HISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF DELTA-5-3-BETA-HYDROXYSTEROID DEHYDROGENASE IN THE OVARIES OF A TELEOST FISH, SCOMBER SCOMBER L.
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DNA fragments encoding streptococcal NADH peroxidase (NPXase) have been amplified, cloned and sequenced from the genome of Streptococcus (Enterococcus) faecalis 10C1 (ATCC 11700). The NPXase gene (npr) comprises 1341 base-pairs and is preceded by a typical ribosome binding site. Upstream from the structural gene, putative -10 and -35 promoter regions have been identified, as has a possible factor-independent terminator that occurs in 3'-flanking sequences. The deduced relative molecular mass (Mr = 49,551), amino acid composition and isoelectric point of NPXase are in good agreement with previous values obtained with the purified enzyme. In addition, three sequenced peptides totaling approximately 20% of the protein were located in the npr gene product. From the sequencing data the deduced NPXase sequence shares low but significant homology with the flavoprotein disulfide reductase class of enzymes ranging from 21% for glutathione reductase (GRase) to 28% for thioredoxin reductase. Alignment of NPXase to Escherichia coli GRase allowed the identification of three previously reported fingerprints for the FAD, NADP+ and central domains of GRase, in the peroxidase sequence. In addition, Cys42 of NPXase, which is present as an unusual stabilized cysteine-sulfenic acid in the oxidized enzyme, aligns favorably with the charge-transfer cysteine in E. coli GRase, and both residues closely follow FAD-binding folds found near their respective amino termini. Such sequence characteristics can also be seen in mercuric reductase, lipoamide dehydrogenase and trypanothione reductase, suggesting that all these enzymes may have originally diverged from a common ancestor. Sequences that are on average 50% identical with three previously reported peptides of the related streptococcal NADH oxidase were also identified in the NPXase primary structure, suggesting a strong similarity between these flavoenzymes. Using the E. coli phage T7 expression system the npr gene has now been overexpressed in an E. coli genetic background. The resultant overexpressing clone produced a recombinant NPXase that was catalytically active and immunoreactive to NPXase antisera.
This study extends previous observations of pyruvate metabolism in the spino-cerebellar degenerations by screening for abnormalities of pyruvate oxidation using the rise in blood pyruvate after an oral glucose load and examining the activity of the lipoamide dehydrogenase (LAD) moeity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in the serum of 31 patients with Friedreich's ataxia, hereditary spastic ataxia and primary cerebellar degeneration. Serum LAD activity was significantly reduced in 10 Friedreich's ataxia patients when compared to controls and to 10 patients with spastic ataxia, thus confirming previous studies. Two patients with Friedreich's ataxia and 2 with primary cerebellar degeneration had abnormal blood pyruvate curves after oral glucose loading. The findings suggest that abnormal pyruvate oxidation occurs in some cases of Friedreich's ataxia and primary cerebellar degeneration and that the abnormality of pyruvate metabolism is not necessarily reflected in the serum LAD activity of these patients. The relevance of these findings to the heterogeneity of the hereditary ataxias is discussed.
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Environmental and clinical isolates of mercury-resistant (resistant to inorganic mercury salts and organomercurials) bacteria have genes for the enzymes mercuric ion reductase and organomercurial lyase. These genes are often plasmid-encoded, although chromosomally encoded resistance determinants have been occasionally identified. Organomercurial lyase cleaves the C-Hg bond and releases Hg(II) in addition to the appropriate organic compound. Mercuric reductase reduces Hg(II) to Hg(O), which is nontoxic and volatilizes from the medium. Mercuric reductase is a FAD-containing oxidoreductase and requires NAD(P)H and thiol for in vitro activity. The crystal structure of mercuric ion reductase has been partially solved. The primary sequence and the three-dimensional structure of the mercuric reductase are significantly homologous to those of other flavin-containing oxidoreductases, e.g., glutathione reductase and lipoamide dehydrogenase. The active site sequences are the most conserved region among these flavin-containing enzymes. Genes encoding other functions have been identified on all mercury ion resistance determinants studied thus far. All mercury resistance genes are clustered into an operon. Hg(II) is transported into the cell by the products of one to three genes encoded on the resistance determinants. The expression of the operon is regulated and is inducible by Hg(II). In some systems, the operon is inducible by both Hg(II) and some organomercurials. In gram-negative bacteria, two regulatory genes (merR and merD) were identified. The (merR) regulatory gene is transcribed divergently from the other genes in gram-negative bacteria. The product of merR represses operon expression in the absence of the inducers and activates transcription in the presence of the inducers. The product of merD coregulates (modulates) the expression of the operon. Both merR and merD gene products bind to the same operator DNA. The primary sequence of the promoter for the polycistronic mer operon is not ideal for efficient transcription by the RNA polymerase. The -10 and -35 sequences are separated by 19 (gram-negative systems) or 20 (gram-positive systems) nucleotides, 2 or 3 nucleotides longer than the 17-nucleotide optimum distance for binding and efficient transcription by the Escherichia coli sigma 70-containing RNA polymerase. The binding site of MerR is not altered by the presence of Hg(II) (inducer). Experimental data suggest that the MerR-Hg(II) complex alters the local structure of the promoter region, facilitating initiation of transcription of the mer operon by the RNA polymerase. In gram-positive bacteria MerR also positively regulates expression of the mer operon in the presence of Hg(II).
The fluorescence signal of flavoproteins of rat liver mitochondria was investigated to determine the respective contributions of the various flavoenzymes. About 50% of the overall signal were found to be NAD-linked and caused by alpha-lipoamide dehydrogenase flavin (Em7.4 = -283 mV). Roughly 25% were due to a flavoprotein reducible in a non-NAD-linked reaction. This fluorescent flavoenzyme (Em7.4 = -52 mV) has been tentatively identified as a flavoprotein of the fatty-acid-oxidizing system, most probably the electron transfer flavoprotein. The remaining 25% of the signal are accounted for by flavoenzymes which are reducible by dithionite only. These flavoenzymes were not involved in the flavoprotein fluorescence alterations accompanying changes in electron flow through the respiratory chain. Contributions of other mitochondrial flavoproteins such as succinate dehydrogenase, NADH dehydrogenase, alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, proline dehydrogenase, and choline oxidase, to the overall flavin fluorescence signal of isolated rat liver mitochondria can be neglected.
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The lipoamide dehydrogenase (LPD) encoded by lpdA gene is a component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHc), alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (AKGDH) and the glycine cleavage multi-enzyme (GCV) systems. In the present study, cell growth characteristics, enzyme activities and intracellular metabolite concentrations were compared between the parent strain Escherichia coli BW25113 and its lpdA knockout mutant in batch and continuous cultures. The lpdA knockout mutant produced significantly more pyruvate and L-glutamate under aerobiosis. Some D-lactate and succinate also accumulated in the culture broth. Based on the investigation of enzyme activities and intracellular metabolite concentrations, acetyl-CoA was considered to be formed by the combined reactions through pyruvate oxidase (PoxB), acetyl-CoA synthetase (Acs) and acetate kinase (Ack)-phosphoacetyltransferase (Pta) in the lpdA mutant. The effect of the lpdA gene knockout on the intracellular metabolic flux distributions was investigated based on 1H-13C NMR spectra and GC-MS signals obtained from 13C-labeling experiment using the mixture of [U-13C] glucose, [1-13C] glucose, and naturally labeled glucose. Flux analysis of the lpdA mutant indicated that the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway and the glyoxylate shunt were activated. The fluxes through glycolysis and oxidative pentose phosphate (PP) pathway (except for the flux through glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) were slightly downregulated. The TCA cycle was also downregulated in the mutant strain. On the other hand, the fluxes through the anaplerotic reactions of PEP carboxylase, PEP carboxykinase and malic enzyme were upregulated, which were consistent with the results of enzyme activities. Furthermore, the influence of the poxB gene knockout on the growth of E. coli was also studied because of its similar function to PDHc which connects the glycolysis to the TCA cycle. Under aerobiosis, a comparison of lpdA mutant and poxB mutant indicated that PDHc is the main enzyme which catalyzes the reaction from pyruvate to acetyl-CoA in the parent strain, while PoxB plays a very important role in the PDHc-deficient strain.
