Biochemistry and molecular biology of ascorbic acid biosynthesis.
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Amino Acid Sequence↗
Biomedical subjects
M Nishikimi
Publications and source records attributed to M Nishikimi.
[Recent advance in the study of ascorbic acid biosynthesis].
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Amino Acid Sequence↗
Cloning and chromosomal mapping of the human nonfunctional gene for L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, the enzyme for L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis missing in man.
Man is among the exceptional higher animals that are unable to synthesize L-ascorbic acid because of their deficiency in L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, the enzyme catalyzing the terminal step in L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis. In the present study, we isolated a segment of the nonfunctional L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene from a human genomic library, and mapped it on chromosome 8p21.1 by spot blot hybridization using flow-sorted human chromosomes and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Sequencing analysis indicated that the isolated segment represented a 3'-part of the gene, where the regions corresponding to exons VII, IX, X, and XII of the rat L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene remain with probable deletion of the regions corresponding to exons VIII and XI. In the identified exon regions were found various anomalous nucleotide changes, such as deletion and insertion of nucleotide(s) and nonconformance to the GT/AG rule at intron/exon boundaries. When the conceptual amino acid sequences deduced from the four exon sequences were compared with the corresponding rat sequences, there were a large number of nonconservative substitutions and also two stop codons. These findings indicate that the human nonfunctional L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene has accumulated a large number of mutations without selective pressure since it ceased to function during evolution.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Production by a baculovirus expression system of the APO-protein of L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, a flavoenzyme possessing a covalently-bound FAD.
L-Gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, an enzyme functioning in L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis in higher animals, possesses a covalently-bound FAD as the prosthetic group. Catalytically-active enzyme was expressed in silkworm cells by a recombinant baculovirus encoding rat L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase. When recombinant enzyme was expressed under riboflavin-deficient conditions, most of it was found to be the apoprotein, as evidenced by an increase in enzymic activity upon addition of FAD to the assay mixture. Interestingly, the observed enzymic activity is thought to have been provoked by a noncovalent interaction between FAD and the apoprotein, since the covalent attachment of FAD was not demonstrated by a fluorometric gel-scanning experiment.
Animals↗
L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase is not induced in rats by xenobiotics stimulating L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis.
L-Ascorbic acid (AsA) is synthesized from D-glucose in rats; the terminal step of this synthetic pathway is catalyzed by L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase (GLO). In this study, we examined the effects of phenobarbital (PB) and 3-methylcholanthrene (MC), both of which are known to stimulate AsA biosynthesis in rats, on the hepatic levels of GLO activity, GLO mRNA, and AsA. Firstly, the existence of GLO mRNA was examined in the liver, kidney, lung, small intestine, spleen, testis, and prostate from a male rat; and GLO mRNA was found to be present only in the liver, in which GLO activity was also detected. The intraperitoneal injection with PB (100 mg/day/kg body weight, once a day for 2 days) or MC (20 mg/day/kg body weight, once) significantly elevated the hepatic level of AsA and the urinary excretion of AsA in rats (5-week-old males). The hepatic levels of cytochrome P-450IIB1 mRNA and cytochrome P-450IIB2 mRNA and those of cytochrome P-450IA1 mRNA and cytochrome P-450IA2 mRNA were also elevated in the rats treated with PB and MC, respectively, indicating a normal response of these animals to these compounds. However, the level of GLO mRNA and the activity of GLO in the liver tended to be slightly decreased by the administration of PB or MC, though the differences were not significant. Thus it is clear that the treatment with PB or MC stimulates the biosynthesis of AsA by increasing the activity of some enzyme(s) participating in the synthesis prior to GLO.
Animals↗
Sequential deletion of DNA by use of remodeled pUC18 and pUC19 vectors.
pUC18 and pUC19 vectors were remodeled by replacement of their EcoO109I-NdeI portion with a "buffer sequence" of approximately 2.3 kilobase pairs derived from human genomic DNA. By use of the resulting plasmids, one can delete a target DNA that has been inserted into the polycloning site, deleting the buffer sequence at the same time, after linearization with an appropriate restriction enzyme that cleaves at the polycloning site. After the undeleted portion of the buffer sequence is cleaved off at the unique EcoRV site existing at its end, the plasmid can be recircularized for nucleotide sequencing from the deleted end of the target DNA. Thus the remodeled vectors enable deletion of DNAs by this simple method.
Base Sequence↗
Guinea pigs possess a highly mutated gene for L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, the key enzyme for L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis missing in this species.
Guinea pigs cannot synthesize L-ascorbic acid because of their deficiency in L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, a key enzyme for the biosynthesis of this vitamin in higher animals. In this study we isolated the L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene of the rat and the homologue of this gene of the guinea pig by screening rat and guinea pig genomic DNA libraries in lambda phage vectors, respectively, using a rat L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase cDNA as a probe. Sequencing analysis showed that the amino acid sequence of the rat enzyme is encoded by 12 exons and that all the intron/exon boundaries follow the GT/AG rule. On the other hand, regions corresponding to exons I and V were not identified in the guinea pig L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene homologue. Other defects found in this gene homologue are a deletion of the nucleotide sequence corresponding to a 3' 84-base pair part of rat exon VI, a 2-base pair deletion in the remaining exon VI-related region, and nonconformance to the GT/AG rule at one of the putative intron/exon boundaries. Furthermore, a large number of mutations were found in the amino acid-coding regions of the guinea pig sequence; more than half of them lead to nonconservative amino acid changes, and there are three stop codons as well. Thus it is clear that the guinea pig homologue of the L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene exists as a pseudogene that randomly accumulated a large number of mutations without functional constraint since the gene ceased to be active during evolution. On the basis of the neutral theory of evolution, the date of the loss of L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase in the ancestors of the guinea pig was roughly calculated to be less than 20 million years ago.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
A missense mutation of L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase causes the inability of scurvy-prone osteogenic disorder rats to synthesize L-ascorbic acid.
The osteogenic disorder Shionogi (ODS) rat is a mutant Wistar rat that is subject to scurvy, because it lacks L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, a key enzyme in L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis. Sequencing of polymerase chain reaction-amplified cDNAs for mutant and normal rat L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidases demonstrated that the mutant cDNA has a single base mutation from G to A at nucleotide 182, which mutation alters the 61st amino acid residue from Cys to Tyr. To test the effect of this mutation on the expression of L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, we inserted a region of the cDNAs coding for normal and mutant L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidases into an expression vector, pSVL, and transfected COS-1 cells with such vectors. The result indicated that the defined amino acid substitution does decrease both the amount of immunologically detectable protein and the level of enzyme activity to about one-tenth of their normal values, while it does not affect the amount of the mRNA produced in the transfected cells. This situation is similar to our previous observation that L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase is expressed in the liver of the ODS rat at a very low level irrespective of the presence of a normal amount of L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase-specific mRNA of a normal size (Nishikimi, M., Koshizaka, T., Kondo, K., and Yagi, K. (1989) Experientia (Basel) 45, 126-129). Thus it became clear that the Cys-->Tyr substitution is responsible for the L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase deficiency in the ODS rat.
Animals↗
Expression in monkey cells of the missing enzyme in L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis, L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase.
L-Gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase (GLO), an enzyme that is missing in scurvy-prone animals, was produced in COS-1 cells by transfection with a minigene constructed from pSVL vector and rat GLO cDNA. A functional GLO protein was expressed, which was indistinguishable from rat GLO in molecular size. The microsomes obtained from the transfected COS-1 cells showed GLO activity comparable to that in rat liver microsomes.
Animals↗
Existence of common homologous elements in the transcriptional regulatory regions of human nuclear genes and mitochondrial gene for the oxidative phosphorylation system.
Our previous study indicated that nuclear protein factors of HeLa cells specifically bind to three nuclear Mt elements, Mt1, Mt3, and Mt4, located in the 5'-flanking regions of the human nuclear genes for cytochrome c1 and for ubiquinone-binding protein, both of which are subunits of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex (Suzuki, H., Hosokawa, Y., Toda, H., Nishikimi, M., and Ozawa, T. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 8159-8163). In this study, we examined whether the same nuclear factors could recognize a set of the Mt3 and Mt4 elements that were found in the displacement loop and the promoter region of mammalian mitochondrial genomes. Gel retardation experiments disclosed that the same nuclear protein factors specifically bind to those Mt elements in the human mitochondrial genome as well as to the nuclear Mt3 and Mt4 elements of the two genes, and that the coexistence of both the elements is required for the efficient binding. The nuclear protein factors which recognize the Mt elements located in the regulatory regions of the nuclear and mitochondrial genes may play an important role in coordinate expression of the two physically separated genes during mitochondrial biogenesis.
Base Sequence↗
Molecular basis for the deficiency in humans of gulonolactone oxidase, a key enzyme for ascorbic acid biosynthesis.
The inability of humans to synthesize L-ascorbic acid is known to be due to a lack of L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, an enzyme that is required for the biosynthesis of this vitamin. Isolation of a cDNA for rat L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase allowed us to study the basic defect underlying this deficiency at the gene level and led to isolation of a human genomic clone related to L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase as well as three overlapping clones covering the entire coding region of the rat L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase cDNA. Sequence analysis study indicated that the human L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase gene has accumulated a large number of mutations since it stopped being active and that it now exists as a pseudogene in the human genome.
Ascorbic Acid↗
Effects of thromboxane A2 synthetase inhibitor on postischemic liver injury in rats.
This study was designed to clarify the mechanism of a reversal of the ischemia-induced decrease in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in relation to the changes in liver blood flow. All vessels to the left and median lobes were occluded for 15 or 30 min and then reperfused for 15 or 30 min, respectively. Ischemia led to a significant decrease in the ATP level. ATP levels recovered fully after 30 min of reperfusion following 15 min of occlusion. However, a significantly low ATP level was observed even after 30 min of reperfusion following 30 min of occlusion. Premedication with CV-4151 (5 mg/kg, i.v.), a thromboxane A2 (TXA2) synthetase inhibitor, significantly improved the recovery of ATP levels after 30 min of reperfusion following 30 min of occlusion. Liver blood flow was restored fully immediately after reperfusion following 15 min of occlusion. In contrast a significantly low liver blood flow was observed after 30 min of reperfusion following 30 min of occlusion. Premedication with CV-4151 accelerated the recovery of liver blood flow after reperfusion. Morphological studies revealed that microthrombi were formed during ischemia, and CV-4151 mitigated the formation of microthrombi. These results indicate that the formation of microthrombi, which might be associated with TXA2 synthesis during ischemia, inhibited the restoration of liver blood flow, which might be responsible for the obstruction of the recovery of ATP.
Adenosine Triphosphate↗
In vitro processing of the precursor to human mitochondrial cytochrome c1.
The processing of the precursor to human cytochrome c1 has been studied using a transcript of a previously obtained human cytochrome c1 cDNA. The transcript was prepared with SP64 plasmid containing the cDNA as a template, and was translated in a reticulocyte lysate cell-free translation system. The molecular mass of a major translation product was estimated to be 34 kDa. The product was shown to be imported into mitochondria, being converted into a mature-sized polypeptide (31.5 kDa), which was resistant to trypsin treatment. Thus, the former was considered to represent the precursor to the latter. The import required the energized state of the inner membrane. It was also demonstrated that a matrix proteinase cleaved the precursor to a form which was not distinguishable in size from the mature-sized one.
Biological Transport↗
Common protein-binding sites in the 5'-flanking regions of human genes for cytochrome c1 and ubiquinone-binding protein.
The single nuclear gene encoding human ubiquinone-binding protein, a subunit of the cytochrome bc1 complex, was isolated previously (Suzuki, H., Hosokawa, Y., Toda, H., Nishikimi, M., and Ozawa, T. (1989) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 161, 371-378). The 5'-flanking region contains four putative CCAAT boxes, one putative NF-Y-binding site, and one sequence homologous to the AP-1 recognition site, but lacks typical TATA and GC boxes. Three common nucleotide sequences (5'-TATTCAGGT-3', 5'-ATCTGGCT-3', and 5'-TGGTGA(T/G)AG-3', designated Mt1, Mt3, and Mt4, respectively) were found in the 5'-flanking regions of the genes for human ubiquinone-binding protein and for human cytochrome c1, another subunit of the cytochrome bc1 complex. All three sequences are located in the 280-base pair BamHI-HindIII fragment of the ubiquinone-binding protein gene and in the 154-base pair SalI-PstI fragment of the cytochrome c1 gene. Interestingly, a computer-assisted homology search revealed that the SalI-PstI fragment of the cytochrome c1 gene is related to the long terminal repeat of an endogenous retrovirus. Sequences highly homologous to the three Mt-sequences were also found in the 5'-flanking regions of the genes for the beta subunit of human F0F1-ATPase and rat somatic cytochrome c. The Mt1 sequence (TATT-CAGGT) is similar to the GFII recognition site (RTCACGTG) found in the 5'-flanking regions of the yeast nuclear genes for three cytochrome bc1 complex subunits. Gel retardation assay demonstrated that protein factors in a whole HeLa cell extract bound to both of those fragments. At least three different specific binding sites were thought to exist in the fragments. Specific binding of the protein factors to the sites, possibly to the three Mt sequences, may play an important role in the coordinate regulation of the transcription of nuclear genes encoding subunits responsible for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation.
Animals↗
The primary structure of human Rieske iron-sulfur protein of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex deduced from cDNA analysis.
We isolated a cDNA encoding human Rieske Fe-S protein of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex from a fibroblast cDNA library by colony hybridization. The cDNA contains the nucleotide sequence encoding all of the amino acids (274 residues) comprising the putative precursor to the protein. Based on the known amino acid sequence of bovine Rieske Fe-S protein, the N-terminal extension sequence is presumed to be composed of 78 amino acids with a molecular weight of 8053. The mature protein consists of the same number of amino acid residues as that of its rat and bovine counterparts, having a homology of about 92% with the latter.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
The primary structure of the precursor to core protein II, a putative member of mitochondrial processing protease family, of rat mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex deduced from cDNA sequence analysis.
Core protein II of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex is the second largest nuclear-encoded subunit. We have isolated two overlapping cDNA clones encoding the precursor to this protein by screening a rat liver cDNA library, and determined the nucleotide sequence of the cDNAs. Based on the deduced amino acid sequence of the corresponding human precursor, the mature polypeptide of rat core protein II appears to consist of 438 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 46,751, and to be formed as a precursor with an amino-terminal presequence. The mature form of the rat protein shows 83% and at most 24% homology with its human and yeast counterparts, respectively. Northern blot analysis showed that rat liver poly(A)+ RNA contains a single mRNA of approximately 2000 nucleotides for the core protein II.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Chromosomal assignment of the gene for the ubiquinone-binding protein of human mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex.
The ubiquinone-binding protein (QP-C) is a nuclear-encoded subunit of the cytochrome bc1 complex in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and is thought to be involved in the electron transfer reaction coupled to energy transduction. We recently isolated a nuclear gene for human QP-C and used, in the present study, its fragment as a probe for Southern blot analysis of EcoRI-digested DNAs prepared from 14 human-mouse somatic cell hybrids. The results indicated that the human QP-C gene is located on chromosome 8.
Animals↗
[Molecular genetic study on the incapability of synthesising ascorbic acid in scurvy-prone animals].
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Amino Acid Sequence↗