Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:6.3.4.6 (urease)
 7,490 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An automatic enzyme kinetic luminometric method for determination of small quantities of urea in biological fluids and in microdialysates is presented. The method is based on the ATP-hydrolyzing urease reaction [urea amidohydrolase (ATP-hydrolyzing); EC 3.5.1.45], monitored by a luciferin-luciferase ATP reaction. The assay range is 100 pmol to 50 nmol with a detection limit of 5 micromol/L in the sample, compared with detection limits of 0.1 mmol/L in earlier spectrophotometric methods. To reduce the non-urea-dependent ATPase activity (v(blank)) and to increase the urea-dependent activity, 1,2-propanediol was included. Assay conditions were optimized by multivariate analysis. Recoveries of urea added to blood dialysate and plasma were 96-103%. No analytical interference of common metabolites, drugs, or other additives was observed. The total CVs (6 days and six concentrations, 1.2-21.8 mmol/L) were 3.6-8.5%. The results obtained with the present assay were highly correlated for dialysate (r = 0.979) and for plasma (r = 0.978) with those obtained by a spectrophotometric kit method with slopes of 1.02-1.03 and intercepts of 0.08-0.23 mmol/L.
 ...
PMID:Luminometric single step urea assay using ATP-hydrolyzing urease. 973 85

Hydantoinases are valuable enzymes for the production of optically pure D- and L-amino acids. They catalyse the reversible hydrolytic ring cleavage of hydantoin or 5'-monosubstituted hydantoins and are therefore classified in the EC nomenclature as cyclic amidases (EC 3.5.2.). In the EC nomenclature, four different hydantoin-cleaving enzymes are described: dihydropyrimidinase (3.5.2.2), allantoinase (EC 3.5.2.5), carboxymethylhydantoinase (EC 3.5.2.4), and N-methylhydantoinase (EC 3.5.2.14). Beside these, other hydantoinases with known metabolic functions, such as imidase and carboxyethylhydantoinase and enzymes with unknown metabolic function, are described in the literature and have not yet been classified. An important question is whether the distinct hydantoinases, which are frequently classified as L-, D-, and non-selective hydantoinases depending on their substrate specificity and stereoselectivity, are related to each other. In order to investigate the evolutionary relationship, amino acid sequence data can be used for a phylogenetic analysis. Although most of these enzymes only share limited sequence homology (identity < 15%) and therefore are only distantly related, it can be shown (i) that most of them are members of a broad set of amidases with similarities to ureases and build a protein superfamily, whereas ATP-dependent hydantoinases are not related, (ii) that the urease-related amidases have evolved divergently from a common ancestor and (iii) that they share a metal-binding motif consisting of conserved histidine residues. The difference in enantioselectivity used for the classification of hydantoinases on the basis of their biotechnological value does not reflect their evolutionary relationship, which is to a more diverse group of enzymes than was assumed earlier. This protein superfamily probably has its origin in the prebiotic conditions of the primitive earth.
 ...
PMID:Microbial hydantoinases--industrial enzymes from the origin of life? 1022 78

Characterization of a series of urease-negative transposon mutations of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae revealed that many of the mutants had insertions 2 to 4 kbp upstream of the urease gene cluster. A 5-kbp upstream region of DNA was sequenced and found to contain six open reading frames (ORFs) transcribed in the same orientation as the urease genes. As well, a partial ORF, apuR, 202 bp upstream of these six ORFs, is transcribed in the opposite orientation. The predicted product of this partial ORF shows homology with many members of the LysR family of transcriptional regulators. Five of the ORFs (cbiKLMQO) appear to form an operon encoding a putative nickel and cobalt periplasmic permease system. The cbiM and cbiQ genes encode proteins that have sequence similarity with known cobalt transport membrane proteins, and the cbiO gene encodes a cobalt transport ATP-binding protein homologue. The product of the cbiK gene is predicted to be the periplasmic-binding-protein component of the system, though it does not show any sequence similarity with CbiN, the cobalt-binding periplasmic protein. Escherichia coli clones containing this putative transport operon together with the urease genes of A. pleuropneumoniae were urease positive when grown in unsupplemented Luria-Bertani broth, whereas a clone containing only the minimal urease gene cluster required the addition of high concentrations of NiCl(2) for full urease activity. This result supports the hypothesis that nickel is a substrate for this permease system. The sixth ORF, utp, appears to encode an integral membrane protein which has significant sequence identity with mammalian urea transport proteins, though its function in A. pleuropneumoniae remains to be determined.
 ...
PMID:Novel genes affecting urease acivity in Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. 1115 36

Helicobacter pylori can transform, in vivo as well as in vitro, from dividing spiral-shaped forms into nonculturable coccoids, with intermediate forms called U forms. The importance of nonculturable coccoid forms of H. pylori in disease transmission and antibiotic treatment failures is unclear. Metabolic activities of actively growing as well as nonculturable H. pylori were investigated by comparing the concentrations of cellular ATP and total RNA, gene expression, presence of cytoplasmic polyphosphate granules and iron inclusions, and cellular morphology during extended broth culture and nutritional cold starvation. In addition, the effect of exposing broth-cultured or cold-starved cells to a nutrient-rich or acidic environment on the metabolic activities was investigated. ATP was detectable up to 14 days and for at least 25 days after transformation from the spiral form to the coccoid form or U form in broth-cultured and cold-starved cells, respectively. mRNAs of VacA, a 26-kDa protein, and urease A were detected by using reverse transcription-PCR in cells cultured for 2 months in broth or cold starved for at least 28 months. The ATP concentration was not affected during exposure to fresh or acidified broth, while 4- to 12-h exposures of nonculturable cells to lysed human erythrocytes increased cellular ATP 12- to 150-fold. Incubation of nonculturable cold-starved cells with an erythrocyte lysate increased total RNA expression and ureA mRNA transcription as measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Furthermore, the number of structurally intact starved coccoids containing polyphosphate granules increased almost fourfold (P = 0.0022) under the same conditions. In conclusion, a specific environmental stimulus can induce ATP, polyphosphate, and RNA metabolism in nonculturable H. pylori, indicating viability of such morphological forms.
 ...
PMID:Effect of cold starvation, acid stress, and nutrients on metabolic activity of Helicobacter pylori. 1177 3

We established an enzymatic assay for measurement of serum urea nitrogen using urea amidolyase (EC 3.5.1.45) from yeast species. The method is based on hydrolysis of urea by the enzyme. In this assay, we eliminated endogenous ammonium ion by use of glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.4). Then in the presence of urea amido-lyase, ATP, bicarbonate, magnesium, and potassium ions, ammonium ion was produced proportionally to urea concentration in serum. The concentra-tion of ammonium ion formed was determined by adding GLDH to produce NADP(+) in the presence of 2-oxoglutarate and NADPH. We then monitored the change of absorbance at 340 nm. The inhibitory effect of calcium ion on this assay was eliminated by adding glyco-letherdiamine-N, N, N', N'-tetraacetic acid to the reaction system. The with-in-assay coefficient of variations (CVs) of the present method were 1.80-3.76% (n = 10) at 2.8-19.0 mmol/L, respectively. The day-to-day CVs were 2.23-4.59%. Analytical recovery was 92-115%. The presence of ascorbic acid, bilirubin, hemoglobin, lipemic material, ammo-nium ion, or calcium ion did not affect this assay system. The correlation be-tween values obtained with the present method (y) and those by another enzy-matic method (x) was 0.997 (y = 1.02x - 0.10 mmol/L, Sy/x = 0.841, n = 100), with a mean difference of -0.18 +/- 0.86 mmol/L [(values by reference method - that of present method) +/- SD] using the Bland-Altman technique. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 17:52-56, 2003.
 ...
PMID:New enzymatic assay for serum urea nitrogen using urea amidolyase. 1264 Jun 27

The biotin carboxylase family is comprised of a group of enzymes that utilize a covalently bound prosthetic group, biotin, as a cofactor. These enzymes, which include acetyl-CoA carboxylase, pyruvate carboxylase, propionyl-CoA carboxylase, methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase, geranoyl-CoA carboxylase, oxaloacetate decarboxylase, methylmalonyl-CoA decarboxylase, transcarboxylase and urea amidolyase, are found in diverse biosynthetic pathways in both pro-karyotes and eukaryotes. The reactions catalyzed by most members of this group of enzymes share two common features: (1) carboxylation of biotin, apparently via the formation of a carboxyphosphate intermediate, followed by (2) transcarboxylation of CO(2) from biotin to specific acceptor molecules to yield different products. Structural determinations by NMR and X-ray crystallography, complemented by mutagenesis studies, have identified some motifs that are structurally or catalytically important. Analysis of the amino acid sequences of a number of biotin carboxylases not only shows remarkable similarities within certain domains but also that there appears to have been domain rearrangements between groups of carboxylases. Acyl-coenzyme A derivatives, which bind either as substrates or as allosteric regulators of the biotin carboxylases, do not appear to share any of the CoA binding motifs that have been identified in other CoA-SH/acyl-CoA binding proteins. Further comparisons of biotin-dependent carboxylases with other groups of enzymes in the protein data bank reveal that this family of biotin enzymes has strong similarities in specific domains to a number of ATP-utilizing enzymes and to the lipoyl-containing enzymes. These structural homologies are so extensive as to be highly suggestive of evolutionary relationships between biotin carboxylases and these other enzymes.
 ...
PMID:The biotin enzyme family: conserved structural motifs and domain rearrangements. 1276 20

We identified the first prokaryotic urea carboxylase (UCA) from a member of the alpha subclass of the class Proteobacteria, Oleomonas sagaranensis. This enzyme (O. sagaranensis Uca) was composed of 1,171 amino acids, and its N-terminal region resembled the biotin carboxylase domains of various biotin-dependent carboxylases. The C-terminal region of the enzyme harbored the Met-Lys-Met motif found in biotin carboxyl carrier proteins. The primary structure of the enzyme was 45% identical to that of the urea carboxylase domain of urea amidolyase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. O. sagaranensis Uca did not harbor the allophanate hydrolase domain found in the yeast enzyme, but a separate gene with structural similarity was found to be adjacent to the uca gene. Purified recombinant O. sagaranensis Uca displayed ATP-dependent carboxylase activity towards urea (V(max) = 21.2 micro mol mg(-1) min(-1)) but not towards acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) and propionyl-CoA, indicating that the gene encoded a bona fide UCA and not an acetyl-CoA or propionyl-CoA carboxylase. The enzyme also exhibited high levels of activity towards acetamide and formamide. Kinetic parameters of the enzyme reaction were determined with ATP, urea, acetamide, and formamide. O. sagaranensis could grow on urea, acetamide, and formamide as sole nitrogen sources; moreover, ATP-dependent urea-degrading activity was found in cells grown with urea but not in cells grown with ammonia. The results suggest that the UCA of this organism may be involved in the assimilation of these compounds as nitrogen sources. Furthermore, orthologues of the O. sagaranensis uca gene were found to be widely distributed among Bacteria. This implies that there are two systems of urea degradation in Bacteria, a pathway catalyzed by the previously described ureases and the UCA-allophanate hydrolase pathway identified in this study.
 ...
PMID:Enzymatic characterization of a prokaryotic urea carboxylase. 1509 Apr 90

Microorganisms may have a role in the pathogenesis and prevention of kidney stones. The subjects of this review include nanobacteria, Oxalobacter formigenes, and lactic acid bacteria. Not reviewed here is the well-described role of infections of the urinary tract with Proteus species and other urease-producing organisms associated with struvite stone formation. Nanobacteria have been proposed to be very small (0.08-0.5 nm), ubiquitous organisms that could play a role in stone formation. The theory is that nanobacteria can nucleate carbonate apatite on their surfaces and thereby provide the nidus for stone formation. However, their existence remains uncertain and many investigators are openly skeptical. Recent investigations suggest that they are artifacts, and not actually living organisms, but their proponents continue to study them. O. formigenes is an obligate anaerobe which may be important in the prevention of stone formation. Its sole substrate for generation of ATP is oxalate. It may thereby metabolize its human host's dietary oxalate and diminish intestinal absorption and subsequent urinary excretion of oxalate. There is evidence that the organism's absence, perhaps sometimes due to courses of antibiotics, may be a cause of hyperoxaluria and stone formation. In early investigations, patients not colonized with the organism can be recolonized. Urinary oxalate can be diminished by accompanying an oxalate-containing meal with the organism. One study demonstrated that a preparation of lactic acid bacteria successfully reduced urinary oxalate excretion in 6 patients with calcium oxalate stones and hyperoxaluria. The mechanism of this effect is uncertain since these bacteria lacked the gene possessed by O. formigenes which codes for that organism's oxalate uptake mechanism. The author is currently completing a small randomized controlled clinical trial with this preparation in calcium stone-forming patients with idiopathic hyperoxaluria.
 ...
PMID:Microorganisms and calcium oxalate stone disease. 1549 15

The first prokaryotic urea carboxylase has previously been purified and characterized from Oleomonas sagaranensis. As the results indicated the presence of an ATP-dependent urea degradation pathway in Bacteria, the characterization of the second component of this pathway, allophanate hydrolase, was carried out. The gene encoding allophanate hydrolase was found adjacent to the urea carboxylase gene. The purified, recombinant enzyme exhibited ammonia-generating activity towards allophanate, and, together with urea carboxylase, efficiently produced ammonia from urea in an ATP-dependent manner. The substrate specificity of the enzyme was strict, and analogs of allophanate were not hydrolyzed. Moreover, although the urea carboxylase exhibited carboxylase activity towards urea, acetamide, and formamide, ammonia-releasing activity of the two enzymes combined was detected only towards urea, indicating that the pathway was specific for urea degradation.
 ...
PMID:Allophanate hydrolase of Oleomonas sagaranensis involved in an ATP-dependent degradation pathway specific to urea. 1579 80

Bioremediation of a refinery sludge containing hydrocarbons in a semi-arid climate using landfarming techniques is described. The objective of this study was to assess the ability of this technique to reduce the total hydrocarbon content added to the soil with the refinery sludge in semiarid climate (low rain and high temperature). In addition, we have evaluated the effect of this technique on the microbial activity of the soil involved. For this, biological parameters (carbon fractions, microbial biomass carbon, basal respiration and ATP) and biochemical parameters(different enzymatic activities) were determined. The results showed that 80% of the hydrocarbons were eliminated in eleven months, half of this reduction taking place during the first three months. The labile carbon fractions, MBC, basal respiration and ATP of the soils submitted to landfarming showed higher values than the control soil during the first months of the process, although these values fell down by the end of the experimental period as the hydrocarbons were degraded by mineralisation. All the enzymatic activities studied: oxidoreductases such as dehydrogenase activity, and hydrolases of C(beta-glucosidase activity) and N Cycle (urease and protease) showed higher values in the soils amended with the refinery sludge than in the control. As in the case of the previous parameters, these value fell down as the bioremediation of the hydrocarbons progressed, many of them reaching levels similar to those of the control soil after eleven months.
 ...
PMID:Bioremediation of oil refinery sludge by landfarming in semiarid conditions: influence on soil microbial activity. 1582 Jul 24


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>