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Query: EC:2.5.1.47 (cysteine synthase)
625 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Serine acetyltransferase (SAT) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of cysteine biosynthesis in bacteria and plants and functions in association with O-acetylserine (thiol) lyase (OAS-TL) in the cysteine synthase complex. Very little is known about the structure and catalysis of SATs except that they share a characteristic C-terminal hexapeptide-repeat domain with a number of enzymatically unrelated acyltransferases. Computational modeling of this domain was performed for the mitochondrial SAT isoform from Arabidopsis thaliana, based on crystal structures of bacterial acyltransferases. The results indicate a left-handed parallel beta-helix consisting of beta-sheets alternating with turns, resulting in a prism-like structure. This model was challenged by site-directed mutagenesis and tested for a suspected dual function of this domain in catalysis and hetero-oligomerization. The bifunctionality of the SAT C-terminus in transferase activity and interaction with OAS-TL is demonstrated and discussed with respect to the putative role of the cysteine synthase complex in regulation of cysteine biosynthesis.
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PMID:The cysteine synthase complex from plants. Mitochondrial serine acetyltransferase from Arabidopsis thaliana carries a bifunctional domain for catalysis and protein-protein interaction. 1116 7

A cell extract of an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus HB8, cultured in a synthetic medium catalyzed cystathionine gamma-synthesis with O-acetyl-L-homoserine and L-cysteine as substrates but not beta-synthesis with DL-homocysteine and L-serine (or O-acetyl-L-serine). The amounts of synthesized enzymes metabolizing sulfur-containing amino acids were estimated by determining their catalytic activities in cell extracts. The syntheses of cystathionine beta-lyase (EC 4.4.1.8) and O-acetyl-L-serine sulfhydrylase (EC 4.2.99.8) were markedly repressed by L-methionine supplemented to the medium. L-Cysteine and glutathione, both at 0.5 mM, added to the medium as the sole sulfur source repressed the synthesis of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase by 55 and 73%, respectively, confirming that this enzyme functions as a cysteine synthase. Methionine employed at 1 to 5 mM in the same way derepressed the synthesis of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase 2.1- to 2.5-fold. A method for assaying a low concentration of sulfide (0.01 to 0.05 mM) liberated from homocysteine by determining cysteine synthesized with it in the presence of excess amounts of O-acetylserine and a purified preparation of the sulfhydrylase was established. The extract of cells catalyzed the homocysteine gamma-lyase reaction, with a specific activity of 5 to 7 nmol/min/mg of protein, but not the methionine gamma-lyase reaction. These results suggested that cysteine was also synthesized under the conditions employed by the catalysis of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase using sulfur of homocysteine derived from methionine. Methionine inhibited O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase markedly. The effects of sulfur sources added to the medium on the synthesis of O-acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase and the inhibition of the enzyme activity by methionine were mostly understood by assuming that the organism has two proteins having O-acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase activity, one of which is cystathionine gamma-synthase. Although it has been reported that homocysteine is directly synthesized in T. thermophilus HB27 by the catalysis of O-acetylhomoserine sulfhydrylase on the basis of genetic studies (T. Kosuge, D. Gao, and T. Hoshino, J. Biosci. Bioeng. 90:271-279, 2000), the results obtained in this study for the behaviors of related enzymes indicate that sulfur is first incorporated into cysteine and then transferred to homocysteine via cystathionine in T. thermophilus HB8.
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PMID:Occurrence of transsulfuration in synthesis of L-homocysteine in an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus HB8. 1122 9

Cysteine synthetase from Escherichia coli is a bienzyme complex composed of serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase-A (OASS). The effects of the complex formation on the stability of SAT against cold inactivation and proteolysis were investigated. SAT was reversibly inactivated on cooling to 0 degrees C. Ultracentrifugal analysis showed that SAT (a hexamer) was dissociated mostly into two trimers on cooling to 0 degrees C in the absence of OASS, while in the presence of OASS one trimer of the SAT subunits formed a complex with one dimer of OASS subunits. In the presence of OASS, not only the cold inactivation rate was reduced but also the reactivation rate was increased. Furthermore, SAT became stable against proteolytic attack by alpha-chymotrypsin and V8 protease by forming the complex with OASS. On the other hand, SAT was degraded by trypsin in the same manner both in the presence and in the absence of OASS. The different tendency in the stability against proteolysis with the different proteases was discussed with respect to the substrate specificity of the proteases and amino acid sequence of the C-terminal region of SAT that interacts with OASS.
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PMID:Increase in the stability of serine acetyltransferase from Escherichia coli against cold inactivation and proteolysis by forming a bienzyme complex. 1138 66

A new crystal structure of the A-isozyme of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase-A (OASS) with chloride bound to an allosteric site located at the dimer interface has recently been determined [Burkhard, P., Tai, C.-H., Jansonius, J. N., and Cook, P. F. (2000) J. Mol. Biol. 303, 279-286]. Data have been obtained from steady state and presteady-state kinetic studies and from UV-visible spectral studies to characterize the allosteric anion-binding site. Data obtained with chloride and sulfate as inhibitors indicate the following: (i) chloride and sulfate prevent the formation of the external aldimines with L-cysteine or L-serine; (ii) chloride and sulfate increase the external aldimine dissociation constants for O-acetyl-L-serine, L-methionine, and 5-oxo-L-norleucine; (iii) chloride and sulfate bind to the allosteric site in the internal aldimine and alpha-aminoacrylate external aldimine forms of OASS; (iv) sulfate also binds to the active site. Sulfide behaves in a manner identical to chloride and sulfate in preventing the formation of the L-serine external aldimine. The binding of chloride to the allosteric site is pH independent over the pH range 7-9, suggesting no ionizable enzyme side chains ionize over this pH range. Inhibition by sulfide is potent (K(d) is 25 microM at pH 8) suggesting that SH(-) is the physiologic inhibitory species.
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PMID:Characterization of the allosteric anion-binding site of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase. 1141 97

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of S nutrition and availability on the forms of S and N in the endosperm cavity and endosperm of wheat, and on the capacity of the endosperm to utilize those compounds for the synthesis of proteins. Plants were grown in solution culture with 2 mM N and either 200 microM S (high-S) or 50 microM S (low-S) and all nutrients were withdrawn at various times from booting until 8 d post-anthesis. Sulphate was the major form of soluble S in the endosperm cavity and endosperm of high-S plants during the time of rapid grain development. By contrast, glutathione (GSH) was the major form of soluble S in the endosperm cavity and in the endosperm in low-S plants. Crude extracts of endosperm tissue from both high-S and low-S plants supported (i) the hydrolysis of GSH to gamma-glutamyl cysteine and glycine, and of gamma-glutamyl cysteine to glutamate and cysteine, and (ii) sulphate-dependent PPi-ATP exchange and the sulphydration of O-acetylserine catalysed by ATP sulphurylase and cysteine synthase, respectively. High-S nutrition enhanced the in vitro rates of ATP sulphurylase and cysteine synthase.
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PMID:Sulphur nutrition affects delivery and metabolism of S in developing endosperms of wheat. 1145 12

Sulfur metabolism in gram-positive bacteria is poorly characterized. Information on the molecular mechanisms of regulation of genes involved in sulfur metabolism is limited, and no regulator genes have been identified. Here we describe the regulation of the lactococcal metC-cysK operon, encoding a cystathionine beta-lyase (metC) and cysteine synthase (cysK). Its expression was shown to be negatively affected by high concentrations of cysteine, methionine, and glutathione in the culture medium, while sulfur limitation resulted in a high level of expression. Other sulfur sources tested showed no significant effect on metC-cysK gene expression. In addition we found that O-acetyl-l-serine, the substrate of cysteine synthase, was an inducer of the metC-cysK operon. Using a random mutagenesis approach, we identified two genes, cmbR and cmbT, involved in regulation of metC-cysK expression. The cmbT gene is predicted to encode a transport protein, but its precise role in regulation remains unclear. Disruption of cmbT resulted in a two- to threefold reduction of metC-cysK transcription. A 5.7-kb region containing the cmbR gene was cloned and sequenced. The encoded CmbR protein is homologous to the LysR family of regulator proteins and is an activator of the metC-cysK operon. In analogy to CysB from Escherichia coli, we propose that CmbR requires acetylserine to be able to bind the activation sites and subsequently activate transcription of the metC-cysK operon.
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PMID:Regulation of the metC-cysK operon, involved in sulfur metabolism in Lactococcus lactis. 1174 47

