title: A new nuclear function of the Entamoeba histolytica glycolytic enzyme enolase: the metabolic regulation of cytosine-5 methyltransferase 2 (Dnmt2) activity.
abstract: Cytosine-5 methyltransferases of the Dnmt2 family function as DNA and tRNA methyltransferases. Insight into the role and biological significance of Dnmt2 is greatly hampered by a lack of knowledge about its protein interactions. In this report, we address the subject of protein interaction by identifying enolase through a yeast two-hybrid screen as a Dnmt2-binding protein. Enolase, which is known to catalyze the conversion of 2-phosphoglycerate (2-PG) to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), was shown to have both a cytoplasmatic and a nuclear localization in the parasite Entamoeba histolytica. We discovered that enolase acts as a Dnmt2 inhibitor. This unexpected inhibitory activity was antagonized by 2-PG, which suggests that glucose metabolism controls the non-glycolytic function of enolase. Interestingly, glucose starvation drives enolase to accumulate within the nucleus, which in turn leads to the formation of additional enolase-E.histolytica DNMT2 homolog (Ehmeth) complex, and to a significant reduction of the tRNA(Asp) methylation in the parasite. The crucial role of enolase as a Dnmt2 inhibitor was also demonstrated in E.histolytica expressing a nuclear localization signal (NLS)-fused-enolase. These results establish enolase as the first Dnmt2 interacting protein, and highlight an unexpected role of a glycolytic enzyme in the modulation of Dnmt2 activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology, The Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Ayala
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tovy
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Siman Tov
authors.forename: Ricarda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaentzsch
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Helm
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ankri
mesh_terms: D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000201:enzymology*; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase