Effects of carboxyl-terminal truncations on the activity and solubility of human monoamine oxidase B.

Monoamine oxidase is an outer mitochondrial membrane protein that catalyzes the deamination of a number of neurotransmitters and dietary amines. To determine the roles of the carboxyl-terminal amino acids on the activity and solubility of human monoamine oxidase (MAO B), 10 sequential mutants were made with stop codons at amino acid positions 511, 504, 498, 492, 486, 481, 476, 467, 417, and 397, respectively. All truncated mutants were expressed in Sf21 insect cells using baculovirus, and the enzyme kinetic parameters were determined. Truncations at amino acid positions 511, 504, and 498 slightly decreased MAO B catalytic activity and had no significant changes on deprenyl inhibition. Further deletions up to amino acid 417 decreased the specific activity 10--100-fold without significant changes of the K(m) for phenylethylamine or dopamine or the IC(50) for deprenyl and clorgyline. The truncation mutant C397, which lacks covalently attached FAD, was inactive. Progressive carboxyl-terminal truncations up to position 481 were correlated with increased solubility of MAO B mutants. 47% of the activity of the truncated C481 was found in the 105,000 x g supernatant in the absence of detergent. However, further truncated mutants, C476, C467, and C417, remained associated with the membrane fraction. In contrast to crude homogenate, the water-soluble C481 mutant was rapidly inactivated at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C, which indicates that the membrane environment is required for the stability of MAO B. Expression of the green fluorescent protein-MAO B C481 fusion protein revealed that this mutant was located in the cytoplasm, whereas its counterpart in MAO A, truncated mutant C490, was located on the mitochondria. These results suggest that the carboxyl-terminal amino acid residues 417--520 of MAO B are not directly involved in the active site but are required for maintaining the appropriate conformation and interaction with the outer mitochondrial membrane. The different solubilities of the various carboxyl-terminal truncation mutants indicate that the interaction of MAO B with mitochondrial membrane is not simply anchoring through the carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic tail. Further, our results suggest that the carboxyl-terminal of MAO A and B plays different roles in mitochondrial attachment.

Substrate and inhibitor specificities for human monoamine oxidase A and B are influenced by a single amino acid.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is responsible for the oxidation of biogenic and dietary amines. It exists as two isoforms, A and B, which have a 70% amino acid identity and different substrate and inhibitor specificities. This study reports the identification of residues responsible for conferring this specificity in human MAO A and B. Using site-directed mutagenesis we reciprocally interchanged three pairs of corresponding nonconserved amino acids within the central portion of human MAO. Mutant MAO A-I335Y became like MAO B, which exhibits a higher preference for beta-phenylethylamine than for the MAO A preferred substrate serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), and became more sensitive to deprenyl (MAO B-specific inhibitor) than to clorgyline (MAO A-specific inhibitor). The reciprocal mutant MAO B-Y326I exhibited an increased preference for 5-hydroxytryptamine, a decreased preference for beta-phenylethylamine, and, similar to MAO A, was more sensitive to clorgyline than to deprenyl. These mutants also showed a distinct shift in sensitivity for the MAO A- and B-selective inhibitors Ro 41-1049 and Ro 16-6491. Mutant pair MAO A-T245I and MAO B-I236T and mutant pair MAO A-D328G and MAO B-G319D reduced catalytic activity but did not alter specificity. Our results indicate that Ile-335 in MAO A and Tyr-326 in MAO B play a critical role in determining substrate and inhibitor specificities in human MAO A and B.

Stereospecificity and catalytic function of histidine residues in 4a-hydroxy-tetrahydropterin dehydratase/DCoH.

