Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.24.27 (thermolysin)
 1,894 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Using fluorescence spectroscopy, we have demonstrated that isolated envelope membranes from mature spinach chloroplasts catalyze the phototransformation of endogenous protochlorophyllide into chlorophyllide in presence of NADPH, but not in presence of NADH. Protochlorophyllide reductase was characterized further using monospecific antibodies (anti-protochlorophyllide reductase) raised against the purified enzyme from oat. In mature spinach chloroplasts, protochlorophyllide reductase is present only in envelope membranes. We have demonstrated that the envelope protochlorophyllide reductase, a 37,000-dalton polypeptide, is only a minor envelope component and is present on the outer surface of the outer envelope membrane. This conclusion is supported by several lines of evidence: (a) the envelope polypeptide that was immunodecorated with anti-protochlorophyllide reductase can be distinguished from the major 37,000-dalton envelope polypeptide E37 (which was identified by monospecific antibodies) only after two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; (b) the envelope protochlorophyllide reductase was hydrolyzed when isolated intact chloroplasts were incubated in presence of thermolysin; and (c) isolated intact chloroplasts strongly agglutinate when incubated in presence of antibodies raised against protochlorophyllide reductase. These results demonstrate that major differences exist between chloroplasts and etioplasts with respect to protochlorophyllide reductase levels and localization. The presence on the chloroplast envelope membrane of both the substrate (protochlorophyllide) and the enzyme (protochlorophyllide reductase) necessary for chlorophyllide synthesis could have major implications for the understanding of chlorophyll biosynthesis in mature chloroplasts.
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PMID:Envelope membranes from mature spinach chloroplasts contain a NADPH:protochlorophyllide reductase on the cytosolic side of the outer membrane. 225 34

The NADPH-protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (pchlide reductase, EC 1.6.99.1) is the major protein in the prolamellar bodies (PLBs) of etioplasts, where it catalyzes the light-dependent reduction of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide during chlorophyll synthesis in higher plants. The suborganellar location in chloroplasts of light-grown plants is less clear. In vitro assays were performed to characterize the assembly process of the pchlide reductase protein in pea chloroplasts. Import reactions employing radiolabelled precursor protein of the pchlide reductase showed that the protein was efficiently imported into fully matured green chloroplasts of pea. Fractionation assays following an import reaction revealed that imported protein was targeted to the thylakoid membranes. No radiolabelled protein could be detected in the stromal or envelope compartments upon import. Assembly reactions performed in chloroplast lysates showed that maximum amount of radiolabelled protein was associated to the thylakoid membranes in a thermolysin-resistant conformation when the assays were performed in the presence of hydrolyzable ATP and NADPH, but not in the presence of NADH. Furthermore, membrane assembly was optimal at pH 7.5 and at 25 degrees C. However, further treatment of the thylakoids with NaOH after an assembly reaction removed most of the membrane-associated protein. Assembly assays performed with the mature form of the pchlide reductase, lacking the transit peptide, showed that the pre-sequence was not required for membrane assembly. These results indicate that the pchlide reductase is a peripheral protein located on the stromal side of the membrane, and that both the precursor and the mature form of the protein can act as substrates for membrane assembly.
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PMID:The in vitro assembly of the NADPH-protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase in pea chloroplasts. 757 82

NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) catalyzes the light-dependent reduction of protochlorophyllide (pchlide) to chlorophyllide (chlide) in the biosynthesis of chlorophyll. POR is a peripheral membrane protein that accumulates to high levels in the prolamellar bodies of vascular plant etioplasts and is present at low levels in the thylakoid membranes of developing and mature plastids. Clustered charged-to-alanine scanning mutagenesis of the pea (Pisum sativum L.) POR was carried out and the resulting mutant enzymes analyzed for their ability to catalyze pchlide photoconversion in vivo and to associate properly with thylakoid membrane preparations in vitro. Of 37 mutant enzymes examined, 5 retained wild-type levels of activity, 14 were catalytically inactive, and the remaining 18 exhibited altered levels of function. Several of the mutant enzymes showed temperature-dependent enzymatic activity, being inactive at 32 degrees C, but partially active at 24 degrees C. Mutations in predicted alpha-helical regions of the protein showed the least effect on enzyme activity, whereas mutations in predicted beta-sheet regions of the protein showed a consistent adverse affect on enzyme function. In the absence of added NADPH, neither wild-type POR nor any of the mutant PORs resisted proteolysis by thermolysin following assembly onto the thylakoid membranes. In contrast, when NADPH was present in the assay mixture, 13 of the 37 mutant PORs examined were found to be resistant to thermolysin upon treatment, suggesting that the mutations did not affect their ability to be properly attached to the thylakoid membrane. In general, the replacement of charged amino acids by alanine in the most N- and C-terminal regions of the mature protein did not significantly affect POR assembly, whereas mutations within the central core of the protein (between residues 86 and 342) were incapable of proper attachment to the thylakoid. Failure to properly associate with the thylakoid membrane in a protease resistant manner was only weakly correlated to loss of catalytic function. These studies are a first step towards defining structural determinants crucial to POR function and intraorganellar localization.
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PMID:The role of protein surface charge in catalytic activity and chloroplast membrane association of the pea NADPH: protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) as revealed by alanine scanning mutagenesis. 1008 Jun 97

