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Query: EC:4.2.1.22 (cystathionine beta-synthase)
965 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The plants belonging to the genus Allium are known to accumulate sulfur-containing secondary compounds that are derived from cysteine. Here, we report on molecular cloning and functional characterization of two cDNAs that encode serine acetyltransferase and cysteine synthase from A. tuberosum (Chinese chive). The cDNA for serine acetyltransferase encodes an open reading frame of 289 amino acids, of which expression could complement the lacking of cysE gene for endogenous serine acetyltransferase in Escherichia coli. The cDNA for cysteine synthase encodes an open reading frame of 325 amino acids, of which expression in the E. coli lacking endogenous cysteine synthase genes could functionally rescue the growth without addition of cysteine. Both deduced proteins seem to be localized in cytosol, judging from their primary structures. Northern blot analysis indicated that both transcripts accumulated in almost equal levels in leaves and root of green and etiolated seedlings of A. tuberosum. The activity of recombinant serine acetyltransferase produced from the cDNA was inhibited by L-cysteine, which is the end-product of the pathway; however, the sensitivity to cysteine (48.7 microM of the concentration for 50% inhibition, IC(50)) was fairly low compared with that of previously reported serine acetyltransferases ( approximately 5 microM IC(50)) from various plants. In A. tuberosum, the cellular content of cysteine was several-fold higher than those in Arabidopsis thaliana and tobacco. This higher concentration of cysteine in A. tuberosum is likely due to the lower sensitivity of feedback inhibition of serine acetyltransferase to cysteine.
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PMID:Molecular cloning and functional characterization of cDNAs encoding cysteine synthase and serine acetyltransferase that may be responsible for high cellular cysteine content in Allium tuberosum. 1108 May 93

Sulfur-containing amino acids play an important role in a variety of cellular functions such as protein synthesis, methylation, and polyamine and glutathione synthesis. We cloned and characterized cDNA encoding cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), which is a key enzyme of transsulfuration pathway, from a hemoflagellate protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi CBS, unlike mammalian CBS, lacks the regulatory carboxyl terminus, does not contain heme, and is not activated by S-adenosylmethionine. T. cruzi CBS mRNA is expressed as at least six independent isotypes with sequence microheterogeneity from tandemly linked multicopy genes. The enzyme forms a homotetramer and, in addition to CBS activity, the enzyme has serine sulfhydrylase and cysteine synthase (CS) activities in vitro. Expression of the T. cruzi CBS in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli demonstrates that the CBS and CS activities are functional in vivo. Enzymatic studies on T. cruzi extracts indicate that there is an additional CS enzyme and stage-specific control of CBS and CS expression. We also cloned and characterized cDNA encoding serine acetyltransferase (SAT), a key enzyme in the sulfate assimilatory cysteine biosynthetic pathway. Dissimilar to bacterial and plant SAT, a recombinant T. cruzi SAT showed allosteric inhibition by l-cysteine, l-cystine, and, to a lesser extent, glutathione. Together, these studies demonstrate the T. cruzi is a unique protist in possessing both transsulfuration and sulfur assimilatory pathways.
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PMID:Characterization of transsulfuration and cysteine biosynthetic pathways in the protozoan hemoflagellate, Trypanosoma cruzi. Isolation and molecular characterization of cystathionine beta-synthase and serine acetyltransferase from Trypanosoma. 1110 65

Some strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have detectable activities of L-serine O-acetyltransferase (SATase) and O-acetyl-L-serine/O-acetyl-L-homoserine sulfhydrylase (OAS/OAH-SHLase), but synthesize L-cysteine exclusively via cystathionine by cystathionine beta-synthase and cystathionine gamma-lyase. To untangle this peculiar feature in sulfur metabolism, we introduced Escherichia coli genes encoding SATase and OAS-SHLase into S. cerevisiae L-cysteine auxotrophs. While the cells expressing SATase grew on medium lacking L-cysteine, those expressing OAS-SHLase did not grow at all. The cells expressing both enzymes grew very well without L-cysteine. These results indicate that S. cerevisiae SATase cannot support L-cysteine biosynthesis and that S. cerevisiae OAS/OAH-SHLase produces L-cysteine if enough OAS is provided by E. coli SATase. It appears as if S. cerevisiae SATase does not possess a metabolic role in vivo either because of very low activity or localization. For example, S. cerevisiae SATase may be localized in the nucleus, thus controlling the level of OAS required for regulation of sulfate assimilation, but playing no role in the direct synthesis of L-cysteine.
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PMID:Role of Saccharomyces cerevisiae serine O-acetyltransferase in cysteine biosynthesis. 1258 6

The last steps of cysteine biosynthesis are catalysed by a bi-enzyme complex composed of serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and cysteine synthase, also called O-acetyl-serine (thiol) lyase (OASTL). SAT is responsible for the production of O-acetyl-serine (OAS) from serine and acetyl-coenzyme A, while OASTL catalyses the formation of cysteine from OAS and hydrogen sulphide. Several distinct nuclear genes for SAT and OASTL enzymes exist in plants. Products of these genes are targeted into at least three cellular compartments: cytosol, chloroplasts, and mitochondria. The SAT and OASTL enzymes are strongly evolutionary conserved, both structurally and functionally. Therefore, isoenzymes from various cellular compartments can be substituted, not only by their plant counterparts from the other cellular compartments but also by their bacterial homologues. During the last decade transgenic plants overproducing SAT, OASTL or both enzymes simultaneously were obtained independently by several research groups. These manipulations led not only to the elevated levels of the respective products, namely OAS and cysteine, but also to increased amounts of glutathione and changes in the levels of other metabolites and enzymatic activities. In several cases, the transgenic plants were also shown to be less susceptible to applied abiotic stresses. In this review, all published and some unpublished results from this laboratory related to heterologous overproduction of SAT and OASTL in transgenic plants are discussed and summarized.
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PMID:Overproduction of SAT and/or OASTL in transgenic plants: a survey of effects. 1520 50

We applied the yeast two-hybrid system for screening of a cDNA library of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia for clones encoding plant proteins interacting with two proteins of Escherichia coli: serine acetyltransferase (SAT, the product of cysE gene) and O-acetylserine (thiol)lyase A, also termed cysteine synthase (OASTL-A, the product of cysK gene). Two plant cDNA clones were identified when using the cysE gene as a bait. These clones encode a probable cytosolic isoform of OASTL and an organellar isoform of SAT, respectively, as indicated by evolutionary trees. The second clone, encoding SAT, was identified independently also as a "prey" when using cysK as a bait. Our results reveal the possibility of applying the two-hybrid system for cloning of plant cDNAs encoding enzymes of the cysteine synthase complex in the two-hybrid system. Additionally, using genome walking sequences located upstream of the sat1 cDNA were identified. Subsequently, in silico analyses were performed aiming towards identification of the potential signal peptide and possible location of the deduced mature protein encoded by sat1.
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PMID:Isolation of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia cDNAs encoding isoforms of serine acetyltransferase and O-acetylserine (thiol) lyase in a yeast two-hybrid system with Escherichia coli cysE and cysK genes as baits. 1582 11

The biosynthesis of cysteine in bacteria and plants is carried out by a two-step pathway, catalyzed by serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase (OASS; O-acetylserine [thiol] lyase). The aerobic form of OASS forms a tight bienzyme complex with SAT in vivo, termed cysteine synthase. We have determined the crystal structure of OASS in complex with a C-terminal peptide of SAT required for bienzyme complex formation. The binding site of the peptide is at the active site of OASS, and its C-terminal carboxyl group occupies the same anion binding pocket as the alpha-carboxylate of the O-acetylserine substrate of OASS. These results explain the partial inhibition of OASS by SAT on complex formation as well as the competitive dissociation of the complex by O-acetylserine.
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PMID:The active site of O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase is the anchor point for bienzyme complex formation with serine acetyltransferase. 1583 47

Beta-(pyrazol-1-yl)-L-alanine (beta-PA), a model nonproteinaceous amino acid, was specifically synthesized by two methods using recombinant Escherichia coli cells that express cysteine synthase, comprising serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase-A (OASS-A) and related enzymes from E. coli. In the first method (method A), recombinant cells that express wild-type SAT, OASS-A, acetate kinase (AK), and phosphotransacetylase (PTA) showed the highest beta-PA production. beta-PA was produced at 140 mM from 200 mM L-serine and 200 mM pyrazole under optimum conditions. Using the cells expressing SATDeltaC20 (truncated SAT), OASS-A, AK, and PTA, beta-PA was produced at a level of only 80 mM, whereas O-acetyl-serine (OAS) was found to be secreted into the broth. Under optimum conditions, OAS accumulated at levels of around 105 mM from 300 mM L-serine. Thus, in the second method (method B), the secreted OAS was used as the substrate for the syntheses of beta-PA and beta-(triazol-1-yl)-L-alanine (beta-TA). The OAS that accumulated in the broth was efficiently converted to beta-PA and beta-TA at levels of around 90 mM from 105 mM OAS using free OASS-A. In both methods A and B, the addition of glucose was essential for the efficient production of beta-PA and OAS, respectively.
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PMID:Production of nonproteinaceous amino acids using recombinant Escherichia coli cells expressing cysteine synthase and related enzymes with or without the secretion of O-acetyl-L-serine. 1623 37

Cysteine synthesis in plants represents the final step of assimilatory sulfate reduction and the almost exclusive entry reaction of reduced sulfur into metabolism not only of plants, but also the human food chain in general. It is accomplished by the sequential reaction of two enzymes, serine acetyltransferase (SAT) and O-acetylserine (thiol) lyase (OAS-TL). Together they form the hetero-oligomeric cysteine synthase complex (CSC). Recent evidence is reviewed that identifies the dual function of the CSC as a sensor and as part of a regulatory circuit that controls cellular sulfur homeostasis. Computational modeling of three-dimensional structures of plant SAT and OAS-TL based on the crystal structure of the corresponding bacterial enzymes supports quaternary conformations of SAT as a dimer of trimers and OAS-TL as a homodimer. These findings suggest an overall alpha6beta4 structure of the subunits of the plant CSC. Kinetic measurements of CSC dissociation triggered by the reaction intermediate O-acetylserine as well as CSC stabilization by sulfide indicate quantitative reactions that are suited to fine-tune the equilibrium between free and associated CSC subunits. In addition, in vitro data show that SAT requires binding to OAS-TL for full activity, while at the same time bound OAS-TL becomes inactivated. Since OAS concentrations inside cells increase upon sulfate deficiency, whereas sulfide concentrations most likely decrease, these data suggest the dissociation of the CSC in vivo, accompanied by inactivation of SAT and activation of OAS-TL function in their free homo-oligomer states. Biochemical evidence describes this protein-interaction based mechanism as reversible, thus closing the regulatory circuit. The properties of the CSC and its subunits are therefore consistent with models of positive regulation of sulfate uptake and reduction in plants by OAS as well as a demand-driven repression/de-repression by a sulfur intermediate, such as sulfide.
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PMID:Functional analysis of the cysteine synthase protein complex from plants: structural, biochemical and regulatory properties. 1638 30

In higher plants the biosynthesis of l-cysteine from l-serine, acetylCoA, and sulfide requires serine transacetylase and O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase. The distribution of these enzymes in kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Red Kidney) seedlings was determined. Between one-third and two-thirds of the serine transacetylase activity was associated with mitochondria, whereas all of the O-acetyl-serine sulfhydrylase activity was present in the soluble fraction of cell homogenates. In a 14-day plant approximately two-thirds of the O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase activity and approximately one-half of the serine transacetylase activity was found in the leaves.Sulfur-deficient plants were grown to determine the effect of sulfur status on the levels of cysteine biosynthetic enzymes. Total extractable serine transacetylase activity was not affected by sulfur deficiency; in contrast, there was an increase in O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase activity under these conditions.
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PMID:Studies of l-Cysteine Biosynthetic Enzymes in Phaseolus vulgaris L. 1665 99

Trichomonas vaginalis is an early divergent eukaryote with many unusual biochemical features. It is an anaerobic protozoan parasite of humans that is thought to rely heavily on cysteine as a major redox buffer, because it lacks glutathione. We report here that for synthesis of cysteine from sulfide, T. vaginalis relies upon cysteine synthase. The enzyme (TvCS1) can use either O-acetylserine or O-phosphoserine as substrates. The K(m) values of the enzyme for sulfide are very low (0.02 mm), suggesting that the enzyme may be a means of ensuring that sulfide in the parasite is maintained at a low level. T. vaginalis appears to lack serine acetyltransferase, the source of O-acetylserine in many cells, but has a functional 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase and an O-phosphoserine aminotransferase that together result in the production of O-phosphoserine, suggesting that this is the physiological substrate. TvCS1 can also use thiosulfate as substrate. Overall, TvCS1 has substrate specificities similar to those reported for cysteine synthases of Aeropyrum pernix and Escherichia coli, and this is reflected by sequence similarities around the active site. We suggest that these enzymes are classified together as type B cysteine synthases, and we hypothesize that the use of O-phosphoserine is a common characteristic of these cysteine synthases. The level of cysteine synthase in T. vaginalis is regulated according to need, such that parasites growing in an environment rich in cysteine have low activity, whereas exposure to propargylglycine results in elevated cysteine synthase activity. Humans lack cysteine synthase; therefore, this parasite enzyme could be an exploitable drug target.
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PMID:Cysteine biosynthesis in Trichomonas vaginalis involves cysteine synthase utilizing O-phosphoserine. 1673 16


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