Three conserved histidines have been shown to be important for the enzymatic activity of 4a-hydroxy-tetrahydropterin dehydratase, a bifunctional enzyme which is involved in regeneration of tetrahydrobiopterin and is also a cofactor (DCoH) for the transcription factor HNF-1alpha. The 4a isomer dependent kinetics of the mutants of rat/human enzyme, H61A, H62A, and H79A, and the effect of diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) have been investigated to elucidate the dehydratase mechanism. At pH 6.5 wild-type enzyme is inactivated by DEPC after derivatization of one histidine, shown to be H61 by comparison to H61A. H79 is also derivatized by DEPC at pH 7.0 and above, whereas H62 does not react at any pH. Dehydratase activity of H61A with 4a(R)-hydroxy-6(S)-methyl-tetrahydropterin was not detectable. In contrast, although Km for the enantiomeric 4a(S)-hydroxy-6(R)-methyl-tetrahydropterin was 65-fold higher than with wild-type, kcat was 86% of wild-type. H79A gave complementary results: activity with 4a(S)-hydroxy-6(R)-methyl-tetrahydropterin was undetectable, but 4a(R)-hydroxy-6(S)-methyl-tetrahydropterin had almost normal Km and 75% of wild-type kcat. Replacing H62 with alanine decreased kcat/Km 80- and 60-fold, and kcat to 24% and 89% of wild-type for the 4a(R),6(S)- and 4a(S),6(R)- isomers, respectively. Near neutral pH nonenzymatic dehydration catalyzed by solvated proton had a rate constant of 1.55 x 10(5) M-1 sec-1. A break in the rate versus pH curve at 5.95 was tentatively assigned to protonation of the carbinolamine guanidinium system. The free acid of acetic acid and the imidazolium ion showed general acid catalysis of 18.5 and 1.5 M-1 sec-1, respectively, in dehydrating the neutral carbinolamine. Compared to the later value, dehydratase effective molarity is 11 M. These results are consistent with a dehydratase mechanism in which H61 and H79 act as general acid catalysts for the stereospecific elimination of the 4a(R)- and 4a(S)-hydroxyl groups, respectively. The role of H62 is primarily binding substrate, with an additional component of base catalysis.

Hyperphenylalaninemia with high levels of 7-biopterin is associated with mutations in the PCBD gene encoding the bifunctional protein pterin-4a-carbinolamine dehydratase and transcriptional coactivator (DCoH).

Pterin-4a-carbinolamine dehydratase (PCD) is required for efficient tetrahydrobiopterin regeneration after phenylalanine hydroxylase activity. This catalytic function was proposed to be specifically defective in newborns with a mild form of hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) and persistent high urinary levels of primapterin (7-biopterin). A second regulatory task of the same protein is DCoH, a coactivation of transcription by hepatocyte nuclear factor 1alpha (HNF-1alpha), a function that is apparently not impaired in these HPA individuals. It has been shown elsewhere that the human PCD/DCoH bifunctional protein is encoded by a single 4-exon-containing gene, PCBD, located on chromosome 10q22. We have now examined the PCBD gene for mutations at the genomic level in six such HPA patients from four different families. By the use of new intron-specific primers, we detected, in all six patients, single, homozygous nucleotide alterations, in exon 4, that were inherited from their parents. These homozygous alterations predicted mutant PCD/DCoH with a single amino acid exchange, in two cases (alleles T78I), or premature stop codons, in the other four patients (alleles E86X and Q97X). Recombinant expression in Escherichia coli revealed that the mutant proteins-T78I, E86X, and Q97X-are almost entirely in the insoluble fraction, in contrast to wild type, which is expressed as a soluble protein. These data support the proposal that HPA in combination with urinary primapterin may be due to autosomal recessive inheritance of mutations in the PCBD gene specifically affecting the dehydratase activity.

Activity of the bifunctional protein 4a-hydroxy-tetrahydropterin dehydratase/DCoH during human fetal development: correlation with dihydropteridine reductase activity and tetrahydrobiopterin levels.

The dehydratase activity of the bifunctional protein, 4a-hydroxy-tetrahydropterin dehydratase/DCoH was measured in liver during early human fetal development to determine whether it appeared in concert with the other components of the phenylalanine hydroxylating system. Catalytic activity of the dehydratase is detectable as early as 6.7 weeks and increases linearly with time, reaching 31% of the adult value by 17.3 weeks of gestational age. Close correlation was found with the development of dihydropteridine reductase, which increased linearly to 37% of the adult value at 17.3 weeks of gestation. From 8-18 weeks of gestation tetrahydrobiopterin in fetal liver was 0.86 microM (33% of adult value). The ratio of 7-biopterin to 6-biopterin was more than 8-fold higher in fetal than in adult liver during this time. The co-development of 4a-hydroxytetrahydropterin dehydratase with dihydropteridine reductase strongly supports a physiologically significant role for the dehydratase in tetrahydrobiopterin regeneration. In addition, the results have lead to a hypothesis for the transient nature of the hyperphenylalaninemia observed in a variant form of PKU in which levels of 7-biopterin are elevated.

Catalytic characterization of 4a-hydroxytetrahydropterin dehydratase.

