SARS-CoV-2 couples evasion of inflammatory response to activated nucleotide synthesis.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) evolves rapidly under the pressure of host immunity, as evidenced by waves of emerging variants despite effective vaccinations, highlighting the need for complementing antivirals. We report that targeting a pyrimidine synthesis enzyme restores inflammatory response and depletes the nucleotide pool to impede SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 deploys Nsp9 to activate carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase, aspartate transcarbamoylase, and dihydroorotase (CAD) that catalyzes the rate-limiting steps of the de novo pyrimidine synthesis. Activated CAD not only fuels de novo nucleotide synthesis but also deamidates RelA. While RelA deamidation shuts down NF-κB activation and subsequent inflammatory response, it up-regulates key glycolytic enzymes to promote aerobic glycolysis that provides metabolites for de novo nucleotide synthesis. A newly synthesized small-molecule inhibitor of CAD restores antiviral inflammatory response and depletes the pyrimidine pool, thus effectively impeding SARS-CoV-2 replication. Targeting an essential cellular metabolic enzyme thus offers an antiviral strategy that would be more refractory to SARS-CoV-2 genetic changes.

Combined small molecule and loss-of-function screen uncovers estrogen receptor alpha and CAD as host factors for HDV infection and antiviral targets.

OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a circular RNA virus coinfecting hepatocytes with hepatitis B virus. Chronic hepatitis D results in severe liver disease and an increased risk of liver cancer. Efficient therapeutic approaches against HDV are absent. DESIGN: Here, we combined an RNAi loss-of-function and small molecule screen to uncover host-dependency factors for HDV infection. RESULTS: Functional screening unravelled the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-signalling and insulin-resistance pathways, RNA polymerase II, glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis and the pyrimidine metabolism as virus-hepatocyte dependency networks. Validation studies in primary human hepatocytes identified the carbamoyl-phosphatesynthetase 2, aspartate transcarbamylase and dihydroorotase (CAD) enzyme and estrogen receptor alpha (encoded by ESR1) as key host factors for HDV life cycle. Mechanistic studies revealed that the two host factors are required for viral replication. Inhibition studies using N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartic acid and fulvestrant, specific CAD and ESR1 inhibitors, respectively, uncovered their impact as antiviral targets. CONCLUSION: The discovery of HDV host-dependency factors elucidates the pathogenesis of viral disease biology and opens therapeutic strategies for HDV cure.

Antipyrimidine effects of five different pyrimidine de novo synthesis inhibitors in three head and neck cancer cell lines.

The pyrimidine de novo nucleotide synthesis consists of 6 sequential steps. Various inhibitors against these enzymes have been developed and evaluated in the clinic for their potential anticancer activity: acivicin inhibits carbamoyl-phosphate-synthase-II, N-(phosphonacetyl)-L- aspartate (PALA) inhibits aspartate-transcarbamylase, Brequinar sodium and dichloroallyl-lawsone (DCL) inhibit dihydroorotate-dehydrogenase, and pyrazofurin (PF) inhibits orotate-phosphoribosyltransferase. We compared their growth inhibition against 3 cell lines from head-and-neck-cancer (HEP-2, UMSCC-14B and UMSCC-14C) and related the sensitivity to their effects on nucleotide pools. In all cell lines Brequinar and PF were the most active compounds with IC50 (50% growth inhibition) values between 0.06-0.37 µM, Acivicin was as potent (IC50s 0.26-1 µM), but DCL was 20-31-fold less active. PALA was most inactive (24-128 µM). At equitoxic concentrations, all pure antipyrimidine de novo inhibitors depleted UTP and CTP after 24 hr exposure, which was most pronounced for Brequinar (between 6-10% of UTP left, and 12-36% CTP), followed by DCL and PF, which were almost similar (6-16% UTP and 12-27% CTP), while PALA was the least active compound (10-70% UTP and 13-68% CTP). Acivicin is a multi-target inhibitor of more glutamine requiring enzymes (including GMP synthetase) and no decrease of UTP was found, but a pronounced decrease in GTP (31-72% left). In conclusion, these 5 inhibitors of the pyrimidine de novo nucleotide synthesis varied considerably in their efficacy and effect on pyrimidine nucleotide pools. Inhibitors of DHO-DH were most effective suggesting a primary role of this enzyme in controlling pyrimidine nucleotide pools.

