title: Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis nicotinamidase/pyrazinamidase.
abstract: The nicotinamidase/pyrazinamidase (PncA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is involved in the activation of the important front-line antituberculosis drug pyrazinamide by converting it into the active form, pyrazinoic acid. Mutations in the pncA gene cause pyrazinamide resistance in M. tuberculosis. The properties of M. tuberculosis PncA were characterized in this study. The enzyme was found to be a 20.89 kDa monomeric protein. The optimal pH and temperature of enzymatic activity were pH 7.0 and 40 degrees C, respectively. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry revealed that the enzyme was an Mn(2+)/Fe(2+)-containing protein with a molar ratio of [Mn(2+)] to [Fe(2+)] of 1 : 1; furthermore, the external addition of either type of metal ion had no apparent effect on the wild-type enzymatic activity. The activity of the purified enzyme was determined by HPLC, and it was shown that it possessed similar pyrazinamidase and nicotinamidase activity, by contrast with previous reports. Nine PncA mutants were generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Determination of the enzymatic activity and metal ion content suggested that Asp8, Lys96 and Cys138 were key residues for catalysis, and Asp49, His51, His57 and His71 were essential for metal ion binding. Our data show that M. tuberculosis PncA may bind metal ions in a manner different from that observed in the case of Pyrococcus horikoshii PncA.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiao-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Ya-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zhi-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cheng-Gang
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xian-En
authors.initials: XE
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002412:Cations / Q000494:pharmacology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002412:Cations; D000581:Amidohydrolases; C022490:pyrazinamide deamidase