title: Functional analysis, overexpression, and kinetic characterization of pyruvate kinase from Plasmodium falciparum.
abstract: The important role of pyruvate kinase during malarial infection has prompted the cloning of a cDNA encoding Plasmodium falciparum pyruvate kinase (pfPyrK), using mRNA from intraerythrocytic-stage malaria parasites. The full-length cDNA encodes a protein with a computed molecular weight of 55.6 kDa and an isoelectric point of 7.5. The purified recombinant pfPyrK is enzymatically active and exists as a homotetramer in its active form. The enzyme exhibits hyperbolic kinetics with respect to phosphoenolpyruvate and ADP, with K(m) of 0.19 and 0.12 mM, respectively. pfPyrK is not affected by fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, a general activating factor of pyruvate kinase for most species. Glucose-6-phosphate, an activator of the Toxoplasma gondii enzyme, does not affect pfPyrK activity. Similar to rabbit pyruvate kinase, pfPyrK is susceptible to inactivation by 1mM pyridoxal-5'-phosphate, but to a lesser extent. A screen for inhibitors to pfPyrK revealed that it is markedly inhibited by ATP and citrate. Detailed kinetic analysis revealed a transition from hyperbolic to sigmoidal kinetics for PEP in the presence of citrate, as well as competitive inhibitory behavior for ATP with respect to PEP. Citrate exhibits non-competitive inhibition with respect to ADP with a K(i) of 0.8mM. In conclusion, P. falciparum expresses an active pyruvate kinase during the intraerythrocytic-stage of its developmental cycle that may play important metabolic roles during infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Tiow-Suan
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D011770:Pyruvate Kinase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011770:Pyruvate Kinase