Secretion of ATP-utilizing enzymes, nucleoside diphosphate kinase and ATPase, by Mycobacterium bovis BCG: sequestration of ATP from macrophage P2Z receptors?

Mycobacterium bovis BCG secretes two ATP-scavenging enzymes, nucleoside diphosphate kinase (Ndk) and ATPase, during growth in Middlebrook 7H9 medium. In synthetic Sauton medium without any protein supplements, there is less secretion of these two enzymes unless proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), ovalbumin or extracts of macrophages are added to the medium. There is a gradient of activity among various proteins in triggering the induction of secretion of these two enzymes. Other mycobacteria, such as M. smegmatis, primarily secrete Ndk, while M. chelonae does not appear to secrete either of these two enzymes. Purification of the enzymes from the culture filtrate of 7H9-grown M. bovis BCG cells and determination of the N-terminal amino-acid sequence have demonstrated a high level of sequence identity of one of the ATPases with DnaK, a heat shock chaperone, of M. tuberculosis and M. leprae, while that of Ndk shows significant identity with the Ndk of Myxococcus xanthus. As both Ndk and ATPase use ATP as a substrate, the physiological significance of the secretion of these two ATP-utilizing enzymes was explored. External ATP is important in the activation of macrophage surface-associated P2Z receptors, whose activation has been postulated to allow phagosome-lysosome fusion and macrophage cell death. We demonstrate that the presence of the filtrate containing these enzymes prevents ATP-induced macrophage cell death, as measured by the release of an intracellular enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase. In vitro complexation studies with purified Ndk/ATPase and hyperproduced P2Z receptor protein will demonstrate whether these enzymes may be used by mycobacteria to sequester ATP from the macrophage P2Z receptors, thereby preventing phagosome-lysosome fusion or macrophage apoptotic death.

Isolation and characterization of a 70 kDa protein from Mycobacterium avium.

Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is an intracellular pathogen which causes disseminated bacterial infection in immunocompromised individuals. This organism predominantly infects macrophages. Attachment of MAC to macrophages is the first step prior to invasion. We have previously shown that a 70 kDa protein of M. avium (Ma) is one of nine monocyte-binding proteins. In the present study, we have purified this protein from sonic extracts of Ma and studied some of its properties. The N-terminal sequence of this protein was identified and found to exhibit a strong homology to the 70 kDa heat shock protein (hsp) of M. leprae (Ml) and M. tuberculosis (Mtb). This protein was found to be present on the surface of the organism and was able to inhibit the attachment of intact Ma to human monocyte derived macrophages (MDM) up to 49% in an in vitro attachment assay using intact fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled Ma. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and recombinant 70 kDa hsp from Mtb, which were used as controls, inhibited this attachment by 9.8 and 18%, respectively. These results suggest that the 70 kDa protein may have a role in the attachment of intact Ma to MDM. When tested in lymphocyte activation assays, this protein did not appear to significantly stimulate proliferation. However, it was found to stimulate the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha by MDM. This protein may be one of several Ma antigens that trigger host immune response by binding to MDM and stimulating the production of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha by these cells.

Kinetic studies of benzpyrene and hydroxybenzpyrene metabolism.

The kinetics of benzypyrene (BP) metabolism were examined in liver microsomes, and in accordance with the results of Hansen and Fouts [9] exhibited curcilinear Lineweaver-Burk plots. The problem was exacerbated in microsomes of 3-methylcholanthrene (MC-ms) treated rats. The Km for BP, measuring hydroxybenzypyrene (OHBP) appearance was about 0.3 muM in MC-treated adult rats and about 1.0 muM in untreated rats. These values were obtained using a substrate range of 0.2-2.0 muM benzpyrene, 20 mug of microsomal protein/ml and a 3 min assay time. With longer assay times and with higher microsomal protein concentrations curvilinear reciprocal plots were obtained. This was found to be due to a combination of three factors, namely non-specific binding of BP to the microsomes, rapid depletion of substrate, and further metabolism of hydroxy products. At 100 mug microsomal protein/ml about 50% of added BP was non-specifically bound to the microsomes in the range of 0.2-2.0 muM BP. Addition of albumin to the medium (1 mg/ml) greatly enhanced the BP hydroxylase activity but only slightly increased the amount of BP remaining in the medium after sedimentation of the microsomes by centrifugation. 3-OHBP, one of the phenolic products of BP metabolism was found to be metabolized to a non-fluorescent products(s); the Km for this compound was similar to that for BP. Differences were seen in the Vmax rates of BP disappearance and OHBP appearance. Disappearance of BP is several fold faster than OHBP appearance and has a larger Km. The latter may be due to the need to use higher amounts of protein and to allow depletion of enough substrate to make measurements significantly reproducible or the higher Km may reflect a composite value for different routes of BP metabolism.