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Alterations of cellular physiology in Escherichia coli in response to oxidative phosphorylation impaired by defective F1-ATPase.

The physiological changes in an F1-ATPase-defective mutant of Escherichia coli W1485 growing in a glucose-limited chemostat included a decreased growth yield (60%) and increased specific rates of both glucose consumption (168%) and respiration (171%). Flux analysis revealed that the mutant showed approximately twice as much flow in glycolysis but only an 18% increase in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, owing to the excretion of acetate, where most of the increased glycolytic flux was directed. Genetic and biochemical analyses of the mutant revealed the downregulation of many TCA cycle enzymes, including citrate synthase, and the upregulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in both transcription and enzyme activities. These changes seemed to contribute to acetate excretion in the mutant. No transcriptional changes were observed in the glycolytic enzymes, despite the enhanced glycolysis. The most significant alterations were found in the respiratory-chain components. The total activity of NADH dehydrogenases (NDHs) and terminal oxidases increased about twofold in the mutant, which accounted for its higher respiration rate. These changes arose primarily from the increased (3.7-fold) enzyme activity of NDH-2 and an increased amount of cytochrome bd in the mutant. Transcriptional upregulation appeared to be involved in these phenomena. As NDH-2 cannot generate an electrochemical gradient of protons and as cytochrome bd is inferior to cytochrome bo3 in this ability, the mutant was able to recycle NADH at a higher rate than the parent and avoid generating an excess proton-motive force. We discuss the physiological benefits of the alterations in the mutant.

Acetic Acid↗

[Regulation of liver metabolism and hemodynamics by the hepatic nerves].

The liver is innervated by sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. The effects and mechanisms of actions of hepatic nerves were studied in the isolated rat, guinea pig and Tupaia liver perfused in a non-recirculating manner either via the portal vein or via both the hepatic artery and the portal vein. The arterial plexus was stimulated at the common hepatic artery, the portal plexus at the mesenteric vein or both plexus jointly at the artery and the portal vein in the liver hilus (1-20 Hz, 2 ms, 20 V, 0.5-5 min). Upon nerve stimulation sympathetic effects clearly predominated; parasympathetic actions could only be demonstrated in the presence of alpha- and beta-antagonists. Sympathetic stimulation increased glucose output, shifted lactate uptake to output, decreased ketone body, urea and glutamine formation as well as ammonia uptake, lowered oxygen uptake, reduced perfusion flow combined with an intrahepatic redistribution and perfusate mobilization, and caused an overflow of noradrenaline into the hepatic vein. All effects were mediated predominantly via alpha-receptors; they were dependent on extracellular calcium. Some effects were modulated by hormones: the glucagon-mediated increase of glucose output was further enhanced but that of lactate uptake was decreased by nerve stimulation; in the presence of insulin glucose output was increased only slightly. Parasympathetic stimulation had no effect on basal metabolism or hemodynamics. Yet, it antagonized the glucagon-stimulated glucose release and enhanced the slight, insulin-dependent increase of glucose utilization. The sympathetic nerves may act directly at the parenchymal cells or indirectly via an overflow of neurotransmitter from the vasculature or via hemodynamic changes. Experiments with the vessel relaxant sodium nitroprusside and with retrograde perfusion indicate that neither hemodynamic alterations nor noradrenaline overflow from the vasculature play a major role in the sympathetic alterations in glucose and lactate metabolism; rather the nerves appear to act directly within the parenchyma. Comparative studies with rat, guinea pig and tupaia livers corroborate the view that the sympathetic nerves act in the rat via contacts to only a few periportal hepatocytes with signal propagation through gap junctions, while they act in the guinea pig and tupaia via contacts to almost all parenchymal cells. Sympathetic nerve stimulation caused an increase in the activity of glycogen phosphorylase and a decrease of glycogen synthase; it left the activity of pyruvate kinase and the levels of fructose 2.6-bisphosphate and cyclic AMP unaltered.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Direct observation of the enzyme-intermediate complex of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase by 13C NMR spectroscopy.

The interaction of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase, 4,5-dideoxyshikimate 3-phosphate (ddS3P), and [2-13C]-and [3-13C]phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) has been examined by 13C NMR spectroscopy. Although no resonances due to a dead-end intermediate complex could be detected, an enzyme active site specific formation of pyruvate was observed. The interaction of EPSP synthase with shikimate 3-phosphate (S3P) and [2-13C]- or [3-13C]PEP has been examined by 13C NMR spectroscopy. With [2-13C]PEP, in addition to the resonances due to [2-13C]PEP and [8-13C]EPSP, new resonances appeared at 164.8, 110.9, and 107.2 ppm. The resonance at 164.8 ppm has been assigned to enzyme-bound EPSP. The resonance at 110.9 ppm has been assigned to C-8 of an enzyme-free tetrahedral intermediate of the sort originally proposed by Levin and Sprinson [Levin, J. G., & Sprinson, D. B. (1964) J. Biol. Chem. 239, 1142-1150] and recently independently observed by Anderson et al. [Anderson, K. S., Sikorski, J. A., Benesi, A. J., & Johnson, K. A. (1988) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110, 6577-6579]. The resonance at 107.2 ppm has been assigned to an enzyme-bound intermediate whose structure is closely related to that of the tetrahedral intermediate. With [3-13C]PEP, new resonances appeared at 88.9, 26.2, 25.5, and 24.5 ppm. The resonance at 88.9 ppm has been assigned to enzyme-bound EPSP. The resonance at 26.2 ppm, which was found to correlate with 1.48 ppm by isotope-edited multiple quantum coherence 1H NMR spectroscopy, has been assigned to the methyl group 4-hydroxy-4-methylketoglutarate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

3-Phosphoshikimate 1-Carboxyvinyltransferase↗

Mechanisms involved in the coordinate regulation of strategic enzymes of glucose metabolism.

In this review, we evaluate the relative regulatory importance of specific strategic enzymes (in particular glycogen synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase [ACC] and the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex [PDH]) for carbohydrate utilization as an anabolic precursor and as an energy substrate during the nutritional transitions between the fed and fasted states. The involvement of the specific protein kinases contributing to the inactivation of these enzymes by phosphorylation [cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, AMP-activated protein kinase and PDH kinase] in achieving each regulatory response is also assessed. We demonstrate a striking temporal correlation between hepatic glycogen mobilization and PDH and ACC inactivation by phosphorylation during the immediate postabsorptive period; in contrast, rates of hepatic glycogen synthesis and PDH and ACC expressed activities do not change in parallel during refeeding. The results are consistent with shifting of the primary sites of control for overall hepatic carbon flux during the fed-to-starved and starved-to-fed nutritional transitions achieved, at least in part, by a complex pattern of regulation by protein phosphorylation and metabolites which is critically dependent on the precise nutritional status. Data are also presented that demonstrate asynchronous suppression of glucose uptake/phosphorylation and pyruvate oxidation in cardiac and skeletal muscle during progressive starvation. Analogous asynchrony is observed in the reactivation of these processes in cardiac and skeletal muscle during refeeding after starvation. We provide evidence in support of the concept that selective suppression of pyruvate oxidation in oxidative muscles during early starvation and during the initial phase of refeeding is achieved because of differential sensitivity of glucose uptake/phosphorylation and pyruvate oxidation to lipid-fuel utilization. We discuss the relative importance of regulatory events governing local fatty acid production and utilization (via lipoprotein lipase and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1, respectively) or overall fatty acid supply (dictated by events at the adipocyte) for fuel utilization by muscle during nutritional transitions. Finally, we assess the regulatory importance of glycogen synthesis in determining overall rates of glucose clearance by skeletal muscle during alimentary hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗

[Carbon metabolism in Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans subsp. asporogenes, strain 41].