In vitro chloroplast import reactions and thylakoid association reactions have been performed with a series of C-terminal deletions and Cys-to-Ser substitution mutants of the pea NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR; EC 1.6.99). C-terminal deletions of the precursor POR (Delta362-400, Delta338-400, Delta315-400 and Delta300-400) were efficiently translocated across the chloroplast envelope. However, except the Delta396-400 mutant, no C-terminal deletion mutants or Cys-to-Ser substitution (Cys119, Cys281 and Cys309) mutants resisted post-treatment with thermolysin after the thylakoid association reactions. This suggests that these mutants were unable to properly associate to the thylakoids due to changes of the protein conformation of POR.
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PMID:The importance of the C-terminal region and Cys residues for the membrane association of the NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase in pea. 1147 39

Membrane association of NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR, EC: 1.6.99.1) with isolated prolamellar bodies (PLBs) and prothylakoids (PTs) from wheat etioplasts was investigated. In vitro-expressed radiolabelled POR, with or without transit peptide, was used to characterize membrane association conditions. Proper association of POR with PLBs and PTs did not require the presequence, whereas NADPH and hydrolysable ATP were vital for the process. After treating the membranes with thermolysin, sodium hydroxide or carbonate, a firm attachment of the POR protein to the membrane was found. Although the PLBs and PTs differ significantly in their relative amount of POR in vivo, no major differences in POR association capacity could be observed between the two membrane systems when exogenous NADPH was added. Experiments run with only an endogenous NADPH source almost abolished association of POR with both PLBs and PTs. In addition, POR protein carrying a mutation in the putative nucleotide-binding site (ALA06) was unable to bind to the inner membranes in the presence of NADPH, which further demonstrates that the co-factor is essential for proper membrane association. POR protein carrying a mutation in the substrate-binding site (ALA24) showed less binding to the membranes as compared to the wild type. The results presented here introduce studies of a novel area of protein-membrane interaction, namely the association of proteins with a paracrystalline membrane structure, the PLB.
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PMID:Association of the NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) with isolated etioplast inner membranes from wheat. 1153 75

The biosynthesis of chlorophyll is a strictly light-dependent multistep process in higher plants. The light-dependent step is catalysed by NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR, EC.1.6.99.1), which reduces protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) to chlorophyllide (Chlide). POR is nucleus-encoded and post-translationally imported into plastids. It has been proposed that the import of a POR protein isozyme (PORA) is totally dependent on Pchlide and uses a novel import pathway. This proposal is based on findings that PORA import only occurs in the presence of Pchlide and that the presence of overexpressed precursor of Rubisco small subunit (pSS), a protein which is known to use the general import pathway, does not outcompete PORA import. Another study demonstrated that POR precursor protein (pPOR) can be cross-linked to one of the components in the translocation machinery, Toc75, in the absence of Pchlide, and that its import can be outcompeted by the addition of the pSS. This indicates that pSS and pPOR may use the same translocation mechanism. Thus, POR does not necessarily need Pchlide for import--which is in contrast to earlier observations--and the exact POR import mechanism remains unresolved. Once in the stroma, the POR transit peptide is cleaved off and the mature POR protein is associated to the plastid inner membranes. Formation of the correct membrane-associated, thermolysin-protected assembly is strictly dependent of NADPH. As a final step, the formation of the NADPH-Pchlide-POR complex occurs. When POR accumulates in the membranes of proplastids, an attraction of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (MGDG) can occur, leading to the formation of prolamellar bodies (PLBs) and the development of etioplasts in darkness.
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PMID:POR hits the road: import and assembly of a plastid protein. 1260 86

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) from hepatopancreas of the land snail, Otala lactea, shows distinct changes in properties between active and estivating (dormant) states, providing the first evidence of pentose phosphate cycle regulation during hypometabolism. Compared with active snails, G6PDH Vmax increased by 50%, Km for glucose-6-phosphate decreased by 50%, Ka Mg x citrate decreased by 35%, and activation energy (from Arrhenius plots) decreased by 35% during estivation. DEAE-Sephadex chromatography separated two peaks of activity and in vitro incubations stimulating protein kinases or phosphatases showed that peak I (low phosphate) G6PDH was higher in active snails (57% of activity) whereas peak II (high phosphate) G6PDH dominated during estivation (71% of total). Kinetic properties of peaks I and II forms mirrored the enzyme from active and estivated states, respectively. Peak II G6PDH also showed reduced sensitivity to urea inhibition of activity and greater stability to thermolysin protease treatment. The interconversion of G6PDH between active and estivating forms was linked to protein kinase G and protein phosphatase 1. Estivation-induced phosphorylation of G6PDH may enhance relative carbon flow through the pentose phosphate cycle, compared with glycolysis, to help maintain NADPH production for use in antioxidant defense.
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PMID:Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase regulation during hypometabolism. 1625 36