Characterization of a novel immobilized biocatalyst obtained by matrix-assisted refolding of recombinant polyhydroxyoctanoate depolymerase from Pseudomonas putida KT2442 isolated from inclusion bodies.

Purification and matrix-assisted refolding of recombinant His-tagged polyhydroxyalkanoate (PhaZ) depolymerase from Pseudomonas putida KT2442 was carried out. His-tagged enzyme was overproduced as inclusion bodies in recombinant E. coli M15 (pREP4, pPAZ3), which were denatured by 8 M urea, immobilized on Ni(2+)-nitrilotriacetate-agarose matrix, and refolded by gradual removal of the chaotropic agent. The refolded enzyme could not be eluted with 1 M imidazole buffer, leading to an immobilized biocatalyst where PhaZ depolymerase was homogeneously distributed in the agarose support as shown by confocal scanning microscopy. Polyhydroxyoctanoate could not be hydrolyzed by this novel immobilized biocatalyst, whereas the attached enzyme was active in the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl alkanoate esters, which differed in their alkyl chain length. Taking advantage of the observed esterase activity on p-nitrophenylacetate, functional characterization of immobilized PhaZ depolymerase was carried out. The immobilized enzyme was more stable than its soluble counterpart and showed optimal hydrolytic activity at 37°C and 50 mM phosphate buffer pH 8.0. Kinetic parameters were obtained with both p-nitrophenylacetate and p-nitrophenyloctanoate, which had not been described so far for the soluble enzyme, representing an attractive and alternative chromogenic assay for the study of this paradigmatic enzyme.

Kinetic mechanism of beta-glucosidase from Trichoderma reesei QM 9414.

beta-Glucosidase is a key enzyme in the hydrolysis of cellulose to D-glucose. beta-Glucosidase was purified from cultures of Trichoderma reesei QM 9414 grown on wheat straw as carbon source. The enzyme hydrolyzed cellobiose and aryl beta-glucosides. The double-reciprocal plots of initial velocity vs. substrate concentration showed substrate inhibition with cellobiose and salicin. However, when p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside was the substrate no inhibition was observed. The corresponding kinetic parameters were: K = 1.09 +/- 0.2 mM and V = 2.09 +/- 0.52 mumol.min-1.mg-1 for salicin; K = 1.22 +/- 0.3 mM and V = 1.14 +/- 0.21 mumol.min-1.mg-1 for cellobiose; K = 0.19 +/- 0.02 mM and V = 29.67 +/- 3.25 mumol.min-1.mg-1 for p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside. Studies of inhibition by products and by alternative product supported an Ordered Uni Bi mechanism for the reaction catalyzed by beta-glucosidase on p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside as substrate. Alternative substrates as salicin and cellobiose, a substrate analog such as maltose and a product analog such as fructose were competitive inhibitors in the p-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside hydrolysis.

Chemical modification of beta-glucosidase from Trichoderma reesei QM 9414.

The inhibition of beta-glucosidase from Trichoderma reesei QM 9414 by several specific reagents was studied. Diethylpyrocarbonate (DEP) nearly abolished the enzyme activity at concentrations above 10 mM. The presence of substrate or analogs protected the enzyme against inactivation. The reaction followed pseudo-first order kinetics with a second-order rate constant of 0.02 mM-1.min-1. The pH-dependence of the inactivation showed the involvement of a group with a pK of 5.2. Difference spectra at 242 nm and the reversal of the inactivation in the presence of 1 M hydroxylamine indicated the modification of histidine residues. Statistical analysis of residual fractional activity versus the number of modified histidine residues indicated that one histidine residue is essential for catalysis. p-Hydroxymercuribenzoate completely inhibited the enzyme at concentrations of the reagent above 2 mM. Substrate or analogs protected the enzyme against inactivation. The reaction followed pseudo-first order kinetics with a second-order rate constant of 0.002 mM-1.min-1. Treatment of the modified enzyme with 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) showed that one cysteine residue was essential for activity. At pH 5.0 2-ethoxy-1-ethoxy-carbonyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ) inactivated the enzyme according to pseudo-first order kinetics with a second-order rate constant of 0.12 min-1. The pH-dependence of the inactivation showed the involvement of a group with a pK of 5.64, indicating the modification of a carboxyl group essential for activity.

Chemical modification of histidyl residues in D-amino acid oxidase from Rhodotorula gracilis.

D-Amino acid oxidase was inactivated by DEP at 30 degrees C and pH 7.5. The reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with a second-order rate constant of 0.254 mM-1.min-1. The pH dependence of the inactivation showed the involvement of a group with a pK of 6.6. The presence of substrate or benzoate protected the enzyme against inactivation. Difference spectra at 242 nm and the reversal of the inactivation in the presence of 1 M hydroxylamine or 0.1 M NaOH pointed to the modification of histidine residues. The statistical analysis of the residual fractional activity versus the number of modified histidine residues led to the conclusion that one histidine residue is essential for the enzyme activity.

Activation and stabilization of penicillin V acylase from streptomyces lavendulae in the presence of glycerol and glycols.

Penicillin V acylase (EC 3.5.1.11) from Streptomyces lavendulae showed both enhanced activity and stability in mixed water/glycerol and water/glycols solvents. The catalytic activity was increased up to a critical concentration of these cosolvents, but further addition of the latter led to a gradual protein deactivation. The highest stabilizing effect was achieved in the presence of glycerol. Thermal stability was increased proportionally to the concentration of glycerol and glycols in the reaction mixture only if the amount added is below the threshold concentration. Reaction conditions that allow simultaneously enhanced activity and stability in the hydrolysis of penicillin V catalyzed by penicillin V acylase from S. lavendulae could be established.

Agrochelin, a new cytotoxic antibiotic from a marine Agrobacterium. Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation, physico-chemical properties and biological activity.

Agrochelin, a new alkaloid cytotoxic substance, was produced by the fermentation of Agrobacterium sp. The compound was obtained from the bacterial cells by solvent extraction and purified by silica gel chromatography. Agrochelin (1) and its acetyl derivative (2) exhibited cytotoxic activity.

Two marine Agrobacterium producers of sesbanimide antibiotics.

Sesbanimides are cytotoxic compounds, originally isolated in 1983 from seeds of the leguminous plants Sesbania drummondii and Sesbania punicea. In this paper we describe the bacterial production of sesbanimides by two "marine Agrobacterium"; strain PH-103 which produces Sesbanimide-A and strain PH-A034C which produces Sesbanimide-C. The isolation and taxonomy of the producing microorganisms, fermentation and isolation of sesbanimides are reported.

The kinetic mechanism of acyl-CoA:lysolecithin acyltransferase from rabbit lung.

Acyl-CoA:lysolecithin acyltransferase is a key enzyme in the deacylation-reacylation pathway of biosynthesis of molecular species of lecithin. However, the mechanism of the reaction has been little studied. In this paper, the kinetic mechanism of acyl-CoA:lysolecithin acyltransferase, partially purified from rabbit lung, is studied. The double-reciprocal plots of initial velocity vs substrate concentration gave two sets of parallel lines which fitted to a ping-pong equation with the following parameters: Km (palmitoyl-CoA) = 8.5 +/- 2 microM, Km (lysolecithin) = 61 +/- 16 microM, and V = 18 +/- 4 nmol/min/mg protein. Inhibition studies by substrates, alternate substrates, and products supported the ping-pong mechanism, although some nonclassical behavior was observed. Palmitoyl-CoA did not inhibit even at concentrations of 100 Km. In contrast, lysolecithin was a dead-end inhibitor with a dissociation constant of Ki = 930 +/- 40 microM. Alternate substrates and CoA showed alternate pathways for the reaction due to the formation of ternary complexes. Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine inhibition pointed to an isomerization of the free enzyme prior to the start of the reaction. From these results, an iso-ping-pong kinetic mechanism for lysolecithin acyltransferase is proposed. The kinetic steps of the reaction are correlated with previous chemical studies of the enzyme.

Substrate selectivity of lysophosphatidylcholine: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase from rabbit lung.

The influence of both polar group and acyl chain of lysophospholipids on the lysophosphatidylcholine: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase from rabbit lung was studied. Both, transacylase and hydrolase activities of this enzyme, utilize selectively 1-[1-14C]palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine when compared with 1-[9,10-3H2]palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine. Transacylase activity is more selective for lysophosphatidylcholine as acyl acceptor than as acyl donor. The amount of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine/min/mg protein synthesized from mixed lysophosphatidylcholine/lysophosphatidylethanolamine micelles does not change with increasing molar percentages of lysophosphatidylethanolamine in the mixture and is similar to that formed with pure lysophosphatidylcholine micelles. Transacylation reaction takes place preferentially with long and saturated acyl chains whereas hydrolysis reaction does more efficiently with longer acyl chains, independently of their insaturation degree.

Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by acyl-CoA: lysolecithin acyltransferase from rabbit lung. pH studies and chemical modification.

This paper deals with the first attempt to elucidate the chemical mechanism of acyl-CoA: lysolecithin acyltransferase from rabbit lung, a key enzyme in the metabolism of lung surfactant. For this purpose, the pH dependence of kinetic constants as well as the chemical modification of the protein have been studied on a partially-purified preparation. From these experiments, the pKs on which the activity of the enzyme relies have been calculated, giving values of pK1 congruent to 5.5 and pK2 congruent to 10. Analysis of the effect of organic solvents on these pKs and the calculation of the enthalpies of ionization, together with the chemical modification experiments, lead to the conclusion that pK1 is due to an histidine residue, whereas pK2 arises from the amino group of the adenine ring of palmitoyl-CoA. Moreover, chemical modification demonstrated an essential cysteine. A tentative chemical mechanism, in accordance with these results, is proposed and it is hypothesized, in view of other results obtained in our laboratory and from the literature, that the chemical mechanism of acyl transfer to sn-2 position may be common to other enzymes of glycerolipid metabolism.

Substrate selectivity of acyl-CoA:lysolecithin acyltransferase from rabbit lung.

The influence of both polar head and acyl chain of lysophospholipid on the activity of partially purified acyl-CoA:lysolecithin acyltransferase from rabbit lung was studied. It was concluded that the presence of methyl groups on the nitrogen of the base was essential for recognition of lysophospholipid as substrate by the enzyme. With respect to the acyl chain length and saturation, the activity followed the order: 16:0 approximately equal to 18:1 greater than 14:0 greater than greater than greater than 18:0 approximately equal to 12:0. Also, the effect on the activity of the acyl chain on acyl-CoA was studied. The activity showed great selectivity for saturated acyl-CoAs. The activity with polyunsaturated fatty acids was very low and in the case of arachidonoyl-CoA was almost negligible. The comparison between crude microsomal preparations and partially purified preparations allowed to suggest that it could exist two different acyl-CoA:lysolecithin acyltransferases differing in their selectivity towards saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.

Essential histidine residues in lysolecithin:lysolecithin acetyltransferase from rabbit lung.

Both activities of rabbit lung lysolecithin:lysolecithin acyltransferase (EC 3.1.1.5), hydrolysis and transacylation, are inactivated by diethylpyrocarbonate. The reaction follows pseudo-first-order kinetics, and second-order rate constants of 1.17 mM-1min-1 for hydrolysis and 0.56 mM-1 min-1 for transacylation were obtained at pH 6.5 and 37 degrees C. The rate of inactivation is dependent on pH, showing the involvement of a group with a pK of 6.5. The difference spectra showed an increase in absorbance at 242 nm, indicating the modification of histidine residues. The activity lost by diethylpyrocarbonate modification can be partially recovered by hydroxylamine treatment. The statistical analysis of residual fractional activity versus the number of modified histidine residues leads to the conclusion that two histidine residues are essential for the hydrolytic activity, whereas transacylation activity depends on only one essential histidine. The substrate and substrate analogs protected the enzyme against inactivation by diethylpyrocarbonate, suggesting that the essential residues are located at or near the active site of the enzyme.

Effect of albumin on acyl-CoA: lysolecithin acyltransferase, lysolecithin: lysolecithin acyltransferase and acyl-CoA hydrolase from rabbit lung.

Acyl-CoA: lysolecithin and lysolecithin: lysolecithin acyltransferases, as well as acyl-CoA hydrolase are important enzymes in lung lipid metabolism. They use amphiphylic lipids as substrates and differ in subcellular localization. In this sense, lipid-protein interactions can be an essential factor in their activity. We have studied the effect of albumin, as lipid-binding protein model, in the activities of these enzymes. Acyl-CoA hydrolase was inhibited in the presence of albumin, whereas acyl-CoA: lysolecithin acyltransferase showed a complex effect of activation depending on both albumin concentration and palmitoyl-CoA/lysolecithin molar ratio. Lysolecithin: lysolecithin acyltransferase was affected differentially on its two activities. Hydrolysis remained unaffected and transacylation was inhibited by albumin. These results are consequence of the interaction of albumin with both lipidic substrates that changes their critical micellar concentration.

Chemical mechanism of lysophosphatidylcholine: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase from rabbit lung. pH-dependence of kinetic parameters.

Lysophosphatidylcholine: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyses two reactions: hydrolysis of lysophosphatidylcholine and transacylation between two molecules of lysophosphatidylcholine to give disaturated phosphatidylcholine. Following the kinetic model previously proposed for this enzyme [Martín, Pérez-Gil, Acebal & Arche (1990) Biochem. J. 266, 47-53], the values of essential pK values in free enzyme and substrate-enzyme complexes have now been determined. The chemical mechanism of catalysis was dependent on the deprotonation of a histidine residue with pK about 5.7. This result was supported by the perturbation of pK values by addition of organic solvent. Very high and exothermic enthalpy of ionization was measured, indicating that a conformational re-arrangement in the enzyme accompanies the ionization of the essential histidine residue. These results, as well as the results from previous studies, enabled the proposal of a chemical mechanism for the enzymic reactions catalysed by lysophosphatidylcholine: lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase from rabbit lung.

Theoretical approach to the steady-state kinetics of a bi-substrate acyl-transfer enzyme reaction that follows a hydrolysable-acyl-enzyme-based mechanism. Application to the study of lysophosphatidylcholine:lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase from rabbit lung.

A kinetic model is proposed for catalysis by an enzyme that has several special characteristics: (i) it catalyses an acyl-transfer bi-substrate reaction between two identical molecules of substrate, (ii) the substrate is an amphiphilic molecule that can be present in two physical forms, namely monomers and micelles, and (iii) the reaction progresses through an acyl-enzyme-based mechanism and the covalent intermediate can react also with water to yield a secondary hydrolytic reaction. The theoretical kinetic equations for both reactions were deduced according to steady-state assumptions and the theoretical plots were predicted. The experimental kinetics of lysophosphatidylcholine:lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase from rabbit lung fitted the proposed equations with great accuracy. Also, kinetics of inhibition by products behaved as expected. It was concluded that the competition between two nucleophiles for the covalent acyl-enzyme intermediate, and not a different enzyme action depending on the physical state of the substrate, is responsible for the differences in kinetic pattern for the two activities of the enzyme. This conclusion, together with the fact that the kinetic equation for the transacylation is quadratic, generates a 'hysteretic' pattern that can provide the basis of self-regulatory properties for enzymes to which this model could be applied.

Labelled lipids distribution following [3H]glycerol injection to pregnant rabbits.

1. The time dependent variation in specific activity of serum triglycerides and phospholipids has been studied following an intravenous pulse-labelling with 2-[3H]glycerol to pregnant rabbits. 2. The specific activity of triglycerides varied according to the gestation time and the maximal values of specific activity shifted to shorter times when gestation progressed to term. 3. The specific activity of serum phospholipids was higher in pregnant animals and increased with gestation time. 4. Concentrations and specific activities of both triglycerides and phospholipids were investigated in serum of pregnant and fetal rabbits at term. Concentrations of both lipid classes were notably higher in the fetal blood than in the maternal one. 5. The results were discussed on the basis of changes in hepatic biosynthesis of phosphatidic acid. Also, it was suggested a high drainage of either lipids or their degradation products by the feto-placental unit at the end of pregnancy. 6. Levels and specific activities of maternal and fetal lipids from liver and lung were also examined. The different metabolic roles of the main tissues involved in triglyceride and phospholipid metabolism were discussed.

Effect of lipids on activity and conformation of lysolecithin:lysolecithin acyltransferase from rabbit lung.

Lysolecithin:lysolecithin catalyzing two types of reaction, transacylation or hydrolysis, with the same substrate. Both activities have shown to be dependent on several environmental conditions and among them, the presence of lipids. The addition of several classes of lipids activated in all the cases the enzyme, decreasing the hydrolysis/transacylation molar ratio. This effect was higher for PC/PE/Chol mixture than for other lipids assayed. Circular dichroism spectra of the enzyme did not show any change with the addition of lipids, concluding that the effect of lipids was not due to any structural change in the protein. The hypothesis has been made of an influence of lipids on the physical state of the substrate as well as, possibly, on the enzyme-substrate interaction. The significance of these effects on the physiological role of lysolecithin-lysolecithin acyltransferase from soluble fraction of rabbit lung is discussed.

Enhanced production of penicillin V acylase from Streptomyces lavendulae.

A 28 degrees C, Streptomyces lavendulae produced high levels of penicillin V acylase (178 IU/l of culture) when grown on skim milk as the sole nutrient source for 275 h. The enzyme showed catabolite repression by glucose and was produced in the stationary phase of growth. Penicillin V was a good inducer of penicillin V acylase formation, while phenoxyacetic acid, the side-chain moiety of penicillin V, did not alter enzyme production significantly. The enzyme was stable between pH 6 and 11 and at temperatures from 20 degrees C to 55 degrees C. This extracellular enzyme was able to hydrolyse natural penicillins and unable to hydrolyse penicillin G.