The activities of carbon metabolism enzymes were determined in cellular extracts of the moderately thermophilic, chemolithotrophic, acidophilic bacterium Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans subsp. asporogenes, strain 41, grown either at an atmospheric content of CO2 in the gas phase (autotrophically, heterotrophically, or mixotrophically) or autotrophically at a CO2 content increased to 5-10%. Regardless of the growth conditions, all TCA cycle enzymes (except for 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase), one glyoxylate cycle enzyme (malate synthase), and some carboxylases (ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, pyruvate carboxylase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase) were detected in the cellular extracts of strain 41. During autotrophic cultivation of strains 41 and 1269, the increase in the CO2 content of the supplied air to 5-10% resulted in the activation of growth and iron oxidation, a 20-30% increase in the cellular content of protein, enhanced activity of the key TCA enzymes (citrate synthase and aconitase), and, in strain 41, a decrease in the activity of carboxylases.

Bacterial Proteins↗

A method for simultaneous determination of the two possible products of acetohydroxy acid synthase.

A method for the simultaneous assay of 2-acetolactate and 2-aceto-2-hydroxybutyrate formation catalyzed by acetohydroxy acid synthase in the presence of its substrates pyruvate and 2-ketobutyrate is described. The method, appropriate for the study of the physiologically and mechanistically significant competition between the two reactions, involves oxidative decarboxylation of the acetohydroxy acids to the corresponding 2,3-diketones, transfer of the volatile diketones to methanol, and gas chromatographic analysis with electron-capture detection. Oxidative decarboxylation by air requires catalytic activation, and addition of iron salts is crucial to the success of the method with purified enzymes.

Acetolactate Synthase↗

Cloning and characterization of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase from Streptomyces sp. Strain CL190, which uses both the mevalonate and nonmevalonate pathways for isopentenyl diphosphate biosynthesis.

In addition to the ubiquitous mevalonate pathway, Streptomyces sp. strain CL190 utilizes the nonmevalonate pathway for isopentenyl diphosphate biosynthesis. The initial step of this nonmevalonate pathway is the formation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) by condensation of pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate catalyzed by DXP synthase. The corresponding gene, dxs, was cloned from CL190 by using PCR with two oligonucleotide primers synthesized on the basis of two highly conserved regions among dxs homologs from six genera. The dxs gene of CL190 encodes 631 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 68 kDa. The recombinant enzyme overexpressed in Escherichia coli was purified as a soluble protein and characterized. The molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated to be 70 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 130 kDa by gel filtration chromatography, suggesting that the enzyme is most likely to be a dimer. The enzyme showed a pH optimum of 9.0, with a V(max) of 370 U per mg of protein and K(m)s of 65 microM for pyruvate and 120 microM for D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. The purified enzyme catalyzed the formation of 1-deoxyxylulose by condensation of pyruvate and glyceraldehyde as well, with a K(m) value of 35 mM for D-glyceraldehyde. To compare the enzymatic properties of CL190 and E. coli DXP synthases, the latter enzyme was also overexpressed and purified. Although these two enzymes had different origins, they showed the same enzymatic properties.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Hepatic glucokinase is required for the synergistic action of ChREBP and SREBP-1c on glycolytic and lipogenic gene expression.

Hepatic glucokinase (GK) catalyzes the phosphorylation of glucose to glucose 6-phosphate (G6P), a step which is essential for glucose metabolism in liver as well as for the induction of glycolytic and lipogenic genes. The sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) has emerged as a major mediator of insulin action on hepatic gene expression, but the extent to which its transcriptional effect is caused by an increased glucose metabolism remains unclear. Through the use of hepatic GK knockout mice (hGK-KO) we have shown that the acute stimulation by glucose of l-pyruvate kinase (l-PK), fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), and Spot 14 genes requires GK expression. To determine whether the effect of SREBP-1c requires GK expression and subsequent glucose metabolism, a transcriptionally active form of SREBP-1c was overexpressed both in vivo and in primary cultures of control and hGK-KO hepatocytes. Our results demonstrate that the synergistic action of SREBP-1c and glucose metabolism via GK is necessary for the maximal induction of l-PK, ACC, FAS, and Spot 14 gene expression. Indeed, in hGK-KO hepatocytes overexpressing SREBP-1c, the effect of glucose on glycolytic and lipogenic genes is lost because of the impaired ability of these hepatocytes to efficiently metabolize glucose, despite a marked increase in low K(m) hexokinase activity. Our studies also reveal that the loss of glucose effect observed in hGK-KO hepatocytes is associated with a decreased in the carbohydrate responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) gene expression, a transcription factor suggested to mediate glucose signaling in liver. Decreased ChREBP gene expression, achieved using small interfering RNA, results in a loss of glucose effect on endogenous glycolytic (l-PK) and lipogenic (FAS, ACC) gene expression, thereby demonstrating the direct implication of ChREBP in glucose action. Together these results support a model whereby both SREBP-1c and glucose metabolism, acting via ChREBP, are necessary for the dietary induction of glycolytic and lipogenic gene expression in liver.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗

Studies in valine biosynthesis. X. The acetolactate synthase from Rhodopseudomonas spheroides.

The first committed enzyme in valine biosynthesis, acetolactate synthase, in the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas spheroides, required added pyruvate (apparent Km--4.5 mM), Mg2+ (Km--1.01 mM), diphosphothiamine (Km--29.6 micrometer), flavin adenine dinucleotide, and a buffer pH of 7.2--7.4 for enzymatic activity. The synthase was affected by L-valine, an end-product inhibitor, in a competitive manner. The presence of acetolactate synthase, along with other earlier observed enzymes, completes the identification of the valine biosynthetic pathway in this photo-organotroph.

Acetoin↗

Hepatic gluconeogenesis and Krebs cycle fluxes in a CCl4 model of acute liver failure.

Acute liver failure was induced in rats by CCl4 administration and its effects on the hepatic Krebs cycle and gluconeogenic fluxes were evaluated in situ by 13C NMR isotopomer analysis of hepatic glucose following infusion of [U-13C]propionate. In fed animals, CCl4 injury caused a significant increase in relative gluconeogenic flux from 0.80+/-0.10 to 1.34 +/-0.24 times the flux through citrate synthase (p<0.01). In 24-h fasted animals, CCl4-injury also significantly increased relative gluconeogenic flux from 1.36+/-0.16 to 1.80+/-0.22 times the flux through citrate synthase (p<0.01). Recycling of PEP via pyruvate and oxaloacetate was extensive under all conditions and was not significantly altered by CCl4 injury. CCl4 injury significantly reduced hepatic glucose output by 26% (42.8+/-7.3 vs 58.1+/-2.4 micromol/kg/min, p=0.005), which was attributed to a 26% decrease in absolute gluconeogenic flux from PEP (85.6+/-14.6 vs 116+/-4.8 micromol/kg/min, p<0.01). These changes were accompanied by a 47% reduction in absolute citrate synthase flux (90.6+/-8.0 to 47.6+/-8.0 micromol/kg/min, p<0.005), indicating that oxidative Krebs cycle flux was more susceptible to CCl4 injury. The reduction in absolute fluxes indicate a significant loss of hepatic metabolic capacity, while the significant increases in relative gluconeogenic fluxes suggest a reorganization of metabolic activity towards preserving hepatic glucose output.

Alanine Transaminase↗

Skeletal muscle mitochondrial ATP production rate and walking performance in peripheral arterial disease.

This study tested the hypotheses that skeletal muscle mitochondrial ATP production rate (MAPR) is impaired in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and that it relates positively to their walking performances. Seven untrained patients, eight exercise-trained patients and 11 healthy controls completed a maximal walking test and had muscle sampled from the gastrocnemius medialis muscle. Muscle was analysed for its MAPR in the presence of pyruvate, palmitoyl-L-carnitine or both, as well as citrate synthase (CS) activity. MAPRs were not different between untrained PAD and controls. In contrast, MAPRs (pyruvate) were significantly higher in trained PAD vs. controls. MAPR (pyruvate combinations) was also significantly higher in trained than untrained PAD muscle. MAPR and CS activity were highly correlated with walking performance in patients, but not in controls. These data do not support the hypothesis that isolated mitochondria are functionally impaired in PAD and demonstrate that the muscle mitochondrial capacity to oxidize carbohydrate is positively related to walking performance in these patients.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Weight cycling-induced alteration in fatty acid metabolism.

Epidemiological studies have suggested that repeated weight cycling over time may increase the risk of coronary heart disease. The mechanism involved remains poorly understood, but the change in lipid metabolism during weight cycling has been offered as a possible explanation. The present study investigated the effect of weight cycling on the size and fatty acid composition of rat fat pads as well as serum cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, insulin, and glucagon in rats. Two consecutive weight cycles were induced by 40% energy restriction followed by ad libitum refeeding of either a moderate-fat (MF; 22% energy) or a high-fat (HF; 45% energy) diet. The lipogenic enzymes, including fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, malic enzyme, pyruvate kinase, and lipoprotein lipase in the weight-cycled (WC) rats fed only the HF diet, yielded an overshoot of activities at the end of two weight cycles. These changes were accompanied by an 80% increase in the size of the adipocyte and a 40-50% increase in the size of perirenal and epididymal fat tissues in HF-WC rats. Regardless of whether the rats were fed the HF or MF diet, all WC rats showed a gradual reduction in linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid and an increase in palmitic, palmitoleic, and stearic acid in total body lipid. It is concluded that weight cycling in rats may promote body fatness if an HF diet is consumed and can significantly alter whole body fatty acid balance irrespective of whether they consumed an MF or HF diet. Most importantly, the weight cycling led to an overshoot or fluctuation of serum cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, insulin, and glucagon. If weight cycling is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, then, part of the mechanism may involve the changes in these risk factors.

Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase↗

Enzymatic activities of cell-free extracts of Rickettsia typhi.

Cell-free extracts of Rickettsia typhi were tested for activities of enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, of glutamate catabolism, and of glycolysis. The organisms were grown in the yolk sacs of chicken embryos, harvested shortly before the time of embryo death, purified by Renografin density gradient centrifugation, and ruptured in a French pressure cell. The following enzymatic activities were demonstrated: high levels of malate dehydrogenase (MDH), moderate levels of glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate, succinate, and isocitrate dehydrogenases, and citrate synthase, and low levels of glutamate-pyruvate transaminase. The specific activities of some of these enzymes were higher when the rickettsiae were harvested at a time of active proliferation, 3 to 4 days prior to embryo death. Rickettsial MDH was differentiated from host MDH by its migration pattern on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The activities of MDH and two other dehydrogenases, demonstrable after the cells had been disrupted, were absent from purified, intact rickettsial preparations. No activity was detected for glucose-6-phosphate, 6-phosphogluconate, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, lactate dehydrogenases, phosphoglucose isomerase, fructoaldolase, or pyruvate kinase. Our results suggest that extracts of R. typhi that contain demonstrable enzymes involved in the catabolism of glutamate and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, unlike Coxiella burnetti, lack detectable glycolytic activity.

Alanine Transaminase↗

New enzymatic changes of L-cystathionine catalyzed by bovine tissue extracts.

