• Title/Summary/Keyword: Farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP)

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Characterization of Geranylgeranyl Pyrophosphate Synthase from the Marine Bacterium, Paracoccus haeundaensis

  • Seo, Yong-Bae;Lee, Jae-Hyung;Kim, Young-Tae
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.54-59
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    • 2009
  • Carotenoids such as $\beta$-carotene and astaxanthin are used as food colorants, animal feed supplements and for nutritional and cosmetic purposes. In a previous study, an astaxanthin biosynthesis gene cluster was isolated from the marine bacterium, Paracoccus haeundaensis. Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) synthase (CrtE), encoded by the ortE gene, catalyzes the formation of GGPP from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), which is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of carotenoids in early steps. In order to study the biochemical and enzymatic characteristics of this important enzyme, a large quantity of purified GGPP synthase is required. To overproduce GGPP synthase, the crtE gene was subcloned into a pET-44a(+) expression vector and transformed into the Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) codon plus cell. Transformants harboring the crtE gene were cultured and the crtE gene was over-expressed. The expressed protein was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography and applied to study its biochemical properties and molecular characteristics.

Chemical Modification of Yeast Farnesyl Protein Transferase Expressed in E. coli

  • Kim, Hyun-Kyung;Yang, Chul-Hak
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.529-534
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    • 2006
  • Chemical modification of the S. cerevisiae farnesyl protein transferase (FPT) with CMC, phenylglyoxal and DEPC resulted in enzyme inactivation, depending upon the reagent concentration. The peptide substrate GST-PEP-I, a GST-fused undecapeptide mimicking the C-terminus of $p21^{Ki-ras}$, protected the enzyme against inactivation by CMC which is specific to either aspartate or glutamate, while the other substrate farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) showed protection against phenylglyoxal which is the specific modifier of arginine residues, dependent on the substrate concentrations. Neither of the two substrates protected the enzyme against histidine inactivation by DEPC. It is suggested that there is at least one aspartate or glutamate residue at the peptide substrate binding site, and that at least one arginine residue is located at the binding site of FPP. There also seems to be at least one histidine residue which is critical for enzymic activity and is exposed toward the bulk solution, excluded from the substrate binding sites.

Electrospray-Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Plasma Pyrophosphates Separated on a Multi-Modal Liquid Chromatographic Column

  • Lee, Su-Hyeon;Lee, Jeong-Ae;Lee, Won-Yong;Chung, Bong-Chul;Choi, Man-Ho
    • Mass Spectrometry Letters
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.92-95
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    • 2011
  • Pyrophosphates are the key intermediates in the biosynthesis of isoprenoids, and their concentrations could reveal the benefits of statins in cardiovascular diseases. Quantitative analysis of five pyrophosphates, including isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP), dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP), geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP), farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), was performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in negative ionization mode. After dilution with methanol, samples were separated on a 3 ${\mu}m$ particle multi-modal $C_{18}$ column ($50{\times}2$ mm) and quantified within 10 min. The gradient elution consists of 10 mM ammonium bicarbonate and 0.5% triethylamine (TEA) in water and 0.1% TEA in 80% acetonitrile was used at the flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. Overall recoveries were 51.4-106.6%, while the limit of quantification was 0.05 ${\mu}g$/mL for GPP and FPP and 0.1 ${\mu}g$/mL for IPP, DMAPP, and GGPP. The precision (% CV) and accuracy (% bias) of the assay were 1.9-12.3% and 89.6-111.8%, respectively, in 0.05-10 ${\mu}g$/mL calibration ranges ($R^2$ > 0.993). The devised LC-MS/MS technique with the multi-modal $C_{18}$ column can be used to estimate the biological activity of pyrophosphates in plasma and may be applicable to cardiovascular events with cholesterol metabolism as well as the drug efficacy of statins.

Statins and Their Effects on Embryonic Stem Cells (스타틴 그리고 배아줄기세포에서의 작용)

  • Lee, Mi-Hee;Han, Yong-Mahn;Cho, Yee-Sook
    • Development and Reproduction
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.59-66
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    • 2007
  • Understanding molecular mechanisms that control embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and differentiation is important for the development of ESC-based therapies. Statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), potently reduce cholesterol level. As well as inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, statins inhibit other intermediates in the mevalonate pathway such as farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), major substrates for protein isoprenylation. Studies showed that pleiotropic effects of statins beyond cholesterol lowering property arise from inhibition of protein isoprenylation that is involved in various cellular functions including proliferation and differentiation. It has been determined that statins have inhibitory effect on ESC self-renewal and stimulatory effect on ESC differentiation into adipogenic/osteogenic lineages. Importantly, statins mediate downregulation of ESC self-renewal by inhibiting RhoA-dependent signaling, independently of their choresterol-lowering properties. Understanding statin's actions on ESCs may provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms that regulate self-renewal or differentiation of ESCs.

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Role of Nitric Oxide in the Lovastatin-Induced Stimulation of Melanin Synthesis in B16 Melanoma Cells (B16 흑색종세포에서 로바스타틴에 의한 멜라닌 합성 촉진효과에 미치는 산화질소의 역할)

  • Lee, Yong Soo
    • YAKHAK HOEJI
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    • v.57 no.6
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    • pp.388-393
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    • 2013
  • Previously, we have reported that lovastatin, an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, increased melanin synthesis through intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release in B16 cells. In this study we investigated the possible involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in the mechanism of lovastatin-induced melanogenesis. Lovastatin elevated NO formation in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with mevalonate, farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), precursors of cholesterol, did not significantly alter the lovastatin-induced NO production, suggesting that inhibition of cholesterol metabolism may not be involved in the mechanism of this action of lovastatin. Both NO formation and melanogenesis induced by lovastatin was significantly suppressed by treatment with $N^G$-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and 2-(4-carboxy-2-phenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylinidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO), an inhibitor of NO synthase and a NO scavenger, respectively. The lovastatin-induced NO production was significantly affected not by EGTA, an extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ chelator, but by an intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ chelator (BAPTA/AM) and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release blockers (dantrolene and TMB-8). Taken together, these results suggest that lovastatin may induce melanogenesis through NO formation mediated by intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release in B16 cells. These results further suggest that lovastatin may be a good candidate for the therapeutic application of various hypopigmentation disorders.

Transformation of Terpene Synthase from Polyporus brumalis in Pichia pastoris for Recombinant Enzyme Production

  • An, Ji-Eun;Lee, Su-Yeon;Ryu, Sun-Hwa;Kim, Myungkil
    • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.415-422
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    • 2018
  • Terpenoids have a wide range of biological functions and have extensive applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and flavoring industry. The white-rot fungus, Polyporus brumalis, is able to synthesize terpenoids via terpene synthase, which catalyzes an important step that forms a large variety of sesquiterpene products from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP). To improve the production of sesquiterpenes, the terpene synthase gene was isolated from Polyporus brumalis and was heterologously transformed into a Pichia pastoris strain. The open reading frame of the isolated gene (approximately 1.2 kb) was inserted into Pichia pastoris to obtain a recombinant enzyme. Five transformants were obtained and the expression of terpene synthase was analyzed at the transcript level by reverse transcription PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and at the protein level by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Expression of the terpene synthase gene product was elevated in the transformants and as expected the molecular weight of the protein was approximately 45 kDa. These recombinant enzymes have potential practical applications and future studies should focus on their functional characterization.

