Chemostat studies of microsomal enzyme induction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Role of the non-respiratory pathways in the utilization of molecular oxygen by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a facultative anaerobe devoid of mitochondrial alternative oxidase. In this yeast, the structure and biogenesis of the respiratory chain, on the one hand, and the functional interactions of oxidative phosphorylation with the cellular energetic metabolism, on the other, are well documented. However, to our knowledge, the molecular aspects and the physiological roles of the non-respiratory pathways that utilize molecular oxygen have not yet been reviewed. In this paper, we review the various non-respiratory pathways in a global context of utilization of molecular oxygen in S. cerevisiae. The roles of these pathways are examined as a function of environmental conditions, using either physiological, biochemical or molecular data. Special attention is paid to the characterization of the so-called 'cyanide-resistant respiration' that is induced by respiratory deficiency, catabolic repression and oxygen limitation during growth. Finally, several aspects of oxygen sensing are discussed.

5-Fluorocytosine antagonizes the action of sterol biosynthesis inhibitors in Candida glabrata

The concentration-dependent antagonistic interaction between 5-fluorocytosine and a sterol biosynthesis inhibitor (SBI) was studied using intact cells and cell-free extracts of Candida glabrata. 5-Fluorocytosine promoted incorporation of radioactivity into 4-desmethylsterols (P < 0.01), and enhanced the relative and absolute increases of ergosterol (P < 0.05) in C. glabrata incubated aerobically with an SBI (miconazole or amorolfine). Further aerobic incubation of C. glabrata with combinations of a nucleic acid or protein synthesis inhibitor (rifampicin or chlortetracycline) and an SBI (miconazole) promoted a similar increase in ergosterol biosynthesis. In contrast, 5-fluorocytosine reduced the incorporation of radioactivity into 4,4-dimethylsterols (P < 0.01), but had no obvious effect on the absolute ergosterol level in C. glabrata incubated statically with miconazole. In cell-free extracts of cultures previously incubated with 5-fluorocytosine, ergosterol synthesis was less sensitive to the action of miconazole. Antagonism between 5-fluorocytosine and the SBI is thus mediated by a reversal of inhibition of intracellular ergosterol synthesis. The possible mechanisms underlying antagonism between 5-fluorocytosine and SBIs that inhibit different sites of the sterol biosynthesis pathway, as well as its clinical relevance to combination therapy, are discussed.

A fermentor system for regulating oxygen at low concentrations in cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The growth of yeast cells to high densities at low, but constant, oxygen concentrations is difficult because the cells themselves respire oxygen; hence, as cell mass increases, so does oxygen consumption. To circumvent this problem, we have designed a system consisting of a computer-controlled gas flow train that adjusts oxygen concentration in the gas flow to match cellular demand. It does this by using a proportional-integral-differential algorithm in conjunction with a three-way valve to mix two gases, adjusting their proportions to maintain the desired oxygen concentration. By modeling yeast cell yields at intermediate to low oxygen concentrations, we have found that cellular respiration declines with oxygen concentration, most likely because of a decrease in the expression of genes for respiratory proteins. These lowered rates of oxygen consumption, together with the gas flow system described here, allow the growth of yeast cells to high densities at low oxygen concentrations. This system can also be used to grow cells at any desired oxygen concentration and for regulated shifts between oxygen concentrations.

Human-liver cytochromes P-450 expressed in yeast as tools for reactive-metabolite formation studies. Oxidative activation of tienilic acid by cytochromes P-450 2C9 and 2C10

Human liver cytochromes P-450 (P450) 2C9 and 2C10 expressed in yeast reproduce all the metabolic features of the oxidation of tienilic acid (2-aryloxo-thiophene) and its isomer (3-aroylthiophene) by human liver microsomes. Microsomes of yeast expressing either P450 2C9 or P450 2C10 catalyze (a) the 5-hydroxylation of tienilic acid by NADPH and O2 (Km = 6 microM, Vmax = 2.5 turnover/min), (b) the activation of tienilic acid and its isomer into electrophilic metabolites which covalently bind to proteins, and (c) the formation of a mercaptoethanol adduct which results from the trapping of the tienilic acid isomer sulfoxide by this thiol. Microsomes of yeast expressing human liver P450 3A4, 1A1 and 1A2 are unable to catalyze these reactions. There is a striking similarity between the quantitative characteristics of the oxidation of tienilic acid (and its isomer) by yeast-expressed P450 2C9 (or 2C10) and by human liver microsomes: (a) analogous Km values (around 10 microM) for tienilic acid 5-hydroxylation, (b) a strong inhibition of tienilic acid oxidation by human sera containing anti-(liver kidney microsomes type 2) (anti-LKM2) antibodies, and (c) almost identical relative ratios of tienilic acid metabolic activation/5-hydroxylation and of tienilic acid activation/the activation of its isomer with both systems. Rates of oxidation of tienilic acid (and its isomer) by yeast microsomes are 6-8 fold higher than those found in human liver microsomes, which would be in agreement with the previously reported amount of P450 2C9 in human liver. These results not only suggest the important role of P450 2C9 in the oxidative metabolism of tienilic acid in human liver, but also indicate that the 5-hydroxylation reaction could be a useful marker for P450 2C9 activity and underline the interest of human liver P450s expressed in yeast as tools for studying the formation of reactive metabolites.