The cofactor product of the aromatic amino acid hydroxylases, 4a-hydroxy-6(R)-tetrahydrobiopterin, requires dehydration before tetrahydrobiopterin can be regenerated by dihydropteridine reductase. Carbinolamine dehydration occurs nonenzymatically, but the reaction is also catalyzed by 4a-hydroxytetrahydropterin dehydratase. This enzyme has the identical amino acid sequence to DCoH, the dimerization cofactor of the transcription regulator, HNF-1 alpha. The catalytic activity of rat liver dehydratase was characterized using a new assay employing chemically synthesized 4a-hydroxytetrahydropterins. The enzyme shows little sensitivity to the structure or configuration of the 6-substituent of its substrate, with Km's for 6(S)-methyl, 6(R)-methyl, 6(S)-propyl, and 6(R)-L-erythro-dihydroxypropyl all between 1.5 and 6 microM. Turnover numbers at 37 degrees C are 50-90 s-1 at pH 7.4 and 2.5-3-fold lower at pH 8.4. Both 4a(R)- and 4a(S)-hydroxytetrahydropterins are good substrates. The quinoid dihydropterin products are strong inhibitors of the dehydratase with KI's about one half of their respective Km's, but no inhibition was observed with 7,8-dihydropterins or tetrahydropterins. The enzyme contains no metals and no phosphorus. Reaction mechanisms which involve either acid and/or base catalysis are discussed. 4a-Hydroxy-6(R)-tetrahydrobiopterin was determined not to be a product inhibitor of phenylalanine hydroxylase. It is concluded that the dehydratase (which was found to be 6 microM in rat liver) is essential in vivo to prevent rearrangement of 4a-hydroxy-6(R)-tetrahydrobiopterin and to maintain the supply of tetrahydrobiopterin cofactor for the hydroxylases under conditions where the nonenzymatic rate would be inadequate.

Phenylalanine hydroxylase-stimulating protein/pterin-4 alpha-carbinolamine dehydratase from rat and human liver. Purification, characterization, and complete amino acid sequence.

Phenylalanine hydroxylase-stimulating protein, also known as pterin-4 alpha-carbinolamine dehydratase (PHS/PCD), was purified from rat and, for the first time, from human liver. We obtained their complete protein primary sequence using a combination of liquid secondary ionization mass spectrometry/tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and Edman microsequence analysis. The amino acid sequences of human and rat PHS/PCD were found to be identical. Surprisingly, the primary structure of PHS/PCD is also essentially identical to a protein of the cell nucleus, named dimerization cofactor of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 alpha, recently reported to be involved in transcription (Mendel, D. M., Khavari, P. A., Conley, P. B., Graves, M. K., Hansen, L. P., Admon, A., and Crabtree, G. R. (1991) Science 254, 1762-1767).

7-substituted pterins in humans with suspected pterin-4a-carbinolamine dehydratase deficiency. Mechanism of formation via non-enzymatic transformation from 6-substituted pterins.

A recently described new form of hyperphenylalaninemia is characterized by the excretion of 7-substituted isomers of biopterin and neopterin and 7-oxo-biopterin in the urine of patients. It has been shown that the 7-substituted isomers of biopterin and neopterin derive from L-tetrahydrobiopterin and D-tetrahydroneopterin and are formed during hydroxylation of phenylalanine to tyrosine with rat liver dehydratase-free phenylalanine hydroxylase. We have now obtained identical results using human phenylalanine hydroxylase. The identity of the pterin formed in vitro and derived from L-tetrahydrobiopterin as 7-(1',2'-dihydroxypropyl)pterin was proven by gas-chromatography mass spectrometry. Tetrahydroneopterin and 6-hydroxymethyltetrahydropterin also are converted to their corresponding 7-substituted isomers and serve as cofactors in the phenylalanine hydroxylase reaction. Dihydroneopterin is converted by dihydrofolate reductase to the tetrahydro form which is biologically active as a cofactor for the aromatic amino acid monooxygenases. The 6-substituted pterin to 7-substituted pterin conversion occurs in the absence of pterin-4a-carbinolamine dehydratase and is shown to be a nonenzymatic process. 7-Tetrahydrobiopterin is both a substrate (cofactor) and a competitive inhibitor with 6-tetrahydrobiopterin (Ki approximately 8 microM) in the phenylalanine hydroxylase reaction. For the first time, the formation of 7-substituted pterins from their 6-substituted isomers has been demonstrated with tyrosine hydroxylase, another important mammalian enzyme which functions in the hydroxylation of phenylalanine and tyrosine.

The immunological evidence for a phenylalanine hydroxylase like immunoreactive protein in different human cells and tissues.

Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) was purified 105-fold from human liver. The rel mol mass of the subunits in sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was 54,000 Da and the isoelectric point was estimated to be between pH 5.0 and 5.2. The activity of purified PAH was inhibited by p-Cl-phenylalanine (p-Cl-Phe), 3-J-tyrosine (3-J-Tyr) and 6-F-tryptophane (6-F-Trp) by 73%, 26% and 10%, respectively. The Km value was 0.36 x 10(-3) mol/l for L-Phe and 5.88 x 10(-5) mol/l for the synthetic cofactor dimethyltetrahydrobiopterin (DMPH4). Polyclonal antibodies raised in rabbits against the active human enzyme showed only a slight cross-reaction with purified rat liver PAH. Using the rabbit antibodies an immunoreactive protein with the same mol mass and isoelectric point as purified human liver PAH and PAH from crude liver extract was detected in extracts from kidney, heart, spleen, brain, pancreas, lung, placenta, leucocytes, cultured skin fibroblasts and chorionic villus cells.

7-Substituted pterins: formation during phenylalanine hydroxylation in the absence of dehydratase.

Previously we described a new form of human hyperphenylalaninemia characterized by the formation of 7-substituted pterins. We present evidence strongly suggesting that the 7-substituted pterins are formed by rearrangement of 6-substituted pterins. This rearrangement occurs during the phenylalanine hydroxylase reaction cycle which normally involves the enzymes phenylalanine hydroxylase, pterin-4a-OH-dehydratase, and q-dihydropterin reductase, specifically in the absence of dehydratase activity. We conclude that formation of 7-substituted pterins in humans is a consequence of an absence of dehydratase activity, which might result from a genetic defect. A chemical mechanism for this rearrangement is presented. Our results also suggest that tetrahydroneopterin can be a cofactor for the phenylalanine hydroxylase system in vivo.

The absence of type II collagen and changes in proteoglycan structure of hyaline cartilage in a case of Langer-Saldino achondrogenesis.

Structural analysis of hyaline cartilage extracellular matrix components from the ribs and knee joint of a stillborn female with type II achondrogenesis was carried out. The absence of type II collagen, a decrease in the amount of proteoglycans (PG), and structural changes in PG, namely, increased electrophoretic mobility of PG, lower relative content of chondroitin 4-sulfate (Ch4-S), lower molecular weight and decreased total chondroitin sulfate (ChS) sulfation, were detected. Increased amounts of type I and type III collagens, atypical for hyaline cartilage, were revealed. Among the link proteins (LPs), a large protein with a mol. wt. of 48 kDa was predominant. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of achondrogenesis ("chondrogenesis imperfecta") are discussed. The data obtained suggest that the primary defect in type II achondrogenesis involves ChS or type II collagen synthesis.

[Molecular heterogeneity of proteoglycan aggregates of human hyalin cartilage in normal conditions and in systemic bone dysplasia]. / Molekuliarnaia geterogennost' komponentov proteoglikanovykh agregatov gialinovogo khriashcha cheloveka v norme i pri sistemnykh kostnykh displaziiakh.

Components of proteoglycan aggregates of human hyalin cartilage were studied under conditions of normal state and in some forms of osteochondrodysplasia. Extraction of uronic acids and protein from the tissue, amount of fractions and electrophoretic mobility of proteoglycan monomers, rations protein/glycosaminoglycans, keratan sulfate/chondroitin sulfate, a level and type of sulfatation as well as molecular mass of chondroitin sulfate, amino acid composition of rod protein, heterogeneity of binding proteins (concerning their isoelectric points and molecular masses) and immunoreactivity of protein moiety in proteoglycan aggregates were studied in rib cartilage, knee joint and ala ossis ilii. Structural parameters of proteoglycan aggregates proved to be dissimilar and depended on cartilage localization and age of the donors. Impairments in the rate of chondroitin sulfate sulfatation were detected in achondrogenesis of the II type and in diastrophic dysplasia; an extraction ability and amount of proteoglycan fractions, relative content of glycosaminoglycans and binding proteins were altered in some other forms of osteochondrodysplasias. Numerous biochemical markers of extracellular matrix deterioration were detected, which are typical for various morphofunctional alterations in hyalin cartilage--hyperproliferative reactions, tissue prematuration, persistence of the embryonal type of metabolism.