Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:6.3.2.3 (glutathione synthetase)
 678 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report a new convenient assay of the activity of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (EC 6.3.2.2) and glutathione synthetase (EC 6.3.2.3) in crude microbial extracts as well as in purified enzyme preparations. The assay is based on the quantitative analysis of the reaction products by high-performance liquid chromatography after derivatization of the thiol group with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) as described by J. Reeve, J. Kuhlenkamp, and N. Kaplowitz [(1980) J. Chromatogr. 194, 424-428]. In addition, the procedure yields information on basal levels of gamma-glutamylcysteine and glutathione in crude microbial extracts. The two enzymes responsible for glutathione biosynthesis can be determined in parallel under the same chromatographic conditions. No prior separation from substrates and by-products is necessary. Product formation is linear with time for at least 30 min between 0.03 and 12 mU for both enzymes. Even in crude extracts 0.2-0.5 nmol of products formed can be detected with certainty. The method was found to be sensitive and highly reproducible.
 ...
PMID:Assay of the glutathione-synthesizing enzymes by high-performance liquid chromatography. 287 17

The activities of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) and glutathione synthetase, the two enzymes responsible for glutathione synthesis, were determined in adult lenses from representative species of eight mammalian orders. Lenses from Old World higher simians, including man, exhibited remarkably low gamma-GCS activity when compared to a prosimian and the other seven orders. In contrast, glutathione synthetase activity was comparable and relatively high in all orders. This, together with knowledge of its known lability and control mechanisms, suggests that gamma-GCS is a critical enzyme in the lens of the aging higher primate, whose very low and rate-limiting activity is a latent factor in the development of age-related cataract.
 ...
PMID:Glutathione synthesis in evolution: an Achilles' heel of human and other old world simian lenses. 287 29

The oxidized form of glutathione transport was studied in human erythrocytes in pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (P5N) deficiency, a disorder in which the amounts of CTP and UTP in the erythrocytes are elevated. The inhibition of ATP-requiring oxidized glutathione (GSSG) transport by CTP and UTP is believed to play a role in elevating the levels of the reduced form of glutathione (GSH) in the erythrocytes of patients with P5N deficiency. The current investigation was undertaken to determine if GSSG transport actually decreases in the erythrocytes of such patients. Erythrocytes from a 17-year-old patient and a 13-year-old patient with P5N deficiency hemolytic anemia and from ten normal subjects were used as materials for the experiment. Erythrocytes, which had been previously incubated with [3H]glycine, were incubated at 37 degrees C, and the rate of [3H]GSSG transported by the cells was estimated. The velocity of GSSG transport out of the erythrocytes was quite low in the patients, 3.17-3.65 nmol GSSG/ml erythrocytes/hr at 37 degrees C in one case, and 3.30 nmol GSSG/ml erythrocytes/hr in the other case, vs that in the normal controls (6.00 +/- 0.80 nmol GSSG/ml erythrocytes/hr; mean +/- SD). The activity of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase and glutathione synthetase did not decrease in the patients. Decreased transport activity of GSSG in addition to a normal synthesis rate for GSH may explain the increased concentration of erythrocyte GSH in P5N deficiency.
 ...
PMID:Erythrocyte-oxidized glutathione transport in pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase deficiency. 288 6

Intracellular concentrations of glutathione and activities of the enzymes gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, glutathione synthetase, and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase were measured in confluent cultured human fibroblasts cell lines from 14 normal cell lines and four cystinotic cell lines. gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase had a wide range of variability while the glutathione synthetic enzymes, gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase and glutathione synthetase, had narrower variations and also exhibited no apparent relationship to glutathione content. No differences in the activities of these enzymes were found between normal and cystinotic cells in confluent cell cultures. The activities of the above enzymes and the cell number and content of glutathione, cystine, DNA, and total protein in two normal and two cystinotic fibroblast cell lines were measured during growth. The following growth-dependency patterns were observed: (1) gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity increased markedly in lag and early log phases in both normal and cystinotic cells and decreased rapidly to low confluent levels thereafter. (2) gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase showed the same wide range of activity noted at confluency but activities decreased in the log phase of growth, a pattern also seen in cystinotic cells. (3) Glutathione synthetase activity remained relatively constant during growth of normal cells but exhibited a peak of activity during lag and early growth of cystinotic cells. (4) Comparative glutathione levels of normal and cystinotic cells were not significantly different and exhibited similar fluctuations with time. (5) The cystine content of normal and cystinotic cells unexpectedly rose to high levels in the lag phase, then decreased to 0.1 nmol 1/2 cystine/mg protein in normal cells and to 0.3 to 1.2 nmol 1/2 cystine/mg protein in cystinotic cells during the log phase. As confluency was approached, normal cell cystine remained at low levels while cystinotic cell cystine rose to characteristically high levels of 50- to 100-fold greater than normal cells at late confluency. These studies extend our understanding of the regulation of glutathione and cystine content in cultured fibroblasts and suggest that glutathione content is closely controlled throughout the cell cycle in the face of varying activities of its anabolic and catabolic enzymes.
 ...
PMID:Glutathione metabolism in normal and cystinotic fibroblasts. 288 73

