scholarly journals Molecular Characterization of the Plasma Membrane H+-ATPase, an Antifungal Target inCryptococcus neoformans

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 2349-2355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Soteropoulos ◽  
Tanya Vaz ◽  
Rosaria Santangelo ◽  
Padmaja Paderu ◽  
David Y. Huang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Cryptococcus neoformans PMA1 gene, encoding a plasma membrane H+-ATPase, was isolated from a genomic DNA library of serotype A strain ATCC 6352. An open reading frame of 3,380 nucleotides contains six introns and encodes a predicted protein consisting of 998 amino acids with a molecular mass of approximately 108 kDa. Plasma membranes were isolated, and the H+-ATPase was shown by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be slightly larger than the S. cerevisiaeH+-ATPase, consistent with its predicted molecular mass. The plasma membrane-bound enzyme exhibited a pH 6.5 optimum for ATP hydrolysis, Km and V maxvalues of 0.5 mM and 3.1 μmol mg−1 min−1, respectively, and an apparent Ki for vanadate inhibition of 1.6 μM. ATP hydrolysis in plasma membranes and medium acidification by whole cells were inhibited by ebselen, a nonspecific H+-ATPase antagonist which was also fungicidal. The predicted C. neoformans protein is 35% identical to proton pumps of both pathogenic and nonpathogenic fungi but exhibits more than 50% identity to PMA1 genes from plants. Collectively, this study provides the basis for establishing the CryptococcusH+-ATPase as a viable target for antifungal drug discovery.

2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 5563-5570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsushiro Miyamoto ◽  
Eiji Nukui ◽  
Mariko Hirose ◽  
Fumi Nagai ◽  
Takaji Sato ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Alteromonas sp. strain O-7 secretes several proteins in addition to chitinolytic enzymes in response to chitin induction. In this paper, we report that one of these proteins, designated MprIII, is a metalloprotease involved in the chitin degradation system of the strain. The gene encoding MprIII was cloned in Escherichia coli. The open reading frame of mprIII encoded a protein of 1,225 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 137,016 Da. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of MprIII revealed that the enzyme consisted of four domains: the signal sequence, the N-terminal proregion, the protease region, and the C-terminal extension. The C-terminal extension (PkdDf) was characterized by four polycystic kidney disease domains and two domains of unknown function. Western and real-time quantitative PCR analyses demonstrated that mprIII was induced in the presence of insoluble polysaccharides, such as chitin and cellulose. Native MprIII was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant of Alteromonas sp. strain O-7 and characterized. The molecular mass of mature MprIII was estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to be 115 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of MprIII were 7.5 and 50°C, respectively, when gelatin was used as a substrate. Pretreatment of native chitin with MprIII significantly promoted chitinase activity. Furthermore, the combination of MprIII and a novel chitin-binding protease (AprIV) remarkably promoted the chitin hydrolysis efficiency of chitinase.


2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (7) ◽  
pp. 1865-1872 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsushiro Miyamoto ◽  
Eiji Nukui ◽  
Hiroyuki Itoh ◽  
Takaji Sato ◽  
Takeshi Kobayashi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Alteromonas sp. strain O-7 secretes several proteins in response to chitin induction. We have found that one of these proteins, designated AprIV, is a novel chitin-binding protease involved in chitinolytic activity. The gene encoding AprIV (aprIV) was cloned in Escherichia coli. DNA sequencing analysis revealed that the open reading frame of aprIV encoded a protein of 547 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 57,104 Da. AprIV is a modular enzyme consisting of five domains: the signal sequence, the N-terminal proregion, the family A subtilase region, the polycystic kidney disease domain (PkdD), and the chitin-binding domain type 3 (ChtBD3). Expression plasmids coding for PkdD or both PkdD and ChtBD (PkdD-ChtBD) were constructed. The PkdD-ChtBD but not PkdD exhibited strong binding to α-chitin and β-chitin. Western and Northern analyses demonstrated that aprIV was induced in the presence of N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylchitobiose, or chitin. Native AprIV was purified to homogeneity from Alteromonas sp. strain O-7 and characterized. The molecular mass of mature AprIV was estimated to be 44 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The optimum pH and temperature of AprIV were pH 11.5 and 35°C, respectively, and even at 10°C the enzyme showed 25% of the maximum activity. Pretreatment of native chitin with AprIV significantly promoted chitinase activity.


