Characterization of purified and unidirectionally reconstituted Pho84 phosphate permease of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Hydropathy analysis of the amino acid sequence of the Pho84 phosphate permease of Saccharomyces cerevisiae suggests that the protein consists of 12 transmembrane domains connected by hydrophilic loops. The Pho84 protein has been modified by a gene fusion approach, yielding two different N-terminal His-tagged chimeras which can be expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and functionally reconstituted into defined proteoliposomes. The continuous epitopes in the N- and C-terminal sequences of the Pho84 chimeras were shown to be accessible in proteoliposomes containing the purified active Pho84 proteins. Site-specific proteolysis of the immunoreactive N-terminal sequence in the reconstituted protein suggests a unidirectional insertion into liposomes.

Distribution of microsomal glutathione transferase 1 in mammalian tissues. A predominant alternate first exon in human tissues.

An extensive Northern blot analysis of microsomal glutathione transferase 1 in human and rat tissues was performed. When normalized against the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase or actin expression it was evident that the predominant expression occurs in liver and pancreas. An ontogenetic, as well as a functional, basis for the high levels in these two organs is possible. The relative expression levels in man ranged from: liver and pancreas (100%), to kidney, prostate, colon (30-40%), heart, brain, lung, testis, ovary, small intestine (10-20%), placenta, skeletal muscle, spleen, thymus and peripheral blood leucocytes (1-10%). Liver-enriched expression was detected in human fetal tissues with lung and kidney displaying lower levels (10-20%). No transcripts could be detected in fetal brain or heart. When comparing the expression levels between rat and man it is apparent that human extrahepatic mRNA levels are much higher relative to liver. Rat microsomal glutathione transferase mRNA expression ranges from 0.2 to 10% that of liver, with adrenal, uterus, ovary and stomach displaying the highest levels of the organs tested. Based on these observations, and the fact that the enzyme is encoded by a highly conserved single-copy gene, it is suggested that microsomal glutathione transferase 1 performs essential functions vital to most mammalian cell types. We suggest that protection against oxidative stress constitutes one such function. Human expressed sequence tag (EST) characterization yielded four alternate mRNA transcripts with different 5'-ends (four alternate noncoding exons 1). The predominant exon (based on the observed EST frequency) revealed a tissue distribution similar to that obtained using the reading frame as probe. Thus, it appears that one exon preferentially gives rise to mature mRNA in the human tissues examined. This exon is different from the one reported in the original cDNA characterized.

Phosphate permeases of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The PHO84 and PHO89 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encode two high-affinity phosphate cotransporters of the plasma membrane. Hydropathy analysis suggests a secondary structure arrangements of the proteins in 12 transmembrane domains. The derepressible Pho84 and Pho89 transporters appear to have characteristic similarities with the phosphate transporters of Neurospora crassa. The Pho84 protein catalyzes a proton-coupled phosphate transport at acidic pH, while the Pho89 protein catalyzes a sodium-dependent phosphate uptake at alkaline pH. The Pho84 transporter can be stably overproduced in the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli, purified and reconstituted in a functional state into proteoliposomes.

The mRNA for GST Pi from FRHK rhesus monkey kidney cells codes for an enzyme with activity towards 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene in spite of an I68F mutation.

A cDNA library was constructed from mRNA of the rhesus monkey kidney cell line, FRHK, and the cDNA sequence for an FRHK glutathione S-transferase (GST) Pi was determined using a RACE method. This represents the first full-length monkey GST Pi sequence to be cloned and determined. The similarity to the human GST Pi was found to be extensive (more than 97%), the deduced protein differing only in six amino acids (aa) positions. FRHK GST Pi was expressed in bacteria and a recombinant protein was purified which demonstrated significant activity towards the substrates 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and 1,2-epoxy-3-para-nitrophenoxypropane. Western blots also showed significant amounts of protein, both in the FRHK cells and transformed bacteria. The FRHK GST Pi was found to contain a phenylalanine at aa position 68, a position which is otherwise invariably occupied by an isoleucine in the GST Pi, Alpha, Mu and Beta class enzymes investigated. An isoleucine in this position is thus not essential for activity in the FRHK enzyme, unlike the human GST pi, where the exchange of Ile68 to a tyrosine (Manoharan, T.H, Gulick, A.M., Puchalski, R.B., Servais, A.L., Fahl, W.E., 1992. J. Biol. Chem., 267, 18940-18945), resulted in total loss of activity. Phe68 was mutated to Ile in the FRHK GST Pi enzyme to determine whether the wild type amino acid conferred an impaired catalytic site. The resulting mutant did not show any changes in activity towards CDNB, clearly demonstrating that isoleucine at position 68 is not essential. Thus, the first monkey GST Pi enzyme has been characterized, an enzyme with many similarities to the human forms although it differs in an otherwise conserved residue at aa position 68. This difference does not appear to affect the function of the FRHK GST Pi.

Glutathione transferase mimics: micellar catalysis of an enzymic reaction.

Substances that mimic the enzyme action of glutathione transferases (which serve in detoxification) are described. These micellar catalysts enhance the reaction rate between thiols and activated halogenated nitroarenes as well as alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyls. The nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction is enhanced by the following surfactants in descending order: poly(dimethyldiallylammonium - co - dodecylmethyldiallylammonium) bromide (86/14) >>cetyltrimethylammonium bromide>zwittergent 3-16 (n-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulphonate)>zwittergent+ ++ 3-14 (n-tetradecyl-N,N-dimethyl - 3 - ammonio -1 - propanesulphonate) approximately N,N - dimethyl - laurylamine N-oxide>N,N-dimethyloctylamine N-oxide. The most efficient catalyst studied is a polymeric material that incorporates surfactant properties (n-dodecylmethyldiallylammonium bromide) and opens up possibilities for engineering sequences of reactions on a polymeric support. Michael addition to alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyls is exemplified by a model substance, trans-4-phenylbut-3-en-2-one, and a toxic compound that is formed during oxidative stress, 4-hydroxy-2-undecenal. The latter compound is conjugated with the highest efficiency of those tested. Micellar catalysts can thus be viewed as simple models for the glutathione transferases highlighting the influence of a positive electrostatic field and a non-specific hydrophobic binding site, pertaining to two catalytic aspects, namely thiolate anion stabilization and solvent shielding.

Structural and functional aspects of rat microsomal glutathione transferase. The roles of cysteine 49, arginine 107, lysine 67, histidine, and tyrosine residues.

Rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase is rapidly inactivated upon treatment with the arginine-selective reagent phenylglyoxal or the lysine-selective 1,3,5-trinitrobenzenesulfonate. Glutathione sulfonate, an inhibitor of the enzyme, gives nearly complete protection against inactivation and prevents modification, indicating that these residues form part of or reside close to the active site. Sequence analysis of peptides from peptic and tryptic digests of [7-14C]phenylglyoxal- and 1,3,5-trinitrobenzenesulfonate-treated microsomal glutathione transferase indicated arginine 107 and lysine 67 as the sites of modification. A set of mutant forms of microsomal glutathione transferase was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). Arginine 107 was exchanged for alanine and lysine residues. The alanine mutant (R107A) exhibited an activity and inhibition profile similar to that of the wild type enzyme but displayed a decreased thermostability. Thus, arginine 107 does not appear to participate in catalysis or substrate binding; instead, an important structural role is suggested for this residue. Lysine 67 was mutated to alanine and arginine with no effect on activity. All three histidines were replaced by glutamine, and the resulting mutant proteins had activities comparable with that of the wild type. It can thus be concluded that the chemical modification experiments indicating that arginine 107, lysine 67, and one of the histidines partake in catalysis can be disproved. However, protection from modification by a competitive inhibitor indicates that these residues could be close to the glutathione binding site. All tyrosine to phenylalanine substitutions resulted in mutants with activities similar to that of the wild type. Interestingly, the exchange of tyrosine 137 appears to result in activation of the enzyme. Thus, the microsomal glutathione transferase must display an alternate stabilization of the thiolate anion of glutathione other than through interaction with the phenolic hydroxyl group of a tyrosine residue. Substitution of cysteine 49 with alanine resulted in a semiactivated mutant enzyme with enzymatic properties partly resembling the activated form of microsomal glutathione transferase. The function of this mutant was not altered upon reaction with N-ethylmaleimide, and cysteine 49 is thus demonstrated as the site of modification that results in activation of microsomal glutathione transferase.

