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Incorporation of [1-13C]glucose indicates that the biosynthesis of the hemiterpene moiety of glabrol, the main prenylated flavanone in the hairy root cultures of Glycyrrhiza glabra, proceeds via a glyceraldehyde/pyruvate non-mevalonate pathway.
Lovastatin, a fungal antibiotic used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the key regulatory enzyme in the mevalonate pathway of cholesterol synthesis. We examined the antitumor properties of lovastatin on the F3II sarcomatoid mammary carcinoma, a highly invasive and metastatic murine tumor model. Female BALB/c inbred mice were inoculated subcutaneously with F3II tumor cells and injected i.p. daily with 10 mg/kg body weight of lovastatin or administered p.o. at a level corresponding to the human dosage of 1-2 mg/kg/day. Treatment significantly prolonged tumor latency and reduced tumor formation and metastatic dissemination to the lungs from established mammary tumors. In vitro, antitumor properties of lovastatin were strongly associated with inhibition of tumor cell attachment and migration. These actions were prevented by addition of mevalonate but not by equivalent concentrations of farnesyl pyrophosphate. In accordance, Western blot assays showed that lovastatin effects did not appear to be related to modifications in Ras oncoproteins in our model. The present data indicate that lovastatin could be an antitumor agent with potentially useful clinical applications in breast cancer.
It is known that 1-deoxy-D-xylulose taken up by Escherichia coli is used as the precursor of the compounds synthesized via the non-mevalonate pathway, such as isoprenoids, probably after conversion into 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate. In this report, we show that a novel phospho(enol) pyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system catalyzes the uptake and phosphorylation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose.
Insight into the mechanisms of primary or acquired drug resistance of (hematological) malignancies is critical for the development of new treatment strategies. This review will focus on Bcl-2 and the mevalonate pathway as targets for reversal of drug resistance in multiple myeloma. The Bcl-2 protein is highly expressed in myeloma patients and in vitro studies have shown its role in the regulation of chemosensitivity, which makes Bcl-2 an attractive target for treatment. Statins are widely used for the treatment of hypercholesteremia. Several in vitro studies have shown that statins may also kill hematological malignant cells including myeloma cells. We found that lovastatin induced apoptosis in myeloma and lymphoma cells by inhibition of geranylgeranylation and subsequent down regulation of Mcl-1, probably the most important anti-apoptotic protein in myeloma. Phase 1 and 2 studies have been performed with Bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotides and high dose simvastatin in combination with chemotherapy in heavily pre-treated myeloma patients. Encouraging results from these studies may provide the framework for the future application of new treatment strategies for myeloma.
Cells treated with compactin, an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the enzyme which catalyzes the rate-limiting step of the mevalonate pathway, are arrested prior to the DNA synthesis (S) phase of the cell cycle. Identification of a specific pathway product or products with a role in DNA replication, however, has remained elusive. In this report we demonstrate that farnesyl acetate, a derivative of the key isoprenoid pathway intermediate farnesyl pyrophosphate, inhibits DNA replication in both Chinese hamster ovary cells and human (HeLa) cells. This effect is revealed by measurement of DNA content using fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis and by measurement of [3H]thymidine incorporation. We show that cells treated with farnesyl acetate retain protein synthesis capacity as DNA replication is inhibited and remain intact as viewed with the vital stain propidium iodide. The inhibition of DNA replication by farnesyl acetate occurs in cells treated with high levels of compactin and in cells lacking HMG-CoA reductase. These results indicate that farnesyl acetate action is not dependent on metabolism through the isoprenoid pathway and is not the result of the loss of a metabolite required for replication nor the accumulation of a metabolite which is inhibitory. In addition, cells treated with farnesyl acetate for over 6 h are irreversibly blocked from progressing through S phase, a phenomenon which differs sharply from the results with compactin, removal of which results in synchronous progression through S phase. Farnesyl acetate also blocks protein prenylation in cells, to a degree comparable to a known farnesylation inhibitor, BZA-5B. We propose that farnesyl acetate is acting in a manner quite different from the metabolic block caused by compactin, causing a rapid and irreversible block of DNA replication.
In the present work, Escherichia coli DH5alpha was metabolically engineered for CoQ(10) production by the introduction of decaprenyl diphosphate synthase gene (ddsA) from Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Grown in 2YTG medium (1.6% tryptone, 1% yeast extract, 0.5% NaCl, and 0.5% glycerol) with an initial pH of 7, the recombinant E. coli was capable of CoQ(10) production up to 470 microg/gDCW (dry cell weight). This value could be further elevated to 900 microg/gDCW simply by increasing the initial culture pH from 7 to 9. Supplementation of 4-hydroxy benzoate did not improve the productivity any further. However, engineering of a lower mevalonate semi-pathway so as to increase the isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) supply of the recombinant strain using exogenous mevalonate efficiently increased the CoQ(10) production. Lower mevalonate semi-pathways of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were tested. Among these, the pathway of Streptococcus pneumoniae proved to be superior, yielding CoQ(10) production of 2,700+/-115 microg/gDCW when supplemented with exogenous mevalonate of 3 mM. In order to construct a complete mevalonate pathway, the upper semi-pathway of the same bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae, was recruited. In a recombinant E. coli DH5alpha harboring three plasmids encoding for upper and lower mevalonate semi-pathways as well as DdsA enzyme, the heterologous mevalonate pathway could convert endogenous acetyl-CoA to IPP, resulting in CoQ(10) production of up to 2,428+/-75 microg/gDCW, without mevalonate supplementation. In contrast, a whole mevalonate pathway constructed in a single operon was found to be less efficient. However, it provided CoQ(10) production of up to 1,706+/-86 microg/gDCW, which was roughly 1.9 times higher than that obtained by ddsA alone.
Three Lactobacillus helveticus 53/7 genes essential for the biosynthesis of isopentenyl diphosphate and the gene coding for a putative carotenoid biosynthesis protein were for the first time identified from lactic acid bacteria. The deduced amino acid sequences of the mevalonate pathway gene products share significant identity with corresponding proteins of a few gram-positive cocci and Streptomyces species.
The mevalonate (MVA) pathway is involved in cell proliferation. We investigated drugs acting at different enzymatic steps on rat aorta smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. Competitive inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (0.1-10 microM) dose-dependently decreased (up to 90%) SMC proliferation. This effect was prevented by 100 microM MVA, 10 microM all-trans farnesol (F-OH) and 5 microM all-trans geranylgeraniol (GG-OH), precursors of protein prenyl groups, but not by 2-cis GG-OH, precursor of dolichols, squalene and ubiquinone. The same inhibitory effect was obtained with 6-fluoromevalonate (1-50 microM), an inhibitor of MVA-pyrophosphate decarboxylase. Partial recovery of cell proliferation was possible by all-trans F-OH and all-trans GG-OH, but not MVA. Squalestatin 1 (1-25 microM), a potent squalene synthase inhibitor, blocked cholesterol synthesis and slightly inhibited (21% decrease) SMC proliferation only at the highest tested concentration. NB-598 (1-10 microM), a potent squalene epoxidase inhibitor, blocked cholesterol synthesis without affecting SMC proliferation. Finally, the benzodiazepine peptidomimetic BZA-5B (10-100 microM), a specific inhibitor of protein farnesyltransferase, time- and dose-dependently decreased SMC proliferation (up to 62%) after 9 days. This effect of BZA-5B was prevented by MVA and all-trans GG-OH, but not by all-trans F-OH. SMC proliferation was not affected by the closely related compound BZA-7B, which does not inhibit protein farnesyltransferase. Altogether, these findings focus the role of the MVA pathway in cell proliferation and call attention to the involvement of specific isoprenoid metabolites, probably through farnesylated and geranylgeranylated proteins, in the control of this cellular event.
The biosynthesis of phytol in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. UTEX 2470 has been examined using 6,6-2H2-d-glucose, 2-13C-d-glucose, and U-13C6-d-glucose as precursors. Analysis of the isolated phytol using deuterium or 13C NMR showed labeling patterns consistent with incorporation of labeled glucose via the non-mevalonate pathway to terpenes.
Enzymes of the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate/2-C-methylerythritol 4-phosphate (DOXP/MEP) pathway are targets for new herbicides and antibacterial drugs. Until now, no inhibitors for the DOXP synthase have been known of. We show that one of the breakdown products of the herbicide clomazone affects the DOXP synthase. One inhibitor of the non-mevalonate pathway, fosmidomycin, blocks the DOXP reductoisomerase (DXR) of plants and bacteria. The I(50) values of plants are, however, higher than those found for the DXR of Escherichia coli. The DXR of plants, isolated from barley seedlings, shows a pH optimum of 8.1, which is typical for enzymes active in the chloroplast stroma.
