Purification of bovine liver microsomal NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase using affinity chromatography

Purified NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase is a novel superoxide anion source inhibited by apocynin: sensitivity to nitric oxide and peroxynitrite

Cytochrome b5 reductase (Cb5R) is a pleiotropic flavoprotein that catalyzes multiple one-electron reduction reactions with various redox partners in cells. In earlier work from our laboratory, we have shown its implication in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), primarily a superoxide anion overshoot peak, which plays a major role as a triggering event for the acceleration of apoptosis in cerebellar granule neurons in culture. However, the results obtained in that work did not allow us to exclude the possibility that this superoxide anion production could be derived from Cb5R acting in concert with other cellular components. In this work, we have purified Cb5R from pig liver and we have experimentally shown that this enzyme catalyzed NADH-dependent production of superoxide anion, assayed with cytochrome c and nitroblue tetrazolium as detection reagents for this particular ROS. The basic kinetic parameters for this novel NADH-dependent activity of Cb5R at 37°C are Vmax = 3.0 ± 0.5 μmol/min/mg of purified Cb5R and KM(NADH) = 2.8 ± 0.3 μM NADH. In addition, we report that apocynin, a widely used inhibitor of nonmitochondrial ROS production in mammalian cell cultures and tissues, is a potent inhibitor of purified Cb5R activity at the concentrations used in the experiments done with cell cultures. In the presence of apocynin the KM(NADH) value of Cb5R increases, and docking simulations indicate that apocynin can bind to a site near to or partially overlapping the NADH binding site of Cb5R. Other ROS, such as nitric oxide and peroxynitrite, have inhibitory effects on purified Cb5R, providing the basis for a feedback cellular protection mechanism through modulation of excessive extramitochondrial superoxide anion production by Cb5R. Both kinetic assays and docking simulations suggest that nitric oxide-induced nitrosylation (including covalent adduction of nitroso functional groups) of Cb5R cysteines and peroxynitrite-induced tyrosine nitration and cysteine oxidation modified the conformation of the NADH binding domain leading to a decreased affinity of Cb5R for NADH.

Cytochrome b5-mediated redox cycling of estrogen

Previously, we have demonstrated microsomal cytochrome P450-catalyzed redox cycling of estrogens. In this study, we investigated the role of cytochrome b5 in redox cycling in order to obtain a full understanding of enzymatic contributions to redox reactions of estrogens. Pure cytochrome P450c and hydrogen peroxide or cumene hydroperoxide oxidized diethylstilbestrol (DES) to diethylstilbestrol-4',4"-quinone (DES Q). This oxidation by H2O2 was doubled by addition of cytochrome b5 to cytochrome P450c (molar ratio of 1:4), but did not proceed with cytochrome b5 alone. The stimulation by cytochrome b5 of the cytochrome P450c-catalyzed oxidation of DES to DES Q occurred via modulation of the Vmax of cytochrome P450c rather than of the Km. DES Q was reduced to DES by purified cytochrome b5 and NADH-dependent cytochrome b5 reductase. Pretreatment of microsomes with an antibody to cytochrome b5 reductase inhibited microsomal NADH-dependent reduction of DES Q to DES by 55%. Cytochrome b5 likely participates in the oxidation of DES to DES Q by interacting with cytochrome P450c and in the reduction of DES Q to DES by interacting with cytochrome b5 reductase. Thus, the study demonstrates that cytochrome b5 plays an active role in biological oxidation and reduction reactions.

Both the outer mitochondrial membrane and the microsomal forms of cytochrome b5 reductase contain covalently bound myristic acid. Quantitative analysis on the polyvinylidene difluoride-immobilized proteins

NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase is known to be located on two distinct membranes, i.e. endoplasmic reticulum and outer mitochondrial membranes. The endoplasmic-reticulum-associated form of the enzyme contains myristic acid in an amide linkage to its N-terminal glycine [Ozols, Carr & Strittmatter (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 13349-13354]. To investigate whether the dual subcellular localization of the reductase corresponds to a difference in fatty acylation, the enzyme was purified from well-characterized rat liver microsomal and mitochondrial fractions and analysed by a new quantitative analytical procedure. The purified reductases were run on SDS/polyacrylamide gels and blotted on to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. The reductase-containing bands were treated with hydroxylamine, and amide-linked fatty acids were then detached by acid hydrolysis. The detached fatty acids were extracted, derivatized and analysed as phenylacyl esters by reverse-phase h.p.l.c., and the protein content of the samples was determined by amino acid analysis of the acid hydrolysates. Myristic acid was found in both the microsomal and mitochondrial reductases in a molar ratio of 1:1 with protein. These results demonstrate for the first time the presence of a myristylated protein on outer mitochondrial membranes, and show that the microsomal and mitochondrial reductases are also identical in their fatty acylation.

Correlation of enzyme activities with fluorescence anisotropy of dansyl-labeled cytochrome b5/NADH-cytochrome-b5 reductase systems in phosphatidylcholine vesicles

The changes in steady-state fluorescence lifetimes and anisotropy decay parameters, as well as enzyme activities, of dansyl-labeled cytochrome b5 (DNS-cytochrome b5), on interaction with NADH-cytochrome-b5 reductase in DMPC vesicles, have been measured as a function of temperature. Steady-state fluorescence of DNS-cytochrome b5 in DMPC vesicles with and without cholesterol was increased on interaction with reductase at temperatures both above and below the DMPC phase transition. In all systems three fluorescence decay components of the dansyl label in DNS-cytochrome b5 were observed. In the reductase-containing system, the long (major) decay time component of DNS-cytochrome b5 and the fraction of the total fluorescence associated with this component increased over the temperature range 15-30 degrees C. In time-resolved anisotropy measurements, the order parameters of DNS-cytochrome b5 in DMPC vesicles increased on interaction with reductase at temperatures above the DMPC phase transition, and this increase was even more pronounced in cholesterol-containing vesicles, at temperatures from 15-30 degrees C. The enzyme activity of the DNS-cytochrome-b5 reductase system in DMPC vesicles was also greatly increased in the presence of cholesterol. These results show that interaction of vesicle-bound DNS-cytochrome b5 and NADH-cytochrome-b5 reductase leads to an increased degree of order of the dansyl-labeled cytochrome with little change in its rotational flexibility, and suggests that the increased order can be correlated with increased enzyme activity.

Propylthiouracil, a selective inhibitor of NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase

Propylthiouracil inhibited the activity of NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase of rat liver microsomes using potassium ferricyanide as electron acceptor. On the other hand, NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase activity was not affected by the compound. NADH-supported reduction of cytochrome b5 was also inhibited by propylthiouracil in the reconstituted system consisting of cytochrome b5 and partially purified NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase.

X-ray diffraction analysis of cytochrome b5 reconstituted in egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles

Cytochrome b5 was reconstituted asymmetrically into large unilamellar egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles. Asymmetry was preserved after sedimentation and partial dehydration to form oriented stacks of membranes. The periodicity of the centrosymmetric unit cell ranged between 145 and 175 A, depending upon the water content of the oriented multilayer. X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 12 A and phase factors were unambiguously assigned by a swelling analysis to a resolution of 15 A. The lower-resolution profile structures clearly showed a highly asymmetric single membrane containing the heme peptide segment of the cytochrome on one side of the membrane bilayer. The higher-resolution data were also analyzed and profile structures were compared with various models for the distribution of cytochrome b5 nonpolar peptide within the membrane bilayer region. The data favor an asymmetric distribution of protein mass within the membrane bilayer.

Purification of a NADH-ferricyanide reductase from plant microsomal membranes with a zwitterionic detergent

A microsomal NADH-ferricyanide reductase was purified to homogeneity from potato tubers. A zwitterionic detergent (CHAPS) was used for the extraction of this reductase which is the first to be purified from plant microsomal membranes. The successive steps of purification included an anion exchange column (DEAE-cellulose or DEAE-Trisacryl), a blue-Ultrogel affinity column and a gel filtration on Sephadex G75. The purification factor was 280 and the yield was 1.6%. The protein has an apparent molecular weight of 44,000 +/- 1,000 as estimated from SDS-PAGE. This successful purification opens new perspectives in the study of oleate desaturase of higher plants which is assumed to contain NADH-ferricyanide reductase as an essential component.

Magnetic circular dichroism studies of hemoglobin. The reduction of ferrihemoglobin by ferrocytochrome b5 and characterization of the high-spin hydroxy species of mixed-valence hemoglobin

The final step in the erythrocyte methemoglobin reduction pathway, the transfer of an electron from cytochrome b5 to methemoglobin, has been studied using magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy. Spectral analysis allowed us to determine accurately the concentration of each redox species in mixtures of the two heme-proteins and to follow simultaneously the kinetics of the appearance or disappearance of each of these species during reduction reactions. Our analysis detected a substantial increase in the high-spin hydroxymethemoglobin species in the partially reduced bovine hemoglobin tetramer. This species was sensitive to the degree of reduction and pH, and was spectrally similar to fluoride methemoglobin. At pH 7.8, 100% of the hydroxide component of methemoglobin was in the high-spin form when two or more subunits were in the ferrous form. Kinetic analysis of bovine methemoglobin reduction yielded values for the apparent first-order rates for the tetrameric species possessing four, three, two, and one ferric subunit. Further analysis showed that the reduction kinetics can also be described by an equilibrium state, pure competitive inhibition model for enzyme catalysis in which ferrous and ferric subunits of hemoglobin compete for cytochrome b5. This analysis generated a KD that depends on ionic strength and hemoglobin tetramer conformation, a Vmax that was independent of these factors, and an inhibition constant that was equal to KD. This model is consistent with the hypothesis that the reduction of methemoglobin can be separated into two steps, the ionic interaction between cytochrome b5 and hemoglobin and the electron transfer.

One-electron oxidation-reduction properties of hepatic NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase

The one-electron oxidation-reduction properties of flavin in hepatic NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase were investigated by optical absorption spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and potentiometric titration. An intermediate with a peak at 375 nm previously described by Iyanagi (1977) [ Iyanagi , T. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 2725-2730] was confirmed to be a red anionic semiquinone. The NAD+-bound reduced enzyme was oxidized by cytochrome b5 via the semiquinone intermediate. This indicates that electron transfer from flavin to cytochrome b5 proceeds in two successive one-electron steps. Autoxidation of the NAD+-bound reduced enzyme was slower than that of the NAD+-free reduced enzyme and was accompanied by the appearance of an EPR signal. Midpoint redox potentials of the consecutive one-electron-transfer steps in the presence of excess NAD+ were Em,1 = -88 mV and Em,2 = 147 mV at pH 7.0. This corresponds to a semiquinone formation constant of 8. The values of Em,1 and Em,2 were also studied as a function of pH. A mechanism for electron transfer from NADH to cytochrome b5 is discussed on the basis of the one-electron redox potentials of the enzyme and is compared with the electron-transfer mechanism of NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase.