Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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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 relationship between enzyme activity, cell geometry, and the ploidy levels has been investigated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Diploid cells have 1.57 times the volume of haploid cells under nonlimiting growth conditions (minimal medium). However, when diploid cells are grown under conditions of carbon limitation, they have the same volume as haploid cells. Thus, by altering the environmental conditions, cell size can be varied independently of the degree of ploidy. The results indicate that the basic biochemical parameters of the cell are primarily determined by cell geometry rather than ploidy level. RNA content, protein content, and ornithine transcarbamylase (carbamoylphosphate: L-ornithine carbamoyltransferase, EC 2.1.3.3), tryptophan synthetase [L-serine hydro-lyase (adding indole), EC 4.2.1.20], and invertase (alpha-D-glucoside glucohydrolase, Ec 3.2.1.20) activity are related to cell volume, whereas acid phosphatase (orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.2) activity, a cell surface enzyme, is related to the surface area of the cells. Fitness is determined by the activity of certain cell surface enzymes, such as acid phosphatase, diploids would be expected to have a lower fitness than haploids because of the lower surface area/volume ratio. However, when fitness is determined by the activity of an internal enzyme, diploids would be expected to have the same fitness as haploids. Results from competition experiments between haploids and diploids are consistent with these predictions. The significance of these results to the evolution of diploidy as the predominant phase of the life cycle of higher plants and animals is discussed.
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PMID:The relationship between enzyme activity, cell geometry, and fitness in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 109 69

Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) catalyzes the condensation of serine and homocysteine to form cystathionine, an intermediate step in the synthesis of cysteine. We previously characterized the CBS -1b minimal promoter (-3792 to -3667) and found that Sp1/Sp3, nuclear factor Y, and USF-1 were involved in the regulation of basal promoter activity (Ge, Y., Konrad, M. A., Matherly, L. H., Taub, J. W. (2001) Biochem. J. 357, 97-105). In this study, the critical cis-elements and transcription factors in the CBS -1b upstream region (-4046 to -3792) were examined in HT1080 and HepG2 cells, which differ approximately 10-fold in levels of CBS transcripts transcribed from the CBS -1b promoter. In DNase I footprint and gel shift analyses and transient transfections of mutant CBS -1b promoter constructs into HT1080 and HepG2 cells, transcriptionally important roles for Sp1/Sp3 binding to three GC boxes and one GT box and for binding of myeloid zinc finger 1-like proteins to two myeloid zinc finger 1 elements were indicated. In gel shift assays, very low levels of Sp1/Sp3 DNA-protein complexes were detected in HT1080 cells compared with HepG2 cells despite comparable levels of nuclear factor Y and USF-1 binding and similar levels of Sp1 and Sp3 proteins on Western blots. Mixing of HT1080 and HepG2 nuclear extracts resulted in no difference in total Sp factor binding in gel shift assays, thus excluding a role for an unknown activator or inhibitor in the disparate Sp1/Sp3 binding between the lines. Increased Sp1/Sp3 binding in gel shift assays was observed upon treatment of HT1080 nuclear extracts with protein kinase A, and decreased Sp1/Sp3 binding resulted from treatment of HepG2 nuclear extracts with calf alkaline phosphatase, suggesting a role for changes in Sp1/Sp3 phosphorylation in transcription factor binding and transactivation of the CBS -1b promoter. Characterization of CBS promoter structure and function should clarify the molecular bases for variations in CBS gene expression in genetic diseases and the relationship between CBS and Down syndrome.
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PMID:Transcriptional regulation of cell-specific expression of the human cystathionine beta -synthase gene by differential binding of Sp1/Sp3 to the -1b promoter. 1156 58