Role of the reductive carboxylic acid cycle in a photosynthetic bacterium lacking ribulose I,5-diphosphate carboxylase.
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The active site and mechanism of D-xylose isomerase have been probed by determination of the crystal structures of the enzyme bound to various substrates, inhibitors and cations. Ring-opening is an obligatory first step of the reaction and is believed to be the rate-determining step for the aldose to ketose conversion. The structure of a complex with a cyclic thio-glucose has been determined and it is concluded that this is an analogue of the Michaelis complex. At -10 degrees C substrates in crystals are observed in the extended chain form. The absence of an appropriately situated base for either the cyclic or extended chain forms from the substrate binding site indicates that the isomerisation does not take place by an enediol or enediolate mechanism. Binding of a trivalent cation places an additional charge at the active site, producing a substrate complex that is analogous to a possible transition state. Of the two binding sites for divalent cations, [1] is permanently occupied under catalytic conditions and is co-ordinated to four carboxylate groups. In the absence of substrate it is exposed to solvent, and in the Michaelis complex analogue, site [1] is octahedrally coordinated, with ligands to O-3 and O-4 of the thiopyranose. In the complex with an open-chain substrate it remains octahedrally co-ordinated, with ligands to O-2 and O-4. Binding at a second cation site [2] is also necessary for catalysis and this site is believed to bind Co2+ more strongly than site [1]. This site is octahedrally co-ordinated to three carboxylate groups (bidentate co-ordination to one of them), an imidazole and a solvent molecule. It is proposed that during the hydride shift the C-O-1 and C-O-2 bonds of the substrate are polarized by the close approach of the site [2] cation. In the transition-state analogue this cation is observed at a site [2'], 1.0 A from site [2] and about 2.7 A from O-1 and O-2 of the substrate. It is likely that co-ordination of the cation to O-1 and O-2 would be concomitant with ionisation of the sugar hydroxyl group. The polarisation of C-O-1 and C-O-2 is assisted by the co-ordination of O-2 to cation [1] and O-1 to a lysine side-chain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Crystal structures of complexes of D-xylose isomerase with deoxysugars have been determined. Deoxynojirimycin is a structural analogue of alpha-pyranose and mimics the binding of these aldose substrates. The structure of this complex supports the hypothesis that an imidazole group catalyzes ring opening of the pyranose. The steric restrictions in the active site of the enzyme prevent a beta-pyranose from binding in the same way. For the reverse reaction with ketoses, the anomeric specificity is less certain. Dideoxyimino-D-glucitol is a structural analogue of the ketose alpha-D-furanose. The binding of the inhibitor dideoxyimino-D-glucitol to the crystals of the enzyme does not mimic the binding of the reactive alpha-D-fructofuranose. Superposition of the nonphysiological substrate alpha-D-fructofuranose onto the atomic positions of dideoxyimino-D-glucitol is not possible due to the steric restrictions of the active site. However, by utilizing the approximate 2-fold symmetry of the sugar, a stereochemically sensible model is produced which is consistent with other data. In addition to reaction with alpha-D-furanose, the enzyme probably reacts with open ring keto sugars which are present at significant concentrations. Other sugars which resemble furanoses either do not inhibit significantly or are not observed in the crystals bound in a single conformation.
The distinct roles of the two magnesium ions essential to the activity of D-xylose isomerase from Streptomyces olivochromogenes were examined. The enzyme-magnesium complex was isolated, and the stoichiometry of cation binding determined by neutron activation analysis to be 2 mol of magnesium per mole of enzyme. A plot of Mg2+ added versus Mg2+ bound to enzyme is consistent with apparent KD values of < or = 0.5-1.0 mM for one Mg2+ and < or = 2-5 mM for the second. A site-directed mutant of D-xylose isomerase was designed to remove the tighter, tetracoordinated magnesium binding site (site 1, Mg-1); Glu180 was replaced with Lys180. The stoichiometry of metal binding to this mutant, E180K, is 1 mol of magnesium per mole of enzyme. Ring-opening assays with 1-thioglucose (H2S released upon ring opening) show E180K catalyzes the opening of the sugar ring at 20% the rate of the wild-type, but E180K does not catalyze isomerization of glucose to fructose. Thus, the magnesium bound to Glu180 is essential for isomerization but not essential for ring opening. The X-ray crystallographic structures of E180K in the absence of magnesium and in the presence and absence of 250 mM glucose were obtained to 1.8-A resolution and refined to R factors of 17.7% and 19.7%, respectively. The wild-type and both E180K structures show no significant structural differences, except the epsilon-amino group of Lys180, which occupies the position usually occupied by the Mg-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Previous studies have indicated negligible levels of both sialylation and the precursor N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) in a number of insect cell lines grown in serum-free medium. The overexpression of the human sialic acid 9-phosphate synthase (SAS) in combination with N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) feeding has been shown to overcome this limitation. In this study we evaluated the potential bottlenecks in the sialic