Preparation and characterization of a novel monoclonal antibody specific to human CAD protein.

We have efficiently generated the first monoclonal antibody against the cis-aconitic acid decarboxylase (CAD) protein, which is an enzyme of low stability. Hybridomas were screened by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using either purified 6 x His-CAD fusion protein or purified 6 x His-ZNRD1 fusion protein as a control. One monoclonal antibody (MAb) named Z12 (IgG1), which is effective in detecting the recombinant and the cellular protein, was characterized by ELISA and Western immunoblotting. The CAD protein was also detected in gastric cancer and colon cancer tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. Thus, Z12 binds to native CAD protein and should be useful in studies of CAD protein function and expression.

[Preparation, characterization and application of monoclonal antibody against CPS1].

AIM: To prepare and characterize the monoclonal antibody (mAb) against human carbamyl phosphate synthetase I (CPSI) and make a study of its application. METHODS: Normal human liver tissues were homogenized, and their mitochondria were isolated by differential centrifugation. The total mitochondrial proteins were used to immunize BALB/c mice to prepare mAb using the routine hybridoma technique. The mAb was detected by ELISA, Western blot immunohistochemistry and immunofluorecent staining. The specificity of mAb was identified by mass spectrometry (MS) and immunoprecipitation (IP) and then confirmed by Uni-ZAP expression library screening. The antibody was used to isolate potential enzymatic complexes by immunocapturing. RESULTS: Three hybridoma cell lines BEH045, ACB271 and BFG021 secreting specific mAb against CPS1 were obtained. The Ig subclass of the mAb was IgG(1), which was used in ELISA, Western blot immunohistochemistry, immunoprecipitation, immunofluorecent staining and the isolation of potential enzymatic complexes. CONCLUSION: A hybridoma cell line which can secre specific mAb against CPSI stably has been established. The specific mAb against CPSI is of value to the research into the functions and distribution of CPSI.

The yeast Ura2 protein that catalyses the first two steps of pyrimidines biosynthesis accumulates not in the nucleus but in the cytoplasm, as shown by immunocytochemistry and Ura2-green fluorescent protein mapping.

The Ura2 multidomain protein catalyses the first two steps of pyrimidines biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It consists of a 240 kDa polypeptide which contains carbamyl phosphate synthetase and aspartate transcarbamylase domains. The Ura2 protein was believed to be nucleoplasmic, since one of the aspartate transcarbamylase reaction products, monophosphate, was reported to be precipitated by lead ions inside nuclei. However, this ultracytochemical approach was recently shown to give artifactual lead polyphosphate precipitates, and the use of cerium instead of lead failed to reveal this nucleoplasmic localization. Ura2 localization has therefore been undertaken by means of three alternative approaches based on the detection of the protein itself: (a) indirect immunofluorescence of yeast protoplasts; (b) immunogold labelling of ultrathin sections of embedded yeast cells (both approaches using affinity purified primary antibodies directed against the 240 kDa Ura2 polypeptide chain, or against a 22 residue peptide specific of the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain); and (c) direct fluorescence of cells expressing an Ura2-green fluorescent protein hybrid. All three approaches localize the bulk of Ura2 to the cytoplasm, whereas the signals associated with the nucleus, mitochondria or vacuoles are close to or at the background level.

Proteolytic cleavage of the multienzyme polypeptide CAD to release the mammalian aspartate transcarbamoylase. Biochemical comparison with the homologous Escherichia coli catalytic subunit.

We have demonstrated biochemically that the conformation of the proteolytic fragment (mammalian aspartate transcarbamoylase) from the C-terminus of the 240-kDa multienzyme polypeptide carrying the activities carbamoyl phosphate synthetase II, aspartate transcarbamoylase and dihydroorotase (CAD) is similar to that of the catalytic subunits from Escherichia coli aspartate transcarbamoylase. We have measured the extent of unfolding of the mammalian aspartate transcarbamoylase in guanidinium chloride solutions, and have also demonstrated that the protein cross-reacts with antibodies raised against the E. coli enzyme. CAD is digested by low concentrations of trypsin in the presence of 0.2 mM UTP to release an active aspartate transcarbamoylase domain and a 195-kDa 'nicked CAD' molecule containing active carbamoyl phosphate synthetase. These two products are easily separated by ion-exchange chromatography. Similar proteolytic cleavage and trimming by elastase releases a family of aspartate transcarbamoylase fragments. Direct N-terminal sequencing of the aspartate transcarbamoylase fragments confirms predictions of the most accessible residues in the region linking the aspartate transcarbamoylase and dihydroorotase domains. Only the largest of the four fragments generated by elastase retains phosphorylation site 2. When this largest fragment is phosphorylated, the family of aspartate transcarbamoylase fragments is eluted together from ion-exchange columns in a different fraction from the completely unphosphorylated preparation, demonstrating the affinity of the domains for each other.

Regulation by insulin of liver carbamoyl-phosphate synthase II (glutamine-hydrolysing).

Evidence is provided that insulin controls the amount and synthetic rate of liver carbamoyl-phosphate synthase II (EC 6.3.5.5) (synthase II) in rat. In 3- and 6-day starvation, with low plasma insulin, synthase II specific activity decreased to 47 and 30%, respectively, of normal; on re-feeding and with concurrent insulin injections, liver synthase II activity increased to 2.5 and 3 times that of starved rats respectively. Treatment with anti-insulin serum during re-feeding prevented the rise in synthase II activity. In diabetic rats, synthase II activity decreased to 28% of normal and was increased by insulin treatment for 2 and 7 days to 4.8- and 5.6-fold of the activity in diabetic liver; this rise in activity was blocked by actinomycin. Immunotitration demonstrated that alterations in synthase II activity were due to changes in the enzyme amount. In starvation, the relative synthesis rate of synthase II decreased to 44%, with an increase in catabolic rate to 122%; re-feeding returned these to control values. In diabetes the synthase II synthesis rate decreased to 52% and the degradative rate was accelerated to 180%; insulin treatment induced synthesis and returned degradation to the control range. Thus the integrative action of insulin in liver pyrimidine metabolism entails regulation of the amount and turnover of synthase II.

Simultaneous purification of three mitochondrial enzymes. Acetylglutamate kinase, acetylglutamyl-phosphate reductase and carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase from Neurospora crassa.

The early enzymes of arginine biosynthesis in Neurospora crassa are localized in the mitochondrion and catalyze the conversion of glutamate to citrulline. The final conversion of citrulline to arginine occurs via two enzymatic steps in the cytoplasm. We have devised a method for the isolation and purification of three of the mitochondrial arginine biosynthetic enzymes from a single extract. Acetylglutamate kinase and acetylglutamyl-phosphate reductase (both products of the complex arg-6 locus) were purified to homogeneity and near homogeneity, respectively. The large catalytic subunit of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase was also purified to homogeneity. The three enzymes were resolved into separate fractions by chromatography on three dye-ligand affinity resins, which are specific for nucleotide binding enzymes and have a high protein binding capacity. High performance liquid chromatography was employed in the final stages of purification and was extremely effective in fractionating both acetylglutamate kinase and acetylglutamyl-phosphate reductase from proteins with very similar properties, which were not removed by other techniques. The purified proteins were used to raise specific antisera against these proteins. Acetylglutamate kinase and acetylglutamyl-phosphate reductase were shown to be immunologically unrelated. This finding suggests that the arg-6 locus encompasses two nonoverlapping cistrons. The antisera raised against carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase has been shown to cross-react with related enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, and rat liver (Ness, S. A., and Weiss, R. L. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 14355-14362). Acetylglutamate kinase is a regulatory enzyme and has been shown to be feedback-inhibited by arginine. We have determined the submitochondrial localization of acetylglutamate kinase and the second arg-6 product, acetylglutamyl-phosphate reductase. Both enzymes were shown to be soluble matrix enzymes. We discuss the relevance of this finding with respect to possible mechanisms for end product inhibition of a mitochondrial enzyme by a cytoplasmic effector.

Increased carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase II concentration in rat hepatomas: immunological evidence.

Carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase II (glutamine hydrolyzing, EC 6.3.5.5) (synthetase II), the rate-limiting enzyme of de novo uridine monophosphate biosynthesis, was purified 230-fold to apparent homogeneity from rapidly growing rat hepatoma 3924A. The antiserum (produced in rabbits against purified hepatoma 3924A enzyme) yielded a single precipitin line with crude and partially purified synthetase II of normal liver and three hepatomas. In hepatomas of slow (20), intermediate (7787), and rapid (3924A) growth rates, synthetase II activity was elevated 1.5-, 2.3-, and 7.9-fold, and the amount of antiserum required to inactivate the activity was 1.6-, 2.3-, and 8.2-fold higher than that in normal liver. Thus the increase in synthetase II activity in the tumors was due to an elevation in the amount of the synthetase II enzyme protein.

Immunological cross-reactivity between carbamyl phosphate synthetases I, II, and III.

Four types of carbamyl phosphate synthetase have been previously distinguished on the basis of catalytic properties and metabolic role. Immunoblot assay has now demonstrated cross-reactivity between rat liver carbamyl phosphate synthetase I and the following other three types of synthetases: carbamyl phosphate synthetase II from SV40-transformed baby hamster kidney cells, carbamyl phosphate synthetase III from spiny dogfish liver and from largemouth bass liver, and Escherichia coli carbamyl phosphate synthetase. The strongest cross-reactivity was observed between carbamyl phosphate synthetases I and III. These findings indicate at least partial structural homology among the various synthetases and constitute the first demonstration of such a relationship among the enzymes.