Molecular cloning of human mevalonate kinase and identification of a missense mutation in the genetic disease mevalonic aciduria.

Mevalonic aciduria is the first proposed inherited disorder of the cholesterol/isoprene biosynthetic pathway in humans, and it is presumed to be caused by a mutation in the gene coding for mevalonate kinase. To elucidate the molecular basis of this inherited disorder, a 2.0-kilobase human mevalonate kinase cDNA clone was isolated and sequenced. The 1188-base pair open reading frame coded for a 396-amino acid polypeptide with a deduced M(r) of 42,450. The predicted protein sequence displayed similarity to those of galactokinase and the yeast RAR1 protein, indicating that they may belong to a common gene family. Southern hybridization studies demonstrated that the mevalonate kinase gene is located on human chromosome 12 and is a single copy gene. No major rearrangements were detected in the mevalonic aciduria subject. The relative size (2 kilobases) and amounts of human mevalonate kinase mRNA were not changed in mevalonic aciduria fibroblasts. Approximately half of the mevalonic aciduria cDNA clones encoding mevalonate kinase contained a single base substitution (A to C) in the coding region at nucleotide 902 that changed an asparagine residue to a threonine residue. The presence of this missense mutation was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction amplification and allele-specific hybridization of the genomic DNAs from the proband and the proband's father and brother. Similar analysis failed to detect this mutation in the proband's mother, seven normal subjects, or four additional mevalonic aciduria subjects, indicating that the mutation does not represent a common gene polymorphism. Functional analysis of the defect by transient expression confirmed that the mutation produced an enzyme with diminished activity. Our data suggest that the index case is a compound heterozygote for a mutation in the mevalonate kinase gene.

Effects of long-term administration of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors on cholesterol synthesis in lens.

The effects of long-term dosing with inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase on the rate of cholesterol biosynthesis were examined in the lens and liver of rats and hamsters. While both pravastatin and lovastatin inhibited incorporation of [14C]acetate into cholesterol in liver slices 2-4 hr after an oral dose, lovastatin, but not pravastatin, inhibited sterol synthesis in lens as well. At 24 hr after a single oral dose, cholesterol synthesis in livers from drug-treated animals was increased compared to controls. This induction of the cholesterol synthetic pathway was observed for both drugs in the liver but only for lovastatin in the lens. After 4 days of once-daily oral doses, synthesis in the lens was induced two to threefold by lovastatin but not by pravastatin. When the drug was included in the continuous diet for 4-5 days, lovastatin caused increases in cholesterol synthesis in the lens whereas lenses from pravastatin-treated animals were identical to controls. This was not a species-specific effect since a similar tissue selectivity was observed in the hamster. The increase in cholesterol synthesis in lenses observed in lovastatin-treated rats was accompanied by an increase in the activity of HMG-CoA reductase enzyme. These studies demonstrate that non-selective HMG-CoA reductase enzyme inhibitors can inhibit cholesterol synthesis in the lens, and following this inhibition a marked induction in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway develops in the lens and this induction is associated with an increase in HMG-CoA reductase enzyme activity.

Molecular cloning of mevalonate kinase and regulation of its mRNA levels in rat liver.

Mevalonate kinase [ATP:(R)-mevalonate 5-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.36] may be a regulatory site in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, and a mutation in the gene coding for this enzyme is thought to cause the genetic disease mevalonic aciduria. To characterize this enzyme, a rat liver cDNA library was screened with a monospecific antibody, and a 1.7-kilobase cDNA clone coding for mevalonate kinase was isolated. The complete DNA sequence was determined, and the longest open reading frame coded for a protein containing 395 amino acids with a deduced molecular weight of 41,990. Identification of the cDNA clone was confirmed by expression of enzyme activity in yeast and by protein sequence data obtained from sequencing purified rat mevalonate kinase. The deduced amino acid sequence of mevalonate kinase contained a motif for the ATP-binding site found in protein kinases, and it also showed sequence homology to the yeast RAR1 protein. The size of mevalonate kinase mRNA in rat liver was approximately 2 kilobases. Treatment with diets containing cholesterol-lowering agents caused an increase in both mevalonate kinase activity and mRNA levels, whereas diets containing 5% cholesterol lowered the levels of both enzyme activity and mRNA. These data indicate that long-term regulation of enzyme activity in rat liver is controlled by changes in the levels of mevalonate kinase mRNA.

Purification and regulation of mevalonate kinase from rat liver.

Mevalonate kinase may play a key role in regulating cholesterol biosynthesis because its activity may be regulated via feedback inhibition by intermediates in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. To study the regulation of mevalonate kinase, the enzyme was purified to homogeneity from rat liver, and monospecific antibody against mevalonate kinase was prepared. The purified mevalonate kinase had a dimeric structure composed of identical subunits, and the Mr of the enzyme determined by gel chromatography was 86,000. Based on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the subunit Mr was 39,900. The pI for mevalonate kinate was 6.2. The levels of mevalonate kinase protein and enzyme activity were determined in the livers of rats treated with either cholesterol-lowering agents (cholestyramine, pravastatin, and lovastatin) or with dietary modifications. Diets containing cholestyramine alone or cholestyramine and either pravastatin or lovastatin increased mevalonate kinase activity 3-6-fold. Mevalonate kinase activity decreased approximately 50% in rats treated with diets containing either 5% cholesterol or 5% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic acid. Fasting did not significantly change mevalonate kinase activity. The amount of mevalonate kinase protein in the liver was quantitated using immunoblots, and the changes in the levels of kinase activity induced by either drug treatment or by cholesterol feeding were correlated with similar changes in the levels of mevalonate kinase protein. Therefore, under these experimental conditions, mevalonate kinase activity in the liver was regulated principally by changes in the rates of enzyme synthesis and degradation.

Tissue-selective acute effects of inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase on cholesterol biosynthesis in lens.

Inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the key enzyme that regulates cholesterol synthesis, lower serum cholesterol by increasing the activity of low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors in the liver. In rat liver slices, the dose-response curves for inhibition of [14C]acetate incorporation into cholesterol were similar for the active acid forms of lovastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin. The calculated IC50 values were approximately 20-50 nM for all three drugs. Interest in possible extrahepatic effects of reductase inhibitors is based on recent findings that some inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, lovastatin and simvastatin, can cause cataracts in dogs at high doses. To evaluate the effects of these drugs on cholesterol synthesis in the lens, we developed a facile, reproducible ex vivo assay using lenses from weanling rats explanted to tissue culture medium. [14C]Acetate incorporation into cholesterol was proportional to time and to the number of lenses in the incubation and was completely eliminated by high concentrations of inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase. At the same time, incorporation into free fatty acids was not inhibited. In marked contrast to the liver, the dose-response curve for pravastatin in lens was shifted two orders of magnitude to the right of the curves for lovastatin acid and simvastatin acid. The calculated IC50 values were 4.5 +/- 0.7 nM, 5.2 +/- 1.5 nM, and 469 +/- 42 nM for lovastatin acid, simvastatin acid, and pravastatin, respectively. Thus, while equally active in the liver, pravastatin was 100-fold less inhibitory in the lens compared to lovastatin and simvastatin. Similar selectivity was observed with rabbit lens. Following oral dosing, ex vivo inhibition of [14C]acetate incorporation into cholesterol in rat liver was similar for lovastatin and pravastatin, but cholesterol synthesis in lens was inhibited by lovastatin by as much as 70%. This inhibition was dose-dependent and no inhibition in lens was observed with pravastatin even at very high doses. This tissue-selective inhibition of sterol synthesis by pravastatin was likely due to the inability of pravastatin to enter the intact lens since pravastatin and lovastatin acid were equally effective inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase enzyme activity in whole lens homogenates. We conclude that pravastatin is tissue-selective with respect to lens and liver in its ability to inhibit cholesterol synthesis.

In vivo phosphorylation of clathrin-coated vesicle proteins from rat reticulocytes.

We have studied the in vivo phosphorylation of clathrin-coated vesicle proteins from rat reticulocytes. The major 32P-labeled polypeptides of clathrin-coated vesicles isolated from metabolically labeled cells were the the 165-, 100-110-, and 50-kDa polypeptides of the assembly protein, the clathrin beta-light chain, and to a lesser extent the clathrin alpha-light chain. The phosphorylation of the assembled (particulate) and unassembled (soluble) pools of clathrin and assembly protein was compared by immunoprecipitating the respective protein complexes from particulate and soluble cell fractions. Although all the phosphorylated polypeptides were present in both fractions, the extent of labeling was protein and fraction specific: the apparent specific activities of the assembly protein 50-kDa polypeptide and clathrin light chain were higher in the unassembled pool, whereas those of the 100-110-kDa polypeptides were higher in the assembled pool. The amino acids and polypeptide fragments labeled in vivo appeared similar to those labeled in vitro.