The nucleotide synthesis enzyme CAD inhibits NOD2 antibacterial function in human intestinal epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Polymorphisms that reduce the function of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)2, a bacterial sensor, have been associated with Crohn's disease (CD). No proteins that regulate NOD2 activity have been identified as selective pharmacologic targets. We sought to discover regulators of NOD2 that might be pharmacologic targets for CD therapies. METHODS: Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase/aspartate transcarbamylase/dihydroorotase (CAD) is an enzyme required for de novo pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis; it was identified as a NOD2-interacting protein by immunoprecipitation-coupled mass spectrometry. CAD expression was assessed in colon tissues from individuals with and without inflammatory bowel disease by immunohistochemistry. The interaction between CAD and NOD2 was assessed in human HCT116 intestinal epithelial cells by immunoprecipitation, immunoblot, reporter gene, and gentamicin protection assays. We also analyzed human cell lines that express variants of NOD2 and the effects of RNA interference, overexpression and CAD inhibitors. RESULTS: CAD was identified as a NOD2-interacting protein expressed at increased levels in the intestinal epithelium of patients with CD compared with controls. Overexpression of CAD inhibited NOD2-dependent activation of nuclear factor κB and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, as well as intracellular killing of Salmonella. Reduction of CAD expression or administration of CAD inhibitors increased NOD2-dependent signaling and antibacterial functions of NOD2 variants that are and are not associated with CD. CONCLUSIONS: The nucleotide synthesis enzyme CAD is a negative regulator of NOD2. The antibacterial function of NOD2 variants that have been associated with CD increased in response to pharmacologic inhibition of CAD. CAD is a potential therapeutic target for CD.

Valproate-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy.

Valproate-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy (VHE) is an unusual complication characterized by a decreasing level of consciousness, focal neurological deficits, cognitive slowing, vomiting, drowsiness, and lethargy. We have thoroughly reviewed the predisposing factors and their screening, the biochemical and physiopathological mechanisms involved, the different treatments described, and those that are being investigated. Etiopathogenesis is not completely understood, although hyperammonemia has been postulated as the main cause of the clinical syndrome. The increase in serum ammonium level is due to several mechanisms, the most important one appearing to be the inhibition of carbamoylphosphate synthetase-I, the enzyme that begins the urea cycle. Polytherapy with several drugs, such as phenobarbital and topiramate, seems to contribute to hyperammonemia. Hyperammonemia leads to an increase in the glutamine level in the brain, which produces astrocyte swelling and cerebral edema. There are several studies that suggest that treatment with supplements of carnitine can lead to an early favorable clinical response due to the probable carnitine deficiency induced by a valproate (VPA) treatment. Development of the progressive confusional syndrome, associated with an increase in seizure frequency after VPA treatment onset, obliges us to rule out VHE by screening for blood ammonium levels and the existence of urea cycle enzyme deficiency, such as ornithine carbamoyltransferase deficiency. Electroencephalography (EEG) is characterized by signs of severe encephalopathy with continuous generalized slowing, a predominance of theta and delta activity, occasional bursts of frontal intermittent rhythmic delta activity, and triphasic waves. These EEG findings, as well as clinical manifestations and hyperammonemia, tend to normalize after VPA withdrawal.

Integrated allosteric regulation in the S. cerevisiae carbamylphosphate synthetase - aspartate transcarbamylase multifunctional protein.

BACKGROUND: The S. cerevisiae carbamylphosphate synthetase - aspartate transcarbamylase multifunctional protein catalyses the first two reactions of the pyrimidine pathway. In this organism, these two reactions are feedback inhibited by the end product UTP. In the present work, the mechanisms of these integrated inhibitions were studied. RESULTS: The results obtained show that the inhibition is competitive in the case of carbamylphosphate synthetase and non-competitive in the case of aspartate transcarbamylase. They also identify the substrate whose binding is altered by this nucleotide and the step of the carbamylphosphate synthetase reaction which is inhibited. Furthermore, the structure of the domains catalyzing these two reactions were modelled in order to localize the mutations which, specifically, alter the aspartate transcarbamylase sensitivity to the feedback inhibitor UTP. Taken together, the results make it possible to propose a model for the integrated regulation of the two activities of the complex. UTP binds to a regulatory site located in the vicinity of the carbamylphosphate synthetase catalytic subsite which catalyzes the third step of this enzyme reaction. Through a local conformational change, this binding decreases, competitively, the affinity of this site for the substrate ATP. At the same time, through a long distance signal transmission process it allosterically decreases the affinity of the aspartate transcarbamylase catalytic site for the substrate aspartate. CONCLUSION: This investigation provides informations about the mechanisms of allosteric inhibition of the two activities of the CPSase-ATCase complex. Although many allosteric monofunctional enzymes were studied, this is the first report on integrated allosteric regulation in a multifunctional protein. The positions of the point mutations which specifically abolish the sensitivity of aspartate transcarbamylase to UTP define an interface between the carbamylphosphate synthetase and aspartate transcarbamylase domains, through which the allosteric signal for the regulation of aspartate transcarbamylase must be propagated.

