Chloroplast biogenesis 91: Detection of δ-aminolevulinic acid esterases activity in higher plant and insect tissues

Abstract

δ-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) esterase(s) is an enzyme or a family of enzymes that regenerate ALA from ALA esters by hydrolysis. These enzyme(s) are highly active in cancer cells. As a consequence ALA esters have been used to advantage in ALA-dependent photoradiation therapy, since ALA esters translocate better to sites of metabolism in cancer cells and tissues than free ALA. In this work, it is shown that ALA esterase(s) also occur in insect and plant tissues, but are less active than in cancer cells. In plant cells ALA esterase activity is observed in the cytosol as well as in the plastids where most of the activity is observed in the plastid stoma. The ALA esterase activity appears to be sensitive to the nature of the esterifying alcohol as well as to components of the incubation medium. The observed lower activity of ALA ester conversion to tetrapyrroles in insect and plant cells, in comparison to free ALA, suggests that the use of ALA esters in photodynamic insecticidal and herbicidal applications may not be as advantageous as their use in cancer photodynamic therapy treatments. It is proposed that ALA esterase(s) may be involved in the mobilization of sequestered and esterified ALA. Esterification and sequestering of excess ALA may be visualized as a mean of cellular detoxification.