Phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase of Torpedo californica electrocytes: physico-chemical characterization and regulation by calcium and vicinal molecules of phosphatidylinositol.

A phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (Ptdlns 4-kinase, M(r) approximately 95,000) from the membranes of the electric organ of Torpedo californica was purified to apparent homogeneity. The Michaelis constant for ATP (KM = 280 +/- 60 microM at 20 degrees C) and the inhibition constant for adenosine (Ki = 0.4 mM at 20 degrees C) qualify the electrocyte Ptdlns 4-kinase as a type III kinase. The Ptdlns 4-kinase phosphorylates preferentially exogenous Ptdlns, added in the form of mixed Ptdlns/Triton X-100 micelles, whereas endogenously bound Ptdlns in the membrane fragments of electrocytes is a very poor substrate. It is important that the enzyme and the substrate Ptdlns are situated in different lipid bilayers. The catalytic turnover constant for exogenous Ptdlns is k = 55.3 +/- 6 min-1 at 20 degrees C and the molar Triton X-100/Ptdlns ratio of 16:1. For the substrate Ptdlns in the 'micellar solvent' Triton X-100, steady state kinetics were analysed in terms of the mole fraction X = n(Ptdlns)/[n(Ptdlns) + n(Triton X)] yielding the characteristic Michaelis mole fraction XM = 0.019 +/- 0.005 at 20 degrees C. The activity of the enzyme was enhanced about 5-fold in the presence of Triton X-114, yielding k = 277 +/- 30 min-1 at 20 degrees C. Triton X-114 has a shorter head-group, indicating that the vicinity of the Ptdlns head group in the mixed micelles should not be screened by bulky neighbours. The inhibition of the enzyme activity by Ca2+ is highly cooperative yielding the Hill inhibition constant Ki = 0.47 +/- 0.1 mM and the Hill coefficient h = 3.6 +/- 0.5. The enthalpy of activation is 100 +/- 10 kJ/mol between 0 degree C and 20 degrees C. Although the Ptdlns 4-kinase can be affinity-chromatographically copurified with the nicotinic acetylcholine (AcCho) receptor, suggesting tight association between the two proteins. AcCho does not affect the activity of the Ptdlns 4-kinase in the presence of the AcCho receptor.

A new mechanism-based radical intermediate in a mutant R1 protein affecting the catalytically essential Glu441 in Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase.

The invariant active site residue Glu441 in protein R1 of ribonucleotide reductase from Escherichia coli has been engineered to alanine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid. Each mutant protein was structurally and enzymatically characterized. Glu441 contributes to substrate binding, and a carboxylate side chain at position 441 is essential for catalysis. The most intriguing results are the suicidal mechanism-based reaction intermediates observed when R1 E441Q is incubated with protein R2 and natural substrates (CDP and GDP). In a consecutive reaction sequence, we observe at least three clearly discernible steps: (i) a rapid decay (k1 >/= 1.2 s-1) of the catalytically essential tyrosyl radical of protein R2 concomitant with formation of an early transient radical intermediate species, (ii) a slower decay (k2 = 0.03 s-1) of the early intermediate concomitant with formation of another intermediate with a triplet EPR signal, and (iii) decay (k3 = 0.004 s-1) of the latter concomitant with formation of a characteristic substrate degradation product. The characteristics of the triplet EPR signal are compatible with a substrate radical intermediate (most likely localized at the 3'-position of the ribose moiety of the substrate nucleotide) postulated to occur in the wild type reaction mechanism as well.

Kinetic evidence that a radical transfer pathway in protein R2 of mouse ribonucleotide reductase is involved in generation of the tyrosyl free radical.

Class I ribonucleotide reductases consist of two subunits, R1 and R2. The active site is located in R1; active R2 contains a diferric center and a tyrosyl free radical (Tyr.), both essential for enzymatic activity. The proposed mechanism for the enzymatic reaction includes the transport of a reducing equivalent, i.e. electron or hydrogen radical, across a 35-A distance between Tyr. in R2 and the active site in R1, which are connected by a hydrogen-bonded chain of conserved, catalytically essential amino acid residues. Asp266 and Trp103 in mouse R2 are part of this radical transfer pathway. The diferric/Tyr. site in R2 is reconstituted spontaneously by mixing iron-free apoR2 with Fe(II) and O2. The reconstitution reaction requires the delivery of an external reducing equivalent to form the diferric/Tyr. site. Reconstitution kinetics were investigated in mouse apo-wild type R2 and the three mutants D266A, W103Y, and W103F by rapid freeze-quench electron paramagnetic resonance with >/=4 Fe(II)/R2 at various reaction temperatures. The kinetics of Tyr. formation in D266A and W103Y is on average 20 times slower than in wild type R2. More strikingly, Tyr. formation is completely suppressed in W103F. No change in the reconstitution kinetics was found starting from Fe(II)-preloaded proteins, which shows that the mutations do not affect the rate of iron binding. Our results are consistent with a reaction mechanism using Asp266 and Trp103 for delivery of the external reducing equivalent. Further, the results with W103F suggest that an intact hydrogen-bonded chain is crucial for the reaction, indicating that the external reducing equivalent is a H. Finally, the formation of Tyr. is not the slowest step of the reaction as it is in Escherichia coli R2, consistent with a stronger interaction between Tyr. and the iron center in mouse R2. A new electron paramagnetic resonance visible intermediate named mouse X, strikingly similar to species X found in E. coli R2, was detected only in small amounts under certain conditions. We propose that it may be an intermediate in a side reaction leading to a diferric center without forming the neighboring Tyr.

Kinetics of transient radicals in Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase. Formation of a new tyrosyl radical in mutant protein R2.

Reconstitution of the tyrosyl radical in ribonucleotide reductase protein R2 requires oxidation of a diferrous site by oxygen. The reaction involves one externally supplied electron in addition to the three electrons provided by oxidation of the Tyr-122 side chain and formation of the mu-oxo-bridged diferric site. Reconstitution of R2 protein Y122F, lacking the internal pathway involving Tyr-122, earlier identified two radical intermediates at Trp-107 and Trp-111 in the vicinity of the di-iron site, suggesting a novel internal transfer pathway (Sahlin, M., Lassmann, G., Pötsch, S., Sjöberg, B. -M., and Gräslund, A. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 12361-12372). Here, we report the construction of the double mutant W107Y/Y122F and its three-dimensional structure and demonstrate that the tyrosine Tyr-107 can harbor a transient, neutral radical (Tyr-107(.)). The Tyr-107(.) signal exhibits the hyperfine structure of a quintet with coupling constants of 1.3 mT for one beta-methylene proton and 0.75 mT for each of the 3 and 5 hydrogens of the phenyl ring. Rapid freeze quench kinetics of EPR-visible intermediates reveal a preferred radical transfer pathway via Trp-111, Glu-204, and Fe-2, followed by a proton coupled electron transfer through the pi-interaction of the aromatic rings of Trp-(Tyr-)107 and Trp-111. The kinetic pattern observed in W107Y/Y122F is considerably changed as compared with Y122F: the Trp-111(.) EPR signal has vanished, and the Tyr-107(.) has the same formation rate as does Trp-111(.) in Y122F. According to the proposed consecutive reaction, Trp-111(.) becomes very short lived and is no longer detectable because of the faster formation of Tyr-107(.). We conclude that the phenyl rings of Trp-111 and Tyr-107 form a better stacking complex so that the proton-coupled electron transfer is facilitated compared with the single mutant. Comparison with the formation kinetics of the stable tyrosyl radical in wild type R2 suggests that these protein-linked radicals are substitutes for the missing Tyr-122. However, in contrast to Tyr-122(.) these radicals lack a direct connection to the radical transfer pathway utilized during catalysis.