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Biomedical subjects

F E Frerman

Publications and source records attributed to F E Frerman.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Glutaric aciduria type II: review of the phenotype and report of an unusual glomerulopathy.

A male infant with glutaric aciduria II secondary to electron transfer flavoprotein: ubiquinone oxidoreductase deficiency is compared to previously reported cases of glutaric aciduria II. A common pattern of anomalies in patients with malformations (8/16) includes macrocephaly, large anterior fontanelle, high forehead, flat nasal bridge, telecanthus, and malformed ears. Abnormalities such as hypotonia, cerebral gliosis, heterotopias, hepatomegaly, hepatic periportal necrosis, polycystic kidneys, and genital defects in glutaric aciduria II are reminiscent of those in Zellweger syndrome, whereas elevations of glutaric, ethylmalonic, adipic, and isovaleric acids are quite distinctive. A unique ultrastructural alteration of the glomerular basement membrane was observed in the proposita. This manifestation may represent an early stage in renal cyst formation and provide a diagnostic criterion for glutaric aciduria II when enzyme studies are unavailable.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1989

Striatal degeneration in glutaric acidaemia type II.

A girl of first cousin parents presented in the 1st year of life with a progressive neurological disease with muscle weakness and hypotonia, accompanied later by dystonia. Investigations, including gas chromatography of urine, showed no abnormality. Autopsy showed marked neuronal loss and gliosis in the putamen and globus pallidus. The activity of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase in cultured fibroblasts was normal, but the activity of electron transfer flavoprotein was markedly diminished. Retrospective study of urine by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed small amounts of glutaric and other organic acids. This is the first report of striatal degeneration in association with glutaric acidaemia type II. The neuropathological changes were milder than those in glutaric acidaemia type I.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1987

Electron paramagnetic resonance and magnetic circular dichroism studies of electron-transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase from pig liver.

Pig liver electron-transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase has been investigated by room temperature UV-visible, low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance and low-temperature magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopies. The results provide unambiguous evidence for the presence of a single [4Fe-4S] cluster that is diamagnetic in the isolated enzyme and becomes paramagnetic with an S = 1/2 ground state on reduction with dithionite or enzymatically with the physiological electron donor. The EPR data for samples at pH 7.8 indicate that FAD is reduced by one electron to the anionic semiquinone form in the enzymatically reduced enzyme, and by two electrons to the hydroquinone form by excess dithionite. The possibility of weak spin-spin interaction between the FAD semiquinone and the [4Fe-4S]1+ center is discussed in the light of the observation of a small increase in the linewidth of the Fe-S EPR in enzymatically reduced samples.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Reaction of electron-transfer flavoprotein ubiquinone oxidoreductase with the mitochondrial respiratory chain.

Submitochondrial particles catalyze the reduction of electron-transfer flavoprotein (ETF) by NADH and succinate under anaerobic conditions in reactions that are totally inhibited by rotenone and thenoyl trifluoroacetone, respectively. The particles also catalyze the ATP-dependent reduction of NAD+ by enzymatically reduced ETF. The latter reaction is inhibited by rotenone and carbonyl cyanide chlorophenylhydrazone and all three reactions are inhibited by antibody to electrontransfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO). These observations indicated that ETF-QO reacts with the pool of ubiquinone that is reduced by NADH and succinic dehydrogenases. Consistent with this hypothesis, NADH- and succinic-ETF reductase activities are inhibited 99% in ubiquinone-depleted particles, and reincorporation of exogenous ubiquinone restores at least 90% of these activities. Reduction of the bc1 complex by ETF and acyl CoA oxidase activity are also inhibited by antibody to ETF-QO. Myxothiazole and antimycin which inhibit the quinonol oxidation and quinone reduction sites, respectively, in the bc1 complex also inhibit electron transport from ETF-QO through the complex according to current models of the Q-cycle (Rich, P.R. (1986) J. Bioenerg. Biomembranes 18, 145-156). The results show that ETF-QO is an obligatory component of the electron transport pathway between ETF and the ubiquinone pool and suggest a mechanism for the steady-state turnover of ETF-QO.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Recent progress in understanding glutaric acidemias.

Glutaric acidemia, which is due to inherited deficiency of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase, is characterized clinically by progressive dystonia and dyskinesia in childhood, and pathologically by degeneration of the caudate and putamen. Results using newer imaging techniques (computer tomography and magnetic resonance image scanning) suggest that neurological involvement in this condition begins before birth, and that gliosis of the basal ganglia is a relatively late event. Glutaric acidemia type II is usually due to inherited deficiency of electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) or ETF:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, but some patients with typical disease may have another, to date undefined, abnormality. There may also be a clinical phenotype of glutaric acidemia type II which, like glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, is characterized by a movement disorder and by degeneration of the basal ganglia.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1986

Systemic carnitine deficiency due to lack of electron transfer flavoprotein:ubiquinone oxidoreductase.

A child with myopathy and systemic carnitine deficiency died at age 8 years in an acute metabolic attack. He had glutaric aciduria type II, and his cultured fibroblasts contained normal activity of four different acyl CoA dehydrogenases, but there was deficiency of electron transfer flavoprotein:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO). This enzyme is thought to reduce coenzyme Q in the respiratory chain, funneling reducing equivalents from seven flavoproteins in the beta-oxidation of acyl CoAs. There was massive urinary excretion of the short-chain acylcarnitines that accumulated in mitochondria as a result of the ETF-QO defect. Carnitine therefore acts as a buffer for excessive accumulation of intramitochondrial acyl CoAs, and defective beta-oxidation can cause carnitine insufficiency.

Acetylcarnitine↗
PubMed1985

Electron-transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase from pig liver: purification and molecular, redox, and catalytic properties.

Electron-transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO) was purified to homogeneity from pig liver submitochondrial particles. It is comparable in molecular weight and general properties to ETF-QO from beef heart [Ruzicka, F. J., & Beinert, H. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 8440-8445], and the electron spin resonance signals of the reduced iron-sulfur cluster are essentially identical. ETF-QO catalyzes the transfer of electrons from electron-transfer flavoprotein (ETF) to nitro blue tetrazolium, with a sluggish reaction turnover number of about 10-30 min-1. In contrast, the enzyme rapidly disproportionates ETF semiquinone, with a turnover number of 200 s-1. The reverse reaction, comproportionation of oxidized and hydroquinone ETF, provides an enzymatic assay for ETF-QO with picomolar sensitivity. Equilibrium spectrophotometric titrations show that ETF-QO accepts a maximum of two electrons from ETF and accepts three electron equivalents from dithionite or by photochemical reduction. All electrons from the enzymatically or chemically reduced protein can be transferred to 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-6-pentyl-1,4-benzoquinone (PB), and this reaction is readily reversible. Reduction of ETF-QO by 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-6-pentyl-1,4-benzohydroquinone is pH dependent and indicates the enzyme to have a redox potential that decreases by 47 mV per pH unit. Therefore, ETF-QO binds one to two protons upon reduction. The EO' at pH 7.3 is 38 mV. The ability of ETF-QO to catalyze the equilibration of ETF redox states has been used to evaluate the equilibrium 2ETFsq + nH+ in equilibrium ETFox + ETFhq.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1985

Reaction of electron-transfer flavoprotein with electron-transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase.

The oxidative half-reaction of electron-transfer flavoprotein (ETF), electron transfer from ETF to electron-transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO), is dependent on complementary surface charges on the two proteins. ETF is the positively charged member of the redox pair. The evidence is based on the pH and ionic strength dependencies of the comproportionation of oxidized ETF and ETF hydroquinone catalyzed by ETF-QO and on the effects of chemical modification of ETF on the comproportionation reaction. Acetylation of one and five epsilon-amino groups of lysyl residues results in 3- and 13-fold increases, respectively, in the Km of ETF-QO for ETF but no change in Vmax. Amidination, which maintains positive charge at modified loci, has no effect on steady-state kinetic constants. These chemical modifications have no effect on the equilibrium constant for equilibration of ETF redox states. The Km of ETF-QO for ETF is pH dependent above pH 8.5, suggesting titration of lysyl residues as previously observed in studies of the reductive half-reaction of ETF [Beckmann, J. D., & Frerman, F. E. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 7563-7569]. The ionic strength dependence of TN/KmETF for the reaction follows the limiting Brønsted equation ln (TN/Km) = ln k0 + 2 alpha Z1Z2I1/2, and Z1Z2, the product of charges on the reacting proteins, is similar to the value of Z1Z2 for the reductive half-reaction of ETF by the general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. The ETF-QO-catalyzed comproportionation reaction exhibits a primary deuterium isotope effect in D2O, perhaps indicating the participation of solvent water in the electron-transfer reaction.