An antibody against 100- to 116-kDa polypeptides in coated vesicles inhibits triskelion binding.

There is considerable evidence that the 100- to 116-kDa polypeptides in calf brain coated vesicles are involved in the assembly of clathrin triskelions to form coated vesicles. We have raised polyclonal antibodies against these polypeptides. By Western blot analysis, these antibodies bind to a distinct subset of the six polypeptides in the region 100-116 kDa. Whole cell homogenates from calf brain, calf liver, and rat liver also show immunoreactivity in the 100-kDa region with no other cross reactivity. Isolated coated vesicles from calf liver, rat brain, and soybean roots also cross-react. Stripped coated vesicles, which are depleted of clathrin but which retain the 100- to 116-kDa polypeptides, quantitatively rebind 125I-triskelions. This binding is inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by 100- to 116-kDa antibody but not by nonimmune serum or by anti-clathrin polyclonal antibody. These studies indicate that (1) specific sites on the 100- to 116-kDa polypeptides are required for assembly of coated vesicles, and (2) this antibody will be useful in clarifying more precisely the role of the 100- to 116-kDa polypeptides in coated vesicle recycling.

Receptor-mediated delivery of photoprotective agents by low-density lipoprotein.

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) has been used to deliver toxic molecules to cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis. In these studies, the cholesteryl ester core of LDL was replaced with a lipophilic, toxic molecule. We now report that photoprotective azo dyes can be stably incorporated into LDL, and that this reconstituted LDL protects cells from the photosensitizing action of pyrene methanol (PM) in a receptor-dependent process. The photoprotective action of the azo dye is due to its ability to scavenge singlet oxygen that is produced by the photosensitive agent in response to UV light.

Mutant clone of Chinese hamster ovary cells lacking 3-hydroxy-3 -methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase.

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) converts HMG-CoA to mevalonate, a key intermediate in the formation of cholesterol and several nonsterol isoprenoid compounds. Using the bromodeoxyuridine/bisbenzimide photosensitization technique, we isolated a mutant clone of Chinese hamster ovary cells that requires mevalonate for growth. This mutant, designated UT-2 cells, expresses 2-5% of the HMG-CoA reductase activity of parental Chinese hamster ovary cells, even after growth for 9 months in the absence of selective pressure. By immunoblotting, no cross-reactive HMG-CoA reductase protein was detected in UT-2 cells. Incorporation of [14C]acetate and [14C]pyruvate into cholesterol was less than 5% of that in parental Chinese hamster ovary cells. In contrast, [3H]mevalonate incorporation into cholesterol was normal. The activities of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and HMG-CoA synthase, the two enzymes that precede HMG-CoA reductase in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, were normal or slightly elevated in UT-2 cells. No gross deletions or rearrangements in the gene for HMG-CoA reductase were apparent when DNA from UT-2 cells was digested with restriction endonucleases, subjected to Southern blotting, and probed with a 32P-labeled cDNA for HMG-CoA reductase. We conclude that UT-2 cells have a mutation that specifically prevents the production of normal amounts of HMG-CoA reductase.

Targeted killing of cultured cells by receptor-dependent photosensitization.

This paper describes a method, designated "receptor-dependent photosensitization," by which the receptor-mediated endocytosis of low density lipoprotein (LDL) can be used to deliver a photosensitizing agent, pyrene, to cultured human and animal cells. The hydrophobic core of LDL is extracted and replaced with pyrene covalently coupled to cholesteryl oleate. This reconstituted LDL enters cells in significant amounts only when the cells express LDL receptors, resulting in the accumulation of pyrene cholesteryl oleate within lysosomes. Subsequent exposure of the cells to ultraviolet light leads to cell death. Cells killed by this technique include normal and simian virus 40-transformed human fibroblasts, human A-431 epidermal carcinoma cells, Chinese hamster ovary cells, and mouse L cells, all of which express LDL receptors. Mutant fibroblasts from a patient with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, which lack LDL receptors, do not take up significant amounts of the pyrene-containing LDL and are not killed by subsequent exposure to light. The current experiments establish the feasibility of receptor-dependent photosensitization as an efficient and selective method for killing cultured human and animal cells.

Imaging the adrenal glands with radiolabeled inhibitors of enzymes: concise communication.

Although radioiodinated cholesterols furnished the first noninvasive imaging of the adrenal glands, it would be desirable to decrease the time for imaging and decrease the radiation dose. The relative tissue distributions of two radiolabeled enzyme inhibitors [3H] metyrapol and I-125-SKF-12185 were studied in dogs and man. Their percentage uptakes and target-to-nontarget ratios were similar. The adrenals of three dogs were imaged sharply at 2 hr after injection with 4--6 mCi of I-131-SKF-12185, confirmed by subsequent imaging with 1 mCi of I-131-6-beta-19-nor cholesterol at 5 days after injection. The use of 1 mCi of I-123-SKF will permit imaging of the adrenals in 1--2 hr and will decrease the radiation dose in the human to 0.76 rads to the adrenal, 0.18 rads to the ovaries and 1.7 rads to the liver.

Adrenal imaging agents: rationale, synthesis, formulation and, metabolism.

In this introductory paper on radionuclide adrenal imaging, the rationale, synthesis, formulation, and metabolism of two clinically well-established and one promisinmg adrenocortical imaging agents are reviewed. Their present clinical utility is reviewed in a separate presentation in this issue. Progress to date in developing a positive imaging agent of the adrenal medulla and tumors of chromaffin tissue will be given brief consideration because there is, as yet, no clinically successful radiolabeled adrenal medulla imaging agent.

Localization of radiolabeled enzyme inhibitors in the adrenal gland.

Tissue distribution studies were performed in rats and dogs at five time intervals between 10 min and 24 hr after the intravenous injection of one of the following radiolabeled adrenocortical enzyme inhibitors: 3H-amino-glutethimide, 125I-3-iodoaminoglutethimide, 3H-SKF-12185, 125I-3-SKF-12185, 3H-metyrapone. 3H-metyrapol. 3H-amphenone B, and 3H-SU-10603. In rats, 3H-SKF-12185 showed the highest uptake in the whole adrenal (3.5% kg dose/gm at 1 hr). In dogs, 3H-metyrapol showed the highest uptake in the adrenal cortex (9% kg dose/gm at 1 hr), and the peak cortex-to-liver concentration ratio was 57 at 2 hr. These peaks uptakes were comparable to those obtained with the conventional iodocholesterols, but they were reached much earlier, with elimination of most of the adrenal radioactivity by 24 hr. These properties would permit the use of 123I as the label and a higher tracer dose, resulting in a higher photon flux. Thus, the radiolabeled enzyme inhibitors show promise as adrenal-scanning agents, with a markedly shortened scanning procedure, a lower absorbed radiation dose, and better resolution.

Tissue distribution of 14C-, 125I-, and 131I-diphenylhydantoin in the toadfish, rat, and human with insulinomas.

Carbon-14-diphenylhydantoin (DPH) concentrated maximally in pancreatic islet cells of the toadfish 10 min after its intravenous administration. The islet cell-to-acinar-tissue ratio at this time was 6:1. The islet cell-to-liver ratio was 20:1. Iodine-125-paroiodo-DPH at 10 min in the toadfish showed an islet cell-to-acinar-tissue ratio of 1.7:1 and an islet cell-to-liver ratio of 2.3:1. When 14C-DPH was given to four patients 10-17 min before removal of norma pancreatic tissue and of an insulinoma in three of the patients, the concentration of radioactivity in the insulinoma was never greater than in the pancreas and concentrations in insulinoma and pancreas were always less than in liver in the same individual. Forty-five to 90 min after administration of 131I-DPH, the liver and pancreas were delineated in three patients but the insulinoma was not imaged. Five days after administration of 131I-DPH, the concentration of 131I radioactivity in excised tissue was greater in the insulinomas than in the pancreas of two patient but not sufficient to produce positive images of the insulinoma in the pancreas.