L-Cystathionine was used as substrate for enzyme systems prepared by heating bovine tissue extracts in the presence of pyruvate at 60 degrees C for 10 min. Analysis of the products indicated that the systems converted L-cystathionine into the cyclic ketimine form which was detected by its spectral properties and by chromatography on the amino acid analyzer. Alanine, alpha-aminobutyrate and cystine were also produced. Pyruvate and alpha-ketobutyrate enhance the production of the ketimine by liver, kidney and heart extracts, and are necessary for the brain extracts: alpha-Ketoglutarate is much less effective and its presence favors the production of homocystine by all the extracts. Homocystine was found in the brain incubates when any of the ketoacids assayed were added. The overall reaction is explained by the action of heat stable cystathionine gamma-lyase and beta-synthase which produce alpha-ketobutyrate and pyruvate used for the transamination of the remaining cystathionine to the monoketoacid. This last compound cyclizes spontaneously into the ketimine form thus avoiding the removal of the second amino group. This represents a new nontransulfurative path leading to the production of a seven membered etherocyclic product whose biochemical implications are yet unexplored.

Amino Acids↗

Two new irreversible inhibitors of dihydrodipicolinate synthase: diethyl (E,E)-4-oxo-2,5-heptadienedioate and diethyl (E)-4-oxo-2-heptenedioate.

Dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) is a key enzyme in lysine biosynthesis and an important antibiotic target. The enzyme catalyses the condensation of (S)-aspartate semialdehyde (ASA) and pyruvate to form dihydrodipicolinate. Two new irreversible inhibitors of dihydrodipicolinate synthase are reported, designed to mimic the acyclic enzyme-bound condensation product of ASA and pyruvate. These compounds represent an important new lead in the design of potent inhibitors for this enzyme.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Control of glycaemia.

Maintenance of plasma glucose concentrations within a narrow range despite wide fluctuations in the demand (e.g. vigorous exercise) and supply (e.g. large carbohydrate meals) of glucose results from coordination of factors that regulate glucose release into and removal from the circulation. On a moment-to-moment basis these processes are controlled mainly by insulin and glucagon, whose secretion is reciprocally influenced by the plasma glucose concentration. In the resting postabsorptive state, release of glucose from the liver (equally via glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis) is the key regulated process. Glycogenolysis depends on the relative activities of glycogen synthase and phosphorylase, the latter being the more important. The activities of fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylkinase and pyruvate dehydrogenase regulate gluconeogenesis, whose main precursors are lactate, glutamine and alanine. In the postprandial state, suppression of liver glucose output and stimulation of skeletal muscle glucose uptake are the most important factors. Glucose disposal by insulin-sensitive tissues is regulated initially at the transport step and the mainly by glycogen synthase, phosphofructokinase and pyruvate dehydrogenase. Hormonally induced changes in intracellular fructose 2,6-bisphosphate concentrations play a key role in muscle glycolytic flux and both glycolytic and gluconeogenic flux in the liver. Under stressful conditions (e.g. hypoglycaemia, trauma, vigorous exercise), increased secretion of other hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and growth hormone, and increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, come into play; their actions to increase hepatic glucose output and to suppress tissue glucose uptake are partly mediated by increases in tissue fatty acid oxidation. In diabetes, the most common disorder of glucose homeostasis, fasting hyperglycaemia, results primarily from excessive release of glucose by the liver due to increased gluconeogenesis; postprandial hyperglycaemia results from both impaired suppression of hepatic glucose release and impaired skeletal muscle glucose uptake. These abnormalities are usually due to the combination of impaired insulin secretion and tissue resistance to insulin, the causes of which remain to be determined.

Blood Glucose↗

The protein phosphatases involved in cellular regulation. Influence of polyamines on the activities of protein phosphatase-1 and protein phosphatase-2A.

