Biomedical subjects

D M Glerum

Publications and source records attributed to D M Glerum.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1995

Cloning and characterization of FAD1, the structural gene for flavin adenine dinucleotide synthetase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The FAD1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been selected from a genomic library on the basis of its ability to partially correct the respiratory defect of pet mutants previously assigned to complementation group G178. Mutants in this group display a reduced level of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and an increased level of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) in mitochondria. The restoration of respiratory capability by FAD1 is shown to be due to extragenic suppression. FAD1 codes for an essential yeast protein, since disruption of the gene induces a lethal phenotype. The FAD1 product has been inferred to be yeast FAD synthetase, an enzyme that adenylates FMN to FAD. This conclusion is based on the following evidence. S. cerevisiae transformed with FAD1 on a multicopy plasmid displays an increase in FAD synthetase activity. This is also true when the gene is expressed in Escherichia coli. Lastly, the FAD1 product exhibits low but significant primary sequence similarity to sulfate adenyltransferase, which catalyzes a transfer reaction analogous to that of FAD synthetase. The lower mitochondrial concentration of FAD in G178 mutants is proposed to be caused by an inefficient exchange of external FAD for internal FMN. This is supported by the absence of FAD synthetase activity in yeast mitochondria and the presence of both extramitochondrial and mitochondrial riboflavin kinase, the preceding enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway. A lesion in mitochondrial import of FAD would account for the higher concentration of mitochondrial FMN in the mutant if the transport is catalyzed by an exchange carrier. The ability of FAD1 to suppress impaired transport of FAD is explained by mislocalization of the synthetase in cells harboring multiple copies of the gene. This mechanism of suppression is supported by the presence of mitochondrial FAD synthetase activity in S. cerevisiae transformed with FAD1 on a high-copy-number plasmid but not in mitochondrial of a wild-type strain.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1994

Isolation of a human cDNA for heme A:farnesyltransferase by functional complementation of a yeast cox10 mutant.

We have cloned the human homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae COX10 gene by functional complementation of a yeast cox10 null mutant. The 2.8-kb cDNA encoding the human heme A:farnesyltransferase codes for a 443-aa protein with high homology to the yeast and bacterial farnesylases. The human COX10 homolog, however, does not complement the mutation as efficiently as the yeast COX10 protein, likely due to the heterologous environment. PCR amplification and Southern analysis confirm the existence of a large mRNA for the human protein, with an unusually long 3' untranslated region. This clone can now be used to screen patients with inherited deficiencies in cytochrome oxidase in which the mutations remain unidentified and are likely to reside in a protein influencing the assembly of the enzyme.

Alkyl and Aryl Transferases↗

PubMed1990

The tricarboxylate carrier from rat liver mitochondria. Purification, reconstitution and kinetic characterization.

The tricarboxylate carrier from rat liver mitochondria has been purified and reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles. Its activity has been characterized by both a radioactive citrate uptake assay and a coupled enzymatic assay. A Km of 40 microM and a Vmax of 1.56 mumol x min-1 x mg-1 have been determined for the carrier. Cholesterol levels of between 5-10% of total lipid content are shown to cause a decrease in carrier activity.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

The use of skin fibroblast cultures in the detection of respiratory chain defects in patients with lacticacidemia.

Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with lacticacidemia were incubated with glucose for 1 h and the lactate and pyruvate production measured. Those patients with increased lactate to pyruvate ratios were further analyzed for the cause of the abnormal redox state. Two categories of patients are described. The first contains patients with either severe or partial cytochrome oxidase deficiency; this group can be broken down further into patients with Leigh's disease, Kearns-Sayre syndrome, and liver-specific cytochrome oxidase deficiency. In this group, the rise in lactate to pyruvate ratio roughly correlated with the severity of the defect. The second patient category had defects located in complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. This is easily demonstrated in the most severely affected patients with the fatal infantile form of the disease. Patients with severe defects in either complex I or cytochrome oxidase had complexes that were only partially assembled. Patients with mitochondrial encephalopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes demonstrated only minor changes in redox state and in the behavior of the mitochondrial respiratory chain.

Acidosis, Lactic↗

PubMed1988

Characterization of cytochrome-c oxidase mutants in human fibroblasts.

Skin fibroblasts were selected as having cytochrome-c oxidase deficiency by activity measurements in whole cells. Each cell line was cultured in sufficient amount to isolate mitochondria for biochemical characterization. Cytochrome-c oxidase was then examined by activity measurements, by heme determination and by polypeptide analysis using antibodies specific to the enzyme subunits. The cytochrome-c oxidase activity in the different cell lines ranged from 9% to 54% of that of normal fibroblasts. Heme determinations and polypeptide analysis established that the lowered cytochrome-c oxidase activity was due to reduced amounts of the complex in the mitochondrial inner membrane. In all cases, there was defective assembly of the enzyme, with the amounts of mitochondrially coded and nuclear coded subunits being reduced proportionally. These studies show that fibroblasts can be used for prenatal diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases and are a useful system in which to study mitochondrial biogenesis.

Cell Line↗