Substrate specificity of NovM: implications for novobiocin biosynthesis and glycorandomization.

[reaction: see text] In an effort to expand the scope of natural product in vitro glycorandomization (IVG), the substrate specificity of NovM was investigated. A test of four aglycon analogues and over 40 nucleotide sugars revealed NovM has a surprisingly stringent substrate specificity and provided only three new "unnatural" natural products. On the basis of the determined substrate specificity, an alternative to the sugar nucleotide biosynthetic dogma and a cautionary note for the general applicability of IVG are introduced.

Involvement of oxidative mechanisms in blue-light-induced damage to A2E-laden RPE.

PURPOSE: The lipofuscin fluorophore A2E is known to be an initiator of blue-light-induced apoptosis in retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of oxidative mechanisms in mediating the cellular damage. METHODS: Human RPE (ARPE-19) cells that had accumulated A2E were exposed to blue light in the presence and absence of oxygen, and nonviable cells were quantified. Potential suppressors (histidine, azide, 1,4-diazabicyclooctane [DABCO], and 1,3-dimethyl-2-thiourea [DMTU]) and enhancers (deuterium oxide [D(2)O] and 3-aminotriazole [3-AT]) of oxidative damage, were also screened for their ability to modulate the frequency of nonviable cells. A2E in PBS, with and without an oxygen-depleter or singlet-oxygen quencher and A2E-laden RPE, were exposed to 430-nm light and examined by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB-MS). RESULTS: The death of blue-light-illuminated A2E-laden RPE was blocked in oxygen-depleted media. When A2E-laden RPE were transferred to D(2)O-based media and then irradiated (480 nm), the number of nonviable cells was increased, whereas the latter was decreased in the presence of histidine, DABCO, and azide. Conversely, no affect was observed with 3-AT and DMTU. When A2E, in either acellular or cellular environments, was irradiated at 430 nm, FAB-MS revealed the generation of a series of higher molecular mass derivatives of A2E. The sizes of these species increased by increments of mass 16. The generation of these photo-products was accompanied by the consumption of A2E, the latter being diminished, however, when illumination was performed after oxygen depletion and in the presence of a singlet-oxygen quencher. CONCLUSIONS: The augmentation of cell death in the presence of D(2)O and the protection afforded by quenchers and scavengers of singlet oxygen, indicates that the generation of singlet oxygen may be involved in the mechanisms leading to the death of A2E-containing RPE cells after blue light illumination. The finding that irradiation also produces oxygen-dependent photochemical changes in A2E, indicates that the effects of singlet oxygen may be mediated either directly or through the generation of reactive photo-products of A2E.

Biosynthetic studies of A2E, a major fluorophore of retinal pigment epithelial lipofuscin.

We have examined questions related to the biosynthesis of A2E, a fluorophore that accumulates in retinal pigment epithelial cells with aging and in some retinal disorders. The use of in vitro preparations revealed that detectable levels of A2-PE, the A2E precursor, are formed within photoreceptor outer segments following light-induced release of endogenous all-trans-retinal. Moreover, experiments in vivo demonstrated that the formation of A2-PE in photoreceptor outer segment membrane was augmented by exposing rats to bright light. Whereas the generation of A2E from A2-PE by acid hydrolysis was found to occur very slowly, the detection in outer segments of a phosphodiesterase activity that can convert A2-PE to A2E may indicate that some portion of the A2-PE that forms in the outer segment membrane may undergo hydrolytic cleavage before internalization by the retinal pigment epithelial cell. The identities of additional minor components of retinal pigment epithelium lipofuscin, A2E isomers with cis olefins at positions other than the C13-C14 double bond, are also described.