ABSTRACT
A nitric oxide synthase was partially purified from soluble extracts of Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote forms. The conversion of L-arginine to citrulline by this enzyme activity required NADPH and was blocked by EGTA. The reaction was activated by Ca2+, calmodulin, tetrahydrobiopterin, and FAD, and inhibited by N omega-methyl-L-arginine. L-Glutamate and N-methyl-D-aspartate stimulated in vivo conversion of L-arginine to citrulline by epimastigote cells. These stimulations could be blocked by EGTA, MK-801, and ketamine and enhanced by glycine. A sodium nitroprusside-activated guanylyl cyclase activity was detected in cell-free, soluble preparations of T. cruzi epimastigotes. L-Glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate, and sodium nitroprusside increased epimastigote cyclic GMP levels. MK-801 bound specifically to T. cruzi epimastigote cells. This binding was competed by ketamine and enhanced by glycine or L-serine. Evidence thus indicates that in T. cruzi epimastigotes, L-glutamate controls cyclic GMP levels through a pathway mediated by nitric oxide.
Subject(s)
Nitric Oxide/physiology , Trypanosoma cruzi/metabolism , Amino Acid Oxidoreductases/metabolism , Animals , Arginine/metabolism , Citrulline/metabolism , Cyclic GMP/analysis , Dizocilpine Maleate/metabolism , Guanylate Cyclase/metabolism , Nitric Oxide Synthase , Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate/physiologyABSTRACT
Phytomonas sp. membranes have an adenylyl cyclase activity which is greater in the presence of Mn2+ than with Mg2+. The Mg2+ and Mn2+ activity ratio varies from one membrane preparation to another, suggesting that the adenylyl cyclase has a variable activation state. A[35S]GTP-gamma-S-binding activity with a Kd of 171 nM was detected in Phytomonas membranes. Incubation of these membranes with activated cholera or pertussis toxin and [adenylate 23P]NAD+ led to incorporation of radioactivity into bands of about 40-44 kDa. Crude membranes were electrophoresed on SDS-polyacrylamide gels and analyzed, by Western blotting, with the 9188 anti-alpha[s] antibody and the AS/7 antibody (anti-alpha[i], anti-alpha[i1], and anti-alpha[i2]. These procedures resulted in the identification of polypeptides of approximately 40-44 kDa. Phytomonas adenylyl cyclase could be activated by treatment of membrane preparations with cholera toxin, in the presence of NAD+, while similar treatment with pertussis toxin did not affect this enzyme activity. These studies indicate that in Phytomonas, adenylyl cyclase activity is coupled to an unknown receptor entity through G alpha[s] proteins.
