The effect of asparagine and adenine on the glutamine requirement for growth of human peripheral lymphocytes.

Quantitative growth responses of lymphocytes directly isolated from individual subjects in a newly developed chemically-defined, protein-free medium are used to demonstrate that supplements of both L-asparagine and a purine source, but neither alone, significantly reduce the quantitative requirement for L-glutamine for growth. This system is useful for exploring individual differences in quantitative glutamine requirements and adequacy of asparagine and purine biosynthesis.

Purification and characterization of branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex of bovine kidney.

A branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase-dihydrolipoyl transacylase complex was purified to apparent homogeneity from bovine kidney mitochondria. As usually isolated, the complex (s(20,w) = 40 S) contained little, if any, dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase. When saturated with the latter enzyme the complex had a specific activity of about 12 mumol of alpha-ketoisovalerate oxidized per min per mg of protein at 30 degrees with NAD(+) as electron acceptor. In addition to alpha-ketoisovalerate, the complex also oxidized alpha-ketoisocaproate, alpha-keto-beta-methylvalerate, alpha-ketobutyrate, and pyruvate. The ratios of the specific activities were 2.0:1.5:1.0:1.0:0.4, and the apparent K(m) values were 40, 50, 37, 56, and 1000 muM. The complex was separated into its component enzymes. The branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase (6 S) consists of two different subunits with estimated molecular weights of 46,000 and 35,000. The dihydrolipoyl transacylase (20 S) contains apparently identical subunits of molecular weight about 52,000. In the electron microscope, the transacylase has the appearance of a cube, and the molecules of branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase appear to be distributed on the surface of the cube. In contrast to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex of bovine kidney, the branched chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex apparently is not regulated by phosphorylation-dephosphorylation. Its activity, however, is subject to modulation by end-product inhibition.

Alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complexes. X. Regulation of the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from beef kidney mitochondria by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation.

This paper reports the discovery that the activity of the multienzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from beef kidney mitochondria is regulated by a phosphorylation-dephosphorylation reaction sequence. The site of this regulation is the pyruvate dehydrogenase component of the complex. Phosphorylation and concomitant inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase are catalyzed by an ATP-specific kinase (i.e., a pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase), and dephosphorylation and concomitant reactivation are catalyzed by a phosphatase (i.e., a pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase). The kinase and the phosphatase appear to be regulatory subunits of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

Regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity by protein thiol-disulfide exchange.

Endogenous kinase activity of highly purified pyruvate dehydrogenase complex from bovine kidney is markedly inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide and by certain disulfides. Inhibition by disulfides is highly specific and is reversed by thiols. 5,5'-Dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) is the most potent inhibitor, showing significant inhibition at a concentration as low as 1 microM. Cystamine, oxidized glutathione, pantethine, lipoic acid, lipoamide, ergothionine, insulin, oxytocin, and vasopressin were ineffective. Hydrogen peroxide and t-butyl hydroperoxide were inactive. The data indicate pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (EC 2.7.1.99) contains a thiol group (or groups) that is involved in maintaining a conformation of the enzyme that facilitates phosphorylation and inactivation of its protein substrate, pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1). These findings suggest that modulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase activity by thiol-disulfide exchange may be an important physiological mechanism for regulation of kinase activity and, hence, activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

Evidence for sulfite as an essential metabolite for human peripheral lymphocytes.

Sulfite has been identified as an essential metabolite by means of growth studies using a chemically-defined, protein-free medium for culture of human peripheral lymphocytes. Sulfite reduced the amount of cysteine required for optimum growth by at least four-fold. In some subjects, sulfite stimulated growth even in the presence of optimal amounts of cysteine indicating that lymphocytes of some individuals are unable to convert cysteine to sulfite in adequate amounts.

Alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complexes. XI. Comparative studies of regulatory properties of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes from kidney, heart, and liver mitochondria.

The activity of the multienzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes, isolated from mitochondria of beef kidney, beef heart, and pork liver, is regulated by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Phosphorylation and concomitant inactivation of each of the three complexes are catalyzed by an ATP-specific kinase, and dephosphorylation and concomitant reactivation are catalyzed by a phosphatase. The phosphatase has been separated from the other component enzymes of each pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, and the three phosphatases are functionally interchangeable. The kinase has been isolated from the beef kidney complex, and it is functional with the beef heart and pork liver complexes. ADP is competitive with ATP, and the ADP effect is more pronounced with the kidney kinase than with the liver and heart kinases. Pyruvate protects strongly the heart and liver pruvate dehydrogenase complexes and, to a lesser extent, the kidney complex against inactivation by ATP. Pyruvate apparently exerts its effect on the pyruvate dehydrogenase component of the complex, rather than on the kinase.

Purification and properties of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase from bovine kidney.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase was purified about 2,700-fold to apparent homogeneity from extracts of bovine kidney mitochondria. The kinase consists of two subunits (alpha beta) with molecular weights of 48,000 (alpha) and 45,000 (beta) as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Kinase activity resides in the alpha subunit. The alpha subunit is sensitive to proteolysis by chymotrypsin, whereas the beta subunit is selectively modified by trypsin. These observations, together with the results of peptide mapping, indicate that the two subunits are distinctly different proteins. It is proposed that the beta subunit is a regulatory subunit.