Membrane topology of recombinant rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase expressed in E. coli.

Rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase is a mammalian membrane protein that can be successfully expressed in Escherichia coli in an enzymatically active form. The protein does not form inclusion bodies and is recovered in the membrane fraction. The membrane topology of recombinant rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase expressed in E. coli was investigated by comparing the proteolytic cleavage products from intact and permeabilized spheroplasts. It was shown that lysine-4 of microsomal glutathione transferase is directed towards the outside, whereas lysine-41 faces the inside of the E. coli inner membrane. This shows that microsomal glutathione transferase has an inside-out orientation in E. coli spheroplasts as compared to liver microsomes. This fact enables us to make topology experiments that were previously not possible. Intact spheroplasts treated with pronase yielded a cleavage pattern consistent with two additional exposed segments closer to the C-terminus. Thus a polytopic model is suggested for the membrane association of microsomal glutathione transferase.

Heterologous expression of rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase in simian COS cells and Escherichia coli.

The cDNA coding for rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase was subcloned into the mammalian expression vector pCMV-5 and the construct was transfected into, and transiently expressed in, simian COS cells. This resulted in high expression (0.7% of the microsomal protein). The activity towards 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene in microsomes was 15-30 nmol/min per mg, which increased upon N-ethylmaleimide treatment to 60-200 nmol/min per mg. Control and antisense-vector-treated cells displayed very low activity (3-6 nmol/min per mg). A DNA fragment coding for rat microsomal glutathione transferase was generated by PCR, cloned into the bacterial expression vector pSP19T7LT and transformed into Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) (which contained the plasmid pLys SL). Isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG; 1 mM) induced the expression of significant amounts of enzymically active protein (4 mg/l of culture as measured by Western blots). The recombinant protein was purified and characterized and found to be indistinguishable from the rat liver enzyme with regard to enzymic activity, molecular mass and N-terminal amino acid sequence. Human liver cDNA was used to obtain the coding region of human microsomal glutathione transferase by PCR. This PCR product was cloned into pSP19T7LT, which, upon induction with IPTG, yielded significant amounts (9 mg/l of culture) of active enzyme in BL21 (DE3) cells. Thus, for the first time, it is now possible to express both human and rat microsomal glutathione transferase in an enzymically active form in Escherichia coli.

Kinetic studies on rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase: consequences of activation.

Rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase is activated by sulfhydryl reagents and proteolysis. This property varies, however, depending on the combination, concentration and reactivity of the substrates. Thus, a multi-dimensional diagram can be envisioned in which the parameters affecting enzyme activity and activation are visualized. In principle activation could stem from an alteration in enzyme mechanism, transition-state complementarity, product release rate or pH-rate behaviour. These studies appear to rule out these possibilities and an alternate hypothesis is suggested based on the following experiments: (i) alternate substrate diagnosis of the kinetic mechanism of microsomal glutathione transferase indicates a random sequential mechanism. Non-activated and activated enzyme follow the same mechanism by these criteria. (ii) The microsomal glutathione transferase stabilizes a Meisenheimer complex between 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene and glutathione. The formation constants were similar for the unactivated and activated enzyme ((15 +/- 1).10(3) and (14 +/- 1).10(3) M-1, respectively, at pH 8). Inasmuch as the Meisenheimer complex resembles the transition state there is no evidence for an increased stabilization upon activation. (iii) The catalytic rate constant kcat does not vary with the viscosity in the assay medium. Thus, product release is not rate limiting for the unactivated and activated microsomal glutathione transferase (with saturating 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and varying GSH). (iv) The pH dependence of the Kf-values for Meisenheimer complex formation exhibited pKa values close to 6 for both the activated and unactivated microsomal glutathione transferase. The pH profile of kcat (with saturating 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and variable GSH concentrations) showed apparent pKa values of 5.7 +/- 0.5 and 6.3 +/- 0.4 for the unactivated and activated enzyme, respectively, indicative of a very similar requirement for deprotonation of the enzyme-GSH-1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene complex. (v) Examination of the kinetic parameters (obtained with GSH as the variable substrate against increasingly reactive electrophilic substrates) in Hammett plots shows that the activation mechanism entails a more efficient utilization of GSH. It is suggested that a higher rate of formation of the glutathione thiolate anion occurs in the activated enzyme.

