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P Christen

Publications and source records attributed to P Christen.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

The primary structure of the precursor of chicken mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase. Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA.

The mitochondrial isoenzyme of aspartate amino-transferase (mAspAT; subunit Mr 45,000) is synthesized on free polysomes in the cytosol as a precursor of higher Mr (pre-mAspAT; Sonderegger, P., Jaussi, R., Christen, P., and Gehring, H. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 3339-3345). We have isolated three overlapping cDNA clones that correspond almost to the full length of pre-mAspAT mRNA with 100 nucleotides at the 5' end missing. The mRNA is 2.1 kilobase pairs long and has a 3' noncoding region of 0.7 kilobase pairs. The cDNAs code for the 401 amino acid residues of mAspAT plus an NH2-terminal pre-piece. Deviations from the reported amino acid sequence were found at positions 154 and 202 where the cDNA specifies Gln instead of Glu. The pre-piece consists of 22 amino acid residues, among them 4 arginine and no acidic residues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1985

Conformational changes in aspartate aminotransferase. Effect of active site ligands on peptide hydrogen-deuterium exchange.

The conformational responses of aspartate aminotransferase (cytosolic isoenzyme from pig) to the binding of the coenzyme and competitive inhibitors and to the bond rearrangement steps during the transamination reaction were probed by the method of peptide hydrogen deuterium exchange. Binding of the coenzyme to the apoenzyme results in a marked retardation of hydrogen exchange; binding of the competitive inhibitor maleate to the pyridoxal enzyme induces a retardation of exchange somewhat exceeding that observed in the presence of the transaminating substrate pair glutamate and 2-oxoglutarate (Pfister, K., Kägi, J.H.R., and Christen, P. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 145-148). On formation of the complex of apoenzyme with N-(5'-phosphopyridoxyl)-L-glutamate or-L-aspartate, analogs of the covalent coenzyme substrate intermediates, a similar exchange retardation occurs. The extent of the exchange retardation in these different functional states of the enzyme correlates with previous results of differential chemical and proteolytic modifications. Apparently, the diverse methods register shifts in one and the same conformational equilibrium. Moreover, the conditions under which peptide hydrogen exchange indicates a pronounced tightening of the protein matrix correspond with those inducing crystallization of the enzyme in the "closed" form. Thus, the transition between the "open" and "closed" form of the enzyme, i.e. the bulk movement of the small domain, as observed and defined by x-ray crystallography (Kirsch, J. F., Eichele, G., Ford, G. C., Vincent, M. G., Jansonius, J. N., Gehring, H., and Christen, P. (1984) J. Mol. Biol. 174, 497-525) is the major structural correlate of the conformational changes undergone by the enzyme in solution.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Mechanism of action of aspartate aminotransferase proposed on the basis of its spatial structure.

Aspartate aminotransferase is a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme that catalyses the transamination reaction: L-aspartate + 2-oxoglutarate----oxaloacetate + L-glutamate. The enzyme shuttles between its pyridoxal and pyridoxamine forms in a double-displacement process. This paper proposes a mechanism of action that delineates the dynamic role of the protein moiety of this enzyme. It is based on crystallographically determined spatial structures (at 2.8 A resolution) of the mitochondrial isoenzyme in its unliganded forms and in complexes with substrate analogues, as well as on model building studies. The enzyme is composed of two identical subunits, which consist of two domains. The coenzyme is bound to the larger domain and is situated in a pocket near the subunit interface. The proximal and distal carboxylate group of dicarboxylic substrates are bound to Arg386 and Arg292 , respectively, the latter residue belonging to the adjacent subunit. These interactions largely determine the substrate specificity of the enzyme. They not only position the substrate efficient catalysis but also bring about a bulk movement of the small domain that closes the active site crevice and moves Arg386 about 3 A closer to the coenzyme. The replacement of the epsilon-amino group of Lys258 by the alpha-amino group of the substrate in the aldimine bond to pyridoxal phosphate is accompanied by a tilting of the coenzyme by approximately 30 degrees. The released epsilon-amino group of Lys258 serves as a proton acceptor/donor in the 1,3- prototropic shift producing the ketimine intermediate. At this stage, or after hydrolysis of the ketimine bond, the coenzyme rotates back to an orientation between that in the "external" aldimine intermediate and that in the pyridoxal form. Throughout this process, the protonated pyridine nitrogen atom maintains a hydrogen bond to the beta-carboxylate group of Asp222 . Upon formation of the pyridoxamine form, the small domain moves back to its original position. The proposed mechanism is compatible with the known kinetic and stereochemical features of enzymic transamination.

Aspartate Aminotransferases↗
PubMed1984

[Is the demonstration of immune complex useful in the activity assessment of chronic polyarthritis?].

In a prospective and controlled long-term study of 39 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), various blood parameters including the C1q-binding test (fluid phase) and the Rajicell test were performed. Blood samples were taken every three months during an observation period of eighteen months and compared with disease activity. According to these sequential analyses, immune complexes determined in the serum by these two tests do not always reflect disease activity expressed by addition of active joints. These results confirmed that the C1q-binding test often closely reflects disease activity. In patients with RA and extraarticular manifestations the C1q-binding test continuously showed increased concentrations of circulating immune complexes in the serum. In patients with predominant vasculitis the regular determination of circulating immune complexes is the best means of showing disease activity. This latter observation is especially true in patients with malignant RA. On the whole, the clinical significance of regularly performed assay for detection of immune complexes in RA appears questionable.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Phenylethylamine-induced stereotypies in the rat: a behavioral test system for assessment of MAO-B inhibitors.

Stereotyped sniffing behavior together with forepaw padding--defined as the beta-phenylethylamine (PEA) syndrome--is induced by MAO-B inhibitors in rats injected with 30 mg/kg IP PEA. The comparison of the abilities of the MAO-B inhibitors to induce the syndrome and to inhibit MAO-B in rat brain homogenates indicated that at least 75% of MAO-B activity in rat brain had to be inhibited to induce the PEA syndrome. A good correlation was found between the abilities of MAO-B inhibitors to induce the behavioral syndrome and to increase levels of PEA in rat brain. Specific MAO-A inhibitors potentiated the behavioral effect of the MAO-B inhibitor deprenyl, while they did not induce the syndrome themselves or only at very high doses. Inhibitors of the reuptake of 5-HT or noradrenaline were inactive under the described experimental conditions. This behavioral test system seems to be a useful in vivo screening test in rats for detecting compounds with strong MAO-B inhibiting activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Vinblastine inhibits the maturation of the precursor of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase. Vincristine and six other cytoskeleton inhibitors do not show this effect.

Cytoskeleton inhibitors were tested in chicken embryo fibroblast cultures for possible effects on the import of the precursor of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase into mitochondria. Vinblastine (50 microM) increased the steady-state pool of the precursor 2.5-fold in pulse experiments with [35S]methionine. If the precursor was accumulated during a pulse in the presence of the uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) and then chased under diluting CCCP, vinblastine (50 microM) prolonged the half-life of the precursor from 0.5 min in the control to 3 min. Other cytoskeleton inhibitors, i.e. vincristine (25 to 150 microM), colchicine (50 microM), nocodazole (50 microM), podophyllotoxin (50 microM), taxol (45 microM), cytochalasin D (20 microM) and phalloidin (25 microM) did not show this effect. The observed inhibition by vinblastine does not seem to relate to its action on microtubuli.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1983

The covalent structure of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase from chicken. Identification of segments of the polypeptide chain invariant specifically in the mitochondrial isoenzyme.

The primary structure of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase from chicken is reported. The enzyme is a dimer of identical subunits. Each subunit contains 401 amino acid residues; the calculated subunit molecular weight of the apoform is 44,866. The degree of sequence identity with the homologous cytosolic isoenzyme from chicken is 46%. A comparison of the primary structures of the mitochondrial and the cytosolic isoenzyme from pig and chicken shows that 40% of all residues are invariant. The degree of interspecies sequence identity both of the mitochondrial and the cytosolic isoenzyme from chicken and pig (86% and 83%, respectively) markedly exceeds that of the intraspecies identity between mitochondrial and cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase in chicken (46%) or in pig (48%). Based on these values, the duplication of the aspartate aminotransferase ancestral gene is estimated to have occurred approximately 1000 million years ago, i.e. at the time of the emergence of eukaryotic cells. By sequence comparison it is possible to identify amino acid residues and segments of the polypeptide chain that have been conserved specifically in the mitochondrial isoenzyme during phylogenetic evolution. These segments comprise about a third of the total polypeptide chain and appear to cluster in a certain surface region. The cluster carries an excess of positively charged residues which exceeds the overall charge difference between the cytosolic (pI approximately 6) and the mitochondrial isoenzyme (pI approximately 9).

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

Catalytic activity of non-cross-linked microcrystals of aspartate aminotransferase in poly(ethylene glycol).

The molar activity of crystalline mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase is decreased to 10% of that of the enzyme in solution. The activity was measured in suspensions of non-cross-linked microcrystals (average dimensions 22 microns X 5 microns X 0.8 microns) in 30% (w/v) poly(ethylene glycol). Kinetic tests ruled out the possibility that diffusion of the substrate in the crystals is rate-limiting. The observed decrease in catalytic efficiency can be attributed exclusively to crystal-packing effects. A direct inhibition by poly(ethylene glycol) is excluded because poly(ethylene glycol), with average Mr 6000, cannot penetrate the liquid channels of the crystals, owing to its large Stokes radius. The crystals examined were triclinic and of the same habit as those used for high-resolution X-ray-crystallographic analysis [Ford, Eichele & Jansonius (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 2559-2563]. The catalytic competence of crystalline aspartate aminotransferase confirms the relevance of the spatial model of this protein for the elucidation of its mechanism of action.

Alanine↗