acid synthesis pathway in a Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cell line and devised strategies to overcome them by overexpression of the enzymatic pathway enzymes combined with appropriate substrate feeding. Coexpression of SAS and UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/ManNAc kinase, the bifunctional enzyme initiating sialic acid biosynthesis in mammals, resulted in Neu5Ac synthesis without use of any external media supplementation to demonstrate that Neu5Ac could be generated intracellularly in Sf9 cells using natural metabolic precursors. N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) feeding in combination with this coexpression resulted in much higher levels of Neu5Ac compared to levels obtained with ManNAc feeding with SAS expression alone. The lower Neu5Ac levels obtained with ManNAc feeding suggested limitations in the transport and phosphorylation of ManNAc. The bottleneck in phosphorylation was likely due to utilization of GlcNAc kinase for phosphorylation of ManNAc in insect cells and was overcome by expression of ManNAc kinase. The transport limitation was addressed by the addition of tetra-O-acetylated ManNAc, which is easily taken up by the cells. An alternative sialic acid, 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-glycero-D-galacto-nononic acid (KDN), could also be generated in insect cells, suggesting the potential for controlling not only the production of sialic acids but also the type of sialic acid generated. The levels of KDN could be increased with virtually no Neu5Ac generation when Sf9 cells were fed excess GlcNAc. The results of these studies may be used to enhance the sialylation of target glycoproteins in insect and other eukaryotic expression systems.
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The lpcA locus has been identified in Escherichia coli K12 novobiocin-supersensitive mutants that produce a short lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core which lacks glyceromannoheptose and terminal hexoses. We have characterized lpcA as a single gene mapping around 5.3 min (246 kilobases) on the E. coli K12 chromosome and encoding a 22.6-kDa cytosolic protein. Recombinant plasmids containing only lpcA restored a complete core LPS in the E. coli strain chi711. We show that this strain has an IS5-mediated chromosomal deletion of 35 kilobases that eliminates lpcA. The LpcA protein showed discrete similarities with a family of aldose/ketose isomerases and other proteins of unknown function. The isomerization of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate, into a phosphosugar presumed to be D-glycero-D-mannoheptose 7-phosphate, was detected in enzyme reactions with cell extracts of E. coli lpcA+ and of lpcA mutants containing the recombinant lpcA gene. We concluded that LpcA is the phosphoheptose isomerase used in the first step of glyceromannoheptose synthesis. We also demonstrated that lpcA is conserved among enteric bacteria, all of which contain glyceromannoheptose in the inner core LPS, indicating that LpcA is an essential component in a conserved biosynthetic pathway of inner core LPS.
Heparan sulfate (HS) polysaccharides interact with numerous proteins at the cell surface and orchestrate many different biological functions. Though many functions of HS are well established, only a few specific structures can be attributed to HS functions. The extreme diversity of HS makes chemical synthesis of specific bioactive HS structures a cumbersome and tedious undertaking that requires laborious and careful functional group manipulations. Now that many of the enzymes involved in HS biosynthesis are characterized, we show in this study how one can rapidly and easily assemble bioactive HS structures with a set of cloned enzymes. We have demonstrated the feasibility of this new approach to rapidly assemble antithrombin III-binding classical and non-classical anticoagulant polysaccharide structures for the first time.
Recent studies have demonstrated that the human intestinal enzymes of carbohydrate digestion and metabolism can be regulated by dietary sugars. These studies have utilized direct assay of intestinal mucosal enzyme activity. Mucosa has been obtained by the use of peroral jejunal biopsy techniques which provide 10-15 mg of mucosa in a safe, simple and reproducible manner. Dietary sucrose, as compared to dietary glucose, increases the activities of the jejunal disaccharidases, sucrase and maltase, but not lactase. Fructose reproduces the sucrose effect and appears to be the active principle in the sucrose molecule. Lactose deprivation or lactose feeding does not alter lactase activity. Fructose has been useful in treating one patient with sucrase-isomaltase deficiency. Jejunal glycolytic enzyme activities are also regulated by dietary sugars. Certain enzymes are highest with specific dietary carbohydrates, lower with other sugars and lowest on a carbohydrate-free diet. The regulation of human jejunal glycolytic enzyme activity takes place in hours, whereas the change in disaccharidase activity occurs in 2-5 days. The mechanism of this regulation is not known. Additional investigations have shown that jejunal glycolytic enzyme activities but not the disaccharidases are controlled by oral folic acid as well. This effect occurs within 1 day also. The mechanism is unknown. Large doses of folate have been of benefit in a few patients with certain glycolytic enzyme deficiency states. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that selected patients with chronic undiagnosed intestinal disorders fail to manifest an adaptive response of their jejunal glycolytic enzyme activities to dietary sugars. This condition has been termed a "maladaptation syndrome.".
