Sites and specificity of the reaction of bipyridylium compounds with anaerobic respiratory enzymes of Escherichia coli. Effects of permeability barriers imposed by the cytoplasmic membrane. (65/111)

The ability of the oxidized and singly reduced species of several bipyridylium cations to cross the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli was studied to locate the sites of reaction of the dyes with anaerobic respiratory enzymes. Benzyl Viologen radical crossed the membrane rapidly, whereas the oxidized species did not. The oxidized or radical species of Methyl Viologen, Morfamquat or Diquat did not rapidly cross the membrane. It was also shown that the dithionite anion does not cross the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli. Diquat radical donates electrons to the nitrate reductase pathway at the periplasmic aspect of the membrane, whereas Benzyl Viologen radical reacted directly with nitrate reductase itself (EC 1.7.99.4) at the cytoplasmic aspect of the membrane. Thus the pathway of electron transfer in the nitrate reductase pathway is transmembranous. Formate hydrogenlyase (EC 1.2.1.2) and an uncharacterized nitrite reductase activity react with bipyridylium dyes at the periplasmic aspect of the membrane. Fumarate reductase (succinate dehydrogenase; EC 1.3.99.1) reacts with bipyridylium radicals, and formate dehydrogenase (cytochrome) (EC 1.2.2.1) with ferricyanide, at the cytoplasmic aspect of the membrane. The differing charge and membrane permeation of oxidized and radical species of bipyridylium dyes greatly complicate their use as potentiometric mediators in suspensions of cells or membrane vesicles.  (+info)

Redox-dependent subunit dissociation of Azotobacter vinelandii hydrogenase in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. (66/111)

Hydrogenases catalyze the reversible activation of dihydrogen. We have previously demonstrated that the purified hydrogenase from the nitrogen-fixing microorganism Azotobacter vinelandii is an alpha beta dimer (98,000 Da) with subunits of 67,000 (alpha) and 31,000 (beta) daltons and that this enzyme contains iron and nickel. The enzyme can be purified anaerobically in the presence of dithionite in a fully active state that is irreversibly inactivated by exposure to O2. Analysis of this hydrogenase by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) following boiling in SDS yields two protein staining bands corresponding to the alpha and beta subunits. However, when this enzyme was treated with SDS (25-65 degrees C) for up to 30 min under anaerobic/reductive conditions and then analyzed by anaerobic SDS-PAGE, a protein staining band corresponding to an apparent molecular mass of 58,000 Da was observed that stained for hydrogenase activity. Analysis of the 58,000-Da activity staining band by a Western immunoblot or a second aerobic SDS-polyacrylamide gel revealed that this protein actually consisted of both the alpha and beta subunits. Thus, the activity staining band (apparent 58,000 Da) represents the 98,000-Da dimer migrating abnormally on SDS-PAGE. Treatment of the anaerobically purified hydrogenase with SDS under aerobic conditions or under anaerobic conditions with electron acceptors prior to electrophoresis resulted in no activity staining band and the separated alpha and beta subunits. A. vinelandii hydrogenase was also purified under aerobic conditions in an inactive O2 stable form that can be activated by removal of oxygen followed by addition of reductant. This enzyme (as isolated), the activated form, and the reoxidized form were analyzed for their stability toward denaturation by SDS. We conclude that the dissociation of the A. vinelandii hydrogenase subunits in SDS is controlled by the redox state of the enzyme suggesting an important role of one or more redox sites in controlling the structure of this enzyme.  (+info)

Oxidation of reduced menaquinone by the fumarate reductase complex in Escherichia coli requires the hydrophobic FrdD peptide. (67/111)

Plasmids carrying cloned segments of the frd operon of Escherichia coli have been used in genetic complementation studies to identify two independent mutants defective in the frdD gene, which encodes the hydrophobic FrdD polypeptide of the fumarate reductase complex. Mutations in the frdA and frdB genes have also been mapped by this technique. One of the FrdD peptide mutants, DW109 (frdD-109), showed that fumarate reductase was not as tightly bound to the membrane in this mutant. In addition, the mutation in the FrdD peptide caused an almost total loss of the ability of the enzyme to oxidize either menaquinol-6, a physiological donor for fumarate reduction, or reduced benzyl viologen. However, the mutation did not impair the ability of the membrane-bound fumarate reductase complex to function with succinate as substrate, as evidenced by unchanged turnover numbers for phenazine methosulfate and 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-6-pentyl-1,4-benzoquinone (a quinone analogue) reductase activities. These data establish the essential role of the FrdD polypeptide both in the interaction of the enzyme with reduced menaquinone and thus in anaerobic respiration with fumarate as electron acceptor, and in binding the enzyme to the membrane.  (+info)

Steady-state kinetic analysis for the reaction of ammonium and alkylammonium ions with methylamine dehydrogenase from bacterium W3A1. (68/111)

The steady-state kinetic mechanism for the reaction of n-alkylamines and phenazine ethosulfate (PES) or phenazine methosulfate (PMS) with methylamine dehydrogenase from bacterium W3A1 is found to be of the ping-pong type. This conclusion is based on the observations that 1/v versus 1/[methylamine] or 1/[butylamine] plots, at various constant concentrations of an oxidizing substrate, and 1/v versus 1/[PES] or 1/[PMS] plots, at various constant concentrations of a reducing substrate, are parallel. Additionally, the values of kcat/Km for four n-alkylamines are identical when PES is the oxidizing substrate, as were the kcat/Km values for four reoxidizing substrates when methylamine was the reducing substrate. Last, analysis of steady-state kinetic data obtained when methylamine and propylamine are presented to the enzyme simultaneously and PES and PMS are used simultaneously also supports the involvement of a ping-pong mechanism. The enzymic reaction with either methylamine or PES is dependent on the ionic strength, and the data indicate that each interacts with an anionic site on methylamine dehydrogenase. The presence of ammonium ion at low concentration activates the enzyme, but at high concentration this ion is a competitive inhibitor in the reaction involving methylamine and the enzyme. A complete steady-state mechanism describing these ammonia effects is presented and is discussed in light of the nature of the pyrroloquinoline quinone cofactor covalently bound to the enzyme.  (+info)

Catalytic defect of medium-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency. Lack of both cofactor responsiveness and biochemical heterogeneity in eight patients. (69/111)

Medium-chain acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase (MCADH; EC 1.3.99.3) deficiency (MCD) is an inborn error of beta-oxidation. We measured 3H2O formed by the dehydrogenation of [2,3-3H]acyl-CoAs in a 3H-release assay. Short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (SCADH; EC 1.3.99.2), MCADH, and isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase (IVDH; EC 1.3.99.10) activities were assayed with 100 microM [2,3-3H]butyryl-, -octanoyl-, and -isovaleryl-CoAs, respectively, in fibroblasts cultured from normal controls and MCD patients. Without the artificial electron acceptor phenazine methosulfate (PMS), MCADH activity in fibroblast mitochondrial sonic supernatants (MS) was 54% of control in two MCD cell lines (P less than 0.05). Addition of 10 mM PMS raised control acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activities 16-fold and revealed MCADH and SCADH activities to be 5 (P less than 0.01) and 73% (P greater than 0.1) of control, respectively. Thus, the catalytic defect in MCD involves substrate binding and/or dehydrogenation by MCADH and not the subsequent reoxidation of reduced MCADH by electron acceptors. 20 microM flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) did not stimulate MCD MCADH activity in either the 3H-release or electron-transfer(ring) flavoprotein-linked dye-reduction assays. Mixing experiments revealed no MCADH inhibitor in MCD MS; IVDH activities were identical in both control and MCD MS. In postmortem liver MS from another MCD patient, 3H2O formation from [2,3-3H]octanoyl-CoA was 15% of control. When 3H2O formation was assayed with 200 microM [2,3-3H]acyl-CoAs, 15 mM PMS, and 20 microM FAD in fibroblast sonic supernatants from seven MCD cell lines, SCADH, MCADH, and IVDH activities were 72-112% (P greater than 0.1), 4-9% (P less than 0.01), and 86-135% (P greater than 0.1) of control, respectively, revealing no significant biochemical heterogeneity among these patients.  (+info)

Potentiometric analysis of Escherichia coli cytochromes in the optical absorbance range of 500 nm to 700 nm. (70/111)

The oxidation-reduction potentials of Escherichia coli cytochromes have been studied by a recently described technique for automated electrodic potentiometry (Hendler, R.W., Songco, D., and Clem, T.R. (1977) Anal. Chem. 49, 1908-1913; Hendler, R.W. (1977) Anal. Chem. 49, 1914-1918), where entire spectra are recorded at a series of solution potentials. New techniques for resolution of the spectra versus voltage data have been applied. The results indicate that a 1-electron transport chain conducts electrons from substrate to cytochrome d, which is the cytochrome oxidase. Cytochrome d contains several components which appear to increase electron transfer first to a 2-electron stage and then to a 4-electron stage for the final reduction of a molecule of oxygen to 2 molecules of water.  (+info)

Calcium transport in membrane vesicles of Bacillus subtilis. (71/111)

Right-side-out membrane vesicles of Bacillus subtilis W23 grown on tryptone-citrate medium accumulated Ca2+ under aerobic conditions in the presence of a suitable electron donor. Ca2+ uptake was an electrogenic process which was completely inhibited by carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone or valinomycin and not by nigericin. This electrogenic uptake of calcium was strongly dependent on the presence of phosphate and magnesium ions. The system had a low affinity for Ca2+. The kinetic constants in membrane vesicles were Km = 310 microM Ca2+ and Vmax = 16 nmol/mg of protein per min. B. subtilis also possesses a Ca2+ extrusion system. Right-side-out-oriented membrane vesicles accumulated Ca2+ upon the artificial imposition of a pH-gradient, inside acid. This system had a high affinity for Ca2+; Km = 17 microM Ca2+ and Vmax = 3.3 nmol/mg of protein per min. Also, a membrane potential, inside positive, drove Ca2+ transport via this Ca2+ extrusion system. Evidence for a Ca2+ extrusion system was also supplied by studies of inside-out-oriented membrane vesicles in which Ca2+ uptake was energized by respiratory chain-linked oxidation of NADH or ascorbate-phenazine methosulfate. Both components of the proton motive force, the pH gradient and the membrane potential, drove Ca2+ transport via the Ca2+ extrusion system, indicating a proton-calcium antiport system with a H+ to Ca2+ stoichiometry larger than 2. The kinetic parameters of this Ca2+ extrusion system in inside-out-oriented membranes were Km = 25 microM and Vmax = 0.7 nmol/mg of protein per min.  (+info)

The nature of the pentose pathway in liver. (72/111)

[2-14C]Glucose, [3,4-14C]glucose, [5-14C]glucose, [4,5,6-14C]glucose, and [1-14C]ribose were perfused through livers of rats. The rats were fed or fasted and refed. In one experiment the liver perfused was regenerating and in another phenazine methosulfate was in the perfusate. Perfusion was for 30 or 90 min. Glucose from each perfusate and liver glucose-6-P and glycogen were isolated, purified, and degraded. The distributions of 14C in the carbons of the glucoses from the glycogens are similar to the distributions from the glucose 6-phosphates. The distributions of 14C are in accord with metabolism of glucose by the classical pentose pathway and not by the L-type pathway that has been proposed to function in liver.  (+info)