Glycosphingolipid hydrolases: properties and molecular genetics

Localization of beta-glucosidase activity within keratinizing epithelia

1. Serial frozen sections (10 microns thick) were cut parallel to the plane of the epithelium from skin, hard palate and gingiva of the pig (Sus scrofa), and beta-glucosidase activity was measured in each section. 2. In each of these tissues, there was a low constitutive level of beta-glucosidase activity in the inner portion of the epithelium, and a several-fold increase in activity was observed in the region of the stratum granulosum-stratum corneum interface. 3. The maximum specific activity of beta-glucosidase was significantly lower in gingiva (8 nmol substrate/hr/slice) than in epidermis and palate (15-18 nmol/hr/slice). 4. The increase in expression of beta-glucosidase activity near the stratum granulosum-stratum corneum boundary appears to be intimately involved in the conversion of glucosylceramides to ceramides in the final stages of differentiation. This conversion may be a major determinant of the barrier properties of the stratum corneum.

Beta-glucosidase activity in porcine epidermis

One of the final steps in epidermal differentiation is the conversion of glucosylceramides to ceramides, which presumably is mediated by a beta-glucosidase activity. In the present manuscript, it is demonstrated that pig epidermis contains beta-glucosidase activity which is 3.3-times greater than alpha-glucosidase and 5-times greater than beta-galactosidase. This beta-glucosidase was found to be maximally active between pH 3.0 and essentially inactive at pH 9.0. In a standard assay, a disk of epidermis (8 mg dry weight) was submerged in 1 ml of 50 mM acetate buffer (pH 4.7) containing 150 mM NaCl and 15 mM p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside at room temperature. Reaction was stopped by addition of 4 ml of 100 mM (pH 9.0) borate buffer and the supernatant was transferred to a separate tube. The nitrophenylate anion was then measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 405 nm. Under these conditions, product formation was linear for at least 90 min and an apparent Km of 244 microM was estimated for the synthetic substrate. When the amount of epidermis in the assay was varied, the formation of product per unit of time remained proportional to the amount of epidermis. The level of beta-glucosidase activity was enhanced slightly by the inclusion of sodium taurocholate.

GM1-gangliosidosis: chromosome 3 assignment of the beta-galactosidase-A gene (beta GALA)

The structural gene (beta GALA) coding for lysosomal beta-galactosidase-A (EC 3.2.1.23) has been assigned to human chromosome 3 using man--mouse somatic cell hybrids. Human beta-galactosidase-A was identified in cell hybrids with a species-specific antiserum to human liver beta-galactosidase-A. The antiserum precipitates beta-galactosidase-A from human tissues, cultured cells, and cell hybrids, and recognizes cross-reacting material from a patient with GM1 gangliosidosis. We have analyzed 90 primary man--mouse hybrids derived from 12 separate fusion experiments utilizing cells from 9 individuals. Enzyme segregation analysis excluded all chromosomes for beta GALA assignment except chromosome 3. Concordant segregation of chromosomes and enzymes in 16 cell hybrids demonstrated assignment of beta GALA to chromosome 3; all other chromosomes were excluded. The evidence suggests that GM1 gangliosidosis is a consequence of mutation at this beta GALA locus on chromosome 3.

Ceramide metabolism in brain

Ceramide is the fundamental structure and key intermediate of all sphingolipids. Biosynthesis and catabolism of brain ceramide, especially their relationship to the metabolism of more complex sphingolipids in brain, are reviewed. Human genetic diseases which involve altered ceramide metabolism are also discussed.

Biochemistry and genetics of gangliosidoses

The gangliosidoses comprise an-ever increasing number of biochemically and phenotypically variant diseases. In most of them an autosomal recessive inherited deficiency of a lysosomal hydrolase results in the fatal accumulation of glucolipids (predominantly in the nervous tissue) and of oligosaccharides. The structure, substrate specificity, immunological properties of and genetic studies on the relevant glycosidases, ganglioside GM1 beta-galactosidase and beta-hexosaminidase isoenzymes, are reviewed in this paper. Contrary to general expectation, only a poor correlation is observed between the severity of the disease and residual activity of the defective enzyme when measured with synthetic or natural substrates in the presence of detergents. For the understanding of variant diseases and for their pre- and postnatal diagnosis, the necessity of studying the substrate specificity of normal and mutated enzymes under conditions similar to the in vivo situation, e.g., with natural substrates in the presence of appropriate activator proteins, is stressed. The possibility that detergents may have adverse affects on the substrate specificity of the enzymes is discussed for the beta-hexosaminidases. The significance of activator proteins for the proper interaction of lipid substrates and water-soluble hydrolases is illustrated by the fatal glycolipid storage resulting from an activator protein deficiency in the AB variant of GM2-gangliosidosis. Recent somatic complementation studies have revealed the existence of a presumably post-translational modification factor necessary for the expression of ganglioside GM1 beta-galactosidase activity. This factor is deficient in a group of variants of GM1-glangliosidosis. Among the possible reasons for the variability of enzyme activity levels in heterozygotes and patients, allelic mutations, formation of hybrid enzymes, and the existence of patients as compound heterozygotes are discussed. All these may result in the production of mutant enzymes with an altered specificity for a variety of natural substrates.