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K Sandhoff

Publications and source records attributed to K Sandhoff.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Purification, characterization, and biosynthesis of human acid ceramidase.

Acid ceramidase (N-acylsphingosine deacylase, EC 3.5.1.23) is the lysosomal enzyme catalyzing the hydrolysis of ceramide to sphingosine and free fatty acid. Its inherited deficiency causes ceramide accumulation in Farber's disease. The enzyme was purified to apparent homogeneity from human urine by sequential chromatography on octyl-Sepharose, concanavalin A-Sepharose, blue-Sepharose, and DEAE-cellulose. The final preparation, which was enriched approximately 4450-fold over the starting material, resulted in a polypeptide of approximately 50 kDa and could be reduced into two subunits of approximately 13 (alpha) and approximately 40 (beta) kDa. Treatment of the purified enzyme with endoglycosidase H or peptido-N-glycanase F reduced the molecular mass of the beta subunit to approximately 30-35 and approximately 27 kDa, respectively. In contrast, the molecular mass of the alpha subunit was unchanged. The purified enzyme had an apparent Km of 149 microM and a Vmax of 136 nmol/mg/h using N-lauroylsphingosine as substrate. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against the purified urinary enzyme and used to investigate the biosynthesis of acid ceramidase. Immunoprecipitation studies on metabolically labeled skin fibroblasts indicated that both subunits arose from a single precursor of approximately 55 kDa. A minor portion of newly synthesized acid ceramidase was secreted into the medium as a monomeric 47-kDa protein, indicating that generation of the mature heterodimeric enzyme occurred in endosomal and/or lysosomal compartments.

Acid Ceramidase↗
PubMed1995

Sphingolipid activator proteins in the neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses: an immunological study.

The molecular defects underlying neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses (NCL) are still unknown. However, more data exist on the composition of the hydrophobic storage material characteristic of NCL. Accumulation of subunit c of the mitochondrial ATP synthase has been shown in most forms of human NCL with the exception of the infantile NCL (INCL) for which we have recently demonstrated storage of sphingolipid activator proteins (SAP). In the present study we raised an antiserum against storage cytosomes purified from INCL brain. Using the anti-INCL antiserum and monospecific SAP antisera, we studied storage material isolated from the brains of patients affected with NCL by Western analysis, and found a 12-kDa protein showing a SAP-like immunoreactivity not only in INCL, but also in all the childhood forms of NCL. Furthermore, using the anti-sap-D antiserum for immunohistochemistry, we observed strong immunoreactivity of the storage cytosomes in all major forms of NCL, and also in tissues of non-neuroectodermal origin. From these data we conclude that the presence of SAP within the storage bodies is a phenomenon common to all major forms of human NCL.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Acid sphingomyelinase deficient mice: a model of types A and B Niemann-Pick disease.

Types A and B Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) result from the deficient activity of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM). An animal model of NPD has been created by gene targeting. In affected animals, the disease followed a severe, neurodegenerative course and death occurred by eight months of age. Analysis of these animals showed their tissues had no detectable ASM activity, the blood cholesterol levels and sphingomyelin in the liver and brain were elevated, and atrophy of the cerebellum and marked deficiency of Purkinje cells was evident. Microscopic analysis revealed 'NPD cells' in reticuloendothelial organs and characteristic NPD lesions in the brain. Thus, the ASM deficient mice should be of great value for studying the pathogenesis and treatment of NPD, and for investigations into the role of ASM in signal transduction and apoptosis.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Mouse models of Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases differ in neurologic phenotype and ganglioside metabolism.

Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases are clinically similar neurodegenerative disorders. These two sphingolipidoses are characterized by a heritable absence of beta-hexosaminidase A resulting in defective GM2 ganglioside degradation. Through disruption of the Hexa and Hexb genes in embryonic stem cells, we have established mouse models corresponding to each disease. Unlike the two human disorders, the two mouse models show very different neurologic phenotypes. Although exhibiting biochemical and pathologic features of the disease, the Tay-Sachs model showed no neurological abnormalities. In contrast, the Sandhoff model was severely affected. The phenotypic difference between the two mouse models is the result of differences in the ganglioside degradation pathway between mice and humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Immunological studies on sphingolipid activator proteins in the neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses.

The neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses constitute an important group of progressive encephalopathies leading to severe psychomotor retardation, blindness, and early death. They are characterized by accumulation of autofluorescent, electron-dense storage bodies within the cytoplasm of neurons and many other cell types. We have recently identified sphingolipid activator proteins A and D as major components of the storage cytosomes in the infantile form of NCL. Using an immunological approach we have shown that sphingolipid activator proteins also constitute an integral component of the storage bodies in the other major forms of the disease.

Blotting, Western↗
PubMed1995

[Glycolipids of the cell surface--biochemistry of their decomposition].

Glycosphingolipids (GSL) form cell-type-specific patterns on the surface of eukaryotic cells. For the maintenance of these patterns, biosynthesis, intracellular transport, and degradation of GSL are thought to proceed in a coordinated fashion. After transport from the plasma membrane to the lysosomes the degradation of GSL requires protein cofactors to solubilize the membrane-bound substrates of the degradative enzymes. Inborn errors of metabolism leading to defective hydrolases or activator proteins give rise to sphingolipid storage diseases; in some cases the residual enzyme activity can be correlated with the clinical manifestations.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Molecular analysis of the acid sphingomyelinase deficiency in a family with an intermediate form of Niemann-Pick disease.

A novel point mutation in the lysosomal acid sphingomyelinase gene has been identified in the recently reported Serbian family with a clinically and biochemically atypical intermediate form of Niemann-Pick disease. The mutation was a T1171-->G transversion resulting in substitution of glycine for normal tryptophan at amino acid residue 391. The coding sequence was otherwise normal. All of the five affected individuals were almost certainly homoallelic, and both of the two obligate heterozygotes studied also carried the same mutation. This mutation is therefore likely to be directly associated with the atypical phenotype of these patients. Expression in COS-1 cells suggested a higher residual activity than that in cultured fibroblasts. A recently developed high-affinity rabbit antihuman sphingomyelinase antibody allowed us to study for the first time the biosynthesis, processing, and targeting of a mutant sphingomyelinase by metabolic labeling of cultured fibroblasts. The mutant enzyme protein was normally synthesized, processed, and routed to the lysosome but was apparently unstable and degraded rapidly once it reached the lysosome. Together with the finding of the relatively high residual activity in COS-1 cells, we interpret our observations to mean that instability and rapid breakdown of the mature mutant enzyme protein, due to the mutation rather than direct inactivation of the catalytic activity, is the primary mechanism for the deficiency of sphingomyelinase activity in these patients. A high prevalence of this mutation in the Serbian population is likely, since the family pedigree indicates that members from four reportedly unrelated families must have contributed the same mutation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Occurrence of two molecular forms of human acid sphingomyelinase.

Human acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) hydrolyses sphingomyelin to ceramide and phosphocholine. Metabolic studies on COS-1 cells transfected with ASM cDNA revealed the occurrence of an enzymically inactive precursor which is differentially processed to two predominant native glycoprotein forms: a 70 kDa polypeptide corresponding to human urinary protein and a 57 kDa form. Formation of these potentially active forms was shown to be restricted to distinct compartments. Maturation of the ASM precursor to a predominant 70 kDa form occurs exclusively inside acidic organelles, whereas variable amounts of 57 kDa ASM are detectable immediately after biosynthesis. Metabolic labelling of transfected COS-1 cells with [32P]Pi further suggests that this form obviously does not carry oligomannosylphosphate residues, in contrast with the mature lysosomal ASM. In order to verify that this early form of active ASM results from co-post-translational proteolysis of the ASM precursor and not from the use of different translation-initiation sites on the ASM mRNA, appropriate 5'-mutagenized cDNA constructs were transiently expressed. These results clearly indicate that the first potential in-frame AUG is exclusively used for translation initiation in vivo and that deletion of the proposed signal sequence for endoplasmic reticulum import completely eliminates the ability of the translation product to enter the vacuolar apparatus. As there are two different subcellular sites of maturation of the ASM precursor, and intracellular targeting of the two processed forms appears to be different, the two ASM proteins may contribute to distinct physiological functions.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Intracellular trafficking of glycosphingolipids: role of sphingolipid activator proteins in the topology of endocytosis and lysosomal digestion.

Glycosphingolipids (GSL) are components of the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane (PM) of vertebrate tissues. Our current knowledge of GSL metabolism and their intracellular traffic has been derived from metabolic studies but the exact mechanisms by which GSLs are transported from sites of synthesis (endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi) to the sites of residence (PM) and degradation (lysosomes) have not been clearly defined. It is now established that components of the PM reach the lysosomal compartment mainly by endocytic membrane flow. According to a new model, GSLs derived from the PM are thought to end up in intra-endosomal vesicles which could be delivered, by successive processes of membrane fission and fusion, along the endocytic pathway directly into the lumen of the lysosomes. Here the GSLs are degraded in a step-wise manner by exohydrolases. However, the catabolism of membrane-bound GSLs with short hydrophilic head groups needs the assistance of sphingolipid activator proteins (SAPs), which lift the GSLs from the plane of the membrane and present them for degradation to the lysosomal exohydrolases, which are usually water-soluble. The inherited deficiency of one of these enzymes or SAPs causes the lysosomal storage of their respective GSL substrates. In the case of the simultaneous deficiency of all 4 different SAPs the storage of all GSLs with short hydrophilic head groups occurs within multivesicular bodies and/or intra-lysosomal vesicles.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed1994

Sphingolipid activator protein D (sap-D) stimulates the lysosomal degradation of ceramide in vivo.