1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Somchai Santiwatanakul ◽  
Noel R Krieg

Autolytic activity in the soluble and sediment fractions of sonicates of the spiral and the coccoid form of Campylobacter upsaliensis could not be demonstrated by native (nondenaturing) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Autolysins were detected, however, by using denaturing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) - PAGE gels containing either purified Escherichia coli peptidoglycan or whole cells of Micrococcus luteus (Micrococcus lysodeikticus) as the turbid substrate, with subsequent renaturation by treatment with Triton X-100 buffer. In renaturing gels that contained Escherichia coli peptidoglycan, 14 putative autolytic bands ranging from 200 to 12 kDa were detected. In similar gels containing whole cells of M. luteus, only a single band appeared with a molecular mass of 34 kDa. This band corresponded to one of the bands present in the gels containing Escherichia coli peptidoglycan. This common autolysin was isolated by adsorbing it from Campylobacter upsaliensis soluble fractions onto M. luteus cells and then subjecting these cells to renaturing SDS-PAGE in gels containing Escherichia coli peptidoglycan. The 34-kDa autolysin differed from a single 51-kDa autolysin unique to the M. luteus cells, and when isolated from an SDS-PAGE gel, was pure when tested by isoelectric focusing. The N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis showed the first 15 amino acids of the 34-kDa autolysin to have 67% identity to a part of antigenic protein PEB4 of Campylobacter jejuni. The purified autolysin was used to immunize rabbits and the antibodies produced precipitated autolytic activity from cell lysates. The specificity of the antibodies was shown by Western blotting: only a single specific band occurred, with a molecular mass of 34 kDa, and thus it seems unlikely that the 34-kDa autolysin was derived from any of the other autolysins that were detected.Key words: autolysin, Campylobacter upsaliensis, zymogram, murein hydrolase.


1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (1) ◽  
pp. C179-C184 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Schmalzing ◽  
P. Eckard ◽  
S. Kroner ◽  
H. Passow

During meiotic maturation, plasma membranes of Xenopus laevis oocytes completely lose the capacity to transport Na and K and to bind ouabain. To explore whether the downregulation might be due to an internalization of the sodium pump molecules, the intracellular binding of ouabain was determined. Selective permeabilization of the plasma membrane of mature oocytes (eggs) by digitonin almost failed to disclose ouabain binding sites. However, when the eggs were additionally treated with 0.02% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to permeabilize inner membranes, all sodium pumps present before maturation were recovered. Phosphorylation by [gamma-32P]ATP combined with SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and autoradiography showed that sodium pumps were greatly reduced in isolated plasma membranes of eggs. According to sucrose gradient fractionation, maturation induced a shift of sodium pumps from the plasma membrane fraction to membranes of lower buoyant density with a protein composition different from that of the plasma membrane. Endocytosed sodium pumps identified on the sucrose gradient from [3H]ouabain bound to the cell surface before maturation could be phosphorylated with inorganic [32P]phosphate. The findings suggest that downregulation of sodium pumps during maturation is brought about by translocation of surface sodium pumps to an intracellular compartment, presumably endosomes. This contrasts the mechanism of downregulation of Na-dependent cotransport systems, the activities of which are reduced as a consequence of a maturation-induced depolarization of the membrane without a removal of the corresponding transporter from the plasma membrane.


1984 ◽  
Vol 219 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
A A Davies ◽  
N M Wigglesworth ◽  
D Allan ◽  
R J Owens ◽  
M J Crumpton

Purified preparations of lymphocyte plasma membrane were extracted exhaustively with Nonidet P-40 in Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline medium. The insoluble fraction, as defined by sedimentation at 10(6) g-min, contained about 10% of the membrane protein as well as cholesterol and phospholipid. The lipid/protein ratio, cholesterol/phospholipid ratio and sphingomyelin content were increased in the residue. Density-gradient centrifugation suggested that the lipid and protein form a common entity. As judged by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, the Nonidet P-40-insoluble fractions of the plasma membranes of human B lymphoblastoid cells and pig mesenteric lymph-node lymphocytes possessed similar qualitative polypeptide compositions but differed quantitatively. Both residues comprised major polypeptides of Mr 28 000, 33 000, 45 000 and 68 000, together with a prominent band of Mr 120 000 in the human and of Mr 200 000 in the pig. The polypeptides of Mr 28 000, 33 000, 68 000 and 120 000 were probably located exclusively in the Nonidet P-40-insoluble residue, which also possessed a 4-fold increase in 5′-nucleotidase specific activity. The results indicate that a reproducible fraction of lymphocyte plasma membrane is insoluble in non-ionic detergents and that this fraction possesses a unique polypeptide composition. By analogy with similar studies with erythrocyte ghosts, it appears likely that the polypeptides are located on the plasma membrane's cytoplasmic face.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bluma G. Brenner ◽  
Shiro Ozaki ◽  
Norman Kalant ◽  
Arthur Kahlenberg

A preparation of plasma membranes isolated from human omental lipocytes is composed of about 15 major polypeptide components including three major glycoproteins with an apparent molecular weight range from 100 000 to 23 000, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate – polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Extraction of this membrane preparation with sodium iodide or 2,3-dimethylmaleic anhydride solubilized 50 and 70% of the membrane protein, respectively, resulting from the extensive extraction of protein from all but two of the major membrane polypeptide components. This removal of protein did not affect the membrane's stereospecific D-glucose-uptake activity but did reduce its total specific [l25I]insulin-binding activity by 46–67%. The binding of [125I]insulin to its specific receptor on lipocyte plasma membranes was detected at physiologic concentrations of the hormone and could be competitively displaced by increasing concentrations of native insulin. The kinetic behaviour of this reaction was approximated by Scatchard analysis, and both the affinity and binding capacity of the plasma membrane for insulin were increased at lower temperatures.These results suggest that D-glucose transport in human adipose tissue is mediated by an intrinsic component of the hydrophobic structure of the lipocyte plasma membrane, and represent a partial purification of this component. In addition, these studies demonstrate and characterize the binding of insulin to the plasma membrane isolated from human lipocytes. A quantitative study of this binding reaction may provide further understanding of the mechanisms underlying the decreased insulin responsiveness characteristic of human diabetes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (21) ◽  
pp. 7709-7719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Schiffler ◽  
Enrico Barth ◽  
Mamadou Daffé ◽  
Roland Benz

ABSTRACT The cell wall fraction of the gram-positive, nontoxic Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain C8r(−) Tox− (= ATCC 11913) contained a channel-forming protein, as judged from reconstitution experiments with artificial lipid bilayer experiments. The channel-forming protein was present in detergent-treated cell walls and in extracts of whole cells obtained using organic solvents. The protein had an apparent molecular mass of about 66 kDa as determined on Tricine-containing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels and consisted of subunits having a molecular mass of about 5 kDa. Single-channel experiments with the purified protein suggested that the protein formed channels with a single-channel conductance of 2.25 nS in 1 M KCl. Further single-channel analysis suggested that the cell wall channel is wide and water filled because it has only slight selectivity for cations over anions and its conductance followed the mobility sequence of cations and anions in the aqueous phase. Antibodies raised against PorA, the subunit of the cell wall channel of Corynebacterium glutamicum, detected both monomers and oligomers of the isolated protein, suggesting that there are highly conserved epitopes in the cell wall channels of C. diphtheriae and PorA. Localization of the protein on the cell surface was confirmed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prospective homology of PorA with the cell wall channel of C. diphtheriae was used to identify the cell wall channel gene, cdporA, in the known genome of C. diphtheriae. The gene and its flanking regions were cloned and sequenced. CdporA is a protein that is 43 amino acids long and does not have a leader sequence. cdporA was expressed in a C. glutamicum strain that lacked the major outer membrane channels PorA and PorH. Organic solvent extracts of the transformed cells formed in lipid bilayer membranes the same channels as the purified CdporA protein of C. diphtheriae formed, suggesting that the expressed protein is able to complement the PorA and PorH deficiency of the C. glutamicum strain. The study is the first report of a cell wall channel in a pathogenic Corynebacterium strain.


1983 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
N.L. Cross

A subcellular fraction containing plasma membranes was isolated from flagella of the sperm of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus by differential centrifugation, and analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Coomassie Blue staining revealed nine major bands and 14 minor species. Five bands of apparent molecular weights approximately 200 X 10(3), 149 X 10(3), 120 X 10(3), 75 X 10(3) and 59 X 10(3) also stained with periodic acid-Schiff's reagent and so are probably glycoproteins. These five components are externally exposed, as determined by lactoperoxidase-catalysed radio-iodination. Isolation of membranes from radio-iodinated sperm results in an enrichment of about tenfold in the specific activity of 125I. Comparison of the electrophoretic patterns of labelled sperm and of the membranes isolated from 125I-labelled sperm suggests that no major labelled proteins are lost during the isolation procedure, and so to this extent the membrane fraction is representative of the entire sperm plasma membrane.


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald P. de Vries ◽  
Charlotte H. Poulsen ◽  
Susan Madrid ◽  
Jaap Visser

ABSTRACT An extracellular α-glucuronidase was purified and characterized from a commercial Aspergillus preparation and from culture filtrate of Aspergillus tubingensis. The enzyme has a molecular mass of 107 kDa as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 112 kDa as determined by mass spectrometry, has a determined pI just below 5.2, and is stable at pH 6.0 for prolonged times. The pH optimum for the enzyme is between 4.5 and 6.0, and the temperature optimum is 70°C. The α-glucuronidase is active mainly on small substituted xylo-oligomers but is also able to release a small amount of 4-O-methylglucuronic acid from birchwood xylan. The enzyme acts synergistically with endoxylanases and β-xylosidase in the hydrolysis of xylan. The enzyme is N glycosylated and contains 14 putative N-glycosylation sites. The gene encoding this α-glucuronidase (aguA) was cloned from A. tubingensis. It consists of an open reading frame of 2,523 bp and contains no introns. The gene codes for a protein of 841 amino acids, containing a eukaryotic signal sequence of 20 amino acids. The mature protein has a predicted molecular mass of 91,790 Da and a calculated pI of 5.13. Multiple copies of the gene were introduced in A. tubingensis, and expression was studied in a highly overproducing transformant. The aguA gene was expressed on xylose, xylobiose, and xylan, similarly to genes encoding endoxylanases, suggesting a coordinate regulation of expression of xylanases and α-glucuronidase. Glucuronic acid did not induce the expression ofaguA and also did not modulate the expression on xylose. Addition of glucose prevented expression of aguA on xylan but only reduced the expression on xylose.


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (17) ◽  
pp. 4591-4595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongqi He ◽  
John K. Davis ◽  
Jim C. Spain

ABSTRACT 2-Aminonumconic 6-semialdehyde is an unstable intermediate in the biodegradation of nitrobenzene and 2-aminophenol by Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes JS45. Previous work has shown that enzymes in cell extracts convert 2-aminophenol to 2-aminomuconate in the presence of NAD+. In the present work, 2-aminomuconic semialdehyde dehydrogenase was purified and characterized. The purified enzyme migrates as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a molecular mass of 57 kDa. The molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be 160 kDa by gel filtration chromatography. The optimal pH for the enzyme activity was 7.3. The enzyme is able to oxidize several aldehyde analogs, including 2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde, hexaldehyde, and benzaldehyde. The gene encoding 2-aminomuconic semialdehyde dehydrogenase was identified by matching the deduced N-terminal amino acid sequence of the gene with the first 21 amino acids of the purified protein. Multiple sequence alignment of various semialdehyde dehydrogenase protein sequences indicates that 2-aminomuconic 6-semialdehyde dehydrogenase has a high degree of identity with 2-hydroxymuconic 6-semialdehyde dehydrogenases.


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