title: The role of tyrosine 121 in cofactor binding of 5-aminolevulinate synthase.
abstract: 5-Aminolevulinate synthase (EC 2.3.1.37) is the first enzyme in the heme biosynthesis in nonplant eukaryotes and some prokaryotes. It functions as a homodimer and requires pyridoxal 5'-phosphate as an essential cofactor. Tyr-121 is a conserved residue in all known sequences of 5-aminolevulinate synthases. Further, it corresponds to Tyr-70 of Escherichia coli aspartate aminotransferase, which has been shown to interact with the cofactor and prevent the dissociation of the cofactor from the enzyme. To test whether Tyr-121 is involved in cofactor binding in murine erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase, Tyr-121 of murine erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase was substituted by Phe and His using site-directed mutagenesis. The Y121F mutant retained 36% of the wild-type activity and the Km value for substrate glycine increased 34-fold, while the activity of the Y121H mutant decreased to 5% of the wild-type activity and the Km value for glycine increased fivefold. The pKa1 values in the pH-activity profiles of the wild-type and mutant enzymes were 6.41, 6.54, and 6.65 for wild-type, Y121F, and Y121H, respectively. The UV-visible and CD spectra of Y121F and Y121H mutants were similar to those of the wild-type with the exception of an absorption maximum shift (420 --> 395 nm) for the Y121F mutant in the visible spectrum region, suggesting that the cofactor binds the Y121F mutant enzyme in a more unrestrained manner. Y121F and Y121H mutant enzymes also exhibited lower affinity than the wild-type for the cofactor, reflected in the Kd values for pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (26.5, 6.75, and 1.78 microM for Y121F, Y121H, and the wild-type, respectively). Further, Y121F and Y121H proved less thermostable than the wild type. Taken together, these findings indicate that Tyr-121 plays a critical role in cofactor binding of murine erythroid 5-aminolevulinate synthase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa 33612, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
mesh_terms: D000624:5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003067:Coenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011485:Protein Binding; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003067:Coenzymes; D014443:Tyrosine; D000624:5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase