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)

We investigated the nitrous oxide-induced inactivation of methionine synthase and the concurrent homocysteine (Hcy) export in mutant fibroblasts with defects in the homocysteine catabolizing enzyme, cystathionine beta-synthase, or in methionine synthase, which carries out homocysteine remethylation. The fibroblasts were incubated in various concentrations of methionine to create conditions favoring methionine conservation or catabolism. In cystathionine beta-synthase-deficient cells, high medium methionine partly protected the enzyme against inactivation, as previously found in normal fibroblasts. The Hcy export rate at low methionine levels was low (0.2-0.6 nmol/h/10(6) cells), and increased 2-3-fold at high methionine levels. Nitrous oxide enhanced Hcy export rate at low methionine, so that in the presence of nitrous oxide, the Hcy export became less dependent of methionine. In cb1G cells, the enzyme inactivation was moderate and independent of medium methionine. The Hcy export rate was intermediate (0.5-0.8 nmol/h/10(6) cells) at low methionine levels, and increased moderately (< 2-fold) at high methionine levels or following nitrous oxide exposure. In cb1E mutants, the enzyme activity was not affected by nitrous oxide, and the Hcy export was high (0.8-1.6 nmol/h/10(6) cells) and independent of methionine and nitrous oxide. These data suggest that Hcy remethylation and cystathionine beta-synthase activity are major determinants of Hcy export at low and high methionine, respectively. The low susceptibility of methionine synthase to nitrous oxide in the presence of high methionine or in cb1G or cb1E mutants is probably related to low catalytic turnover.
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PMID:Effect of methionine and nitrous oxide on homocysteine export and remethylation in fibroblasts from cystathionine synthase-deficient, cb1G, and cb1E patients. 813 95

In a recent hypothesis [Selhub and Miller (1992) Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 55, 131-138], we proposed that homocysteinaemia arises from an interruption in S-adenosylmethionine's (AdoMet) coordinate regulation of homocysteine metabolism. The present study was undertaken to test a prediction of this hypothesis, that homocysteinaemia due to folate deficiency results from impaired homocysteine remethylation due to the deficiency and impaired synthesis of AdoMet, with the consequent inability of this metabolite to function as an activator of homocysteine catabolism through cystathionine synthesis. Rats were made folate-deficient by feeding them with a folate-free amino-acid-defined diet supplemented with succinylsulphathiazole. After 4 weeks, the deficient rats exhibited a 9.8-fold higher mean plasma homocysteine concentration and a 3.2-fold lower mean hepatic AdoMet concentration compared with folate-replete controls. Subsequent supplementation for 3 weeks of the folate-deficient rats with increasing levels of folate in the diet resulted in graded decreases in plasma homocysteine levels, accompanied by graded increases in hepatic AdoMet levels. Thus plasma homocysteine and hepatic AdoMet concentrations were inversely correlated as folate status was modified. In a second experiment, the elevation of plasma homocysteine in the deficient rats was found to be reversible within 3 days by intraperitoneal injections of ethionine. This effect of ethionine is thought to be exerted through S-adenosylethionine, which is formed in the liver of these rats. Like AdoMet, S-adenosylethionine is an activator of cystathionine beta-synthase and will effectively promote the catabolism of homocysteine through cystathionine synthesis. In crude liver homogenates of the rats treated with ethionine, cystathionine beta-synthase activity was 3-fold higher than that measured in homogenates from vehicle-treated controls.
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PMID:Folate-deficiency-induced homocysteinaemia in rats: disruption of S-adenosylmethionine's co-ordinate regulation of homocysteine metabolism. 813 50

