Apyrase, pyrophosphatase and metaphosphatase of Penicillium chrysogenum

Development of an ATP and hydrogen ion image sensor using a patterned apyrase-immobilized membrane

A bio-image sensor using a patterned apyrase-immobilized membrane was developed to visualize the activities of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and H⁺ ion in real-time. An enzymatic membrane patterning technique was suggested to immobilize apyrase on a specific sensing area of a charge coupled device (CCD)-type image sensor. It was able to observe the spatiotemporal information of ATP and H⁺ ion. The smallest size of a patterned membrane is 250×250µm². The fabrication parameters of the patterned membrane, such as its thickness and the intensity of the incident light used for photolithography, were optimized experimentally. The sensing area under the patterned apyrase-immobilized membrane revealed a linear response up to 0.6mM of ATP concentration with a sensitivity of 37.8mV/mM. Meanwhile, another sensing area without the patterned membrane measured the diffused H⁺ ion from nearby membranes. This diffusion characteristics were analyzed to determine a measurement time that can minimize the undesirable impact of the diffused ions. In addition, the newly developed bio-image sensor successfully reconstructed ATP and H⁺ ion dynamics into sequential 2-dimensional images.

Polyphosphate kinase (PPK2), a potent, polyphosphate-driven generator of GTP

An enzyme that uses inorganic polyphosphate (poly P) as a donor to convert GDP to GTP has been purified 1,300-fold to homogeneity from lysates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAOM5. Poly P chains of 30-50 residues are optimal; those of 15-700 residues can also serve. GDP is preferred over ADP among nucleoside diphosphate acceptors. This nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK) activity resides in the same protein isolated for its synthesis of poly P from GTP and designated PPK2 in an accompanying report. The reaction that synthesizes poly P and the reaction that utilizes poly P differ in their kinetic features. Especially notable is the catalytic potency of the NDK activity, which is 75-fold greater than that of poly P synthesis. PPK2 appears in the stationary phase of growth and reaches NDK levels of 5-10% that of the classic NDK; both kinase activities may figure in the generation of the guanosine precursors in the synthesis of alginate, an exopolysaccharide essential for the virulence of P. aeruginosa.

Kinetic characteristics of nucleoside mono-, di- and triphosphatase activities of the periplasmic 5'-nucleotidase of Escherichia coli

Periplasmic 5'-nucleotidase from Escherichia coli, in addition to the monophosphoesterase activity has a diphosphohydrolase activity, acting on nucleoside di- and triphosphates. We proposed that the monophosphoesterase and diphosphohydrolase activities have their own active site. This proposal is based on the different types of bonds being broken. Chemical modification with selective group reagents did not show differences in the essentiality of some residues, like histidyl, carboxyl and arginyl groups, of these two hydrolytic activities. While kinetic approaches employing the competition plot and unidirectional substrate inhibition point to that diphosphohydrolase activity (ATPase-ADPase) do not share the same active site with monophosphoesterase activity. Western blotting developed with polyclonal anti-placental apyrase antibody revealed a single protein in the periplasmic fraction of 66.5 kDa similar to the Mr of the purified enzyme by isoelectrofocusing.

Endopolyphosphatases for long chain inorganic polyphosphate in yeast and mammals

Whereas exopolyphosphatases have been purified from yeast and a variety of bacteria, this is the first report characterizing endopolyphosphatases that act on long chain inorganic polyphosphate (polyP). The activity from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, localized in vacuoles, has been purified to homogeneity from a strain that possesses vacuolar proteases. The endopolyphosphatase is a dimer of 35-kDa subunits. Distributive action on polyP750 produces shorter chains to a limit of about polyP60, as well as the more abundant release of polyP3; the Km for polyP750 is 185 nM. Endopolyphosphatases have been identified in a wide variety of sources, except for most eubacteria tested. The activity has been partially purified from rat and bovine brain where its abundance is about 10 times higher than in other tissues but less than 1/10 that of yeast; the limit product of digestion of the partially purified brain enzyme is polyP3.

Sequential hydrolysis of the gamma- and beta-phosphate groups of ATP by the ATP diphosphohydrolase from pig pancreas

The ATP diphosphohydrolase (EC 3.6.1.5) from pig pancreas hydrolyzes triphospho- and diphosphonucleosides. The reaction products of ATP hydrolysis are ADP, AMP and orthophosphate, but AMP accumulates at a faster rate than ADP. A time-course study showed a simultaneous breakdown of ATP and ADP with initial rates for ATP and ADP hydrolysis of 2.1 and 3.8 mumol/min per mg protein, respectively. However, the rates reached similar values toward the end of the incubation period. According to double reciprocal plots and Dixon plots, the Km values for ATP and ADP are similar, Vmax for ADP hydrolysis is twice the Vmax for ATP hydrolysis and both nucleotides are competitive inhibitors of the other with their Ki values similar to their Km. These results are consistent with a sequential hydrolysis of the two diphosphoester bonds of ATP: ATP first binds to the enzyme, its gamma-phosphate group is hydrolyzed and released, resulting in an enzyme-ADP complex which either breaks down to free enzyme and ADP or is further processed via hydrolysis of the beta-phosphate group, releasing free enzyme, AMP and Pi. The experimental data showed that the processing step is favored.