Sesquiterpenoids Bioconversion Analysis by Wood Rot Fungi

  • Lee, Su-Yeon;Ryu, Sun-Hwa;Choi, In-Gyu;Kim, Myungkil
    • 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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    • 2016.05a
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    • pp.19-20
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    • 2016
  • Sesquiterpenoids are defined as $C_{15}$ compounds derived from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), and their complex structures are found in the tissue of many diverse plants (Degenhardt et al. 2009). FPP's long chain length and additional double bond enables its conversion to a huge range of mono-, di-, and tri-cyclic structures. A number of cyclic sesquiterpenes with alcohol, aldehyde, and ketone derivatives have key biological and medicinal properties (Fraga 1999). Fungi, such as the wood-rotting Polyporus brumalis, are excellent sources of pharmaceutically interesting natural products such as sesquiterpenoids. In this study, we investigated the biosynthesis of P. brumalis sesquiterpenoids on modified medium. Fungal suspensions of 11 white rot species were inoculated in modified medium containing $C_6H_{12}O_6$, $C_4H_{12}N_2O_6$, $KH_2PO_4$, $MgSO_4$, and $CaCl_2$ for 20 days. Cultivation was stopped by solvent extraction via separation of the mycelium. The metabolites were identified as follows: propionic acid (1), mevalonic acid lactone (2), ${\beta}$-eudesmane (3), and ${\beta}$-eudesmol (4), respectively (Figure 1). The main peaks of ${\beta}$-eudesmane and ${\beta}$-eudesmol, which were indicative of sesquiterpene structures, were consistently detected for 5, 7, 12, and 15 days These results demonstrated the existence of terpene metabolism in the mycelium of P. brumalis. Polyporus spp. are known to generate flavor components such as methyl 2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl benzoate; 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-6-methyl benzoic acid; 3-hydroxy-5-methyl phenol; and 3-methoxy-2,5-dimethyl phenol in submerged cultures (Hoffmann and Esser 1978). Drimanes of sesquiterpenes were reported as metabolites from P. arcularius and shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (Fleck et al. 1996). The main metabolites of P. brumalis, ${\beta}$-Eudesmol and ${\beta}$-eudesmane, were categorized as eudesmane-type sesquiterpene structures. The eudesmane skeleton could be biosynthesized from FPP-derived IPP, and approximately 1,000 structures have been identified in plants as essential oils. The biosynthesis of eudesmol from P. brumalis may thus be an important tool for the production of useful natural compounds as presumed from its identified potent bioactivity in plants. Essential oils comprising eudesmane-type sesquiterpenoids have been previously and extensively researched (Wu et al. 2006). ${\beta}$-Eudesmol is a well-known and important eudesmane alcohol with an anticholinergic effect in the vascular endothelium (Tsuneki et al. 2005). Additionally, recent studies demonstrated that ${\beta}$-eudesmol acts as a channel blocker for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction, and it can inhibit angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo by blocking the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway (Seo et al. 2011). Variation of nutrients was conducted to determine an optimum condition for the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenes by P. brumalis. Genes encoding terpene synthases, which are crucial to the terpene synthesis pathway, generally respond to environmental factors such as pH, temperature, and available nutrients (Hoffmeister and Keller 2007, Yu and Keller 2005). Calvo et al. described the effect of major nutrients, carbon and nitrogen, on the synthesis of secondary metabolites (Calvo et al. 2002). P. brumalis did not prefer to synthesize sesquiterpenes under all growth conditions. Results of differences in metabolites observed in P. brumalis grown in PDB and modified medium highlighted the potential effect inorganic sources such as $C_4H_{12}N_2O_6$, $KH_2PO_4$, $MgSO_4$, and $CaCl_2$ on sesquiterpene synthesis. ${\beta}$-eudesmol was apparent during cultivation except for when P. brumalis was grown on $MgSO_4$-free medium. These results demonstrated that $MgSO_4$ can specifically control the biosynthesis of ${\beta}$-eudesmol. Magnesium has been reported as a cofactor that binds to sesquiterpene synthase (Agger et al. 2008). Specifically, the $Mg^{2+}$ ions bind to two conserved metal-binding motifs. These metal ions complex to the substrate pyrophosphate, thereby promoting the ionization of the leaving groups of FPP and resulting in the generation of a highly reactive allylic cation. Effect of magnesium source on the sesquiterpene biosynthesis was also identified via analysis of the concentration of total carbohydrates. Our current study offered further insight that fungal sesquiterpene biosynthesis can be controlled by nutrients. To profile the metabolites of P. brumalis, the cultures were extracted based on the growth curve. Despite metabolites produced during mycelia growth, there was difficulty in detecting significant changes in metabolite production, especially those at low concentrations. These compounds may be of interest in understanding their synthetic mechanisms in P. brumalis. The synthesis of terpene compounds began during the growth phase at day 9. Sesquiterpene synthesis occurred after growth was complete. At day 9, drimenol, farnesol, and mevalonic lactone (or mevalonic acid lactone) were identified. Mevalonic acid lactone is the precursor of the mevalonic pathway, and particularly, it is a precursor for a number of biologically important lipids, including cholesterol hormones (Buckley et al. 2002). Farnesol is the precursor of sesquiterpenoids. Drimenol compounds, bi-cyclic-sesquiterpene alcohols, can be synthesized from trans-trans farnesol via cyclization and rearrangement (Polovinka et al. 1994). They have also been identified in the basidiomycota Lentinus lepideus as secondary metabolites. After 12 days in the growth phase, ${\beta}$-elemene caryophyllene, ${\delta}$-cadiene, and eudesmane were detected with ${\beta}$-eudesmol. The data showed the synthesis of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons with bi-cyclic structures. These compounds can be synthesized from FPP by cyclization. Cyclic terpenoids are synthesized through the formation of a carbon skeleton from linear precursors by terpene cyclase, which is followed by chemical modification by oxidation, reduction, methylation, etc. Sesquiterpene cyclase is a key branch-point enzyme that catalyzes the complex intermolecular cyclization of the linear prenyl diphosphate into cyclic hydrocarbons (Toyomasu et al. 2007). After 20 days in stationary phase, the oxygenated structures eudesmol, elemol, and caryophyllene oxide were detected. Thus, after growth, sesquiterpenes were identified. Per these results, we showed that terpene metabolism in wood-rotting fungi occurs in the stationary phase. We also showed that such metabolism can be controlled by magnesium supplementation in the growth medium. In conclusion, we identified P. brumalis as a wood-rotting fungus that can produce sesquiterpenes. To mechanistically understand eudesmane-type sesquiterpene biosynthesis in P. brumalis, further research into the genes regulating the dynamics of such biosynthesis is warranted.

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