title: Role of the N-terminal hydrophilic domain of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 1 on the enzyme's quaternary structure and catalytic efficiency.
abstract: Acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is an enzyme involved in cellular cholesterol homeostasis and atherosclerosis. ACAT1 is an allosteric enzyme responding to its substrate cholesterol in a sigmoidal manner. It is a homotetrameric protein that spans the membrane multiple times, with its N-terminal 131 hydrophilic amino acids residing at the cytoplasmic side of the endoplasmic reticulum. This region contains two closely linked putative alpha-helices. Our current studies show that this region contains a dimer-forming motif. Adding this motif to the bacterial glutathione S-transferase (GST) converted the homodimeric GST to a tetrameric fusion protein. Conversely, deleting this motif from the full-length ACAT1 converted the enzyme from a homotetramer to a homodimer. The dimeric ACAT1 remains enzymatically active. Its biochemical characteristics, including the sigmoidal response to cholesterol, the IC(50) value toward a specific ACAT inhibitor, and sensitivity toward heat inactivation, are essentially unaltered. On the other hand, the dimeric ACAT1 exhibits a 5-10-fold increase in the V(max) of the overall reaction and a 2.2-fold increase in the K(m) for oleoyl-coenzyme. Thus, deleting the dimer-forming motif near the N-terminus changes ACAT1 from its tetrameric form to a dimeric form and increases its catalytic efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.
authors.forename: Chunjiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Catherine C Y
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ta-Yuan
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002384:Catalysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002785:Sterol O-Acyltransferase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D002785:Sterol O-Acyltransferase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase