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A rapid and sensitive method for the determination of hypusine in proteins and its distribution and developmental changes
Abstract
A simple and sensitive method for determining hypusine in proteins was developed. A greater part of amino acids in the acid hydrolysate of proteins was separated from hypusine by treatment with an ion-exchange resin. The sample containing partially purified hypusine was then analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography using the post-column derivatization method with o-phthalaldehyde. The recovery rate of hypusine through the overall procedure was more than 95%. Using this method, the distribution and developmental changes of hypusine in proteins were determined. The amino acid was found in proteins of all examined organs of rat. Its concentration was 5-40 nmol/g protein. The subcellular distribution in rat liver was also determined. About 60% of total amount of hypusine was present in the proteins of cytoplasmic and microsomal fractions and its relative concentration was high in the proteins of microsome and lysosome and low in mitochondria. In developing rat, the concentration of hypusine in the brain proteins was relatively high during the first 2 or 3 weeks of postnatal life and then decreased until adulthood. Its concentration in the liver proteins was highest at birth and then decreased continuously to the adult level.
... Since its discovery. hypusine has been found as a free amino acid (Nakajima. Matsubayashi. Kakimoto and Sano. 1971) and bound to protein (Sano. Miyake and Kakimoto. 1984). Protein-bound hypusine primarily occurred in a protein. Mr ~18.000. which was originally observed in lectin-stimulated lymphocytes and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (Park. Cooper and Folk. 1981;. The synthesis of protein·-bound hypusine coincides with an increase in protein synthesis and this biochemical process was observed in sev ...
... These are precisely such actively proliferating tissues in which high activities of hypusine formation have been detected (e.g. testes and Chinese hamster ovary cells) (1,50). With respect to the ubiquitous occurrence of putrescine (51), it is still unresolved whether homospermidine is synthesized in vivo in tobacco without being accumulated in detectable amounts or whether the formation of homospermidine is the result of indiscriminate enzyme activity detectable only in vitro. ...
Deoxyhypusine synthase catalyzes the formation of a deoxyhypusine residue in the translation eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) precursor protein by transferring an aminobutyl moiety from spermidine onto a conserved lysine residue within the eIF5A polypeptide chain. This reaction commences the activation of the initiation factor in fungi and vertebrates. A mechanistically identical reaction is known in the biosynthetic pathway leading to pyrrolizidine alkaloids in plants. Deoxyhypusine synthase from tobacco was cloned and expressed in active form in Escherichia coli. It catalyzes the formation of a deoxyhypusine residue in the tobacco eIF5A substrate as shown by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer. The enzyme also accepts free putrescine as the aminobutyl acceptor, instead of lysine bound in the eIF5A polypeptide chain, yielding homospermidine. Conversely, it accepts homospermidine instead of spermidine as the aminobutyl donor, whereby the reactions with putrescine and homospermidine proceed at the same rate as those involving the authentic substrates. The conversion of deoxyhypusine synthase-catalyzed eIF5A deoxyhypusinylation pinpoints a function for spermidine in plant metabolism. Furthermore, and quite unexpectedly, the substrate spectrum of deoxyhypusine synthase hints at a biochemical basis behind the sparse and skew occurrence of both homospermidine and its pyrrolizidine derivatives across distantly related plant taxa.
Deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH) is a monomeric monooxygenase that catalyzes a critical reaction step of the unique protein modification called hypusination. Modified at a specific lysine residue, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5a (eIF‐5A) is the only protein known to be hypusinated. The presence of the noncanonical amino acid hypusine in eIF‐5A is not only crucial for the activity of the protein and vital for eukaryotic cells, but is also involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases, such as cancer, AIDS, and diabetes. DOHH is therefore considered a novel target for the design of drugs against these major health threats. DOHH is a nonheme diiron enzyme that activates oxygen for substrate hydroxylation. Featuring a blue chromophore, the peroxo‐diiron(III) intermediate of human DOHH is unusually stable, allowing its crystallization and the first elucidation of a three‐dimensional structure of this intermediate in its native biological environment. The overall structure of DOHH comprises two pseudosymmetric domains, each consisting of four HEAT repeats. The structural information, in combination with spectroscopic analyses and comparison to other nonheme diiron enzymes, has been used to suggest a putative catalytic mechanism for DOHH. Compounds shown to inactivate DOHH include ciclopirox, mimosine, deferiprone, and zileuton.
The unusual amino acid hypusine, so far considered to be specific for the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF-4D, has been isolated by Chromatographic methods not only from protein hydrolysates of various eukaryotic sources including flagellates and higher plants, but also from those of the aerobic archaebacteria Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, Halobacterium cutirubrum and Thermoplasma acidophilum. Hypusine was identified by co-chromatography with a standard, by oxidative cleavage with periodic acid and by in vivo labelling with [3H]lysine. No hypusine could be detected in eubacteria and in strictly anaerobic archaebacterial organisms. This distribution of hypusine is apparently of phylogenetic significance. A perceptible but not striking correlation of hypusine content with growth rate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Sulfolobus acidocaldarius may indicate that the function of the hypusine containing protein has been conserved throughout evolution.
The distribution of -(-aminobutyryl)-hypusine was examined in several organs of the rabbit and in the brain of the rat, rabbit, dog, ox, and monkey. The peptide occurred only in the brains, but appeared to be absent from dog brain. Concentrations were higher in the cerebral hemispheres than in other portions of the brain. No significant difference between white and gray matter was observed.
A new dipeptide, α-(-γ-aminobutyryl)-hypusine, was identified in bovine brain. This compound was isolated from trichloroacetic acid-soluble fraction of bovine brain with five steps of ion-exchange chromatography. Its structure was postulated by routine chemical analyses and determined by synthesis. The amount of the compound isolated from 1.2 kg of bovine brain was 870 nmol.
Methylarginines in free form were identified in bovine brain. Three compounds were isolated from the basic aliphatic amino acid fraction of bovine brain with several ion-exchange chromatographies. They showed the same Rf values in paper and thin-layer chromatographies as those of authentic NG-monomethylarginine, NG-dimethylargi-nine, and NG-dimethylarginine. The migration distance of the isolated compounds in high-voltage paper electropho-resis and the retention times in ion-exchange HPLC were also identical to those of the above authentic methylarginines. We concluded that these three compounds are the methyl derivatives of arginine described above. The amount of these three compounds isolated from 1,090 g of bovine brain was 0.3 μmol of NG-monomethylarginine, 0.1 μmol of NG,NG-dimethylarginine, and 0.5 μmol of NG,NG-dimethylarginine. The occurrence of these free methylarginines may have an important role in regulating the signal transduction through the nitric oxide system.
Long-term memory, a persistent form of synaptic plasticity, requires translation of a subset of mRNA present in neuronal dendrites during a short and critical period through a mechanism not yet fully elucidated. Western blotting analysis revealed a high content of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) in the brain of neonatal rats, a period of intense neurogenesis rate, differentiation and synaptic establishment, when compared to adult rats. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that eIF5A is present in the whole brain of adult rats showing a variable content among the cells from different areas (e.g. cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum). A high content of eIF5A in the soma and dendrites of Purkinje cells, key neurons in the control of motor long-term memory in the cerebellum, was observed. Detection of high eIF5A content was revealed in dendritic varicosities of Purkinje cells. Evidence is presented herein that a reduction of eIF5A content is associated to brain aging.
The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) contains a special amino acid residue named hypusine that is required for its activity, being produced by a post-translational modification using spermidine as substrate. Stem cells from rat skeletal muscles (satellite cells) were submitted to differentiation and an increase of eIF5A gene expression was observed. Higher content of eIF5A protein was found in satellite cells on differentiation in comparison to non-differentiated satellite cells and skeletal muscle. The treatment with N1-guanyl-1,7-diaminoheptane (GC7), a hypusination inhibitor, reversibly abolished the differentiation process. In association with the differentiation blockage, an increase of glucose consumption and lactate production and a decrease of glucose and palmitic acid oxidation were observed. A reduction in cell proliferation and protein synthesis was also observed. L-Arginine, a spermidine precursor and partial suppressor of muscle dystrophic phenotype, partially abolished the GC7 inhibitory effect on satellite cell differentiation. These results reveal a new physiological role for eIF5A and contribute to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in muscle regeneration.
A sensitive and specific method for determining three forms of methylarginine, i.e., NG-monomethylarginine, NG,NG-dimethylarginine, and NG,N'G-dimethylarginine, in mammalian tissues was developed. After partial purification by ion-exchange chromatography, the methylarginines were derivatized to phenylthiocarbamyl compounds and quantitatively determined using HPLC with a reverse-phase C18 column. In rat organs, the highest concentrations of methylarginines were observed in the spleen. In rat brain, cerebellum and olfactory bulb contained large amounts of NG-monomethylarginine and NG,NG-dimethylarginine. A detailed study of the distribution of methylarginines in the bovine brain was also made, and the concentration of NG,N'G-dimethylarginine was almost the same in all regions. The cerebellar gray matter, hippocampus, and hypothalamus contained large amounts of methylarginines. The distribution of methylarginines seems to parallel the distribution of nitric oxide synthase, which is known to be inhibited by NG-monomethylarginine. This may indicate that methylarginines play some role in controlling nitric oxide synthase activity.
Methylarginines in free form were identified in bovine brain. Three compounds were isolated from the basic aliphatic amino acid fraction of bovine brain with several ion-exchange chromatographies. They showed the same Rf values in paper and thin-layer chromatographies as those of authentic NG-monomethylarginine, NG,NG-dimethylarginine, and NG,N'G-dimethylarginine. The migration distance of the isolated compounds in high-voltage paper electrophoresis and the retention times in ion-exchange HPLC were also identical to those of the above authentic methylarginines. We concluded that these three compounds are the methyl derivatives of arginine described above. The amount of these three compounds isolated from 1,090 g of bovine brain was 0.3 mumol of NG-monomethylarginine, 0.1 mumol of NG,NG-dimethylarginine, and 0.5 mumol of NG,N'G-dimethylarginine. The occurrence of these free methylarginines may have an important role in regulating the signal transduction through the nitric oxide system.
A unique dipeptide was isolated from bovine brain using five steps of ion-exchange chromatography. Its acid hydrolysate contained equimolar amounts of beta-alanine and hypusine. The structure of the peptide was elucidated as alpha-(beta-alanyl)hypusine using dansylation technique. About 1 mumol of the compound was isolated from 1090 g of bovine brain.
A selective and sensitive reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of the amino acid hypusine which occurs ubiquitously in mammalian cells and for the simultaneous measurement of its immediate precursor deoxyhypusine. These amino acids, after their ion-exchange separation from the bulk of other amino acids in protein hydrolysates, are derivatized with o-phthalaldehyde and the fluorescent derivatives are separated by reverse-phase liquid chromatography. The sensitivity of this method allows detection of less than 5 pmol of each of these unusual amino acids. The method is applied to the determination of hypusine and deoxyhypusine in acid hydrolysates of cultured cells and tissues.
The unusual basic amino acid hypusine [Nε-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl) lysine] is a derivative of lysine which was originally isolated from a trichloroacetic acid-soluble extract of bovine brain (1). Subsequently it was found that in its free form hypusine concentration is highest in the brain (2), whereas, as a protein component, testes are the richest source (3). Furthermore, in developing rats, the hypusine concentration in brain protein is higher in the first 2 weeks of postnatal life and then steadily decreases until adulthood (3). In this organ the amino acid is also present bound to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (4).
The distribution of alpha-(gamma-aminobutyryl)-hypusine was examined in several organs of the rabbit and in the brain of the rat, rabbit, dog, ox, and monkey. The peptide occurred only in the brains, but appeared to be absent from dog brain. Concentrations were higher in the cerebral hemispheres than in other portions of the brain. No significant difference between white and gray matter was observed.
