Purification and characterization of fungal and mammalian phosphomannose isomerases

Phosphomannose isomerase (PMI) is essential for the production of yeast cell walls. An inhibitor which inhibits the fungal enzyme without altering the activity of the mammalian enzyme would be a potential fungicidal agent, increasingly important in view of the increasing mortality from visceral mycoses in immunosuppressed patients. We have purified human, porcine, andCandida albicans enzymes 29,000-fold to homogeneity, and characterized their physical properties, as well as their kinetic parameters, inhibition constants, andpH dependences. Surprisingly, in view of the large differences betweenPseudomonas aerugenosa andSaccharomyces cerevisiae PMI, the human andC. albicans enzymes are almost identical. We suggest therefore that species-selective inhibition of the fungal rather than mammalian enzyme may require molecules which bind away from the substrate binding pocket of the enzyme.Abbreviations PMI phosphomannose isomerase - Tris/HCl tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane - Hepes 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-piperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid - Mes 2-(N-morphilino) ethanesulfonic acid