The effects of polyamines on the oligomeric forms of protein phosphatase-1 (1G), protein phosphatase-2A (2A0, 2A1 and 2A2) and their free catalytic subunits (1C and 2AC) has been studied using homogeneous enzymes isolated from rabbit skeletal muscle. Spermine increased the activity of protein phosphatase-2A towards eight of nine substrates tested. Half-maximal activation was observed at 0.2 mM with optimal effects at 1-2 mM. Above 2 mM, spermine became inhibitory. The most impressive activation of protein phosphatase-2A was obtained with glycogen synthase, especially when phosphorylated at sites-3 (8-15-fold with protein phosphatase-2A1) and phenylalanine hydroxylase (6-7-fold with protein phosphatase-2A1) as substrates. Activation of protein phosphatases 2A0, 2A1 and 2A2 was greater than that observed with 2AC. Spermine was a more potent activator than spermidine, while putrescine had only a small effect. Qualitatively similar results were obtained with five other substrates, although maximal activation was much less (1.3-3-fold with protein phosphatase-2A1). The rate of dephosphorylation of glycogen phosphorylase was decreased by spermine, inhibition being more pronounced with protein phosphatase-2AC than with 2A0, 2A1 and 2A2. Spermine (I50 = 0.1 mM with protein phosphatase-2AC) was a more potent inhibitor than spermidine (I50 = 0.9 mM) or putrescine (I50 = 8 mM). Partially purified preparations of protein phosphatases-2A0, 2A1 and 2A2 from from rat liver were affected by spermine in a similar manner to the homogeneous enzymes from rabbit skeletal muscle. Spermine did not activate protein phosphatase-1 to the same extent as protein phosphatase-2A. Greatest stimulation (2.5-fold) was again observed with glycogen synthase labelled in sites-3, with half-maximal activation at 0.2 mM and optimal effects at 1-2 mM spermine. Spermine was a much more effective stimulator than spermidine, while putrescine was ineffective. Very similar results were obtained with protein phosphatases 1G and 1C. With four other substrates maximal activation by spermine was less than 1.5-fold, while the dephosphorylation of glycogen synthase (labelled in site-2), phosphorylase kinase, pyruvate kinase and glycogen phosphorylase were inhibited. Spermine (I50 = 0.04 mM) was a more potent inhibitor of the dephosphorylation of glycogen phosphorylase than spermidine (I50 = 0.9 mM) or putrescine (I50 = 9 mM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Electron acceptor specificity of ferredoxin (flavodoxin):NADP+ oxidoreductase from Escherichia coli.

Reduced flavodoxin I (Fld1) is required in Escherichia coli for reductive radical generation in AdoMet-dependent radical enzymes and reductive activation of cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. Ferredoxin (Fd) and flavodoxin II (Fld2) are also present, although their precise roles have not been ascertained. Ferredoxin (flavodoxin):NADP+ oxidoreductase (FNR) was discovered in E. coli as an NADPH-dependent reductant of Fld1 that facilitated generation of active methionine synthase in vitro; FNR and Fld1 will also supply electrons for the reductive cleavage of AdoMet essential for generating protein or substrate radicals in pyruvate formate-lyase, class III ribonucleotide reductase, biotin synthase, and, potentially, lipoyl synthase. As part of ongoing efforts to understand the various redox pathways that will support AdoMet-dependent radical enzymes in E. coli, we have examined the relative specificity of E. coli FNR for Fd, Fld1, and Fld2. While FNR will reduce all three proteins, Fd is the kinetically and thermodynamically preferred partner. Fd binds to FNR with high affinity (K(d)<or=0.5 microM) and is reduced under single-turnover conditions with k(obs)=2.3s(-1) and under steady state conditions with k(cat)=0.15s(-1). Fld1 and Fld2 behave similarly with respect to FNR, with affinities approximately 4- to 7-fold weaker and reduction rates that are 10- to 100-fold slower than those for Fd. Surprisingly we find that Fld1 and Fld2 can obtain electrons from reduced Fd at rates that are comparable to those obtained with reduced FNR. Thus we propose that the primary electron acceptor for E. coli FNR is Fd, while Fld1 can obtain electrons slowly either from FNR or via Fd as a mediator.

Base Sequence↗