Site-directed mutagenesis of the regulatory domain of Escherichia coli carbamoyl phosphate synthetase identifies crucial residues for allosteric regulation and for transduction of the regulatory signals.

Carbamoyl phosphate (CP), the essential precursor of pyrimidines and arginine, is made in Escherichia coli by a single carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS) consisting of 41.4 and 117.7 kDa subunits, which is feed-back inhibited by UMP and activated by IMP and ornithine. The large subunit catalyzes CP synthesis from ammonia in three steps, and binds the effectors in its 15 kDa C-terminal domain. Fifteen site-directed mutations were introduced in 13 residues of this domain to investigate the mechanism of allosteric modulation by UMP and IMP. Two mutations, K993A and V994A, decreased significantly or abolished enzyme activity, apparently by interfering with the step of carbamate synthesis, and one mutation, T974A, negatively affected ornithine activation. S948A, K954A, T974A, K993A and K993W/H995A abolished or greatly hampered IMP activation and UMP inhibition as well as the binding of both effectors, monitored using photoaffinity labeling and ultracentrifugation binding assays. V994A also decreased significantly IMP and UMP binding. L990A, V991A, H995A, G997A and G1008A had more modest effects or affected more the modulation by and the binding of one than of the other nucleotide. K993W, R1020A, R1021A and K1061A were without substantial effects. The results confirm the independence of the regulatory and catalytic centers, and also confirm functional predictions based on the X-ray structure of an IMP-CPS complex. They prove that the inhibitor UMP and the activator IMP bind in the same site, and exclude that the previously observed binding of ornithine and glutamine in this site were relevant for enzyme activation. K993 and V994 appear to be involved in the transmission of the regulatory signals triggered by UMP and IMP binding. These effectors possibly change the position of K993 and V994, and alter the intermolecular contacts mediated by the regulatory domain.

An engineered blockage within the ammonia tunnel of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase prevents the use of glutamine as a substrate but not ammonia.

The heterodimeric carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS) from Escherichia coli catalyzes the formation of carbamoyl phosphate from bicarbonate, glutamine, and two molecules of ATP. The enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of glutamine within the small amidotransferase subunit and then transfers ammonia to the two active sites within the large subunit. These three active sites are connected via an intermolecular tunnel, which has been located within the X-ray crystal structure of CPS from E. coli. It has been proposed that the ammonia intermediate diffuses through this molecular tunnel from the binding site for glutamine within the small subunit to the phosphorylation site for bicarbonate within the large subunit. To provide experimental support for the functional significance of this molecular tunnel, residues that define the interior walls of the "ammonia tunnel" within the small subunit were targeted for site-directed mutagenesis. These structural modifications were intended to either block or impede the passage of ammonia toward the large subunit. Two mutant proteins (G359Y and G359F) display kinetic properties consistent with a constriction or blockage of the ammonia tunnel. With both mutants, the glutaminase and bicarbonate-dependent ATPase reactions have become uncoupled from one another. However, these mutant enzymes are fully functional when external ammonia is utilized as the nitrogen source but are unable to use glutamine for the synthesis of carbamoyl-P. These results suggest the existence of an alternate route to the bicarbonate phosphorylation site when ammonia is provided as an external nitrogen source.

Regulation of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase by MAP kinase.

