Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
 630,302 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Earlier studies showed that hepatotoxicant-treated experimental animals were more susceptible than controls to the lethal effects of bacterial endotoxin. The exact mechanisms of this effect were not understood. In this paper we showed that nitric oxide (.NO) was produced in whole blood and in liver tissues of rats that had been treated with a nonlethal dose of CCl4 (1.3 g/kg) followed by a low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (100 micrograms/kg). EPR spectroscopy was used in this study to detect nitrosyl-protein complexes. Hemoglobin-nitrosyl complexes were detected in both whole blood and liver. By performing analyses of EPR spectra obtained from hepatocytes exposed to .NO, we were able to identify EPR signals attributable to nitrosyl-cytochrome P420 in rat liver. We found that nitrosyl complex formation in red blood cells and liver was inhibited by treatment with NG-mono-methyl-L-arginine, suggesting enzymatic biosynthesis of .NO. A small but significant inhibition of nitrosyl complex formation by gadolinium trichloride pretreatment was found in the liver, suggesting that Kupffer cells were also involved in .NO biosynthesis, because this treatment decreased Kupffer cells. There was a synergistic effect of CCl4 and LPS on the serum levels of the hepatic enzymes aspartate aminotransferase, alanine amino-transferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and sorbitol dehydrogenase, which are indices of parenchymal cell damage. NG-Mono-methyl-L-arginine treatment increased these hepatic enzyme activities, suggesting a protective role for .NO. EPR resonances at g approximately 2.48, 2.29, and 1.91, due to low-spin cytochromes P450/P420 (FE3+), were decreased in the livers of LPS-induced rats that had been previously treated with CCl4, indicating cytochrome P450/P420 destruction or at least a change in the valence state of the cytochrome P450/P420 heme groups to Fe2+ in the presence of .NO. Because nitrosyl-cytochrome P450 is not stable, the concomitant detection of nitrosyl-cytochrome P420 (Fe2+) could account, at least in part, for the decrease of the ferric low-spin heme groups. Our novel observations of hepatic nitrosyl species suggest that .NO plays an important role during hepatic injury caused by CCl4 in hosts exposed to endotoxin.
Mol Pharmacol 1994 Aug
PMID:Nitric oxide production during endotoxic shock in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats. 807 2

Hepatic serine dehydratase activity was significantly lower in the obese Zucker rats. In both skeletal muscle and kidney adenylate deaminase showed a lower activity in the obese animals. In the small intestine the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase was increased while that of glutamine synthetase was reduced. No changes were found in the enzymatic activities of white adipose tissue while those found in brown adipose tissue were lower for glutamine synthetase. Starvation resulted in increase in liver serine dehydratase in the lean animals and in aspartate transaminase in both lean and obese. Kidney aspartate transaminase and glutamine synthetase were increased with starvation in the lean rats while kidney adenylate deaminase and small intestine glutamine synthetase and branched-chain amino acid transaminase were increased with starvation in the obese animals. In brown adipose tissue starvation caused an increase in branched-chain amino acid transaminase in the lean rats while it significantly lowered the adenylate deaminase and increased branched-chain amino acid transaminase in the obese rats.
Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand) 1993 Jun
PMID:Amino acid metabolism enzyme activities in the obese Zucker rat. 810 Nov 20

Pathophysiological concentrations of ammonia, both in vivo and in vitro, suppressed the oxidation of glutamate by rat cerebellar mitochondria. The transport of glutamate into mitochondria was either unaltered or enhanced during hyperammonemic states. Activities of mitochondrial enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase, glutaminase, and GABA-transaminase were suppressed during hyperammonemic states. Suppression of 14CO2 production with (aminooxy)acetic acid but not with glutamic acid diethyl ester indicated that transamination but not oxidative deamination of glutamate plays a major role in glutamate oxidation during normal and hyperammonemic states.
Mol Chem Neuropathol 1993 Aug
PMID:Transport and metabolism of glutamate by rat cerebellar mitochondria during ammonia toxicity. 810 3

The subunits of the alpha 2-dimeric enzyme aspartate aminotransferase are composed of two distinct domains, one large and one small. The active sites are situated close to both the intersubunit and the interdomain interface. Binding of substrate analogues to the active site induces a large conformational change in the enzyme, whereby the small domain rotates by 13 degrees relative to the large domain and completely buries the ligand. We have determined the crystal structures of chicken mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (mAATase) in two new crystal forms. A comparison of the structures of mAATase in five crystal forms, including both the unliganded and the liganded enzyme, shows that mAATase exists in either one of two unique conformations, with only minimal adaptations to the crystal lattice. This suggests that both the open, unliganded and closed, liganded structure of mAATase are, to a large extent, stabilized by intramolecular interactions, and are consequently representative of functional states of the protein in solution. A 2-fold-symmetric packing interaction between small domains occurring identically in three crystal forms of mAATase is described.
J Mol Biol 1994 Mar 04
PMID:Crystalline mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase exists in only two conformations. 812 Sep 3

We report here the first X-ray studies of the complex of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase from chicken heart with D-aspartate at 2.5 A resolution. Crystals of the complex were grown by cocrystallization (space group is P2(1)2(1)2(1), parameters: a = 62.48 A, b = 117.71 A, c = 124.38 A). They contain one dimeric molecule in the asymmetric unit. The X-ray analysis proves that attachment of D-aspartate induces considerable conformational changes in the active sites of two subunits of the enzyme: both subunits of the complex are in the closed conformation, the interaction of the enzyme with D-aspartate induces a substantial turn (about 90 degrees) of the coenzyme in one subunit, the coenzyme ring is deformed, considerable conformational changes are determined for Phe-18 and Glu-141. Apparently, the amino group of the substrate is a trigger of the conformational changes in the active site of the enzyme.
Mol Biol (Mosk)
PMID:[Study of crystals of aspartate aminotransferase complexed with D-aspartate]. 818 65

Three crystal structures of wild type E. coli aspartate aminotransferase (E.C.2.6.1.1) in space group P2(1) have been determined at resolution limits between 2.6 and 2.35 A. The unliganded enzyme and its complexes with the substrate analogues maleate and 2-methylaspartate resulted in different conformations. The unit cell parameters of the unliganded and the inhibited enzyme are a = 87.2, b = 79.9, c = 89.8 A and beta = 119.1 degrees, and a = 85.4, b = 79.8, c = 89.5 A and beta = 118.6 degrees, respectively. The crystallographic symmetry is pseudo-C222(1). The liganded enzyme structures were solved by difference Fourier techniques from that of a Val39-->Leu mutant partially refined to an R-factor of 0.22 at 2.85 A. They have a "closed" conformation like the chicken mAATase:maleate complex. The models were refined to R-factors of 0.19 (maleate complex) and 0.18 (2-methylaspartate complex) by molecular dynamics and restrained least squares methods. The unliganded crystal form was solved by molecular replacement and refined to an R-factor of 0.19 at 2.5 A resolution. The structure is in a "half-open" conformation, with the small domain rotated about 6 degrees from the closed conformation. The cofactor pyridoxal phosphate has a more relaxed conformation than in mAATase. Both maleate and 2-methylaspartate are hydrogen-bonded to the active site as in mAATase. The C alpha-CH3 bond of 2-methylaspartate is oriented at right angles to the cofactor pyridine ring, the most productive orientation for alpha-deprotonation of the substrate L-aspartate. Comparisons with earlier determined eAATase structures in space group C222(1) revealed differences that can probably be attributed to the somewhat lower resolution of the orthorhombic structures and/or mutations in the eAATases used in those studies. The present P2(1) structures confirm the justification of extrapolating properties of active site point mutants to the vertebrate isozymes. They will serve as reference in the interpretation of the properties of further site-directed mutants in continued studies of structure-function relationships of this enzyme.
J Mol Biol 1994 Jun 03
PMID:Crystal structures of Escherichia coli aspartate aminotransferase in two conformations. Comparison of an unliganded open and two liganded closed forms. 819 59

This review gives an experiment directed survey of the application of linear-dichroism (LD) spectroscopy to the study of proteins. LD spectroscopy is a relatively simple technique that provides information on the orientation of chromophores in molecules, on molecular characteristics such as shape, size and electronic properties, and on binding parameters in molecular complexes. Since LD is only observed when the molecules are non-randomly oriented in the sample, particular attention is paid to various orientation techniques, viz. in electric and flow fields, in polymer films and gels, and by light induction (photoselection). Examples are given on bacteriorhodopsin and retinals, chlorosomes, lens crystallins, aspartate aminotransferase, and the interaction of gene32- and recA-protein with DNA.
Mol Biol Rep 1993 Jun
PMID:Linear-dichroism spectroscopy for the study of structural properties of proteins. 823 93

Asp222 of aspartate aminotransferase is an active-site residue which interacts with the pyridine nitrogen of the coenzyme, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP). The roles of Asp222 in the catalytic mechanism of Escherichia coli aspartate aminotransferase have previously been explored by site-directed mutagenesis. These studies confirmed that a negatively charged residue at position 222 is essential for catalysis, but the reason for this remained speculative. In the present studies, the roles of Asp222 were clarified experimentally by analyzing the mutant D222A enzyme (Asp222 replaced by Ala) reconstituted with the coenzyme analog N(1)-methylated PLP (N-MePLP). Spectroscopic and kinetic analyses showed that Asp222 stabilizes the protonated N(1) of PLP, raising the pKa value of N(1) by more than five units, in the active site of AspAT. The positive charge at N(1) accelerates abstraction of the alpha-proton from the amino acid substrate, stabilizing the transition state by 1.4 to 4.5 kcal.mol-1 in the reaction with aspartate. X-ray crystallographic (2.0 A resolution) and CD spectroscopic studies suggest that the coenzyme analog is not held in a proper orientation within the active site of D222A (N-MePLP). This may account for the finding that the catalytic activity was recovered only partially by the reconstitution of D222A with N-MePLP. These results fully support the following postulated role of Asp222: the negative charge of Asp222 stabilizes the positive charge at N(1) of PLP and thereby enhances the function of PLP as an electron sink.
J Mol Biol 1993 Dec 20
PMID:Role of an active site residue analyzed by combination of mutagenesis and coenzyme analog. 826 22

The effect of testosterone on the precursor mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (pmAAT) gene and on pmAAT-mRNA was studied in rat ventral prostate (VP) and pig prostate epithelial cells. Castration significantly decreased the level of nuclear pmAAT transcripts in VP; whereas testosterone treatment of castrated animals restored the level of pmAAT transcripts. Correspondingly, castration resulted in a marked decrease in the transcription rate of the pmAAT gene; whereas testosterone treatment markedly increased the transcription rate. In vitro studies with isolated pig prostate epithelial cells demonstrated that testosterone directly and rapidly induced a transient increase in the transcription rate of the pmAAT gene. The increase in transcription was associated with an increase in the steady-state level of pmAAT-mRNA. Similar in vitro effects were observed with isolated VP epithelial cells. In addition to its stimulatory effect on transcription of the pmAAT gene, testosterone also increased the half-life of pmAAT-mRNA from 2 h in the absence of hormone to 16 h in its presence. Consequently, testosterone appears to stabilize the pmAAT-mRNA. The combination of its immediate effect on stimulating the transcription of the pmAAT gene and its stabilizing effect on pmAAT-mRNA would account for the increase in the steady-state level of pmAAT-mRNA by testosterone. These studies support our proposal that, through these effects, testosterone increases the biosynthesis of mAAT thereby increasing the transamination of aspartate to oxaloacetate and ultimately increasing the synthesis of citrate. This appears to provide at least one of the mechanisms by which testosterone regulates prostate citrate production.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1993 Jan
PMID:Testosterone regulates mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase gene expression and mRNA stability in prostate. 842 90

The replacement of Lys258 by alanine (K258A) in aspartate aminotransferase reduces the rate constant for the central, 1,3-prototropic shift by 10(6)-10(8)-fold, confirming the role of Lys258 as the general-base catalyst for this step. The rate constant for the 1,3-prototropic shift interconverting K258A aldimine and ketimine intermediates is pH-independent like that of the wild-type enzyme (WT-AATase). K258A binds amino acid substrates in external aldimine intermediates 10(5)-fold more tightly than does WT-AATase. The excess amino acid binding energy observed in the mutant is sacrificed by the WT-AATase in order to increase the value of kcat. The net result is that the kcat/KM values for amino acid substrates are reduced only 3-100-fold by the mutation. This provides a clear example of the Circe effect propounded by Jencks [Jencks, W. P. (1975) Adv. Enzymol. Rel. Areas Mol. Biol. 43, 219]. Part of the increase in kcat due to the inclusion of Lys258 is accomplished by a 10(4)-10(5)-fold acceleration of external aldimine formation and hydrolysis. This step is partially rate-determining for K258A, but not for WT-AATase. A significant consequence of the utilization of amino acid binding energy for catalysis is the raising of the dissociation constants for these substrates to levels near the physiological concentrations of amino acids. The major product of the reaction of K258A with oxalacetate is pyruvate due to decarboxylation of the beta-imine formed in the ketimine intermediate.
 ...
PMID:Lysine 258 in aspartate aminotransferase: enforcer of the Circe effect for amino acid substrates and general-base catalyst for the 1,3-prototropic shift. 843 26


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