Distant sequence relationships in proteins containing the beta jelly-roll fold were investigated using sensitive sequence comparison methods, including PSI-BLAST and Hidden Markov Models. A relationship was identified between the rmlC-like and phosphomannose isomerase SCOP (version 1.53) superfamilies, which were merged in the most recent SCOP release. No other distant sequence relationships linking jelly roll superfamilies were found.
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In the course of an investigation of hexosamine catabolism in the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, it became apparent that a basic understanding of the relevant enzymatic reactions in the host erythrocyte is lacking. To acquire the necessary basic knowledge, we have determined the activities of several enzymes involved in hexosamine metabolism in normal human red blood cells. In the present communication we report the results of studies of glucosamine 6-phosphate deaminase (GlcN6-P) using a newly developed sensitive radiometric assay. The mean specific activity in extracts of fresh erythrocytes assayed within 4h of collection was 14.7 nmol/h/mg protein, whereas preparations from older erythrocytes that had been stored at 4 degrees C for up to 4 weeks had a mean specific activity of 6.2 nmol/h/mg. Characterization of the deaminase by chromatofocusing gave a pI of 8.55. The enzyme was optimally active at pH 9.0 and had a Km of 41 microM. The metal chelators EDTA and EGTA were non-inhibitory; however, inhibition was observed in the presence of metal ions, especially Cu2+, Ni2+ and Zn2+. In addition, the deaminase was also inhibited by several sugar phosphates including the reaction product, fructose 6-phosphate.
The rfb (O antigen) gene cluster of group C2 Salmonella differs from that of group B in a central region of 12.4 kb: we report the sequencing of this region of strain M67 (group C2) and a subsequent comparison with the central region of strain LT2 (group B). We find a block of seven open reading frames unique to group C2 which encode the O antigen polymerase (rfc) and the transferases responsible for assembly of the group C2 O antigen. The remaining rfb genes are common to strains M67 and LT2, but rfbJ (CDP-abequose synthase) and rfbM and rfbK (GDP-mannose synthesis), which are immediately adjacent to the central region, are highly divergent. All these genes have a low G+C content and appear to have been recent additions to Salmonella enterica. We discuss the evolutionary significance of the arrangement and divergence of the genes in the polymorphism of the rfb cluster.
We recently demonstrated that Campylobacter jejuni produces a capsular polysaccharide (CPS) that is the major antigenic component of the classical Penner serotyping system distinguishing Campylobacter into >60 groups. Although the wide variety of C. jejuni serotypes are suggestive of structural differences in CPS, the genetic mechanisms of such differences are unknown. In this study we sequenced biosynthetic cps regions, ranging in size from 15 to 34 kb, from selected C. jejuni strains of HS:1, HS:19, HS:23, HS:36, HS:23/36 and HS:41 serotypes. Comparison of the determined cps sequences of the HS:1, HS:19 and HS:41 strains with the sequenced strain, NCTC11168 (HS:2), provides evidence for multiple mechanisms of structural variation including exchange of capsular genes and entire clusters by horizontal transfer, gene duplication, deletion, fusion and contingency gene variation. In contrast, the HS:23, HS:36 and HS:23/36 cps sequences were highly conserved. We report the first detailed structural analysis of 81-176 (HS:23/36) and G1 (HS:1) and refine the previous structural interpretations of the HS:19, HS:23, HS:36 and HS:41 serostrains. For the first time, we demonstrate the commonality and function of a second heptose biosynthetic pathway for Campylobacter CPS independent of the pathway for lipooligosaccharide (LOS) biosynthesis and identify a novel heptosyltransferase utilized by this alternate pathway. Furthermore, we show the retention of two functional heptose isomerases in Campylobacter and the sharing of a phosphatase for both LOS and CPS heptose biosynthesis.
2 new cases of triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) deficiency associated with severe haemolytic anaemia in 2 unrelated Italian families are described. Only 1 case was extensively investigated. TPI deficiency was detectable in erythrocytes, leucocytes, platelets and plasma. The mutant enzyme showed normal Km for GAP and increased Km for DHAP, with an higher than normal equilibrium constant, decreased thermostability, and abnormal electrophoretic pattern due to the lack of the fastest moving component. The immunological characterization revealed a lower than normal inactivation by specific antiserum, while the double immunodiffusion pattern and the precipitin curve were normal. Lymphocyte, granulocyte and platelet functions were impaired.