Renal injury evokes tubular cholesterol accumulation, mediated in part by increased HMG CoA reductase (HMGCR) levels. The present study was undertaken to define potential molecular determinants of these changes and to ascertain the relative importance of increased cholesterol production versus mevalonate pathway-driven protein prenylation, on the emergence of the so-called postrenal injury "cytoresistant state." Cultured proximal tubule (HK-2) cells were subjected to Fe or ATP depletion injury, followed 1 to 24 hours later by assessments of: 1) sterol transcription factor expression (SREBP)-1 and -2); 2) HMGCR mRNA levels; and 3) Ras/Rho prenylation. HMGCR mRNA and Ras/Rho prenylation were also assessed after in vivo ischemic and Fe-mediated renal damage. Using specific inhibitors, the relative importance of protein prenylation versus terminal cholesterol synthesis on HK-2 cell susceptibility to injury was also assessed. Acute injury induced HK-2 cell SREBP disruption and reductions in HMGCR mRNA. Renal cortical HMGCR mRNA also fell in response to either in vivo ischemic or Fe-mediated oxidant damage. At 24 hours after in vitro/in vivo injury, a time of cholesterol buildup, no increase in Ras/Rho prenylation was observed. Prenylation inhibitors did not sensitize HK-2 cells to injury. Conversely, squalene synthase (terminal cholesterol synthesis) blockade sensitized HK-2 cells to both Fe and ATP depletion attack. We concluded that: 1) acute tubular cell injury can destroy SREBPs and lower HMGCR mRNA. This suggests that posttranscriptional/translational events are responsible for HMGCR enzyme and cholesterol accumulation after renal damage. 2) Injury-induced cholesterol accumulation appears dissociated from increased protein prenylation. 3) Cholesterol accumulation, per se, seems to be the dominant mechanism by which the mevalonate pathway contributes to the postrenal injury cytoresistant state.
Bisphosphonates are currently the most important class of antiresorptive drugs used for the treatment of metabolic bone diseases. Although the molecular targets of bisphosphonates have not been identified, these compounds inhibit bone resorption by mechanisms that can lead to osteoclast apoptosis. Bisphosphonates also induce apoptosis in mouse J774 macrophages in vitro, probably by the same mechanisms that lead to osteoclast apoptosis. We have found that, in J774 macrophages, nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates (such as alendronate, ibandronate, and risedronate) inhibit post-translational modification (prenylation) of proteins, including the GTP-binding protein Ras, with farnesyl or geranylgeranyl isoprenoid groups. Clodronate did not inhibit protein prenylation. Mevastatin, an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutatyl (HMG)-CoA reductase and hence the biosynthetic pathway required for the production of farnesyl pyrophosphate and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, also caused apoptosis in J774 macrophages and murine osteoclasts in vitro. Furthermore, alendronate-induced apoptosis, like mevastatin-induced apoptosis, could be suppressed in J774 cells by the addition of farnesyl pyrophosphate or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, while the effect of alendronate on osteoclast number and bone resorption in murine calvariae in vitro could be overcome by the addition of mevalonic acid. These observations suggest that nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate drugs cause apoptosis following inhibition of post-translational prenylation of proteins such as Ras. It is likely that these potent antiresorptive bisphosphonates also inhibit bone resorption by preventing protein prenylation in osteoclasts and that enzymes of the mevalonate pathway or prenyl protein transferases are the molecular targets of the nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates. Furthermore, the data support the view that clodronate acts by a different mechanism.
Proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) plays an important role in vascular pathobiology by being involved in the development of coronary atherosclerosis and restenosis. Competitive inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase have shown antiproliferative properties on different cell types. We have assessed the relative effectiveness of three HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (compactin, lovastatin and pravastatin) in blocking serum-induced replication of human and porcine SMCs. No effects were seen on DNA synthesis in porcine or human SMCs at the reported therapeutic lipid-lowering concentrations. The effectiveness of statins in blocking SMC proliferation was similar in both species; the IC50 values for porcine cells were 12.2 mumol L-1, 12.6 mumol L-1 and 1.16 mmol L-1 for lovastatin, compactin and pravastatin respectively. Inhibition of SMC proliferation was reversed by addition of mevalonate but not by low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol. Statins showed high anti-proliferative efficiency against purified growth factors involved in human restenosis (1 nmol L-1 platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), 1 nmol L-1 epidermal growth factor (EGF), 10 U mL-1 alpha-thrombin). The porcine model seems to be a suitable system, closely resembling the human model, for assaying in vivo new strategies, formulations and delivery systems targeted to the mevalonate pathway to inhibit local SMC response to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.
