title: Mammalian N-acetylglutamate synthase.
abstract: N-Acetylglutamate synthase (NAGS, E.C. 2.3.1.1) is a mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes the formation of N-acetylglutamate (NAG), an essential allosteric activator of carbamylphosphate synthetase I (CPSI). The mouse and human NAGS genes have been identified based on similarity to regions of NAGS from Neurospora crassa and cloned from liver cDNA libraries. These genes were shown to complement an argA- (NAGS) deficient Escherichia coli strain, and enzymatic activity of the proteins was confirmed by a new stable isotope dilution assay. The deduced amino acid sequence of mammalian NAGS contains a putative mitochondrial-targeting signal at the N-terminus. The mouse NAGS preprotein was overexpressed in insect cells to determine post-translational modifications and two processed proteins with different N-terminal truncations have been identified. Sequence analysis using a hidden Markov model suggests that the vertebrate NAGS protein contains domains with a carbamate kinase fold and an acyl-CoA N-acyltransferase fold, and protein crystallization experiments are currently underway. Inherited NAGS deficiency results in hyperammonemia, presumably due to the loss of CPSI activity. We, and others, have recently identified mutations in families with neonatal and late-onset NAGS deficiency and the identification of the gene has now made carrier testing and prenatal diagnosis feasible. A structural analog of NAG, carbamylglutamate, has been shown to bind and activate CPSI, and several patients have been reported to respond favorably to this drug (Carbaglu).
authors.affiliation: Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, The George Washington University, 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010, USA.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morizono
authors.forename: Ljubica
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caldovic
authors.forename: Dashuang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Mendel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tuchman
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D051046:Amino-Acid N-Acetyltransferase; D000818:Animals; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000123:Acetyltransferases; D051046:Amino-Acid N-Acetyltransferase; C494874:NAGS protein, human; C494877:Nags protein, mouse