Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:6.3.4.6 (urease)
7,490 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A method for the detection and confirmation of heavy metal toxicants in sediment elutriates based on a urease inhibition assay, ICP-AES analysis and EDTA chelation in the frame of toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) is presented. Zinc was identified as the major toxicant in pHstat elutriates of sediments of the river Saale (Germany). Implications of natural and anthropogenic chelating agents, which are frequently present in environmental samples, on toxicity confirmation of heavy metals based on the toxic unit approach are discussed.
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PMID:Urease inhibition: a tool for toxicity identification in sediment elutriates. 1071 74

The present study was made to isolate and assess some physiological characteristics of root nodule-colonizing fungi. During this study, 17 fungal species were isolated from root nodule samples taken from faba bean plants (Vicia faba L.) collected from different sites at Assiut area (Egypt). The growth of faba bean plants in pots was significantly promoted by soil inoculation with most fungi. Growth was checked in pots with inocula of Cladosporium cladosporioides, Fusarium moniliforme, F: oxysporium, F solani, Macrophominia phaseolina and Rhizoctonia solani which were added separately. All growth-promoting fungi were capable of producing cellulase, pectin lyase, polygalacturonase, protease, urease, amidase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and arylsulfatase in growth medium supplemented with the corresponding substrates. Four fungal species, Aspergillus awamori, A. flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum and Trichoderma koningii showed the highest rates of enzyme formation. The effect of the addition of six trace elements to the growth media at 30 micromol/ml on enzyme production revealed some dependency on species, enzyme and metal ion. Cd2+, Hg2+ and Zn2+ generally inhibited enzyme activity. Cu(1+), Fe3+ and Al3+ showed a stimulatory effect. Fungicides (afugan and tilt) and herbicides (brominal and fusilade) at 50 ppm generally promoted enzyme activity, but insecticides (kelthane and fenvalerate) caused some inhibition to enzyme activities. Salinization of the growth media with NaCl strongly inhibited the enzymatic activity of all fungi at concentrations between 0.5 and 1.5%.
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PMID:Physiological aspects of fungi isolated from root nodules of faba bean (Vicia faba L.). 1077 56

The nickel-containing enzyme urease is an essential colonization factor of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, as it allows the bacterium to survive the acidic conditions in the gastric mucosa. Although urease can represents up to 10% of the total protein content of H. pylori, expression of urease genes is thought to be constitutive. Here it is demonstrated that H. pylori regulates the expression and activity of its urease enzyme as a function of the availability of the cofactor nickel. Supplementation of brucella growth medium with 1 or 100 microM NiCl(2) resulted in up to 3.5-fold-increased expression of the urease subunit proteins UreA and UreB and up to 12-fold-increased urease enzyme activity. The induction was specific for nickel, since the addition of cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, or zinc did not affect the expression of urease. Both Northern hybridization studies and a transcriptional ureA::lacZ fusion demonstrated that the observed nickel-responsive regulation of urease is mediated at the transcriptional level. Mutation of the HP1027 gene, encoding the ferric uptake regulator (Fur), did not affect the expression of urease in unsupplemented medium but reduced the nickel induction of urease expression to only twofold. This indicates that Fur is involved in the modulation of urease expression in response to nickel. These data demonstrate nickel-responsive regulation of H. pylori urease, a phenomenon likely to be of importance during the colonization and persistence of H. pylori in the gastric mucosa.
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PMID:Nickel-responsive induction of urease expression in Helicobacter pylori is mediated at the transcriptional level. 1144 65

Obstacles continue to hinder in vitro studies of the gastric human pathogen Helicobacter pylori, including difficulty culturing the organism in the absence of serum or blood, rapid loss of viability following exponential growth due to autolysis, and the necessity for using high starting inocula. We demonstrate that H. pylori grows in the chemically defined broth medium Ham's F-12 nutrient mixture (F-12) in the absence of fetal bovine serum (FBS); this represents a breakthrough for studies in which serum components or proteins interfere with interpretation of results. Cultures can be continually passaged in fresh, FBS-free F-12 medium at an initial inoculum of only approximately 10(3) CFU/ml. All H. pylori strains (n = 21), including fresh clinical isolates, grew in serum-free F-12. H. pylori grew poorly in the related medium, F-10, unless additional zinc was supplied. Enhanced growth of H. pylori in F-12 broth was obtained by addition of bovine serum albumin (BSA) (1 mg/ml), beta-cyclodextrin (200 microg/ml), or cholesterol (50 microg/ml). H. pylori also grew in several simplified versions of F-12 broth lacking glucose and most vitamins but containing hypoxanthine, pyruvate, and all 20 amino acids. On F-12 medium solidified with agar, H. pylori only grew when BSA (98% pure; 1 mg/ml), cholesterol (50 microg/ml), beta-cyclodextrin (200 microg/ml), or FBS (2 to 4%) was added; addition of urea and phenol allowed colorimetric detection of urease activity. Thus, F-12 agar plus cholesterol or beta-cyclodextrin represents the first transparent chemically defined agar and the first urease indicator agar for H. pylori. Several lines of evidence suggested that BSA itself is not responsible for H. pylori growth enhancement in F-12 containing BSA or FBS. Taken together, these innovations represent significant advances in the cultivation and recovery of H. pylori using chemically defined media. Use of F-12 or its derivatives may lead to improved understanding of H. pylori metabolism, virulence factors, and transmission, and result in improved recovery and identification of H. pylori from clinical specimens.
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PMID:Helicobacter pylori growth and urease detection in the chemically defined medium Ham's F-12 nutrient mixture. 1168 96

Canatoxin is a toxic protein from Canavalia ensiformis seeds, lethal to mice (LD(50)=2 mg/kg) and insects. Further characterization of canatoxin showed that its main native form (184 kDa) is a non-covalently linked dimer of a 95 kDa polypeptide containing zinc and nickel. Partial sequencing of internal peptides indicated homology with urease (EC 3.5.1.5) from the same seed. Canatoxin has approx. 30% of urease's activity for urea, and K(m) of 2-7 mM. The proteins differ in their affinities for metal ions and were separated by affinity chromatography on a Zn(2+) matrix. Similar to canatoxin, urease activates blood platelets and interacts with glycoconjugates. In contrast with canatoxin, no lethality was seen in mice injected with urease (10 mg/kg). Pretreatment with p-hydroxymercuribenzoate irreversibly abolished the ureolytic activity of both proteins. On the other hand, p-hydroxymercuribenzoate-treated canatoxin was still lethal to mice, and both treated proteins were fully active in promoting platelet aggregation and binding to glycoconjugates. Taken together, our data indicate that canatoxin is a variant form of urease. Moreover, we show for the first time that these proteins display several biological effects that are unrelated to their enzymic activity for urea.
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PMID:Canatoxin, a toxic protein from jack beans (Canavalia ensiformis), is a variant form of urease (EC 3.5.1.5): biological effects of urease independent of its ureolytic activity. 1169 10

Coccidioides immitis, the causative agent of San Joaquin Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis), produces a urease which has been suggested to contribute to the virulence of this fungal pathogen. Urease catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea and has been proposed to at least partly account for alkalinity of the microenvironment in which C. immitis grows due to the release of ammonia and ammonium ions. The C. immitis urease was purified to homogeneity (1048-fold) from the mycelial cytosol by chromatographic fractionation. The sequence of 12 N-terminal amino-acid residues of the purified, native polypeptide was identical to that predicted by the translated urease gene sequence which has been reported. The isolated enzyme exhibited a specific activity in the presence of urea of 1750 micromol min(-1) mg(-1) protein, has a native molecular mass of 450 kDa, revealed a Km for urea of 4.1 mM, had a pH optimum of 8.0 and is heat stable. Hydroxyurea, acetohydroxamic acid (AHA) and boric acid each inhibited activity of the purified enzyme. Urease activity was enhanced by the presence of 5-10 mM concentrations of Mg2+ or Mn2+, but inhibited by Li+, Ni2+, Cu2+ or Zn2+. The reversible urease inhibitor, AHA, blocked enzyme activity in the crude mycelial cytosolic fraction when added at a concentration of 10 mM. On the other hand, 10 mM AHA added to 4-day-old mycelial cultures only partially decreased the amount of ammonium detected in the culture medium. It is evident, therefore, that C. immitis urease activity does not account for the total amount of ammonia secreted during in vitro growth of the pathogen. Other metabolic sources of ammonia, which may also contribute to the virulence of C. immitis, are under investigation.
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PMID:Purification and characterization of urease isolated from the pathogenic fungus Coccidioides immitis. 1186 12

The present study describes the cloning, isolation, and thorough biochemical characterization of UreE from Bacillus pasteurii, a novel protein putatively involved in the transport of Ni in the urease assembly process. A DNA fragment of the B. pasteurii urease operon, containing all four accessory genes (ureE, ureF, ureG, and ureD) required for the incorporation of Ni ions into the active site of urease, was cloned, sequenced, and analyzed. B. pasteurii ureE was cloned, and the UreE protein (BpUreE) was over-expressed and purified to homogeneity. The identity of the recombinant protein was determined by N- and C-terminal sequencing and by mass spectrometry. BpUreE has a chain length of 147 amino acids, and features a p I value of 4.7. As isolated, BpUreE contains one Zn(II) ion per dimer, while no Ni(II) is present, as shown by mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy. BpUreE behaves as a dimer independently of the presence of Zn(II), as shown by gel filtration and mass spectrometry. Paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy on concentrated (2 mM) UreE solutions reveals a one Ni atom per tetramer stoichiometry, with the Ni(II) ion bound to histidines in an octahedral coordination environment. BpUreE has a high sequence similarity with UreE proteins isolated from different biological sources, while no sequence homology is observed with proteins belonging to different classes. In particular, BpUreE is most similar to UreE from Bacillus halodurans (55% identity). A multiple sequence alignment reveals the presence of four strictly conserved residues (Leu55, Gly97, Asn98, His100; BpUreE numbering), in addition to position 115, conservatively occupied by an Asp or a Glu residue. Several secondary structure elements, including a betaalphabetabetaalphabeta "ferredoxin-like" motif, are highly conserved throughout the UreE sequences.
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PMID:Molecular characterization of Bacillus pasteurii UreE, a metal-binding chaperone for the assembly of the urease active site. 1207 68

Human renal dipeptidase is a membrane-bound glycoprotein hydrolyzing dipeptides and is involved in hydrolytic metabolism of penem and carbapenem beta-lactam antibiotics. The crystal structures of the saccharide-trimmed enzyme are determined as unliganded and inhibitor-liganded forms. They are informative for designing new antibiotics that are not hydrolyzed by this enzyme. The active site in each of the (alpha/beta)(8) barrel subunits of the homodimeric molecule is composed of binuclear zinc ions bridged by the Glu125 side-chain located at the bottom of the barrel, and it faces toward the microvillar membrane of a kidney tubule. A dipeptidyl moiety of the therapeutically used cilastatin inhibitor is fully accommodated in the active-site pocket, which is small enough for precise recognition of dipeptide substrates. The barrel and active-site architectures utilizing catalytic metal ions exhibit unexpected similarities to those of the murine adenosine deaminase and the catalytic domain of the bacterial urease.
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PMID:Crystal structure of human renal dipeptidase involved in beta-lactam hydrolysis. 1214 77

D-Aminoacylase is an attractive candidate for commercial production of D-amino acids through its catalysis in the zinc-assistant hydrolysis of N-acyl-D-amino acids. We report here the cloning, expression, and structural-based mutation of the D-aminoacylase from Alcaligenes faecalis DA1. A 1,007-bp PCR product amplified with degenerate primers, was used to isolate a 4-kb genomic fragment, encoding a 484-residue D-aminoacylase. The enzyme amino-terminal segment shared significant homology within a variety of enzymes including urease. The structural fold was predicted by 3D-PSSM to be similar to urease and dihydroorotase, which have grouped into a novel alpha/beta-barrel amidohydrolase superfamily with a virtually indistinguishable binuclear metal centers containing six ligands, four histidines, one aspartate, and one carboxylated lysine. Three histidines, His-67, His-69, and His-250, putative metal ligands in D-aminoacylase, have been mutated previously, the remaining histidine (His-220) and aspartate (Asp-366) Asp-65, and four cysteines were then characterized. Substitution of Asp-65, Cys-96, His-220, and Asp-366 with alanine abolished the enzyme activity. The H220A mutant bound approximately half the normal complement of zinc ion as did H250N. However, the C96A mutant showed little zinc-binding ability, revealing that Cys-96 may replace the carboxylated lysine to serve as a bridging ligand. According to the urease structure, the conserved amino-terminal segment including Asp-65 may be responsible for structural stabilization.
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PMID:Structural-based mutational analysis of D-aminoacylase from Alcaligenes faecalis DA1. 1238 38

A sensitive dip-and-read test strip for the determination of mercury in aqueous samples based on the inhibition of urease reaction by the ion has been developed. The strip has a circular sensing zone that containing two layers: the top layer is a cellulose acetate membrane where urease is immobilized on it; the bottom layer is a pH indicator wafer that is impregnated with urea. The principle of the measurement is based on the disappearance of a yellow spot on the pH indicator wafer. The elapsing time until the disappearance of the spot which depends on the concentration of mercury(II) ion is measured with a stopwatch. Under the experimental conditions, as low as 0.2 ng/ml mercury can be observed with the detection range from 0.2 to 200 ng/ml in water. Organomercury compounds give essentially the same response as inorganic mercury. Heavy-metal ions such as Ag(I), Cu(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), and Pb(II) as well as other sample matrixes basically do not interfere with the mercury measurement.
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PMID:A dip-and-read test strip for the determination of mercury(II) ion in aqueous samples based on urease activity inhibition. 1245 6


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