In the present study we investigated the influence of cholesterol depletion and hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) inhibition on chemotaxis of the human monocytic cell line U937. Chemotaxis was nearly completely depressed after incubation for 24 h in the absence of lipoproteins. This was accompanied by a significant decrease in cellular cholesterol. Addition of 10 micrograms/ml low density lipoprotein (LDL) for 2 h to the cholesterol-depleted cells restored chemotaxis. Free cholesterol had no effect under these conditions. Inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase by pravastatin (0.01-1.0 mM) for 20 or 72 h also reduced chemotaxis. However, this effect was not accompanied by a decrease in cellular cholesterol when cells were grown in the presence of lipoproteins. The effect of pravastatin could be reversed by the addition of mevalonate. Addition of LDL did not change the response to pravastatin. We propose that the availability of cholesterol plays an important role in cellular chemotaxis. Furthermore, it can be suggested that other products of the mevalonate pathway apart from cholesterol may contribute to the regulation of chemotaxis.
Bisphosphonates (BPs) include potent inhibitors of bone resorption used to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases. BPs directly or indirectly induce apoptosis in osteoclasts, the bone resorbing cells, and this may play a role in inhibition of bone resorption. Little is known about downstream mediators of apoptosis in osteoclasts, which are difficult to culture. Using purified osteoclasts, we examined the effects of alendronate, risedronate, pamidronate, etidronate, and clodronate on apoptosis and signaling kinases. All BPs induce caspase-dependent formation of pyknotic nuclei and cleavage of Mammalian Sterile 20-like (Mst) kinase 1 to form the active 34-kDa species associated with apoptosis. Withdrawal of serum and of macrophage colony stimulating factor, necessary for survival of purified osteoclasts, or treatment with staurosporine also induce apoptosis and caspase cleavage of Mst1. Consistent with their inhibition of the mevalonate pathway, apoptosis and cleavage of Mst1 kinase induced by alendronate, risedronate, and lovastatin, but not clodronate, are blocked by geranylgeraniol, a precursor of geranylgeranyl diphosphate. Together these findings suggest that BPs act directly on the osteoclast to induce apoptosis and that caspase cleavage of Mst1 kinase is part of the apoptotic pathway. For alendronate and risedronate, these events seem to be downstream of inhibition of geranylgeranylation.
It has recently been suggested that bisphosphonates may have direct antitumor effects in vivo, in addition to their therapeutic antiresorptive properties. Bisphosphonates can inhibit proliferation and cause apoptosis in human myeloma cells in vitro. In macrophages, bisphosphonate-induced apoptosis was recently found to be a result of inhibition of the mevalonate (MVA) pathway. The aim of this study was to determine whether bisphosphonates also affect human myeloma cells in vitro by inhibiting the MVA pathway. Incadronate and mevastatin (a known inhibitor of the MVA pathway) caused apoptosis in JJN-3 myeloma cells and inhibited cell proliferation. Geranylgeraniol and farnesol prevented incadronate-induced apoptosis and had a partial effect on cell cycle arrest. MVA and geranylgeraniol prevented mevastatin-induced apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation and completely prevented the effect of mevastatin on the cell cycle. These observations demonstrate that incadronate-induced apoptosis in human myeloma cells in vitro is the result of inhibition of the MVA pathway.
Terpenoids are known to have many important biological and physiological functions. Some of them are also known for their pharmaceutical significance. In the late nineties after the discovery of a novel non-mevalonate (non-MVA) pathway, the whole concept of terpenoid biosynthesis has changed. In higher plants, the conventional acetate-mevalonate (Ac-MVA) pathway operates mainly in the cytoplasm and mitochondria and synthesizes sterols, sesquiterpenes and ubiquinones predominantly. The plastidic non-MVA pathway however synthesizes hemi-, mono-, sesqui- and di-terpenes, along with carotenoids and phytol chain of chlorophyll. In this paper, recent developments on terpenoids biosynthesis are reviewed with respect to the non-MVA pathway.
Isoprenoids are the most numerous and structurally diverse family of natural products. Terpenoids, a class of isoprenoids often isolated from plants, are used as commercial flavor and fragrance compounds and antimalarial or anticancer drugs. Because plant tissue extractions typically yield low terpenoid concentrations, we sought an alternative method to produce high-value terpenoid compounds, such as the antimalarial drug artemisinin, in a microbial host. We engineered the expression of a synthetic amorpha-4,11-diene synthase gene and the mevalonate isoprenoid pathway from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Escherichia coli. Concentrations of amorphadiene, the sesquiterpene olefin precursor to artemisinin, reached 24 microg caryophyllene equivalent/ml. Because isopentenyl and dimethylallyl pyrophosphates are the universal precursors to all isoprenoids, the strains developed in this study can serve as platform hosts for the production of any terpenoid compound for which a terpene synthase gene is available.