Mild homocysteinemia occurs surprisingly often in patients with premature vascular disease. We studied the possible enzymatic sources of this mild hyperhomocysteinemia and the control of homocysteine levels in plasma by treatment of patients with the cofactors and cosubstrates of homocysteine catabolism. We assessed homocysteine metabolism in 131 patients who had premature disease in their coronary, peripheral, or cerebrovascular circulation by using a standard oral methionine-load test. Impaired homocysteine metabolism occurred in 28 patients. We assayed levels of the primary enzymes of homocysteine catabolism in cultured skin fibroblast extracts from 15 of these 28 patients. The patients' cystathionine beta-synthase levels (3.68 +/- 2.52 nmol/h per milligram of cell protein, mean +/- SD) were markedly depressed compared with those from 31 healthy adult control subjects (7.61 +/- 4.49, P < .001). The patients' levels of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate: homocysteine methyltransferase were normal. While betaine: homocysteine methyltransferase was not expressed in skin fibroblasts, 24-hour urinary betaine and N,N-dimethylglycine measurements were consistent with normal or enhanced remethylation of homocysteine by betaine: homocysteine methyltransferase in the 13 patients tested. When treated daily with choline and betaine, pyridoxine, or folic acid, there was a normalization of the postmethionine plasma homocysteine level in 16 of 19 patients. Our results indicate that mild homocysteinemia in premature vascular disease may be caused by either a folate deficiency or deficiencies in cystathionine beta-synthase activity. It does not necessarily involve deficiencies of either 5-methyltetrahydrofolate:homocysteine methyltransferase or betaine:homocysteine methyltransferase. Effective treatment regimens are also defined.
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PMID:Disordered methionine/homocysteine metabolism in premature vascular disease. Its occurrence, cofactor therapy, and enzymology. 836 9

The transsulfuration pathways allow the interconversion of homocysteine and cysteine with the intermediary formation of cystathionine. The various organisms studied up to now incorporate reduced sulfur into a three- or a four-carbon chain and use differently the transsulfuration pathways to synthesize sulfur amino acids. In enteric bacteria, the synthesis of cysteine is the first step of organic sulfur metabolism and homocysteine is derived from cysteine. Fungi are capable of incorporating reduced sulfur into a four-carbon chain, and they possess two operating transsulfuration pathways. By contrast, synthesis of cysteine from homocysteine is the only existing transsulfuration pathway in mammals. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, genetic, phenotypic, and enzymatic study of mutants has allowed us to demonstrate that homocysteine is the first sulfur amino acid to be synthesized and cysteine is derived only from homocysteine (H. Cherest and Y. Surdin-Kerjan, Genetics 130:51-58, 1992). We report here the cloning of genes STR4 and STR1, encoding cystathionine beta-synthase and cystathionine gamma-lyase, respectively. The only phenotypic consequence of the inactivation of STR1 or STR4 is cysteine auxotrophy. The sequencing of gene STR4 has allowed us to compare all of the known sequences of transsulfuration enzymes and enzymes catalyzing the incorporation of reduced sulfur in carbon chains. These comparisons reveal a partition into two families based on sequence motifs. This partition mainly correlates with similarities in the catalytic mechanisms of these enzymes.
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PMID:Cysteine biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae occurs through the transsulfuration pathway which has been built up by enzyme recruitment. 836 24

