title: Anti-tumor activity of arginine deiminase from Mycoplasma argini and its growth-inhibitory mechanism.
abstract: Two kinds of arginine deiminase (AD, EC 3.5.3.6) were purified from cell extracts of Mycoplasma arginini (a-AD) and Mycoplasma hominis (h-AD), and their enzymic properties and anti-tumor activities were compared. The a-AD enzyme strongly inhibited the growth of mouse hepatoma cell line MH134 in vitro, and its concentration required for 50% growth inhibition (IC50) was estimated to be about 10 ng/ml. The IC50 value of h-AD against the same cell line was estimated to be about 100 ng/ml, due to its low enzyme activity under the physiological pH condition, i.e., pH 7.4. These results show that the reaction pH profile of the a-AD was superior to that of the h-AD as an anti-tumor enzyme. Moreover, the effects of L-arginine metabolism-related substances on the anti-tumor activity of the a-AD were examined to study the growth-inhibitory mechanism of this enzyme. The addition of 2 or 4 mM L-arginine restored, in a dose-dependent manner, the growth of mouse MH134 hepatoma and Meth A fibrosarcoma cell lines that had been inhibited by 20 ng/ml of the a-AD. The addition of 2 or 4 mM L-ornithine, which is biosynthesized from L-arginine in the urea cycle and is the starting material in the polyamine-biosynthesis pathway, also partially restored it in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that the tumor cell growth inhibition caused by a-AD originates from the depletion of the essential nutrient L-arginine, and that the resulting block of the polyamine-biosynthesis pathway is involved in part in the inhibitory mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Laboratory, Japan Energy Corporation, Saitama.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takaku
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Misawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005354:Fibrosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D006867:Hydrolases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000201:enzymology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012967:Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012967:Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; D001120:Arginine; D006867:Hydrolases; C019723:arginine deiminase