Schizosaccharomyces pombe synthesize small cadmium-binding peptides cadystin, structure of which is (gamma-Glu-Cys)n-Gly, in response to cadmium. Mutants unable to synthesize cadystin were found in the mutants hypersensitive to cadmium. Some of them lack activity of either gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (EC 6.3.2.2) or glutathione synthetase (EC 6.3.2.3), enzyme involved in glutathione biosynthesis. Some mutants have the same activity levels of these enzymes as wild type has. These results indicate that some steps of cadystin biosynthesis are catalyzed by the enzymes catalyzing glutathione biosynthesis.
 ...
PMID:Isolation of mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe unable to synthesize cadystin, small cadmium-binding peptides. 289 29

The zonal distribution of GSH metabolism was investigated by comparing hepatocytes obtained from the periportal (zone 1) or perivenous (zone 3) region by digitonin/collagenase perfusion. Freshly isolated periportal and perivenous cells had similar viability (dye exclusion, lactate dehydrogenase leakage and ATP content) and GSH content (2.4 and 2.7 mumol/g respectively). During incubation, periportal cells slowly accumulated GSH (0.35 mumol/h per g), whereas in perivenous cells a decrease occurred (-0.14 mumol/h per g). Also, in the presence of either L-methionine or L-cysteine (0.5 mM) periportal hepatocytes accumulated GSH much faster (3.5 mumol/h per g) than did perivenous cells (1.9 mumol/h per g). These periportal-perivenous differences were also found in cells from fasted rats. Efflux of GSH was faster from perivenous cells than from periportal cells, but this difference only explained 10-20% of the periportal-perivenous difference in accumulation. Furthermore, periportal cells accumulated GSH to a plateau 26-40% higher than in perivenous cells. There was no significant difference in gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase or glutathione synthetase activity between the periportal and perivenous cell preparations. The periportal-perivenous difference in GSH accumulation was unaffected by inhibition of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase or by 5 mM-glutamate or -glutamine, but was slightly diminished by 2 mM-L-methionine. This suggests differences between periportal and perivenous cells in their metabolism and/or transport of (sulphur) amino acids. Our results suggest that a lower GSH replenishment capacity of the hepatocytes from the perivenous region may contribute to the greater vulnerability of this region to xenobiotic damage.
 ...
PMID:Glutathione replenishment capacity is lower in isolated perivenous than in periportal hepatocytes. 290 50

Normal human platelets metabolise [3H]-LTA4 into [3H]-LTC4. Platelets from patients with glutathione synthetase deficiency possessing 10-30% of normal levels of cellular glutathione showed marked reduction in capacity to form [3H]-LTC4 (8-10% of normal) even though exogenous reduced glutathione was added to the incubation medium. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of a genetic defect in LTC4 synthetase coupled to a defect in cellular glutathione levels.
 ...
PMID:Human genetic defect in leukotriene C4 synthesis. 302 37

Escherichia coli B glutathione synthetase is composed of four identical subunits; each subunit contains 4 cysteine residues (Cys-122, -195, -222, and -289). We constructed seven different mutant enzymes containing 3, 2, or no cysteine residues/subunit by replacement of cysteine codons with those of alanine in the gsh II gene using site-directed mutagenesis. Three mutant enzymes, Ala289, Ala222/289, Cys-free (Ala122/195/222/289), in which cysteine at residue 289 was replaced with alanine, were not inactivated by 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) (DTNB), while the other four mutants retaining Cys-289 were inactivated at the wild-type rate. From these selective inactivations of mutant enzymes by DTNB, the sulfhydryl group modified by DTNB was unambiguously identified as Cys-289. In this way, Cys-289 was found to be also a target of modification with 2-nitrothiocyanobenzoate and N-ethylmaleimide, while Cys-195 was of p-chloromercuribenzoate. These results suggest that both Cys-195 and Cys-289 were not essential for the activity of the glutathione synthetase, but chemical modification of either one of the two sulfhydryl groups resulted in complete loss of the activity. Replacement of Cys-122 to Ala-122 enhanced the reactivity of Cys-289 with sulfhydryl reagents.
 ...
PMID:Role of cysteine residues in glutathione synthetase from Escherichia coli B. Chemical modification and oligonucleotide site-directed mutagenesis. 304 75

A single acute dose of carbon disulfide (CS2, 5 mmol/kg ip) caused hepatic damage in rats pretreated with phenobarbital. Rats pretreated with phenobarbital and cobaltous chloride (CoCl2, 250 mumol/kg sc) were protected against CS2 induced hepatotoxicity. When single acute doses of CS2 and CoCl2 were given at the same time, however, rats developed a much more severe hepatic lesion than that seen following CS2 alone. Similar cotreatment of CoCl2 with bromobenzene, carbon tetrachloride or thioacetamide did not enhance the hepatotoxicity of these well-studied hepatotoxins. Additionally, other divalent metal salts (CuSO4 and ZnCl2) did not enhance CS2 hepatotoxicity. Hence, the interaction between CS2 and CoCl2 (that results in enhanced CS2 induced hepatic damage) appears to be relatively specific for these two agents. CS2 caused an approximate 50% decrease in hepatic cytochrome P-450 when given alone, but an approximate 85% decrease when given with CoCl2. This observation supports the hypothesis that the breakdown products of cytochrome P-450 heme are responsible for CS2 induced hepatotoxicity. In addition, single doses of CS2 or CoCl2 caused increases of 30 to 60% in hepatic glutathione (GSH), but additive responses were not obtained when the two agents were given at the same time. GSH synthetase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity were inconsistently changed by these treatments, and did not provide a consistent explanation for the increases in GSH. The enhanced hepatotoxicity of CS2 + CoCl2 is not due to changes in hepatic glutathione metabolism.
 ...
PMID:Paradoxical effect of cobaltous chloride on carbon disulfide induced hepatotoxicity in rats. 317 44

Two modes of killing of Escherichia coli by hydrogen peroxide can be distinguished. Mode-one killing is maximal at 1-2 mM; at higher concentrations the killing rate is approximately half-maximal and is independent of H2O2 concentration but first order with respect to exposure time. Mutagenesis and induction of a phage lambda lysogen are similarly affected by H2O2 concentration, with reduced levels of response above 1-2 mM-H2O2. Mutagenesis is not affected by inactivation of umuC. Mode-one killing requires active metabolism during the H2O2 challenge and it results in sfiA-independent filamentation of both cells that survive and those that are killed by the challenge. This mode of killing is enhanced in xth, polA, recA and recB strains; however, it is unaffected by mutations in the nth, uvrA, uvrB, uvrC, uvrD, rep, gyrA, htpR and rel loci. Mode-one killing is normal in strains totally lacking catalase activity (katE, katG), glutathione reductase (gor) or glutathione synthetase (gshB), but enhanced in a strain lacking NADH dehydrogenase (ndh). Mode-one killing is accelerated by the presence of CN- or by an unidentified function that is induced by anoxic growth and is under the control of the fnr locus. A strain carrying both xth and recA mutations and certain polA mutants appear to undergo spontaneous mode-one killing only under aerobic conditions. Taken together, these observations imply that mode-one killing results from DNA damage that normally occurs at a low, non-lethal level during aerobic growth. Models for the resistance to mode-one killing at dose above 1-2 mM-H2O2 will be discussed. Mode-two killing occurs at high concentrations of H2O2 and longer times. It does not require active metabolism, and cells that are killed do not filament, although survivors demonstrate a dose-dependent growth lag followed by a period of filamentation. Mode-two killing is accompanied by enhanced mutagenesis, but strains with DNA repair defects were not observed to be especially sensitive to this mode of killing.
 ...
PMID:Toxicity, mutagenesis and stress responses induced in Escherichia coli by hydrogen peroxide. 330 21


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>