The de novo synthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides is required for mammalian cells to proliferate. The rate-limiting step in this pathway is catalysed by carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS II), part of the multifunctional enzyme CAD. Here we describe the regulation of CAD by the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade. When phosphorylated by MAP kinase in vitro or activated by epidermal growth factor in vivo, CAD lost its feedback inhibition (which is dependent on uridine triphosphate) and became more sensitive to activation (which depends upon phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate). Both these allosteric regulatory changes favour biosynthesis of pyrimidines for growth. They were accompanied by increased epidermal growth factor-dependent phosphorylation of CAD in vivo and were prevented by inhibition of MAP kinase. Mutation of a consensus MAP kinase phosphorylation site abolished the changes in CAD allosteric regulation that were stimulated by growth factors. Finally, consistent with an effect of MAP kinase signalling on CPS II activity, epidermal growth factor increased cellular uridine triphosphate and this increase was reversed by inhibition of MAP kinase. Hence these studies may indicate a direct link between activation of the MAP kinase cascade and de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides.

Half of Saccharomyces cerevisiae carbamoyl phosphate synthetase produces and channels carbamoyl phosphate to the fused aspartate transcarbamoylase domain.

The first two steps of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are catalyzed by a 240-kDa bifunctional protein encoded by the ura2 locus. Although the constituent enzymes, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPSase) and aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) function independently, there are interdomain interactions uniquely associated with the multifunctional protein. Both CPSase and ATCase are feedback inhibited by UTP. Moreover, the intermediate carbamoyl phosphate is channeled from the CPSase domain where it is synthesized to the ATCase domain where it is used in the synthesis of carbamoyl aspartate. To better understand these processes, a recombinant plasmid was constructed that encoded a protein lacking the amidotransferase domain and the amino half of the CPSase domain, a 100-kDa chain segment. The truncated complex consisted of the carboxyl half of the CPSase domain fused to the ATCase domain via the pDHO domain, an inactive dihydroorotase homologue that bridges the two functional domains in the native molecule. Not only was the "half CPSase" catalytically active, but it was regulated by UTP to the same extent as the parent molecule. In contrast, the ATCase domain was no longer sensitive to the nucleotide, suggesting that the two catalytic activities are controlled by distinct mechanisms. Most remarkably, isotope dilution and transient time measurements showed that the truncated complex channels carbamoyl phosphate. The overall CPSase-ATCase reaction is much less sensitive than the parent molecule to the ATCase bisubstrate analogue, N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate (PALA), providing evidence that the endogenously produced carbamoyl phosphate is sequestered and channeled to the ATCase active site.

Inhibition of carbamyl phosphate synthetase-I and glutamine synthetase by hepatotoxic doses of acetaminophen in mice.

The primary mechanisms proposed for acetaminophen-induced hepatic necrosis should deplete protein thiols, either by covalent binding and thioether formation or by oxidative reactions such as S-thiolations. However, in previous studies we did not detect significant losses of protein thiol contents in response to administration of hepatotoxic doses of acetaminophen in vivo. In the present study we employed derivatization with the thiol-specific agent monobromobimane and separation of proteins by SDS-PAGE to investigate the possible loss of specific protein thiols during the course of acetaminophen-induced hepatic necrosis. Fasted adult male mice were given acetaminophen, and protein thiol status was examined subsequently in subcellular fractions isolated by differential centrifugation. No decreases in protein thiol contents were indicated, with the exception of a marked decrease in the fluorescent intensity, but not of protein content, as indicated by staining with Coomassie blue, of a single band of approximately 130 kDa in the mitochondrial fractions of acetaminophen-treated mice. This protein was identified by isolation and N-terminal sequence analysis as carbamyl phosphate synthetase-I (CPS-I) (EC 6.3.4.16). Hepatic CPS-I activities were decreased in mice given hepatotoxic doses of acetaminophen. In addition, hepatic glutamine synthetase activities were lower, and plasma ammonia levels were elevated in mice given hepatotoxic doses of acetaminophen. The observed hyperammonemia may contribute to the adverse effects of toxic doses of acetaminophen, and elucidation of the specific mechanisms responsible for the hyperammonemia may prove to be useful clinically. However, the preferential depletion of protein thiol content of a mitochondrial protein by chemically reactive metabolites generated in the endoplasmic reticulum presents a challenging and potentially informative mechanistic question.

As in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, aspartate transcarbamoylase is assembled on a multifunctional protein including a dihydroorotase-like cryptic domain in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

The organisation of the URA1 gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe was determined from the entire cDNA cloned by the transformation of an ATCase-deficient strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The URA1 gene encodes the bifunctional protein GLNase/CPSase-ATCase which catalyses the first two steps of the pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway. The complete nucleotide sequence of the URA1 cDNA was elucidated and the deduced amino-acid sequence was used to define four domains in the protein; three functional domains, corresponding to GLNase (glutamine amidotransferase), CPSase (carbamoylphosphate synthetase) and ATCase (aspartate transcarbamoylase) activities, and one cryptic DHOase (dihydroorotase) domain. Genetic investigations confirmed that both GLNase/CPSase and ATCase activities are carried out by the same polypeptide. They are also both feedback-inhibited by UTP (uridine triphosphate). Its organization and regulation indicate that the S. pombe URA1 gene product appears very similar to the S. cerevisiae URA2 gene product.

Allosteric regulation of carbamoylphosphate synthetase-aspartate transcarbamylase multifunctional protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: selection, mapping and identification of missense mutations define three regions involved in feedback inhibition by UTP.

The positive screening procedure previously described was used in order to select, clone and characterize mutants defective in negative feedback control by UTP of the yeast carbamoylphosphate synthetase-aspartate transcarbamylase protein (CPSase-ATCase). The selection procedure was improved by adding a general mapping method for dominant mutations in order to avoid sequencing the whole URA2 allele (7 kb). All 16 mutants obtained carry missense mutations leading to single amino acid replacements: five of them are located in the CPSase domain while the other 11 are in the ATCase domain. In these 16 mutants, ATCase is no longer inhibited by UTP although CPSase retains full sensitivity to the effector, suggesting that the regulation of the two activities involve distinct mechanisms. Amino acid replacements in the ATCase domain were located on a three-dimensional model structure of the yeast ATCase domain. They are clustered in two regions of this domain which must be directly involved in the feedback process.

Genetic analysis of yeast strains lacking negative feedback control: a one-step method for positive selection and cloning of carbamoylphosphate synthetase-aspartate transcarbamoylase mutants unable to respond to UTP.

We have undertaken an in vivo genetic approach to the analysis of negative feedback control by uridine triphosphate (UTP) of the yeast carbamoylphosphate synthetase-aspartate transcarbamoylase multifunctional protein (CPSase-ATCase). Using an analog of uracil, 5-fluorouracil, we have constructed a screening system leading, in one step, to selection and cloning of a functional aspartate transcarbamoylase that is defective in negative feedback control by UTP. Due to the nature of the screen, spontaneous or UV-induced mutants could be recovered. Well-characterized cloned mutants have been sequenced and reveal one or two modifications in single codons leading to single amino acid replacements. These amino acid changes occurred either in the CPSase or ATCase domains, abolishing their sensitivity to regulation but not their catalytic activities. Hence the regulatory and catalytic sites are distinct. With the same screening system, it may also be possible to enlarge the scope of the molecular study of the feedback processes to include equivalent proteins in fungi as well as higher eukaryotes.

Regulation of orotic acid biosynthesis and excretion induced by oral glutamine administration in mice.

Glutamine, the most abundant amino acid in blood and tissues, is degraded by the renal and splanchnic tissues, especially the small intestinal mucosa. Due to the activity of glutaminase, it may be broken down in these tissues and contribute to ammoniagenicity. Glutamine, either directly or through ammonia production, may act as a nitrogenous source for pyrimidine biosynthesis. We have evaluated the effect of glutamine on orotate metabolism in mice, by gavaging (ig) L-glutamine, 1.0 to 4.0 mmol/100 g of body wt/day, during 6 weeks of experimentation. Glutamine at doses of 2.5 to 4.0 mmol/100 g of body wt caused a significant increase in plasma ammonia and urinary orotate. The regulation of the orotic acid biosynthesis and excretion was studied by testing the effects of various inhibitors in mice force-fed with glutamine (4 mmol/100 g of body wt, ig). The orotic aciduria was insensitive to acivicin (1 and 5 mg/100 g of body wt, ip), a specific inhibitor of the cytoplasmic carbamyl phosphate synthetase-II, thus pointing toward the mitochondrion as the principal source of carbamyl phosphate. Cycloheximide (15 and 100 mg/kg of body wt, ip) caused a significant decrease in urinary orotate indicating that the induction of orotate synthesis by glutamine may be associated with the translation of a specific protein. However, orotate excretion was significantly decreased by N-(phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartate (PALA) (5 mg/100 g of body wt, ip) due to its inhibitory effect on the aspartate transcarbamylase activity. There was a significant increase of urinary orotate following ingestion of adenine supplemented diets (0.1% and 0.2%), suggesting the blockage of the utilization of orotate for nucleotide biosynthesis by glutamine. Since orotate synthesis may also be influenced by ornithine metabolism, we evaluated the effect of glutamine administration on various ornithine-metabolizing enzymes. There was a decrease in hepatic ornithine decarboxylase activity with no change in hepatic ornithine aminotransferase activity following the administration of glutamine. This observation indicates that an increased metabolic utilization of ornithine is not responsible for the increase in orotate excretion, which may be caused principally through an effect of glutamine on mitochondrial carbamyl phosphate synthesis.

Altered cell cycle arrest and gene amplification potential accompany loss of wild-type p53.

Gene amplification occurs at high frequency in transformed cells (10(-3)-10(-5)), but is undetectable in normal diploid fibroblasts (less than 10(-9)). This study examines whether alterations of one or both p53 alleles were sufficient to allow gene amplification to occur. Cells retaining one wild-type p53 allele mimicked the behavior of primary diploid cells: they arrested growth in the presence of drug and failed to demonstrate amplification. Cells losing the second p53 allele failed to arrest when placed in drug and displayed the ability to amplify at a high frequency. Thus, loss of wild-type p53 may lead to amplification, possibly caused by changes in cell cycle progression. Other determinants can by-pass this p53 function, however, since tumor cells with wild-type p53 have the ability to amplify genes.

Identification of the ATP binding sites of the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain of the Syrian hamster multifunctional protein CAD by affinity labeling with 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine.

The ATP analogue 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine (FSBA) was used to chemically modify the ATP binding sites of the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain of CAD, the multifunctional protein that catalyzes the first steps in mammalian pyrimidine biosynthesis. Reaction of CAD with FSBA resulted in the inactivation of the ammonia- and glutamine-dependent CPSase activities but had no effect on its glutaminase, aspartate transcarbamylase, or dihydroorotase activities. ATP protected CAD against inactivation by FSBA whereas the presence of the allosteric effectors UTP and PRPP afforded little protection, which suggests that the ATP binding sites were specifically labeled. The inactivation exhibited saturation behavior with respect to FSBA with a K1 of 0.93 mM. Of the two ATP-dependent partial activities of carbamyl phosphate synthetase, bicarbonate-dependent ATPase was inactivated more rapidly than the carbamyl phosphate dependent ATP synthetase, which indicates that these partial reactions occur at distinct ATP binding sites. The stoichiometry of [14C]FSBA labeling showed that only 0.4-0.5 mol of FSBA/mol of protein was required for complete inactivation. Incorporation of radiolabeled FSBA into CAD and subsequent proteolysis, gel electrophoresis, and fluorography demonstrated that only the carbamyl phosphate synthetase domain of CAD is labeled. Amino acid sequencing of the principal peaks resulting from tryptic digests of FSBA-modified CAD located the sites of FSBA modification in regions that exhibit high homology to ATP binding sites of other known proteins. Thus CAD has two ATP binding sites, one in each of the two highly homologous halves of the carbamyl phosphate domain which catalyze distinct ATP-dependent partial reactions in carbamyl phosphate synthesis.

Effect of polyamines on the carbamoyl-phosphate synthase activity of CAD protein.

The effects of polyamines were studied on carbamoyl-phosphate synthase II (EC 6.3.5.5.) which is the first and rate limiting enzyme in mammalian pyrimidine synthesis. Polyamines in physiological concentrations (0.1-1 mM) strongly inhibited the carbamoyl-phosphate synthesis. Of the polyamines tested spermine was the most effective followed by spermidine and putrescine. Spermine increased the KM for ATP and the requirement for Mg++ of carbamoyl-phosphate synthase reaction. UTP, an inhibitor, had similar, while phosphoribosyl-pyrophosphate, an activator of the enzyme had an opposite effect. Increasing concentrations of phosphoribosyl-pyrophosphate completely reversed the inhibition caused by spermine, while did not influence the degree of inhibition caused by UTP. A possible physiological role of polyamines in synchronizing the substrate and activator functions of phosphoribosyl-pyrophosphate in pyrimidine synthesis is suggested.