We used mice with a targeted disruption in g-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT-deficient mice) to study the role of glutathione (GSH) in protection against oxygen-induced lung injury. These mice had reduced levels of lung GSH and restricted ability to synthesize GSH because of low levels of cysteine. When GGT-deficient mice were exposed to 80% oxygen, they developed diffuse pulmonary injury and died within eight days. Ten of 12 wild-type mice were alive after 18 days. Administration of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to GGT-deficient mice corrected GSH values and prevented the development of severe pulmonary injury and death. Oxygen exposure induced an increase in lung GSH levels in both wild-type and GGT-deficient mice, but induced levels in the mutant mice were <50% of those in wild-type mice. Cysteine levels were approximately 50-fold lower than GSH levels the lungs of both wild-type and GGT-deficient mice. Levels of lung RNA coding for the heavy subunit of g-glutamyl cysteine synthetase rose three- to fourfold after oxygen exposure in both wild-type and GGT-deficient mice. In contrast, oxygen exposure failed to provoke increases in glutathione synthetase, glutathione peroxidase, glutaredoxin, or thioredoxin.
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PMID:Oxygen-induced pulmonary injury in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase-deficient mice. 1197 99

Proteins utilizing pyridoxal 5'-phosphate as a coenzyme constitute a large superfamily and are currently classified into three functional groups and five structural fold types. Despite the variability of sequences and catalyzed reactions, they share relevant structural, dynamic and functional properties. Therefore, they constitute an optimal system to investigate the relative influence of primary sequence and coenzyme interactions on folding pathways, structural stability and enzymatic function. O-Acetylserine sulfhydrylase is a dimeric pyridoxal 5'-phosphate dependent enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of L-cysteine from O-acetylserine and sulfide. The time-resolved fluorescence study of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase unfolding, here reported, indicates that the coenzyme stabilizes the protein structure. The dependence on denaturant concentration of tryptophan lifetimes in the holo- and apo-enzyme demonstrates that the interactions with the coenzyme stabilize the C-terminal domain to a higher extent with respect to the N-terminal domain. This result is discussed in terms of a linkage between the differential stabilization brought about by the coenzyme and the different degrees of conformational flexibility required by the specialized functional role of distinct protein regions.
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PMID:Unfolding of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase probed by time-resolved tryptophan fluorescence. 1198 20

Real time biomolecular interaction analysis based on surface plasmon resonance has been proven useful for studying protein-protein interaction but has not been extended so far to investigate enzyme-enzyme interactions, especially as pertaining to regulation of metabolic activity. We have applied BIAcore technology to study the regulation of enzyme-enzyme interaction during mitochondrial cysteine biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. The association of the two enzyme subunits in the hetero-oligomeric cysteine synthase complex was investigated with respect to the reaction intermediate and putative effector O-acetylserine. We have determined an equilibrium dissociation constant of the cysteine synthase complex (K(D) = 25 +/- 4 x 10(-9) m), based on a reliable A + B <--> AB model of interaction. Analysis of dissociation kinetics in the presence of O-acetylserine revealed a half-maximal dissociation rate at 77 +/- 4 microm O-acetylserine and strong positive cooperativity for complex dissociation. The equilibrium of interaction was determined using an enzyme activity-based approach and yielded a K(m) value of 58 +/- 7 microm O-acetylserine. Both effector concentrations are in the range of intracellular O-acetylserine fluctuations and support a functional model that integrates effector-driven cysteine synthase complex dissociation as a regulatory switch for the biosynthetic pathway. The results show that BIAcore technology can be applied to obtain quantitative kinetic data of a hetero-oligomeric protein complex with enzymatic and regulatory function.
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PMID:Use of biomolecular interaction analysis to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of the cysteine synthase complex from Arabidopsis thaliana. 1206 44

Understanding the mechanisms of free energy transfer in metabolism is fundamental to understanding how the chemical forces that sustain the molecular organization of the cell are distributed. Recent studies of molecular motors (1-3) and ATP-driven proton transport (4-6) describe how chemical potential is transferred at the molecular level. These systems catalyze energy transfer through structural change and appear to be dedicated exclusively to their coupling tasks (7, 8). Here we report the discovery of a new class of energy-transfer system. It is a biosynthetic pump composed of cysteine biosynthesis enzymes, ATP sulfurylase and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase, each with its own catalytic function and from whose interactions emerge new function: the hydrolysis of ATP. The hydrolysis is kinetically and energetically linked to the chemistry catalyzed by ATP sulfurylase, the first enzyme in the cysteine biosynthetic pathway, in such a way that each molecule of ATP hydrolyzed, each stroke of the pump, produces 1 equivalent of that enzyme's product. These findings integrate cysteine metabolism and broaden our understanding of the ways in which higher order allostery is used to effect free energy transfer.
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PMID:Cysteine biosynthetic enzymes are the pieces of a metabolic energy pump. 1208


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