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Synthesis of haem and cytochrome c prosthetic group from delta-aminolaevulinate by the cell sap from rat liver.

To determine whether the prosthetic group of cytochrome c is synthesized and linked to the apoprotein in the cytosol or in connexion with the endoplasmic reticulum, we have studied the incorporation in vitro of delta-amino[(14)C]laevulinate into porphyrin compounds and cytochrome c by the cell sap from rat liver. The radioactive precursor was incorporated into a trichloroacetic acid-precipitable form partially resistant to extractions by acid solvents, suggesting the existence of a fraction covalently linked to protein. The activity was proportional to the amount of protein incubated, did not increase substantially by supplementation with the microsomal fraction and an energy source, and was very low in the pH5 fraction. Addition of increasing amounts of haemin inhibited the incorporation, as with purified delta-aminolaevulinate dehydratase. [(14)C]Protoporphyrin IX was identified by paper chromatography, together with a shoulder running as protohaem IX. The cell sap in the absence of ribosomes was also able to incorporate radioactivity into purified cytochrome c, and the addition of ribosomes significantly enhanced the activity. The precursors of haem c were synthesized in the soluble system by the known haem-synthetic pathway, as shown by the kinetics of labelling of the coproporphyrin, protoporphyrin and haem fractions, and the activities were concentrated in the precipitate obtained between 40 and 60% saturation with (NH(4))(2)SO(4). The presence of ferrochelatase was indicated by the incorporation of (55)Fe into proto- and haemato-haem identified by paper chromatography. It is concluded that the cell sap from rat liver contains the complete set of enzymes for the synthesis from delta-aminolaevulinate of haem c and its linkage to a small pool of free apoprotein c present in soluble form. This suggests that an ancillary pathway of haem synthesis occurs in the cytosol for at least the formation of the prosthetic group, which is linked post-translationally to that pool of apoprotein c synthesized by free polyribosomes.

Aminolevulinic Acid↗

delta-Aminolaevulinic acid in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, saliva and erythrocytes: studies in normal, uraemic and porphyric subjects.

delta-Aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) was determined by g.l.c. with electron-capture detection. Normal plasma level was 92 nmol/l (SD = 39, n = 89, range 24-270 nmol/l). ALA was undetectable in 35 of 53 samples of normal cerebrospinal fluid (limit of assay 2 nmol/l). The mean of the other 18 samples was 19 nmol/l (SD = 10, range 6-36 nmol/l). Salivary ALA was generally only 10-30% of the plasma level in normal and porphyric subjects. Erythrocytes of normal and porphyric subjects contained no detectable ALA and were impermeable to its entry. ALA clearance correlated closely with that of creatinine, consistent with it being excreted by glomerular filtration with limited tubular reabsorption. In chronic renal failure, serum ALA was elevated to a maximum of three to four times the normal, but its urinary excretion was reduced, in keeping with lessened production. In two cases of acute intermittent porphyria with overwhelming neuropathy the maximum plasma levels of ALA were 9 and 12 mumol/l. Haematin infusion decreased the ALA levels but without obvious clinical benefit. Limited neurological recovery occurred without major reduction in plasma levels of ALA. One subject's attack was precipitated by pregnancy. The neonate was apparently normal, despite high levels of ALA in maternal plasma throughout gestation and a high level of ALA in the cord blood. The observations described here do not support the view that ALA may be directly neurotoxic.

Adult↗

Urinary excretion of porphyrins is increased in patients with HIV-1 infection.

Urine concentrations of total porphyrins and of porphyrin precursors, delta-aminolaevulinic acid and porphobilinogen, were analysed in the first-morning urine samples of 36 people with established HIV-1 infection. For comparison, we also analysed the urine samples of 26 healthy HIV-seronegative people. In patients with HIV-1 infection concentrations of total porphyrins were found to be significantly higher than in healthy controls. Furthermore, there was a close correlation between concentrations of total porphyrins and porphobilinogen and urine neopterin concentrations in patients. Our data indicate an association between chronic immune activation and altered porphyrin metabolism. The data may provide a rationale for the observation of acute porphyria in patients with HIV-1 infection.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Studies on porphyrin-heme biosynthesis in organotypic cultures of chick dorsal root ganglion. I. Observations on neuronal and non-neuronal elements.

Living, mature organotypic cultures of chick dorsal root ganglion maintained in culture for 3 weeks were incubated in medium containing various levels of a precursor of porphyrin and heme formation, delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), (0.5 mM to 10 mM) or a combination of ALA (10 MM) and a metal chelator, CaMg-EDTA (5 mM) for up to 48 hours. Although no morphologic changes occurred in the cultures incubated with these compounds as observed by bright-field or dark-field microscopy, fluorescence microscopic study at 12, 24, and 48 hours demonstrated an intense red fluorescence with in the non-neuronal cells of the cultures (Schwann cells, fibroblasts, and macrophages) but not in the nerve cells. Spectrofluorometric analysis of perchloric acid-methanol extracts of the cultures revealed an emission spectrum characteristic of porphyrins. Autoradiographic studies, using 14C-labelled ALA, indicated that ALA was taken up by all cells (nerve cells as well as non-neuronal cells) in the cultures. The cultures incubated with ALA plus the metal chelator CaMg-EDTA showed the same distribution of porphyrin fluorescence, but a 2-fold increase in the amount of porphyrins was generated, when compared to cultures incubated with ALA alone. This observation suggests that a considerable fraction of porphyrins may be utilized to form heme in these cells since CaMa-EDTA blocks ferrochelatase activity, the terminal enzyme in the heme biosynthetic pathway. This is the first demonstration of active porphyrin-heme biosynthesis from ALA in cultured nervous system cells. Our results indicate that this biosynthetic pathway remains active in 3-week old cultures of chick dorsal root ganglion, and further, that the pathway appears to be predominantly present in the non-neuronal cellular elements of the ganglion rather than in nerve cells.

Aminolevulinic Acid↗

delta-Aminolaevulinic acid uptake, toxicity, and effect on [14C]gamma-aminobutyric acid uptake into neurons and glia in culture.

delta-Aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) uptake into neurons and glia in primary culture as well as ALA toxicity and its effects on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake were examined. [4-14C]ALA uptake into neurons and glia was nonsaturable, partially Na+- and temperature-dependent, and appeared to comprise mainly diffusion into the cell. 2,4-Dinitrophenol caused some inhibition of [4-14C]ALA uptake whereas ouabain, KCN, or amino acids at 1 mM concentration were without effect. ALA (1 mM) caused a slight inhibition of [U-14C]GABA uptake into neurons (14%) and glia (9%), but was without effect at lower concentrations. It is unlikely that, in acute porphyria, ALA reaches sufficiently high levels in nervous tissue to interfere with the reuptake of GABA into neurons or glia. ALA was shown to be toxic, judged by the loss of cells, to both neurons and glia at concentrations as low as 10 microM. Such a concentration of ALA may be expected to occur in the CSF of porphyric patients in the acute attack. However, results obtained with dispersed cells in culture may not necessarily reflect the situation in vivo where the cell may have a far greater resistance to the effects of toxic agents.

Aminolevulinic Acid↗

Blood lead and urinary delta aminolevolonic acid (U-ALA) in the diagnosis of lead toxicosis of dogs.

A comparative evaluation of the usefulness of blood lead and urinary delta aminolevolonic acid estimations in the diagnosis of canine lead poisoning was made in 2 dogs which were given increasing quantities of lead by mouth for extended periods. In both lead administered dogs the blood lead levels remained elevated throughout the experimental period of 18 weeks. This contrasted with the results of U-ALA determinations in which elevated levels were detected only infrequently and at erratic intervals lacking relationship to lead exposure.

Aminolevulinic Acid↗

Consequences of glycerol deprivation on the synthesis of membrane components in a glycerol auxotroph of Staphylococcus aureus.

In a glycerol auxotroph of Staphylococcus aureus, the deprivation of glycerol affected the formation of certain membrane components. (i) There was synthesis of fatty acids at the predeprivation rate even though the fatty acids synthesized accumulated as free fatty acids rather than as esterified fatty acids; (ii) there was a complete cessation of phospholipid and vitamin K isoprenologue biosynthesis; (iii) there was conservation of the glycerol esters of the complex phospholipids and glucolipids; (iv) there was an immediate decrease in the rate of synthesis of monoglucoslydiglyceride (30%) and diglucosyldiglyceride (60%); (v) there was a 50% decrease in the rate of synthesis of the polar and nonpolar carotenoids; (vi) there was synthesis of protoheme, heme a, and nonspecific membrane protein at the predeprivation rate; and (vii) there was an abrupt cessation in the formation of new, functional glycine transport activity.

Acetates↗

Mutant strains of Rhodopseudomonas spheroides lacking delta-aminolevulinate synthase: growth, heme, and bacteriochlorophyll synthesis.

Two mutant strains of Rhodopseudomonas spheroides were described which lacked delta-aminolevulinate synthase activity. They required delta-aminolevulinate for growth; they did not respond to protoporphyrin or magnesium photoporphyrin, and only poorly to hemin. Synthesis of cytochromes and heme by mutant H-4 was dependent upon delta-aminolevulinate; this strain did not form bacteriochlorophyll either with or without delta-aminolevulinate and, consequently, grew only under aerobic conditions. Mutant H-5 formed bacteriochlorophyll in response to delta-aminolevulinate and grew both anaerobically in the light and aerobically in the dark; the amount of delta-aminolevulinate needed for optimal anaerobic growth was higher than that required aerobically. Synthesis of bacteriochlorophyll and heme by suspensions of mutant H-5 incubated anaerobically in the light was dependent upon delta-aminolevulinate; bacteriochlorophyll production was completely inhibited by high aeration and by puromycin. The mutants differed in their ability to take up radioactive delta-aminolevulinate from the external environment; mutant H-5 was less active than mutant H-4 or the wild type. It was suggested that R. spheroides made only one form of delta-aminolevulinate synthase, which provided delta-aminolevulinate for bacteriochlorophyll and heme synthesis.

Acyltransferases↗