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenases↗
PubMed1985

Mitochondrial metabolism of 3-mercaptopropionic acid. Chemical synthesis of 3-mercaptopropionyl coenzyme A and some of its S-acyl derivatives.

The metabolism of 3-mercaptopropionic acid in mitochondria was studied by use of purified mitochondrial enzymes and rat heart mitochondria. Metabolites of 3-mercaptopropionic acid were separated by high performance liquid chromatography and identified by comparing them with chemically synthesized derivatives of 3-mercaptopropionic acid. The initial step in the metabolism of 3-mercaptopropionic acid is its conversion to a CoA thioester, most likely catalyzed by medium-chain acyl-CoA synthetase. The resulting 3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA is a poor substrate of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase but substitutes effectively for CoASH in reactions catalyzed by 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase and acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase. S-Acyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA thioesters formed in the thiolase-catalyzed reactions are not at all or only poorly acted upon by acyl-CoA dehydrogenases. However, they are hydrolyzed by thioesterase(s) to CoASH and S-acyl-3-mercaptopropionic acid. The hydrolysis of S-acyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA thioesters proceeds more rapidly than the hydrolysis of fatty acyl-CoA thioesters of comparable chain lengths. Free CoASH is also regenerated from S-acetyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA and more rapidly from 3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA as a result of their reactions with carnitine catalyzed by carnitine acetyltransferase. These findings lead to the suggestion that the major mitochondrial CoA-containing metabolites of 3-mercaptopropionic acid are S-acyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA thioesters.

3-Mercaptopropionic Acid↗
PubMed1985

Fluorometric assay of acyl-CoA dehydrogenases in normal and mutant human fibroblasts.

A fluorimetric, ETF-linked procedure to determine activities of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase in cultured human fibroblasts is described. The assay readily distinguishes between cell lines deficient in medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase, and controls, and may allow for the diagnosis of heterozygous carriers of these disorders. The method has been made feasible with the development of rapid and efficient procedures to isolate ETF, and offers several advantages over procedures that are currently employed.

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase, Long-Chain↗
PubMed1985

Deficiency of electron transfer flavoprotein or electron transfer flavoprotein:ubiquinone oxidoreductase in glutaric acidemia type II fibroblasts.

Glutaric acidemia type II (GA II) is a human genetic disorder. It has been suggested that the primary defect in this disorder is a deficiency of a protein involved in electron transport between the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases and the bc1 complex of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Antisera were raised to purified porcine electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) and electron transfer flavoprotein:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF:QO). The antisera were used to detect the two electron transferases in control and GA II fibroblasts by immunoblotting. Fibroblasts from three unrelated GA II patients were deficient in immunologically detectable ETF:QO and extracts from these three fibroblast lines contained no detectable ETF:QO catalytic activity. Fibroblasts from parents of two of these patients had ETF:QO activity intermediate between activities in control fibroblasts and fibroblasts from the patients. These data indicate that the primary defect in these patients is a deficiency of ETF:QO and that the mode of transmission of the gene is autosomal recessive. Fibroblasts from two other patients with severe GA II had normal levels of ETF-QO activity and antigen but were deficient in immunoreactive ETF. These findings show that GA II results from a deficiency of ETF in some patients and ETF:QO in others. In addition, these investigations provide strong evidence for the specificity and physiological function of the iron-sulfur flavoprotein ETF:QO.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Long-chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency: an inherited cause of nonketotic hypoglycemia.

Three children from unrelated families presented in early childhood with hypoglycemia and cardiorespiratory arrests associated with fasting. Significant hepatomegaly, cardiomegaly, and hypotonia were present at the time of initial presentation. Ketones were not present in the urine at the time of hypoglycemia in any patient; however, dicarboxylic aciduria was documented in one patient at the time of the acute episode and in two patients during fasting studies. Total plasma carnitine concentration was low with an increased esterified carnitine fraction. These findings suggested a defect in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, and specific assays were performed for the acyl coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenases. These analyses showed that the activity of the long-chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase was less than 10% of control values in fibroblasts, leukocytes, and liver tissue. Activities of the medium-chain, short-chain, and isovaleryl CoA dehydrogenases were not different from control values. With cultured fibroblasts, CO2 evolution from long-chain fatty acids was significantly reduced, while CO2 evolution from medium-chain and short-chain fatty acids was comparable to control values--findings consistent with a defect early in the beta-oxidation sequence. Studies of acyl CoA dehydrogenase activities in fibroblasts and leukocytes from parents of the patients showed levels of long-chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase activity intermediate between affected and control values and indicated an autosomal recessive form of inheritance of this enzymatic defect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase, Long-Chain↗
PubMed1984