Functional and structural membrane topology of rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase.

The membrane topology of rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase was investigated by comparing the tryptic cleavage products from intact and permeabilized microsomes. It was shown that lysine-4 of microsomal glutathione transferase is accessible at the luminal surface of the endoplasmic reticulum, whereas lysine-41 faces the cytosol. These positions are separated by a hydrophobic stretch of 25 amino acids (positions 11-35) which comprises the likely membrane-spanning region. Reaction of cysteine-49 of the microsomal glutathione transferase with the charged sulfhydryl reagent DTNB (2,2'-dithiobis(5-nitrobenzoic acid)) in intact microsomes further supports the cytosolic localization of this portion of the polypeptide chain. The role of two other potential membrane-spanning/associated segments in the C-terminal half of the polypeptide chain was examined by investigating the association of the protein to the membrane after trypsin cleavage at lysine-41. Activity measurements and Western blot analysis after washing with high concentrations of salt, as well as after phase separation in Triton X-114, indicate that this portion of the protein also binds to the membrane. It is also shown that cleavage of the purified protein at Lys-41 and subsequent separation of the fragments obtained yields a functional C-terminal polypeptide with the expected length for the product encompassing positions 42-154. The location of the active site of microsomal glutathione transferase was investigated using radiolabelled glutathione together with a second substrate. Since isolated rat liver microsomes do not take up glutathione or release the glutathione conjugate into the lumen, it can be concluded that the active site of rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase faces the cytosolic side of the endoplasmic reticulum.

Identification of N-acetylcysteine as a new substrate for rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase. A study of thiol ligands.

N-Acetyl-L-cysteine serves as an efficient substrate for the rat liver microsomal glutathione transferase with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene as second substrate (8.8 +/- 0.37 mumol/min mg). The activity is actually higher than that obtained with glutathione (2-4 mumol/min mg). In examining the activity of liver subcellular fractions, no activity with N-acetyl-L-Cys could be detected in dialyzed or N-ethylmaleimide-treated (in order to remove endogenous glutathione) cytosol. The activity in rat liver microsomes was 0.11 +/- 0.007 mumol/min mg, which is accounted for by the content of microsomal glutathione transferase. Thus, N-acetyl-L-Cys can be used as a specific substrate for determining the conjugating activity of microsomal glutathione transferase. N-Acetyl-L-Cys was also shown to function as a substrate for the enzyme when other second substrates than 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (with varying electrophilicity) are used. The pH dependence of microsomal glutathione transferase was studied. The kcat/Km(1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene) was dependent on pH with an apparent pKa of 6, > or = 9, and > or = 8 with saturating glutathione, gamma-L-Glu-L-Cys, and N-acetyl-L- cysteine, respectively. Apparently the enzyme has the ability to lower the pKa of glutathione by 3 orders of magnitude. The kcat/Km(thiol) did not vary appreciably with pH (except for N-acetyl-L-cysteine), indicating that no rate-determining deprotonation occurs on the enzyme itself between pH 5.5 and 9. The abilities of histidine-, lysine-, and arginine-selective reagents to inactivate the enzyme when N-acetyl-L-cysteine and gamma-L-Glu-L-Cys were used as substrates were investigated. The activity toward N-acetyl-L-cysteine was decreased considerably less after treatment with the arginine-selective reagent phenylglyoxal, as compared to the activity toward GSH and gamma-L-Glu-L-Cys. This indicates that an arginine makes contact with gamma-L-Glu residue in GSH. With the other reagent/substrate combinations tested the enzyme was inactivated almost completely. The ability of microsomal glutathione transferase to stabilize the Meisenheimer complex formation between 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene and various glutathione analogues, including non-substrate thiols, has been examined. It is shown that, in general, substrates exhibited higher formation constants (approaching 50 mM-1) than non-substrates (4.5 +/- 1.7 mM-1, n = 7), whereas simpler thiols did not yield enzyme-bound complexes. The fact that the enzyme can stabilize Meisenheimer complexes from non-substrate thiol analogues of glutathione offers new possibilities for examining the substrate interactions of glutathione transferases.