Acyl-CoA oxidase from Candida tropicalis

Peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidase multigene family of the yeast Candida tropicalis; nucleotide sequence of a third gene and its protein product

We have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of gene POX2, which encodes one of the major peroxisomal polypeptides (PXPs) of Candida tropicalis. POX2 is linked to gene POX4, which codes for a subunit (PXP-4) of long-chain acyl-CoA oxidase. Southern blot analysis revealed that POX2 had a significant homology to POX4, and also to gene POX5 which encodes a subunit (PXP-5) of the isozyme of acyl-CoA oxidase. PXP-2, the protein product of POX2, was co-purified with PXP-4 from the isolated peroxisomes. PXP-2 itself was a flavoprotein and likely to form an equimolar complex with PXP-4, although its enzymatic activity was uncertain. POX2 corresponds to a single open reading frame of 724 amino acids and has no introns. The N-terminal sequence and the calculated Mr of the deduced polypeptide were consistent with those of isolated PXP-2. The primary structure was highly homologous to those of PXP-4 and PXP-5 in respect of the amino acid sequence and the hydropathy profile. We conclude that POX2 is a third gene of the peroxisomal acyl-COA oxidase multigene family.

Two acyl-coenzyme A oxidases in peroxisomes of the yeast Candida tropicalis: primary structures deduced from genomic DNA sequence

We report the complete nucleotide sequence of two genes encoding major peroxisomal polypeptides (PXPs) of Candida tropicalis. One, POX4, encodes PXP-4, which is the most abundant polypeptide in cells grown on oleic acid, and the other, POX5, is the gene for PXP-5. Each of the two polypeptides was found to be the subunit of a distinct long-chain acyl-coenzyme A oxidase: acyl-CoA oxidase II (PXP-4) or acyl-CoA oxidase I (PXP-5). Both the genes had no intron and gave a single open reading frame. The NH2-terminal sequences, except the initiator methionine, and the calculated molecular weights of the deduced polypeptides were consistent with those of the respective PXPs. Well-conserved sequences of 12 and 16 hydrophobic amino acids were present in the middle of the polypeptide, instead of at the NH2 terminus, and may be internal signal sequences for the peroxisomal location of PXPs. Although the two polypeptides were significantly homologous throughout their sequences, the local homologies in two regions out of five were markedly diverged from the average (63%); the homology in the second region was 93%, whereas that in the fourth one was only 24%. The implications of this finding are discussed in respect to the multiplicity of peroxisomal enzymes and the presence of multifunctional proteins in peroxisomes.

Decrease of valproate-induced hyperammonemia in normal subjects by lipid ingestion

Sodium valproate (VPA), a branched short-chain fatty acid, always causes a hyperammonemia of renal origin in fasting man. The intake of medium-length, straight-chain fatty acids abolishes the VPA-induced hyperammonemia, and VPA free fraction increases concomitantly. Accordingly, fatty acids could be useful in preventing and treating hyperammonemia-accompanied stuporous states which are complications of VPA medication.

Cloning of cDNA coding for peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase from the yeast Candida tropicalis pK233

Candida tropicalis pK233 cells were grown with n-alkanes as carbon source to induce the synthesis of peroxisomal proteins and the proliferation of peroxisomes. Poly-(A)+ RNA was isolated and used to construct a cDNA library by insertion of double-stranded reverse transcripts into the Pst I site of pBR322 followed by cloning in Escherichia coli. Clones complementary to mRNAs induced by growth on alkanes were selected by differential DNA dot-blot analysis using [32P]cDNA reverse-transcribed from poly(A)+ RNA of glucose-grown cells (which contain few peroxisomes) or of alkane-grown cells. Among these clones, one containing a 1.7-kilobase insert coding for acyl-CoA oxidase (the first enzyme in the peroxisomal Beta-oxidation pathway) was identified by hybridization-selection translation and immunoprecipitation. By RNA blot analysis, the acyl-CoA oxidase mRNA was estimated to be approximately equal to 2.2 kilobases long, of which 2.1 kilobases are required to code for the approximately equal to 76-kDa protein. Since the mRNA is polyadenylylated, there appears to be little additional nontranslated region. Cell-free mRNA translation and RNA dot-blot hybridization analyses demonstrated that, whereas glucose-grown C. tropicalis contained little or no acyl-CoA oxidase mRNA, alkane-grown cells contained so much of this mRNA as to make acyl-CoA oxidase one of the major in vitro translation products.