Glycosphingolipids of cultured fibroblasts from patients with total sphingolipid activator proteins (SAPs) deficiency (Schnabel et al. J. Biol. Chem. 267:3312-3315, 1992) were labeled biosynthetically with [14C]serine. After a chase period of 120h the patients' fibroblasts showed increased labeling of ceramide, glucosylceramide, lactosylceramide and ganglioside GM3 in comparison to normal control cells. Addition of sap-D to the chase-media of the patients' fibroblasts led to the degradation of the accumulated ceramide down to nearly normal levels, whereas the levels of other labeled sphingolipids remained unaffected. In contrast, addition of sap-B to the chase-media of the patients' fibroblasts did not reduce the increased ceramide levels but resulted, as expected from in vitro experiments, in a specific decrease of levels of lactosylceramide and ganglioside GM3. Therefore, we conclude that sap-D stimulates in vivo the lysosomal degradation of ceramide.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1994

A truncated epoxy-glucosylceramide uncouples glycosphingolipid biosynthesis by decreasing lactosylceramide synthase activity.

Introduction of an epoxide function at the C4 position of the glucose moiety of a truncated glucosylceramide (GlcCer) yields two stereoisomeric products namely a gluco- and a galacto-derivative. The effects of both analogues on the [14C]serine incorporation into glycosphingolipids as well as on lactosylceramide (LacCer) synthase activity of primary cultured neurons derived from the telencephalon of 8-day-old chick embryos were investigated. Whereas the galacto-derivative had no effect either on the pattern of labeled glycosphingolipids or on LacCer synthase activity, pretreatment (24 h) of neurons with the gluco-derivative caused a concentration dependent (IC50 = 8 microM) and irreversible decrease of the specific activity of LacCer synthase. As a consequence the biosynthetic glycosphingolipid pattern of cultured neurons treated with the glucoanalogue changed as follows: the radioactive label of all glycosphingolipids biosynthetically derived from GlcCer was decreased while labeling of GlcCer increased significantly. The inhibitory effect of the gluco-derivative on LacCer synthase activity was much less pronounced in vitro. Thus 250 microM analogue caused only about 30% inhibition of enzymatic activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Processing of human acid sphingomyelinase in normal and I-cell fibroblasts.

The biosynthesis of acid sphingomyelinase in normal and I-cell disease fibroblasts was investigated by metabolic labeling with [35S]methionine and immunoprecipitation followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography. Two major polypeptides with apparent molecular masses of 75 and 72 kDa (peptide chains of 64 and 61 kDa, respectively) and a minor one with molecular mass of 57 kDa (peptide chain of 47 kDa) were found intracellularly soon after pulse labeling. The 75-kDa form is assumed to be the propropolypeptide of sphingomyelinase which is converted into the precursor form of 72 kDa. The precursor is subjected to two distinct processing events. A minor part is already cleaved in the endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi complex yielding the beta-endo-N-acetylglucosaminidase H-resistant form of 57 kDa; whereas, the major part of the precursor is processed within 4 h to a 70-kDa mature beta-endo-N-acetylglucosaminidase H-sensitive form of sphingomyelinase, which is subsequently converted into a polypeptide with molecular mass of 52 kDa within a chase of about 20 h. Both the precursor (72 kDa) as well as its early cleavage product of 57 kDa are secreted into the culture medium to a minor extent. Intracellular transport of sphingomyelinase into lysosomes depends on the phosphomannosyl specific receptor by following criteria: (i) about 80% of newly synthesized precursor was secreted in NH4Cl-treated fibroblasts as well as in I-cells, (ii) the maturation of sphingomyelinase was inhibited in normal fibroblasts exposed to NH4Cl as well as in I-cell fibroblasts, and (iii) the [32P]phosphate associated with oligosaccharides was cleavable by beta-endo-N-acetylglucosaminidase H. However, endocytosis of radiolabeled extracellular precursor by fibroblasts was not prevented by the addition of mannose 6-phosphate, whereas uptake of arylsulfatase A and beta-hexosaminidase was almost completely blocked under these conditions. This indicates that endocytosis of acid sphingomyelinase by cultured fibroblasts might be mediated by an alternative pathway.

Ammonium Chloride↗
PubMed1994

The tricyclic antidepressant desipramine causes proteolytic degradation of lysosomal sphingomyelinase in human fibroblasts.