Purification and properties of pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase from bovine heart and kidney.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphatase was purified to apparent homogeneity from bovine heart and kidney mitochondria. The phosphatase has a sedimentation coefficient (S20,w) of about 7.4 S and a molecular weight (Mr) of about 150 000 as determined by sedimentation equilibrium and by gel-permeation chromatography. The phosphatase consists of two subunits with molecular weights of about 97 000 and 50 000 as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate--polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Phosphatase activity resides in the Mr 50 000 subunit, which is sensitive to proteolysis. The phosphatase contains approximately 1 mol of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) per mol of protein of Mr 150 000. FAD is apparently associated with the Mr 97 000 subunit. The function of this subunit remains to be established. The phosphatase binds 1 mol of Ca2+ per mol of enzyme of Mr 150 000 at pH 7.0, with a dissociation constant (Kd) of about 35 microM as determined by flow dialysis. Use of ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetate (EGTA) at pH 7.6 in conjunction with flow dialysis gave a Kd value for Ca2+ of about 8 microM. In the presence of both the phosphatase and the dihydrolipoyl transacetylase (E2) core of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, two equivalent and apparently non-interacting CA2+-binding sites were detected per unit of Mr 150 000, with a Kd value of about 24 microM in the absence and about 5 microM in the presence of EGTA. In the presence of 0.2 M KCl, which inhibits phosphatase activity about 95%, the phosphatase exhibited only one Ca2+-binding site, even in the presence of E2. The phosphatase apparently possesses an "intrinsic" Ca2+-binding site, and a second Ca2+-binding site is produced in the presence of E2. The second site is apparently altered by increasing the ionic strength. It is proposed that the second site may be at the interface between the phosphatase and E2, with Ca2+ acting as a bridging ligand for specific attachment of the phosphatase to E2.

Use of trypsin and lipoamidase to study the role of lipoic acid moieties in the pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes of Escherichia coli.

The relationships between release of (3)H-labeled lipoyl moieties by trypsin and lipoamidase and accompanying loss of overall enzymatic activity of the Escherichia coli pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes were studied. Trypsin releases lipoyl domains together with their covalently attached lipoyl moieties from the "inner" core of the dihydrolipoyl transacetylase and the dihydrolipoyl transsuccinylase whereas lipoamidase releases only the lipoyl moieties. The results show that release of lipoyl domains by trypsin and release of lipoyl moieties by lipoamidase proceeded at faster rates than the accompanying loss of overall activity of the two complexes. Trypsin released about half of the lipoyl domains in the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex without significant effect on the overall activity. A model is presented to explain these and other observations on active-site coupling via lipoyl moieties.

Reconstitution of the Escherichia coli pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

The binding of pyruvate dehydrogenase and dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (flavoprotein) to dihydrolipoyl transacetylase, the core enzyme of the E. coli pyruvate dehydrogenase complex [EC 1.2.4.1:pyruvate:lipoate oxidoreductase (decaryboxylating and acceptor-acetylating)], has been studied using sedimentation equilibrium analysis and radioactive enzymes in conjunction with gel filtration chromatography. The results show that the transacetylase, which consists of 24 apparently identical polypeptide chains organized into a cube-like structure, has the potential to bind 24 pyruvate dehydrogenase dimers in the absence of flavoprotein and 24 flavoprotein dimers in the absence of pyruvate dehydrogenase. The results of reconstitution experiments, utilizing binding and activity measurements, indicate that the transacetylase can accommodate a total of only about 12 pyruvate dehydrogenase dimers and six flavoprotein dimers and that this stoichiometry, which is the same as that of the native pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, produces maximum activity. It appears that steric hindrance between the relatively bulky pyruvate dehydrogenase and flavoprotein molecules prevents the transacetylase from binding 24 molecules of each ligand. A structural model for the native and reconstituted pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes is proposed in which the 12 pyruvate dehydrogenase dimers are distributed symmetrically on the 12 edges of the transacetylase cube and the six flavoprotein dimers are distributed in the six faces of the cube.

Sites of phosphorylation on pyruvate dehydrogenase from bovine kidney and heart.

The highly purfied pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (EC 1.2.4.1) and uncomplexed pyruvate dehydrogenase from bovine kidney and heart mitochondria were phosphorylated and inactivated with pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP. Tryptic digestion of the phosphorylated pyruvate dehydrogenase yielded three phosphopeptides, a mono- (site 1) and a di- (sites 1 and 2) phosphorylated tetradecapeptide and a monophosphorylated nonapeptide (site 3). The amino acid sequences of the three phosphopeptides were established to be Tyr-His-Gly-His-Ser(P)-Met-Ser-Asn-Pro-Gly-Val-Ser-Tyr-Arg, Tyr-His-Gly-His-Ser(P)-Met-Ser-Asn-Pro-Gly-Val-Ser(P)-Tyr-Arg, and Tyr-Gly-Met-Gly-Thr-Ser(P)-Val-Glu-Arg. Phosphorylation proceeded markedly faster at site 1 than at sites 2 and 3, and phosphorylation at site 1 correlated closely with inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase. Complete inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase was associated with incorporation at site 1 of 1.0--1.6 mol of phosphoryl groups per mol of enzyme. Since pyruvate dehydrogenase is a tetramer (alpha2beta2) and since phosphorylation occurs only on the alpha subunit, the possibility of half-site reactivity is considered.