Peroxisomal disorders in man

Molecular basis of D-bifunctional protein deficiency

Peroxisomal disorders appear with a frequency of 1:5000 in newborns. They are caused either by peroxisomal assembly defects or by deficiencies of single peroxisomal enzymes. The phenotypes vary widely: affected humans may die very early in life within a few days to several months as a result of the impairment in essential peroxisomal functions as, for example, in Zellweger syndrome, or they may show only minor disabilities as is in acatalasemia. The deficiency of D-bifunctional protein, an enzyme involved in peroxisomal beta-oxidation of certain fatty acids and the synthesis of bile acids, causes a very severe, Zellweger-like phenotype. A number of different mutations in the gene coding for the enzyme were found in humans causing the total or partial loss of its enzymatic function. This paper gives a review of cases and their molecular basis.

Microtubule-based peroxisome movement

The association of peroxisomes with cytoskeletal structures was investigated both by electron microscopy and by kinetic analysis of peroxisome movement. The morphological studies indicated distinct interactions of peroxisomes with microtubules and frequently revealed multiple contact sites. The kinetic approach utilised microinjection and import of fluorescein-labeled luciferase in order to mark and track peroxisomes in vivo. Peroxisomal motility was analysed by time-lapse imaging and fluorescence microscopy. According to their movement peroxisomes were classified into two groups. Group 1 peroxisomes comprising the majority of organelles at 37 degrees C moved slowly with an average velocity of 0.024 +/- 0.012 micron/second whereas the movement of group 2 peroxisomes, 10–15% of the total population, was saltatory exhibiting an average velocity of 0.26 +/- 0.17 micron/second with maximal values of more than 2 microns/second. Saltations were completely abolished by the microtubule-depolymerising drug nocodazole and were slightly reduced by about 25% by cytochalasin D which disrupts the actin microfilament system. Double fluorescence labeling of both peroxisomes and microtubules revealed peroxisome saltations linked to distinct microtubule tracks. Cellular depletion of endogenous levels of NTPs as well as the use of 5′-adenylylimidodiphosphate, a nonhydrolysable ATP analog, applied to a permeabilised cell preparation both completely blocked peroxisomal movement. These data suggest an ATPase dependent, microtubule-based mechanism of peroxisome movement. Both the intact and the permeabilised cell system presented in this paper for the first time allow kinetic measurements on peroxisomal motility and thus will be extremely helpful in the biochemical characterisation of the motor proteins involved.

Presence of cytoplasmic factors functional in peroxisomal protein import implicates organelle-associated defects in several human peroxisomal disorders

Cells from patients with peroxisome-deficient disorders contain membrane ghosts devoid of most matrix contents instead of normal peroxisomes indicating that the underlying molecular defects impair the import of matrix proteins into these peroxisome ghosts. Genetic heterogeneity for the molecular defects was inferred from the assignment of patients with peroxisome-deficient disorders into nine complementation groups. The aim of our studies was to analyze cell lines from six different complementation groups in a systematic manner for the presence of peroxisome ghosts, the ability to import Ser-Lys-Leu-containing proteins into peroxisome ghosts and for the presence of cytosolic factors required for peroxisomal protein import. We show that each of the cell lines analyzed contains peroxisome ghosts, but is unable to import matrix proteins as judged by a peroxisomal import assay using permeabilized cells. The addition of wild type cytosol did not restore the capacity to import matrix proteins but cytosol prepared from these cell lines was functional in stimulation of peroxisomal protein import in a heterologous system. These results implicate organelle-associated molecular defects in each of the six cell lines analyzed.