The rates of synthesis and turnover of the rare amino acid hypusine [N6-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)-2,6-diaminohexanoic acid] in protein were studied in relationship to polyamine metabolism and growth rates in rat hepatoma tissue-culture (HTC) cells. Hypusine is selectively formed in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF-4D, by a post-translational mechanism involving spermidine [Cooper, Park, Folk, Safer & Braverman (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 1854-1857]. The half-life of the hypusine-containing protein was longer than 24 h. In cells whose intracellular spermidine pools had been initially depleted, by using DL-alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), maximum synthesis rates of hypusine in protein were 5-10 times higher, on restoration of endogenous spermidine contents by exogenous addition, than those observed in untreated exponential-phase cultures. In cells pretreated with DFMO, the rate of hypusine synthesis was constant for up to 1 h after the addition of 5 microM-spermidine, whereas endogenous spermidine contents varied from less than 1 to more than 10 nmol/mg of protein. However, the overall amount of hypusine formed, during the first 1 h after the addition of various concentrations of spermidine (0.05-10 microM) to the culture medium, was markedly dependent on the final endogenous spermidine content achieved at the end of the 1 h measurement interval. Early in exponential-phase growth, protein-bound hypusine was synthesized at a rate of 1-2 pmol/h per mg of protein. This rate decreased to less than 0.5 pmol/h per mg of protein when cell growth rates decreased as cultures reached high cell densities. Analysis of the polyamine substrate specificity for hypusine formation showed that N1-acetylspermidine did not compete with spermidine in the reaction, nor did N1-(buta-2,3-dienyl)-N2-methylbutane-1,4-diamine, and irreversible inhibitor of polyamine oxidase, block the reaction. On the basis of comparative radiolabelling experiments, spermine was either a poor substrate, or not a substrate, for hypusine formation. These results confirm that spermidine is the likely precursor of the aminohydroxybutyl moiety of hypusine, and show that overall hypusine formation, but not necessarily the synthesis rate, is dependent on the endogenous spermidine concentration, especially under conditions where spermidine concentrations are initially low, as is the case after DFMO treatment, and then increase.
Hypusine-containing protein identified as eukaryote initiation-translation factor 4D was labeled with [14C]spermidine in logarithmically growing Chinese hamster ovary cells. Radioautography of the cellular proteins separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed the label in a single protein of 18000 Mr. Time course analysis showed that this protein remained undegraded for up to 72 hours after its synthesis. Radioactivity present in the amino acid hypusine, isolated after acid hydrolysis, remained constant during the same period of time. These results indicate that the hypusine-containing protein has a long half-life.
When mammalian cells are grown in medium containing [3H]spermidine, a single major tritiated protein identical to eukaryotic initiation factor 4D becomes labeled. This protein contains 1 residue/molecule of tritiated hypusine (N epsilon-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine), a rare amino acid which has been found in no other protein. In order to investigate the conservation of this protein, we examined two nonmammalian eukaryotes, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the insect Drosophila melanogaster, and the eubacterial prokaryote Escherichia coli for the presence of the hypusine-containing protein. When the eukaryotic cells were grown in the presence of [3H]spermidine, electrophoretic analysis revealed a single labeled protein. In each case, the apparent molecular weight was near 18,000 and the relative pI was approximately 5.2, similar to the hypusine-containing protein of mammals. Amino acid analysis confirmed the presence of tritiated hypusine in each case, and silver staining of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels demonstrated that, in yeast and fruit flies as in mammals, the protein is relatively abundant. In the eubacterium E. coli, one tritiated protein was predominant, but its molecular weight was 24,000 and we found no evidence that it contained tritiated hypusine. We found no evidence for the existence of the hypusine-containing protein in the archaebacterium Methanococcus voltae. These data suggest that the hypusine-containing protein is conserved among eukaryotes.
In 1971, the amino acid known as hypusine was discovered in free form in bovine brain (Shiba et al., 1972). The structure of hypusine was established and confirmed as N6-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)-2, 6-diamino hexanoic acid (Shiba et al., 1982; Tice and Ganem, 1983). Since its discovery, hypusine has been found as a free amino acid (Nakajima et al., 1971) and bound to protein (Sano et al., 1984). Protein-bound hypusine primarily occurred in a protein, M ≃ 18, 000, which was originally observed in lectin-stimulated lymphocytes and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (Park et al., 1981; Cooper et al, 1982). The synthesis of protein-bound hypusine coincides with an increase in protein synthesis (Cooper et al., 1982) and this biochemical process was observed in several mammalian cell lines (Chen, 1983; Torrelio et al., 1984). Because of the ubiquity of the hypusine modification in an Mr ≃ 18, 000 protein and its conservation among eukaryotes (Paric et al., 1984a; Gordon et al., 1987), the biophysical characteristics of the protein were compared to those of known eukaryotic protein translation initiation factors. The MΓ ≃ 18, 000 protein modified by hypusine was identified as the putative eukaryotic protein synthesis initiation factor eIF-4D (Cooper et al., 1983).
Deoxyhypusine hydroxylase catalyzes the formation of hypusine from deoxyhypusine in a precursor form of eukaryotic initiation factor 4D (eIF-4D). The enzymatic activity was examined in mammalian brain homogenates and the results were consistent with the existence of deoxyhypusine hydroxylase levels comparable to those occurring in other mammalian tissues. Interspecies differences in the enzyme distribution were quite limited, with the highest specific activity values observed in cow brain (1.82 units/mg of protein). In the rat the enzyme was found to be unevenly distributed among various brain regions. The parietal cortex contained the highest specific activity (2.1 units/mg of protein). Rat brain deoxyhypusine hydroxylase was mainly present in the postmicrosomal supernatant (81% of the total activity). The highest specific activity (3 units/mg of protein) was observed in the rat brain during the first few days of life. Thereafter the activity started to decline, and continued to do so for 15 days, remaining throughout the rest of life at levels of less than one-half that of newborn.
A new dipeptide, alpha-(gamma-aminobutyryl)-hypusine, was identified in bovine brain. This compound was isolated from trichloroacetic acid-soluble fraction of bovine brain with five steps of ion-exchange chromatography. Its structure was postulated by routine chemical analyses and determined by synthesis. The amount of the compound isolated from 1.2 kg of bovine brain was 870 nmol.
A sensitive and reliable method for the determination of hypusine and deoxyhypusine in eIF-5A protein, an initiation factor of protein synthesis, was developed. An advantage of this method is the use of N epsilon-(5-aminopentyl)lysine, an analogue of deoxyhypusine, as an internal standard. The application made it possible to determine hypusine in less than a mg of protein samples from cultured HTC cells and rat organs. After acid hydrolysis of protein samples to which had been added the internal standard, the hydrolysates were fractionated by carboxymethyl cellulose column chromatography. Also, diamine fractions containing a few pmol of hypusine and deoxyhypusine were successfully analyzed by a reversed phase HPLC with a fluorescence detection of o-phthalaldehyde. The method was applied for the determination of hypusine and deoxyhypusine in drug-treated HTC cells and normal rat organs. The results from HTC cells were discussed based on the known effects of each drug on hypusine biosynthesis.
A single protein of Mr 17,000-19,000 and pI approximately equal to 5.1, found in all animal cells we have studied to date, undergoes post-translational modification in growing cells to form the unusual amino acid hypusine. Because of the association of this modification with the increasing rate of protein synthesis during lymphocyte growth stimulation, its subcellular distribution, and its widespread occurrence and structural conservation among animal cells, we considered the possibility that this protein might be a translation initiation factor. Purified rabbit reticulocyte factors (eukaryote initiation factors) eIF-4C and eIF-4D were chosen for study because of their Mr (17,000-19,000) and acidic pI. The hypusine-containing protein and purified eIF-4D showed identity of electrophoretic mobility in both isoelectric focusing and NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis dimensions, while eIF-4C was clearly nonidentical. Purified eIF-4D contained approximately 1 mol of hypusine per mol of protein. Since only one protein has thus far been observed to contain hypusine, we conclude that eIF-4D is the hypusine-containing protein. On the basis of relative synthesis among lymphocyte proteins and detection by Coomassie blue staining, we also conclude that eIF-4D is a major cell protein. It is possible that the activity of this factor is modulated by It is possible that the activity of this factor is modulated by post-translational hypusine formation, which may play a role in regulation of protein synthesis during lymphocyte growth stimulation.
When normal human peripheral lymphocytes are treated with mitogen and grown in the presence of [3H]putrescine or [terminal methylenes-3H]spermidine, label is incorporated predominantly into one cellular protein. The radioactive constituent of this protein was identified as the unusual amino acid hypusine [N epsilon-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine]. This was accomplished by isolation of the component from proteolytic digests or acid hydrolysates and comparison with authentic hypusine by chromatography, conversion to the 2,4-dinitrophenyl derivative, and oxidative degradation. The observed relationships among intracellular levels of labeled putrescine, polyamines, and protein bound hypusine after growth of cells with the various labeled amines and with or without an inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis supply evidence that spermidine is the immediate amine precursor of hypusine and that the 4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl portion of hypusine derives from the butylamine moiety of spermidine.
The major labeled constituent produced in cellular protein during the incubation of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with [3H]putrescine or [terminal methylenes-3H]spermidine was identified as hypusine (N epsilon -(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine). This unusual amino acid was found to occur predominantly in one relatively acidic low molecular weight protein. When CHO cells were labeled with [4,5-3H)lysine, a small portion of the radioactivity of the cellular protein fraction, after release by proteolytic digestion or acid hydrolysis, chromatographed at the position of hypusine. Oxidative degradation of this isolated labeled material yielded labeled lysine, thus, providing evidence that lysine is the amino acid precursor of hypusine. Upon incubation of CHO cells with the metal chelator, alpha,alpha-dipyridyl, and either [4,5]3H]lysine or [terminal methylenes-3H]spermidine, label was incorporated into a protein-bound material, the chromatographic properties of which, after release by digestion, were found to be different from those of hypusine. This constituent of cell protein was identified as the unhydroxylated form of hypusine, deoxyhypusine (N epsilon -(4-aminobutyl)lysine). Evidence that the normal biosynthesis of hypusine proceeds through hydroxylation of deoxyhypusine was obtained by demonstration of conversion of protein-bound deoxyhypusine to protein-bound hypusine both in intact cells and in cell-free lysate. In the presence of the metal chelator, alpha,alpha-dipyridyl, deoxyhypusine accumulated in a single protein whose two dimensional electrophoretic properties were indistinguishable from those of the usual hypusine-containing protein. This finding supports the proposed mechanism in which peptide-bound lysine is converted to peptide-bound hypusine through hydroxylation of the transitory intermediate, deoxyhypusine.
This chapter discusses anatomical, biochemical, and neurophysiological changes with the development of functional and behavioral patterns of brain that indicate the necessary degree of maturation required for various functions. The neurological maturation of the brain assessed with the concomitant chemical and anatomical development considers various factors in the total development of the animal. These factors include the rate of prenatal development, a correlary of which is the maturity of the animal at birth, and the rate of postnatal development. Other important points are the complexity of the brain organization and the total metabolic rate of the animal as a whole as well as that of the brain itself. The data used in the chapter were obtained on whole brain and reported on a wet weight basis. The human infant is born more mature than that of the rat or rabbit, and based on the visual evoked potential, more mature than the cat. After birth, development in man appears to proceed more slowly than in the other species examined.
The distribution of hypusine, N6-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)-2,6-diaminohexanoic acid, was examined in various organs of rats and inbrain of rabbits and oxen. It was present in brain, liver, kidney, muscle and blood. In brain its concentration was higher in the white matter than in grey matter.Hypusine appeared in rat brain in the second week after birth, and the amount increased during 3–8 weeks to reach adult level.In human urine of subjects of both sexes and different ages the concentration of hypusine was in the range of 1–3 nmoles/mg creatinine.
Hypusine, a new basic amino acid occurring in the homogenate of bovine brain tissue, was synthesized to determine the absolute structure. Nα-Benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine benzyl ester was coupled with (S)- or (R)-4-benzyloxycarbonylamino-1-bromo-2-butanol derived from L- or D-malic acid, respectively. The products were deprotected by catalytic hydrogenation. One of the synthetic compounds, i.e., (2S,9R)-2,11-diamino-9-hydroxy-7-azaundecanoic acid, was completely identical with natural hypusine in all respects.
Rat liver undergoes a phase of rapid growth during weaning. We followed the changes in polyamine metabolism occurring during this period of natural growth, and compared them with changes in DNA and RNA accumulation. There was a 2.5-fold increase in the number of cells per liver between suckling (18--19 days old) and weaning (30--32 days old) rats. Ornithine decarboxylase activity increased from the low value in 18-day-old rat pups and remained significantly higher (approx. 5--10-fold) than that in adult rats from day 21 to day 34. Putrescine-dependent S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity was slightly but significantly increased during most of this period. Spermidine and RNA concentrations fluctuated in concert, whereas spermine content per cell doubled during the period from day 23 to day 30.
