title: UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase, a key enzyme in encysting Giardia, is allosterically regulated.
abstract: Giardia synthesizes UDP-GalNAc during cyst wall formation (encystment) via a pathway of inducible enzymes similar to that used to synthesize chitin or peptidoglycan and that includes the UTP-requiring UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase. Although it has never been reported as a regulatory enzyme in any system studied to date, kinetic data including Hill plots demonstrate clearly that UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase activity, purified from encysting Giardia, is allosterically activated anabolically by physiological levels of glucosamine 6-phosphate (3 microm). Capillary electrophoresis demonstrates that within 24 h after trophozoites are induced to encyst, the level of glucosamine 6-phosphate increases 3-fold over that of non-encysting cells and that by 48 h into encystment the level of glucosamine 6-phosphate has decreased to non-encysting levels or below. UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase protein is present constitutively in encysting as well as non-encysting cells. UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase immunoaffinity purified from encysting and non-encysting cells exhibited the same molecular weight, amino acid composition, and circular dichroism spectra. Moreover, regardless of whether the enzyme came from encysting or non-encysting cells, the change in its circular dichroism spectra and up to a 6-fold increase in its specific activity anabolically were due to its activation with glucosamine 6-phosphate. Thus, the data support the idea that UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase is a major regulatory point in amino sugar synthesis in encysting Giardia and that its allosteric anabolic activation may shift the equilibrium of this pathway toward UDP-GalNAc synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Bulik
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Ophem
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Newburg
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Jarroll
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000201:enzymology*; D007700:Kinetics; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; C023226:UDPacetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase