title: Mouse ornithine decarboxylase-like gene encodes an antizyme inhibitor devoid of ornithine and arginine decarboxylating activity.
abstract: Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines, is a labile protein that is regulated by interacting with antizymes (AZs), a family of polyamine-induced proteins. Recently, a novel human gene highly homologous to ODC, termed ODC-like or ODC-paralogue (ODCp), was cloned, but the studies aimed to determine its function rendered contradictory results. We have cloned the mouse orthologue of human ODCp and studied its expression and possible function. mRNA of mouse Odcp was found in the brain and testes, showing a conserved expression pattern with regard to the human gene. Transfection of mouse Odcp in HEK 293T cells elicited an increase in ODC activity, but no signs of arginine decarboxylase activity were evident. On the other hand, whereas the ODCp protein was mainly localized in the mitochondrial/membrane fraction, ODC activity was found in the cytosolic fraction and was markedly decreased by small interfering RNA against human ODC. Co-transfection experiments with combinations of Odc, Az1, Az2, Az3, antizyme inhibitor (Azi), and Odcp genes showed that ODCp mimics the action of AZI, rescuing ODC from the effects of AZs and prevented ODC degradation by the proteasome. A direct interaction between ODCp and AZs was detected by immunoprecipitation experiments. We conclude that mouse ODCp has no intrinsic decarboxylase activity, but it acts as a novel antizyme inhibitory protein (AZI2).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology B and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrés J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: López-Contreras
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López-Garcia
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Cervantes
authors.forename: Asunción
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cremades
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peñafiel
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase / Q000737:chemistry*; D011073:Polyamines / Q000737:chemistry; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D011073:Polyamines; D011506:Proteins; C031017:ornithine decarboxylase antizyme; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase; C019722:arginine decarboxylase