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The redox behaviour of the NAD(P) system and flavoproteins was registered by simultaneous fluorescence measurements in epididymal bull spermatozoa. The flavoprotein fluorescence signal can nearly exclusively be attributed to an NAD-linked enzyme, alpha-lipoamide dehydrogenase (Em7.4 = -286 mV). A comparison of intact with digitonin-permeabilized spermatozoa revealed that about 50% of the total NAD(P)H fluorescence signal was of mitochondrial origin. Under equilibrium conditions, the midpoint potentials of the NAD(P)H fluorescence signal of both compartments were almost identical (-300 mV). When lactate was present as substrate, 1 mM caffeine increased respiration oxidizing the NAD(P)H system in both mitochondria and cytosol. This indicates a close relationship of the two NAD pools in spermatozoa.
The nitroimidazole derivative Megazol is a highly active compound used against several strains of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease (American trypanomiasis). With the aim of gaining an insight into the probable mode of action, the interaction of Megazol with different redox enzymes was studied in comparison to that of Nifurtimox and Metronidazole. The three nitroaromatic compounds are reduced by L-lactate cytochrome c-reductase, adrenodoxin reductase, and NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase (EC 1.6.2.4), the efficiencies of the enzymatic reductions being roughly related to the reduction potentials of these pseudo-substrates. As the enzyme responsible for the reduction of Megazol within the parasite has not yet been identified, the nitroimidazole was assayed with T. cruzi lipoamide dehydrogenase and trypanothione reductase. Megazol did not inhibit the physiological reactions but proved to be a weak substrate of both flavoenzymes. The single electron reduction of the compound by NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase, by rat liver as well as by trypanosome microsomes was confirmed by ESR experiments. As shown here, Megazol interferes with the oxygen metabolism of the parasite, but its extra activity when compared to Nifurtimox may be related to other features not yet identified.
Two-photon (2P) ratiometric redox fluorometry and microscopy of pyridine nucleotide (NAD(P)H) and flavoprotein (FP) fluorescence, at 800-nm excitation, has been demonstrated as a function of mitochondrial metabolic states in isolated adult dog cardiomyocytes. We have measured the 2P-excitation spectra of NAD(P)H, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), and lipoamide dehydrogenase (LipDH) over the wavelength range of 720-1000 nm. The 2P-excitation action cross sections (sigma2P) increase rapidly at wavelengths below 800 nm, and the maximum sigma2P of LipDH is approximately 5 and 12 times larger than those of FAD and NAD(P)H, respectively. Only FAD and LipDH can be efficiently excited at wavelengths above 800 nm with a broad 2P-excitation band around 900 nm. Two autofluorescence spectral regions (i.e., approximately 410-490 nm and approximately 510-650 nm) of isolated cardiomyocytes were imaged using 2P-laser scanning microscopy. At 750-nm excitation, fluorescence of both regions is dominated by NAD(P)H emission, as indicated by fluorescence intensity changes induced by mitochondrial inhibitor NaCN and mitochondria uncoupler carbonyl cyanide p-(trifluoromethoxy) phenyl hydrazone (FCCP). In contrast, 2P-FP fluorescence dominates at 900-nm excitation, which is in agreement with the sigma2P measurements. Finally, 2P-autofluorescence emission spectra of single cardiac cells have been obtained, with results suggesting potential for substantial improvement of the proposed 2P-ratiometric technique.
The flavoprotein disulfide reductases represent a family of enzymes that show high sequence and structural homology. They catalyze the pyridine-nucleotide-dependent reduction of a variety of substrates, including disulfide-bonded substrates (lipoamide dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase and functional homologues, thioredoxin reductase, and alkylhydroperoxide reductase), mercuric ion (mercuric ion reductase), hydrogen peroxide (NADH peroxidase), molecular oxygen (NADH oxidase), and the reductive cleavage of a carbonyl-activated carbon-sulfur bond followed by carboxylation (2-ketopropyl-coenzyme-M carboxylase?oxidoreductase). They use at least one nonflavin redox center to transfer electrons from reduced pyridine nucleotide to their substrate through flavin adenine dinucleotide. The nature of the nonflavin redox center located adjacent to the flavin varies and three types have been identified: an enzymic disulfide (most commonly), an enzymic cysteine sulfenic acid (NADH peroxidase and NADH oxidase), and a mixed Cys-S-S-CoA disulfide (coenzyme A disulfide reductase). Selection of the particular nonflavin redox center and utilization of a second, or even a third, nonflavin redox center in some cases presumably represents the most efficient strategy for reduction of the individual substrate.
Electroenzymatic reduction of NAD+ to NADH for subsequent use in enzymatic synthesis has been carried out at carbon electrodes bearing lipoamide dehydrogenase (LiDH) immobilized under a Nafion film. The self-mediated electron transfer was made possible by an excess of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) entrapped together with LiDH. Results were compared to those obtained with a similar electrode containing both LiDH and a polymeric form of FAD (pFAD) prepared by anodic polymerization of FAD.
This overview summarizes the investigations carried out during the second part of Phase Two of the Quebec Cooperative Study of Friedreich's Ataxia. These investigations outline in more details the fundamental role played by an abnormality in the fatty acid composition (deficient linoleic acid, 18:2) of the cholesterol esters of high density lipoproteins (HDL) in the phenotypic expression of the disease. They postulate a defective incorporation of linoleic acid to surface phosphatidylcholine of chylomicrons and consequent relative and absolute decreases in lipoprotein protein components because of overpacking with defective cholesteryl esters. Secondarily to these changes, the postulated lack of activation of the lipoamide dehydrogenase (LAD) of the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex could result in slow pyruvate oxidation, glucose intolerance, deficient synthesis of acetylcholine, and depletion of glutamic and aspartic acid pools. In parallel, abnormal phosphatidyl-choline molecules could be incorporated to membranes, resulting in specific defects in some functions of these membranes, including transport of calcium and/or taurine and myelinization. The framework of an understanding of Friedreich's ataxia is now available, but much fundamental and clinical work remains to be done to fill in and prove each one of these postulated steps.
Multiple sequence alignments including the enterococcal NADH peroxidase and NADH oxidase indicate that residues Ser38 and Cys42 align with the two cysteines of the redox-active disulfides found in glutathione reductase (GR), lipoamide dehydrogenase, mercuric reductase, and trypanothione reductase. In order to evaluate those structural determinants involved in the selection of the cysteine-sulfenic acid (Cys-SOH) redox centers found in the two peroxide reductases and the redox-active disulfides present in the GR class of disulfide reductases, NADH peroxidase residues Ser38, Phe39, Leu40, and Ser41 have been individually replaced with Cys. Both the F39C and L40C mutant peroxidases yield active-site disulfides involving the new Cys and the native Cys42; formation of the Cys39-Cys42 disulfide, however, precludes binding of the FAD coenzyme. In contrast, the L40C mutant contains tightly-bound FAD and has been analyzed by both kinetic and spectroscopic approaches. In addition, the L40C and S41C mutant structures have been determined at 2.1 and 2.0 A resolution, respectively, by X-ray crystallography. Formation of the Cys40-Cys42 disulfide bond requires a movement of Cys42-SG to a new position 5.9 A from the flavin-C(4a) position; this is consistent with the inability of the new disulfide to function as a redox center in concert with the flavin. Stereochemical constraints prohibit formation of the Cys41-Cys42 disulfide in the latter mutant.
We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the merA gene from the mercury-resistance transposon Tn501 and have predicted the structure of the gene product, mercuric reductase. The DNA sequence predicts a polypeptide of Mr 58 660, the primary structure of which shows strong homologies to glutathione reductase and lipoamide dehydrogenase, but mercuric reductase contains as additional N-terminal region that may form a separate domain. The implications of these comparisons for the tertiary structure and mechanism of mercuric reductase are discussed. The DNA sequence presented here has an overall G+C content of 65.1 mol%, typical of the bulk DNA of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from which Tn501 was originally isolated. Analysis of the codon usage in the merA gene shows that codons with C or G at the third position are preferentially utilized.
Thioredoxin reductase from Escherichia coli, only in its reduced state, reacts rapidly with 2 mol of N-ethylmaleimide, which specifically alkylates both active site cysteine residues. This dual modification supports previous studies indicating that a base lowers the pK of both active site cysteine residues. The dual modification also indicates that the region around the active site dithiol is more open than is the case with the related enzymes lipoamide dehydrogenase and glutathione reductase, both of which can be alkylated only on one nascent thiol. Enhanced nucleophilicity of the active site thiols is consistent with the proposed chemical mechanism of thioredoxin reductase. The sequence of the amino-terminal 16 residues is presented.