Peroxisomal beta-oxidation system of Candida tropicalis. Purification of a multifunctional protein possessing enoyl-CoA hydratase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA epimerase activities

A multifunctional protein from oleate-grown cells of Candida tropicalis has been purified and partially characterized. A simple two-step purification has been developed involving ion-exchange chromatography followed by dye-ligand chromatography on blue Sepharose CL-6B. Homogeneous enzyme with a subunit Mr of 102 000 is obtained in 60% yield. The native relative molecular mass, determined by three different methods, yielded values which suggest that the enzyme is dimeric. Sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified protein revealed a single polypeptide band and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography indicated a single component suggesting that this protein may consist either of two identical or very similar subunits. Three beta-oxidation activities, enoyl-CoA hydratase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA epimerase, co-purified with this protein. The ratio of the three beta-oxidation enzyme activities remained constant during purification and was unchanged by additional chromatographic methods (adsorption and affinity chromatography), thus indicating the multifunctional nature of this protein. Enzymatic staining of the purified protein for 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and epimerase, following electrophoresis in a polyacrylamide density gradient, further supported the multifunctionality of this protein. After isopycnic centrifugation of a particulate fraction from oleate-grown cells in a linear sucrose gradient the activities of all individual beta-oxidation enzymes cosedimented with catalase and with the glyoxylate bypass enzymes. This result demonstrated the peroxisomal localization of the multifunctional enzyme. The relationship of this multifunctional protein to the two bifunctional beta-oxidation enzymes isolated from peroxisomes of rat liver and from glyoxysomes of cucumber seeds is discussed.

The effects of streptozotocin diabetes on tissue specific lipase activities in the rat

Fasting in normal rats produced a fall in hepatic triglyceride lipase (H-TGL) activity as well as lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities of adipose tissue and psoas minor muscle. On the other hand, LPL activities of heart and diaphragm were not decreased by fasting; the former, in fact, was increased significantly. Changes in tissue specific lipase activity caused by withdrawal of insulin from insulin-treated diabetic animals paralleled in direction the changes induced by starvation of normal rats. Furthermore, it was shown in the present paper that the tissue specific lipase activity of diabetic rats became stuck in the starve phase of the starve-feed cycle regardless of dietary intake. The changes of the tissue specific lipase activities, especially of liver, adipose tissue and heart, appeared to coincide with those of plasma insulin levels. These results strongly suggest that the tissue specific lipase system is under hormonal regulation by insulin. Streptozotocin diabetes produced hypertriglyceridemia. The possible mechanism of the hypertriglyceridemia in diabetic animals was discussed in connection with the role of the tissue specific lipase system in the serum triglyceride metabolism.

Chemical and catalytic properties of the peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidase from Candida tropicalis

The peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase has been purified from extracts of the yeast Candida tropicalis grown with alkanes as the principal energy source. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 552,000 and a subunit molecular weight of 72,100. Using an experimentally determined molar extinction coefficient for the enzyme-bound flavin, a minimum molecular weight of 146,700 was determined. Based on these data, the oxidase contains eight perhaps identical subunits and four equivalents of FAD. No other beta-oxidation enzyme activities are detected in purified preparations of the oxidase. The oxidase flavin does not react with sulfite to form an N(5) flavin-sulfite complex. Photochemical reduction of the oxidase flavin yields a red semiquinone; however, the yield of semiquinone is strongly pH dependent. The yield of semiquinone is significantly reduced below pH 7.5. The flavin semiquinone can be further reduced to the hydroquinone. The behavior of the oxidase flavin during photoreduction and its reactivity toward sulfite are interpreted to reflect the interaction in the N(1)-C(2)O region of the flavin with a group on the protein which acts as a hydrogen-bond acceptor. Like the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases which catalyze the same transformation of acyl-CoA substrates, the oxidase is inactivated by the acetylenic substrate analog, 3-octynoyl-CoA, which acts as an active site-directed inhibitor.