STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOLUBLE FORM OF BOVINE DOPAMINE BETA-HYDROXYLASE

Dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) is a neurotransmitter biosynthetic enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine. Although structural studies of the mature form of this enzyme have been extensive, the culmination of these finding had been hightly controversial and contradictory. In this study, biochemical approaches were taken to characterize the structure of mature DBH. Soluble bovine DBH was purified from aderenal medulla. Three bands of 69 kDa, 72 kDa and 75 kDa which were physically separable and similar in structure were observed by SDS-PAGE. Furthermore, gas phase sequence analysis revealed that the 72 kDa band consists of two polypeptides which are present at equimolar concentrations and differed in that one had three extra amino acids at the N-terminus. Taken together, the soluble form of DBH exist in at least four forms, three identified by SDS-PAGE, one of which consists of two polypeptides as identified by N-terminal sequence analysis. The significance of these forms and their possible biosynthetic mechanisms are discussed.