A new basic amino acid, hypusine, was isolated from the homogenate of bovine brain tissue by ion-exchange column chromatography. The structure of this amino acid was determined to be N6-4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)-2,6-diaminohexanoic acid on the basis of its physical properties involving NMR and mass spectra, as well as chemical degradation including periodate oxidation and reduction with HI and P.
Hypusine, N6-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)-2,6-diaminohexanoic acid was isolated from proteins of bovine brain. Its identification was performed by comparison of its behavior in amino acid analysis, paper chromatography and electrophoresis to that of the authentic compound, and by periodic acid-permanganate oxidation which split hypusine into β-alanine and lysine. Hypusine was found in proteins of various organs of rabbits.Formation of hypusine from lysine was demonstrated by the intraperitoneal injection of labeled lysine into a rat and isolation of radioactive hypusine from the animal proteins. This findings indicates a possibility that hypusine is derived from the lysine residue of proteins through attachment of the 4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl moiety to the N6-amino radical of lysine.
Growing lymphocytes perform a novel chemical modification of a single protein (Hy+: approximately 18 kd, pI approximately 5.1), resulting in the formation of the unusual amino acid, hypusine (N epsilon-[4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl]lysine). This posttranslational event occurs only following activation of lymphocyte growth. Hypusine formation increases at a rate parallel to protein synthesis during the first 24 hr of growth stimulation, beginning before 6 hr of growth. At all times, hypusine is restricted primarily to the single protein, Hy+. In resting cells, the unmodified substrate protein, Hy0, is continuously synthesized and maintained in a steady-state pool of significant size. In several other cell lines, hypusine formation was also observed in a single protein of approximately 18 kd, pI approximately 5.1, indistinguishable electrophoretically from the lymphocyte protein. Thus Hy+ is a ubiquitous protein showing significant conservation among divergent species. Maintenance by resting lymphocytes of a pool of unmodified protein and early activation during growth of the hypusine-forming enzyme system suggest that this posttranslational modification may be of importance to lymphocyte activation.
The possible role of polyamines in the covalent modification of cellular protein(s) was investigated by studying the metabolic labeling of NB-15 mouse neuroblastoma cells by [14C]putrescine in fresh Dulbecco's medium followed by separation of cellular proteins through sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Under such incubation conditions, a single protein band with an apparent molecular weight of 18000 was radioactively labeled. [14C]Spermidine also specifically labeled this protein. The majority of the radioactivity covalently linked to the 18-kDa protein was recovered as hypusine. The radioactive labeling of this protein was stimulated 1.3-fold by 1 mM dibutyryl cAMP and 2.8-fold by 4% fetal calf serum. Fetal calf serum also stimulated the labeling of many other cellular proteins. This may be due to the conversion of putrescine to amino acids via the formation of gamma-aminobutyric acid. Aminoguanidine, a potent inhibitor of diamine oxidase, completely inhibited the fetal calf serum-stimulated labeling of these cellular proteins but had no effect on the labeling of the 18-kDa protein. The specific labeling of the 18-kDa protein by [14C]putrescine occurred in various mammalian cells examined including the N-18 mouse neuroblastoma cells, 3T3-L1 murine preadipocytes, and H-35 rat hepatoma cells. The specificity of labeling of the apparently ubiquitous 18-kDa protein and the stimulation of this labeling by fetal calf serum suggest that this protein may be important in mediating some of the actions of polyamines in cell growth regulation.
Since 1922 when Wu proposed the use of the Folin phenol reagent for
the measurement of proteins (l), a number of modified analytical pro-
cedures ut.ilizing this reagent have been reported for the determination
of proteins in serum (2-G), in antigen-antibody precipitates (7-9), and
in insulin (10).
Although the reagent would seem to be recommended by its great sen-
sitivity and the simplicity of procedure possible with its use, it has not
found great favor for general biochemical purposes.
In the belief that this reagent, nevertheless, has considerable merit for
certain application, but that its peculiarities and limitations need to be
understood for its fullest exploitation, it has been studied with regard t.o
effects of variations in pH, time of reaction, and concentration of react-
ants, permissible levels of reagents commonly used in handling proteins,
and interfering subst.ances. Procedures are described for measuring pro-
tein in solution or after precipitation wit,h acids or other agents, and for
the determination of as little as 0.2 y of protein.
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