and the heterodisulfide of HS-CoM and HS-HTP (CoM-S-S-HTP), we established that these compounds were products of the fumarate reductase reaction. A number of thiol-containing compounds did not function as substrates for fumarate reductase, but this enzyme had high specific activity when HS-CoM and HS-HTP were used as electron donors. HS-CoM and HS-HTP were quantitatively oxidized by the fumarate reductase reaction, and results indicated that this reaction was irreversible. Additionally, by measuring formylmethanofuran, we demonstrated that the addition of fumarate to cell extracts activated CO2 fixation for the formation of formylmethanofuran. Results indicated that this activation resulted from the production of CoM-S-S-HTP (a compound known to be involved in the activation of formylmethanofuran synthesis) by the fumarate reductase reaction.     

Protein kinases in brown adipose tissue of developing rats. II. two soluble kinase activities and their affinities for nucleotide and protein substrates.

A heat-stable, soluble component of brown adipose tissue from newborn rats was found to be readily phosphorylated by protein kinase of the same subcellular fraction. The concentration of this component in brown fat decreased with the age of the animals. A boiled crude microsomal preparation from rat liver was also phosphorylated by brown fat protein kinase. The GTP-linked phosphorylation of the endogenous heat-stable protein was not stimulated by ATP (in contrast to phosphorylation of histone). The maximum velocity of phosphorylation achieved with GTP was about 2.5 times higher than that with ATP as nucleotide substrate. This difference was not due to ATPase activity in the assay. With histone as the protein acceptor both activities were the same. The affinity of protein kinase(s) for ATP was lower with the endogenous heat-stable brown-fat protein and with boiled microsomes (Km of 0.21 mM and 0.17 mM, respectively) than with histone (Km of 0.05 M). No detectable ATPase activity was present in either acceptor protein. It is concluded that the 100 000 times g supernatant fraction from brown fat of infant rats contains two protein kinase activities. One preferentially uses ATP and histone as substrates and the other uses endogenous heat-stable soluble proteins and either ATP or GTP.     

Adrenocortical pregnenolone-binding protein activity requires a small heat-stable factor: evidence that regulation by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation occurs at the level of the factor, not the protein.

The steroid-binding capacity of the adrenocortical pregnenolone-binding protein (PBP) is effectively destroyed by extreme temperature (boiling water for 2-5 min); however, the boiled preparation contains a factor that potentiates ligand binding when readded to native PBP. Treatment of the boiled fraction with calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase at pH 9 reverses the stimulatory effect on PBP activity. Additionally, if native PBP is first incubated with alkaline phosphatase, which converts it to a nonbinding form, activity can be fully restored in a dose-dependent manner by the addition of the boiled preparation. The factor (itself devoid of binding capacity) can also be generated by exposing native PBP to acidic conditions (pH 4). The molecule is small (mol wt, less than 2000), as judged by Sephadex G-25 gel filtration and equilibrium dialysis. It is not retained on Concanavalin-A-Sepharose and is not extractable with a variety of organic solvents. The factor remains active after lyophilization and has a net negative charge at pH 7.4 (determined by DEAE-cellulose chromatography). While the binding capacity of native PBP is destroyed by a variety of proteases, the heat-stable factor is unaffected by similar treatment. Additionally, factor activity is not susceptible to RNase, DNase, or lipase digestion. Thus, the protein moiety of the PBP has an absolute requirement for a distinct phosphorylated heat-stable factor for expression of ligand-binding activity, and it may be through this factor that binding activity is regulated. It is not yet known whether the factor is acting allosterically or actually functions as part of the steroid-binding site.