The effect of the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine on the processing of lysosomal sphingomyelinase (EC 3.1.4.12) was investigated by pulse-chase studies on [35S]methionine labeled cultured human skin fibroblasts. Desipramine induced rapid intracellular degradation of mature acid sphingomyelinase when added to the cells in the micromolar range, concomitantly abolishing the enzyme activity. Pulse chase labeling revealed the disappearance of mature enzyme forms when fibroblasts were treated with 25 microM desipramine. Incubation of cells with 25 microM leupeptin, an inhibitor of thiol proteases, 24 h prior to desipramine intoxication prevented this drug-induced effect. From these results we conclude that desipramine and possibly also similarly acting tricyclic antidepressants induce proteolytic degradation of acid sphingomyelinase.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1993

Fumonisin B1 inhibits sphingosine (sphinganine) N-acyltransferase and de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis in cultured neurons in situ.

Fumonisins, mycotoxins produced by Fusarium moniliforme and a number of other fungi, cause neuronal degeneration, liver and renal toxicity, cancer, and other injury to animals. Recent work with rat hepatocytes (Wang, E., Norred, W. P., Bacon, C. W., Riley, R. T., and Merrill, A. H., Jr. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 14486-14490) found that fumonisins block sphingosine biosynthesis by inhibiting the conversion of sphinganine to dihydroceramides, which precedes introduction of the 4,5-trans-double bond of sphingosine. The current study utilized mouse cerebellar neurons in culture to evaluate how this affects the distribution of newly synthesized ceramides among different complex sphingolipids. Fumonisin B1 inhibited ceramide synthase in mouse brain microsomes with a competitive-like kinetic behavior with respect to both sphinganine and stearoyl-CoA. Fumonisin B1 inhibited sphingolipid biosynthesis in cultured cerebellar neurons in situ as reflected by accumulation of free sphinganine, a reduction in the mass of total sphingolipids, reductions in the incorporation of [14C]serine into glucosylceramide, lactosylceramide, sphingomyelin, and gangliosides (GM1, GD3, GD1a, GD1b, GT1b, and GQ1b), and inhibition of the incorporation of [14C]galactose and [3H]sphinganine into complex sphingolipids. Dose-response studies revealed that the labeling of sphingomyelin (IC50 of 0.7 microM) was more sensitive to inhibition by fumonisin B1 than was glycolipid formation (IC50 of approximately 7 microM) in these cells. A similar effect was seen when beta-fluoroalanine was added to inhibit the activity of serine palmitoyltransferase, the first enzyme of the pathway. The inhibition of complex sphingolipid synthesis was reversible, and nearly normal labeling profiles were obtained 48 h after removing the mycotoxin. These studies establish that fumonisin B1 inhibits de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis by neuronal cells and, moreover, that limiting ceramide synthesis differentially affects the formation of sphingomyelin versus glycosphingolipids.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1993

[Synthesis of 2-acetamido-1,4-imino-1,2,4-tridesoxy-D-galactitol and competitive inhibition of human lysosomal beta-hexosaminidase A].

The synthesis of 2-acetamido-1,4-imino-1,2,4-trideoxy-D-galactitol (1; 2-acetamido-4-amino-1,4-anhydro-2,4-dideoxy-D-galactitol) by two different routes starting from 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose is described. Compound 1 is a competitive inhibitor of human lysosomal beta-hexosaminidase A with K(i) values of 18 microM (beta-subunit) and 220 microM (alpha-subunit). Similar properties were found for the already known 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-gluco-hydroximo-1,4-lactone.

Binding, Competitive↗
PubMed1993

Over-expression of a functionally active human GM2-activator protein in Escherichia coli.

The cDNA of the human GM2-activator protein was cloned into the expression vector pHX17. The plasmid encodes a fusion protein with a hexahistidine tail and a Factor Xa cleavage site at its N-terminus. The recombinant protein was purified from cell homogenates under denaturing conditions by metal-ion affinity chromatography in a single step and then was refolded. The hexahistidine tail could be removed when desired by digestion with Factor Xa. In a functional assay, the GM2-activator thus generated from Escherichia coli and renatured, with or without the hexahistidine tail, was as active as the native GM2-activator protein that was purified from human tissue. When added to the culture medium, the recombinant carbohydrate-free GM2-activator, carrying the hexahistidine tail, could be taken up efficiently and restored the degradation of ganglioside GM2 to normal rates in mutant fibroblasts with the AB variant of GM2-gangliosidosis, which is characterized by a genetic defect in the GM2-activator protein. The prokaryotic expression system is useful for producing milligram quantities of a pure and functionally active GM2-activator.

Amino Acid Sequence↗