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray data for the general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

The general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase from pig liver mitochondria has been crystallized in a form suitable for detailed three-dimensional x-ray structure analysis. Crystals grown from Tris buffer and polyethylene glycol solution diffract to high resolution and have the space group C2221, a = 128.2, b = 136.1, and c = 106.3 A. A measured crystal density of 1.178 g/cm3 and a crystal volume/unit of molecular mass, Vm = 2.5 A3/dalton, suggest that the asymmetric unit contains two monomers of the tetrameric dehydrogenase molecule.

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1984

Glutaric acidaemia type II (multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenation deficiency).

The clinical and biochemical phenotype of glutaric acidaemia type II (GAII) has led to the suggestion that the defect in the disorder affects electron transfer from primary FAD-containing dehydrogenases into the respiratory chain. Two proteins are involved in this process, i.e. electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) and ETF dehydrogenase, an iron--sulphur flavoprotein with a distinctive EPR signal. Reliable catalytic assays for these proteins are not available, but both proteins have been purified and antisera against them prepared in rabbits. SDS-PAG electrophoresis of liver mitochondrial membranes from a GAII infant with congenital anomalies, locating ETF dehydrogenase with specific antiserum, showed no cross-reactive material. EPR of the same membranes showed a marked decrease in the ETF dehydrogenase signal. These results suggest that the defect in GAII in some patients is indeed in electron transport, and specifically in ETF dehydrogenase.

Electron Transport↗
PubMed1983

Chemical and catalytic properties of the peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidase from Candida tropicalis.

The peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase has been purified from extracts of the yeast Candida tropicalis grown with alkanes as the principal energy source. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 552,000 and a subunit molecular weight of 72,100. Using an experimentally determined molar extinction coefficient for the enzyme-bound flavin, a minimum molecular weight of 146,700 was determined. Based on these data, the oxidase contains eight perhaps identical subunits and four equivalents of FAD. No other beta-oxidation enzyme activities are detected in purified preparations of the oxidase. The oxidase flavin does not react with sulfite to form an N(5) flavin-sulfite complex. Photochemical reduction of the oxidase flavin yields a red semiquinone; however, the yield of semiquinone is strongly pH dependent. The yield of semiquinone is significantly reduced below pH 7.5. The flavin semiquinone can be further reduced to the hydroquinone. The behavior of the oxidase flavin during photoreduction and its reactivity toward sulfite are interpreted to reflect the interaction in the N(1)-C(2)O region of the flavin with a group on the protein which acts as a hydrogen-bond acceptor. Like the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases which catalyze the same transformation of acyl-CoA substrates, the oxidase is inactivated by the acetylenic substrate analog, 3-octynoyl-CoA, which acts as an active site-directed inhibitor.

Acyl-CoA Oxidase↗
PubMed1983

The effects of pH, ionic strength, and chemical modifications on the reaction of electron transfer flavoprotein with an acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase.

The effects of pH and ionic strength on the steady state kinetic parameters for reduction of electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) by general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase were determined. The effect of pH on the turnover number (TN) of the reaction indicates the participation of an essential base with a pK alpha of 6.9. The KmETF of the dehydrogenase is invariant between pH 5.4 and 8.5, but increases 40-fold between pH 8.5 and 9.8. The parameter TN/KmETF follows the limiting Bronsted equation (In TN/KmETF = ln ko + 2.34ZAZB I 1/2) at ionic strength values between 0.01 and 0.125 M, indicating complementary charge interactions between the two flavoproteins. Covalent modifications of amino groups of ETF with trinitrobenzene sulfonate and acetic anhydride remove positive charges and result in an increase in KmETF of the dehydrogenase with no change of TN. However, exhaustive acetimidation of ETF amino groups, which maintains cationic charge at modified loci, does not alter the steady state kinetic parameters of the reaction. These results, in conjunction with previous chemical covalent modifications of dehydrogenase carboxyl residues (Frerman, F. E., Mielke, D., and Huhta, K. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 2199-2202), indicate that general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and ETF interact in an electrostatic manner.

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenases↗