Homocysteine can be methylated to form methionine by the cobalamin- (Cbl) and folate-dependent enzyme, methionine synthase; serum levels of total homocysteine are elevated in greater than 95% of patients with either Cbl or folate deficiency. Homocysteine can also condense with serine to form cystathionine in a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent reaction catalyzed by cystathionine beta-synthase. Cystathionine is subsequently cleaved to cysteine and alpha-ketobutyrate by the pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme gamma-cystathionase. To assess levels of cystathionine in Cbl and folate deficiency, we developed a new capillary gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric assay and measured cystathionine in the serum of normal subjects and patients with clinically confirmed deficiencies of these vitamins. The normal range for serum cystathionine was 65 to 301 nmol/L (median = 126 nmol/L) for 50 normal blood donors. In 30 patients with clinically confirmed Cbl deficiency, values for cystathionine ranged from 208 nmol/L to 2,920 nmol/L (median = 816 nmol/L) and 26 (87%) had levels above the normal range. In 20 patients with clinically confirmed folate deficiency, cystathionine concentrations ranged from 138 nmol/L to 4,150 nmol/L (median = 1,560 nmol/L) and 19 (95%) had values above the normal range. Five homozygotes for cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency had high values for serum-total homocysteine and low or low-normal values for serum cystathionine that ranged from 30 nmol/L to 114 nmol/L even though they were on treatment with pyridoxine and had partially responded. One patient with a defect in the synthesis of 5-CH3-tetrahydrofolate and five patients with defects in the synthesis of CH3-Cbl had high values for serum-total homocysteine and high values for cystathionine that ranged from 311 nmol/L to 1,500 nmol/L even though they were on treatment with folic acid and Cbl, respectively, and had partially responded. We conclude that levels of cystathionine are evaluated in the serum of most patients with Cbl and folate deficiency and that they are useful in the differential diagnosis of an elevated serum-total homocysteine level.
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PMID:Elevation of serum cystathionine levels in patients with cobalamin and folate deficiency. 850 76

Mild hyperhomocysteinemia is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Genetic aberrations in the cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genes may account for reduced enzyme activities and elevated plasma homocysteine levels. In 15 unrelated Dutch patients with homozygous CBS deficiency, we observed the 833T-->C (I278T) mutation in 50% of the alleles. Very recently, we identified a common mutation (677C-->T; A-->V) in the MTHFR gene, which, in homozygous state, is responsible for the thermolabile phenotype and which is associated with decreased specific MTHRF activity and elevated homocysteine levels. We screened 60 cardiovascular patients and 111 controls for these two mutations, to determine whether these mutations are risk factors for premature cardiovascular disease. Heterozygosity for the 833T-->C mutation in the CBS gene was observed in one individual of the control group but was absent in patients with premature cardiovascular disease. Homozygosity for the 677C-->T mutation in the MTHFR gene was found in (15%) of 60 cardiovascular patients and in only 6 (approximately 5%) of 111 control individuals (odds ratio 3.1 [95% confidence interval 1.0-9.2]). Because of both the high prevalence of the 833T-->C mutation among homozygotes for CBS deficiency and its absence in 60 cardiovascular patients, we may conclude that heterozygosity for CBS deficiency does not appear to be involved in premature cardiovascular disease. However, a frequent homozygous mutation in the MTHFR gene is associated with a threefold increase in risk for premature cardiovascular disease.
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PMID:Molecular genetic analysis in mild hyperhomocysteinemia: a common mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene is a genetic risk factor for cardiovascular disease. 855 53

Two separate metabolic pathways that methylate homocysteine to methionine are known in humans, utilizing, respectively, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and betaine as methyl donors. Deficiency of the folate-dependent methylation system is linked to hyperhomocysteinemia. Our data suggest that this deficiency leads to concurrent metabolic down-regulation of homocysteine transsulfuration that may contribute to hyperhomocysteinemia. By contrast, no instances have been reported of hyperhomocysteinemia resulting from deficiencies of betaine-dependent homocysteine methylation. Long-term betaine supplementation of 10 patients, who had pyridoxine-resistant homocystinuria and gross hyperhomocysteinemia due to deficiency of cystathionine beta-synthase activity, caused a substantial lowering of plasma homocysteine, which has now been maintained for periods of up to 13 years. Betaine had to be taken regularly because the effect soon disappeared when treatment was stopped. In conclusion, depressed activity of the transsulfuration pathway may contribute to hyperhomocysteinemia because of primary deficiencies of enzymes of either the transsulfuration or of the folate-dependent methylation pathways. Stimulation of betaine-dependent homocysteine remethylation causes a commensurate decrease in plasma homocysteine that can be maintained as long as betaine is taken.
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PMID:Human homocysteine catabolism: three major pathways and their relevance to development of arterial occlusive disease. 864 74

The free-living nematode Panagrellus redivivus can be used as a biochemical model for parasitic nematodes in the search for new chemotherapeutic agents. A novel cystathionine beta-synthase has been purified 3600-fold from the cytosol of P. redivivus. The enzyme catalyses the synthesis of cystathionine from homocysteine plus serine or cysteine. The enzyme, native M(r) 71.7 kDa, pI 4.7, is a dimer and also catalyses the replacement of the beta-SH group of cysteine with 2-mercaptoethanol to yield a thioether, S-(2-hydroxyethyl) cysteine and H2S. This reaction proceeds much faster than cystathionine synthesis and L-cysteine cannot be replaced by D-cysteine, L-cystine, N-acetyl L-cysteine, cysteamine of D,L-homocysteine. 2-Mercaptoethanol in the assay can be replaced by monothiolglycerol and to a lesser extent by cysteamine. The absolute K(m) values for L-cysteine and 2-mercaptoethanol were 0.13 +/- 0.05 mM and 1.72 +/- 0.24 mM, respectively, the absolute V(max) was 55 +/- 4.9 mumol.min(-1).mg protein(-1). The enzyme had a pH optimum of approx. 8.5 and did not require metal ions for activity. The enzyme was inhibited by a series of substrate analogues, anthelmintics and plant phenols. The P. redivivus enzyme differs markedly from its mammalian equivalent and suggests distinctive differences in sulphur amino acid metabolism in nematodes.
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PMID:A novel cystathionine beta-synthase from Panagrellus redivivus (Nematoda). 869 99

Similarly as in other inborn metabolic diseases the cause of hyperhomocysteinaemia are interactions between genetically conditioned changes most frequently due to reduced cystathionine-beta synthase activities and negative factors of the external environment. Negative environmental factors include above all a high dietary animal protein consumption which is the main methionine donor and a low intake of protein of plant origin. Another negative factor is a low intake of foods of plant origin. Fruits and vegetables are among others important sources of folic acid and pyridoxine. Substitution therapy with vitamin preparations is essential in homozygotes and in high risk heterozygotes of cystathionine beta-synthase. This treatment is also necessary during the periconception period in hyperhomocysteinaemic fertile women to reduce the risk of neurotubal defects in their future children. So far investigations are lacking which would provide evidence of a reduced risk of ischaemic heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases in isolated treatment of mildly elevated levels of plasma homocysteine. To elucidate the part played by hyperhomocysteinaemia in hastening of the atherogenetic process further studies are essential, focused on the interaction of elevated homocysteine plasma levels, dyslipoproteinaemias, hyperfibrinogenaemia and other metabolic indicators in this process.
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PMID:[Hyperhomocysteinemia]. 870 82

We compared biochemical and molecular methods for the identification of heterozygous carriers of mutations in the cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) gene. Eleven relatives of seven unrelated patients with homocystinuria due to homozygous CBS deficiency and controls were studied with respect to total homocysteine concentrations before and after methionine loading. In addition, we determined CBS activity in cultured skin fibroblasts and tested for the presence of five known mutations by a PCR-based method in these seven patients, their relatives and controls. The results demonstrate that measurement of homocysteine after methionine loading and assay of CBS enzyme activity in cultured fibroblasts identify most but not all heterozygotes. There was significant correlation between homocysteine concentrations and CBS activities only after methionine loading (r = 0.12, 0.48, 0.48 and 0.50 at 0, 4, 6 and 8 h, respectively). Among the homozygous patients, molecular approaches identified five T833C and two G919A mutations out of 14 independent alleles, confirming the studies of others that these represent the two most prevalent mutations. In addition, we found that three of six heterozygotes with the T833 C allele had post-methionine loading homocysteine levels which overlapped with controls and of the other three, one (as well as an obligate heterozygote who did not carry any of the five mutant alleles tested) had CBS activity comparable to that of controls. These findings demonstrate that genotyping is useful as an adjunctive method for the diagnosis of the heterozygous carrier state of CBS deficiency.
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PMID:Molecular and biochemical approaches in the identification of heterozygotes for homocystinuria. 872 13


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