title: Purification and characterization of human uroporphyrinogen III synthase expressed in Escherichia coli.
abstract: The side-chain asymmetry of physiological porphyrins is produced by the cooperative action of hydroxymethylbilane synthase and uroporphyrinogen (uro'gen) III synthase. Although the role of uro'gen III synthase is essential for the chemistry of porphyrin biosynthesis, many aspects, structural as well as mechanical, of uro'gen III synthase have yet to be studied. We report here an expression system in Escherichia coli and a purification procedure for human uro'gen III synthase. The enzyme in the lysate was unstable, but we found that glycerol prevents the activity loss in the lysate. The purified enzyme showed remarkable thermostability, particularly when kept in phosphate buffer containing DTT or EDTA, indicating that the enzyme activity may depend on its oxidation state. Examination of the relationship between the number of Cys residues that are accessible to 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) and the remaining activity during heat inactivation showed that a particular Cys residue is involved in activity loss. From the crystal structure of human uro'gen III synthase [Mathews et al. (2001) EMBO J. 20, 5832-5839], this Cys residue was considered to be Cys73, which is buried deep inside the enzyme, suggesting that Cys73 of human uro'gen III synthase plays an important role in enzyme activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Omata
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Higashimoto
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noguchi
mesh_terms: D001671:Biochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D004229:Dithiothreitol / Q000737:chemistry; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D005990:Glycerol / Q000494:pharmacology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000737:chemistry; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014576:Uroporphyrinogen III Synthetase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011166:Porphyrins; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D004492:Edetic Acid; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase; D014576:Uroporphyrinogen III Synthetase; D003545:Cysteine; D005990:Glycerol; D010100:Oxygen; D004229:Dithiothreitol