title: The free radical-generating function of a familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-associated D90A Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase mutant.
abstract: The free radical-generating functions of the D90A Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) associated with Swedish familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) patients are investigated. The results show that both the wild-type and mutant enzymes have identical dismutase activity, while the free radical-generating activity of the D90A mutant is enhanced relative to that of the wild-type enzyme. The studies suggest that the active channel of the D90A mutant is larger than that of the wild-type enzyme. A higher free radical-generating activity of the mutant enzyme led to the release of copper ions from the damaged protein. The generation of strand breaks in plasmid DNA was enhanced more effectively by the D90A mutant Cu,Zn-SOD than by the wild-type enzyme. The results suggest that the pathology of FALS may be attributed to oxidative damage caused by the gain-of-function of FALS Cu,Zn-SOD mutant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Engineering, Chongju University, Korea.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Eum
authors.forename: O B
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D000409:Alanine