Structural characterization of CYP144A1 - a cytochrome P450 enzyme expressed from alternative transcripts in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) causes the disease tuberculosis (TB). The virulent Mtb H37Rv strain encodes 20 cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, many of which are implicated in Mtb survival and pathogenicity in the human host. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that CYP144A1 is retained exclusively within the Mycobacterium genus, particularly in species causing human and animal disease. Transcriptomic annotation revealed two possible CYP144A1 start codons, leading to expression of (i) a "full-length" 434 amino acid version (CYP144A1-FLV) and (ii) a "truncated" 404 amino acid version (CYP144A1-TRV). Computational analysis predicted that the extended N-terminal region of CYP144A1-FLV is largely unstructured. CYP144A1 FLV and TRV forms were purified in heme-bound states. Mass spectrometry confirmed production of intact, His6-tagged forms of CYP144A1-FLV and -TRV, with EPR demonstrating cysteine thiolate coordination of heme iron in both cases. Hydrodynamic analysis indicated that both CYP144A1 forms are monomeric. CYP144A1-TRV was crystallized and the first structure of a CYP144 family P450 protein determined. CYP144A1-TRV has an open structure primed for substrate binding, with a large active site cavity. Our data provide the first evidence that Mtb produces two different forms of CYP144A1 from alternative transcripts, with CYP144A1-TRV generated from a leaderless transcript lacking a 5'-untranslated region and Shine-Dalgarno ribosome binding site

The Effects of Berberine and Nitroxl (HNO) on the Glucose Uptake in L929 Fibroblast Cells

Berberine, which has a long history of use in Chinese medicine, has recently been shown to have efficacy in the treatment of diabetes. While the hypoglycemic effect of berberine has been clearly documented in animal and cell line models, such as 3T3-L1 adipocytes and L6 myotube cells, the mechanism of action appears complex with data implicating activation of the insulin signaling pathway as well as activation of the exercise or AMP kinase-mediated pathway. There have been no reports of the acute affects of berberine on the transport activity of the insulin-insensitive glucose transporter, GLUT1. Therefore, we examined the acute effects of berberine on glucose uptake in L929 fibroblast cells, a cell line that express only GLUT1. Berberine- activated glucose uptake reaching maximum stimulation of five-fold at \u3e40 μM. Significant activation (P \u3c 0.05) was measured within 5 min reaching a maximum by 30 min. The berberine effect was not additive to the maximal stimulation by other known stimulants, azide, methylene blue or glucose deprivation, suggesting shared steps between berberine and these stimulants. Berberine significantly reduced the Km of glucose uptake from 6.7 ± 1.9 mM to 0.55 ± 0.08 mM, but had no effect on the Vmax of uptake. Compound C, an inhibitor of AMP kinase, did not affect berberine-stimulated glucose uptake, but inhibitors of downstream kinases partially blocked berberine stimulation. SB203580 (inhibitor of p38 vii MAP kinase) did not affect submaximal berberine activation, but did lower maximal berberine stimulation by 26%, while PD98059 (inhibitor of ERK kinase) completely blocked submaximal berberine activation and decreased the maximal stimulation by 55%. It appears from this study that a portion of the hypoglycemic effects of berberine can be attributed to its acute activation of the transport activity of GLUT1. Nitroxyl (HNO) is a molecule of significant interest due to its unique pharmacological properties, particularly within the cardiovascular system. A large portion of HNO biological effects can be attributed to its reactivity with protein thiols, where it can generate disulfide bonds. Evidence from studies in erythrocytes suggests that the activity of GLUT1 is enhanced by the formation of an internal disulfide bond. However, there are no reports that document the effects of HNO on glucose uptake. Therefore, we examined the acute effects of Angeli’s salt (AS), a HNO donor, on glucose uptake activity of GLUT1 in L929 fibroblast cells. We report that AS stimulates glucose uptake with a maximum effective concentration of 5.0 mM. An initial 7.2-fold increase occurs within 2 min, which decreases and plateaus to a 4.0-fold activation after 10 min. About 60% of the 4.0-fold activation recovers within 10 min, and 40% remains after an hour. The activation is blocked by the pretreatment of cells with thiol-reactive compounds, iodoacetamide (0.75 mM), cinnamaldehyde (2.0 mM), and phenylarsine oxide (10 μM). The effects of AS are not additive to the stimulatory effects of other acute activators of glucose uptake in L929 cells, such as azide (5 mM), berberine (50 μM), or viii glucose deprivation. These data suggest that GLUT1 is acutely activated in L929 cells by the formation of a disulfide bond, likely within GLUT1 itself