Isoprenyl Groups Research Articles

Rab GTP-binding proteins implicated in vesicular transport are isoprenylated in vitro at cysteines within a novel carboxyl-terminal motif

Low molecular mass GTP-binding proteins encoded by the mammalian rab genes are found in membranes of the Golgi complex and endosomes, suggesting that they play a role in the movement of exocytic and endocytic vesicles. The basis for the membrane association of these proteins has not been defined. Herein, we demonstrate that terminal cysteine residues in the rab1B, rab2, and rab5 proteins undergo thioether modification by isoprenyl groups when these proteins are translated in vitro in the presence of a radiolabeled isoprenoid precursor, [3H]mevalonate. Results of gel permeation chromatography of the radiolabeled hydrocarbons suggest that these proteins are modified specifically by isoprenyl groups of the 20-carbon diterpene class, rather than the 15-carbon farnesyl class known to be involved in modification of ras proteins. The rab1 and rab2 proteins lack the carboxyl-terminal amino acid motif common to all previously identified isoprenylated proteins, i.e. CXXX, where X is an unspecified amino acid. Analysis of altered translation products generated by site-directed mutagenesis indicates that modification of rab1B protein requires an intact carboxyl-terminal sequence consisting of GGCC. This represents a new amino acid motif for isoprenylation.

Isoprenylation of rap2 proteins in platelets and human erythroleukemia cells

The covalent modification of proteins by isoprenoid derivatives of mevalonic acid was investigated in human platelets, cells that lack the ability to synthesize endogenous cholesterol, and human erythroleukemia (HEL) cells, cholesterol-producing cultured cells derived from megakaryocytes. When washed platelets or HEL cells were incubated with [3H]mevalonic acid, the radiolabel was incorporated into a distinct group of proteins with molecular masses between 21,000 and 28,000. We have identified one of these proteins as a ras-related rap2 protein based on its immunoreactivity with a polyclonal antiserum raised against purified recombinant rap2b. This anti-rap2 antiserum was used for two-dimensional immunoblotting analysis and immunoprecipitation of mevalonate-labeled rap2 from platelets and HEL cells. These results suggest that rap2 may undergo a series of carboxyl-terminal modifications similar to the p21ras proteins. In addition, it is shown that non-cholesterol-producing cells are capable of incorporating isoprenyl groups into specific proteins.

Post-translational modification of proteins by 15-carbon and 20-carbon isoprenoids in three mammalian cell lines

A number of cellular proteins, including p21ras, lamin B, and the G-protein gamma subunits, undergo post-translational modification by 15-carbon farnesyl or 20-carbon geranylgeranyl isoprenoid moieties derived from pyrophosphate intermediates of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. In this study, isoprenylated proteins in three mammalian cell lines (Hela cells, Rat-6 fibroblasts and COS cells) were radiolabeled with an isoprenoid precursor, [3H]mevalonate, and resolved by SDS gel electrophoresis. Groups of proteins with different molecular masses were eluted from the gels and the chain-lengths of the radiolabeled isoprenyl groups, released from the proteins by Raney-nickel-catalyzed desulfurization, were established by gel permeation chromatography. 15-Carbon and 20-carbon isoprenyl groups were found in separate classes of proteins within each cell line. With the exception of p21ras, which incorporated a 15-carbon group when expressed in COS cells, the proteins in the region of the 21-28 kDa ras-related GTP binding proteins contained mostly 20-carbon isoprenyl chains. In contrast, proteins belonging to the 66-72 kDa nuclear lamin family, as well as unidentified proteins with molecular masses of 41-46 kDa and 53-55 kDa, contained predominantly 15-carbon isoprenyl chains. The chain-lengths of the isoprenoids associated with particular classes of proteins did not vary from one cell line to another, suggesting that the nature of the isoprenoid modification (farnesyl versus geranylgeranyl) is determined by intrinsic structural features of the proteins, rather than the cell type in which the proteins are expressed.

Posttranslational modification of proteins by isoprenoids in mammalian cells

Isoprenylation is a posttranslational modification that involves the formation of thioether bonds between cysteine and isoprenyl groups derived from pyrophosphate intermediates of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. Numerous isoprenylated proteins have been detected in mammalian cells. Those identified include K-, N-, and H-p21ras, ras-related GTP-binding proteins such as G25K (Gp), nuclear lamin B and prelamin A, and the gamma subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins. The modified cysteine is located in the fourth position from the carboxyl terminus in every protein where this has been studied. For p21ras, the last three amino acids are subsequently removed and the exposed cysteine is carboxylmethylated. Similar processing events may occur in lamin B and G protein gamma subunits, but the proteolytic cleavage in prelamin A occurs upstream from the modified cysteine. Lamin B and p21ras are modified by C15 farnesyl groups, whereas other proteins such as the G protein gamma subunits are modified by C20 geranylgeranyl chains. Separate enzymes may catalyze these modifications. The structural features that govern the ability of particular proteins to serve as substrates for isoprenylation by C15 or C20 groups are not completely defined, but studies of the p21ras modification using purified farnesyl:protein transferase suggest that the sequence of the carboxyl-terminal tetrapeptide is important. Isoprenylation plays a critical role in promoting the association of p21ras and the lamins with the cell membrane and nuclear envelope, respectively. Future studies of the role of isoprenylation in the localization and function of ras-related GTP-binding proteins and signal-transducing G proteins should provide valuable new insight into the link between isoprenoid biosynthesis and cell growth.

Identification and preliminary characterization of protein-cysteine farnesyltransferase.

Ras proteins must be isoprenylated at a conserved cysteine residue near the carboxyl terminus (Cys-186 in mammalian Ras p21 proteins) in order to exert their biological activity. Previous studies indicate that an intermediate in the mevalonate pathway, most likely farnesyl pyrophosphate, is the donor of this isoprenyl group. Inhibition of mevalonate synthesis reverts the abnormal phenotypes induced by the mutant RAS2Val-19 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and blocks the maturation of Xenopus oocytes induced by an oncogenic Ras p21 protein of human origin. These results have raised the possibility of using inhibitors of the mevalonate pathway to block the transforming properties of ras oncogenes. Unfortunately, mevalonate is a precursor of various end products essential to mammalian cells, such as dolichols, ubiquinones, heme A, and cholesterol. In this study, we describe an enzymatic activity(ies) capable of catalyzing the farnesylation of unprocessed Ras p21 proteins in vitro at the correct (Cys-186) residue. This farnesylating activity is heat-labile, requires Mg2+ or Mn2+ ions, is linear with time and with enzyme concentration, and is present in all mammalian cell lines and tissues tested. Gel filtration analysis of a partially purified preparation of protein farnesyltransferase revealed two peaks of activity at 250-350 kDa and 80-130 kDa. Availability of an in vitro protein farnesyltransferase assay should be useful in screening for potential inhibitors of ras oncogene function that will not interfere with other aspects of the mevalonate pathway.

Isoprenoid synthesis during the cell cycle. Studies of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase and reductase and isoprenoid labeling in cells synchronized by centrifugal elutriation.

The activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase and reductase were assayed in exponentially growing LM fibroblasts and Friend murine erythroleukemia cells isolated at various stages of the cell cycle by centrifugal elutriation. The activities of these enzymes were similar in all phases of the cell cycle, regardless of whether the cells were cultured in the presence or absence of serum. These observations were confirmed in murine erythroleukemia cells synchronized by recultivation of pure populations of G1 cells. The incorporation of [14C]acetate or 3H2O into sterols decreased by 30-50% in later stages of the cell cycle, whereas the incorporation of [14C]acetate into ubiquinone increased as the cells progressed toward mitosis. Similar changes in the labeling of sterols compared to ubiquinone and dolichol were observed when [3H]mevalonate was used, suggesting that cell cycle-dependent alterations may occur in the flux of farnesyl pyrophosphate into the various branches of the isoprenoid pathway. Synchronized murine erythroleukemia cells incorporated [3H]mevalonate into protein-bound isoprenyl groups at all stages of the cell cycle, and there were no substantial changes in the electrophoretic profiles of these labeled polypeptides. The finding that the activities of the enzymes regulating mevalonate synthesis did not vary substantially during the cell cycle implies that changes in the endogenous mevalonate pool probably do not play a limiting role in regulating cell cycle traverse when cells are undergoing exponential growth. Although small cell cycle-dependent changes may occur in the relative activity of various post-mevalonate branches of the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway, there is no evidence that synthesis of any major isoprenoid end product is confined exclusively to a specific phase of the cell cycle.

ChemInform Abstract: ANTI‐ULCER EFFECT OF ISOPRENYL FLAVONOIDS. II. SYNTHESIS AND ANTI‐ULCER ACTIVITY OF NEW CHALCONES RELATED TO SOPHORADIN

AbstractDie Alkylierung der Acetophenone (I) mit Geranyl‐ bzw. Prenylbromid (II) verläuft mit geringen Ausbeuten, nur selten werden Ausbeuten von 50% erreicht.

Evaluation of the role of polyisoprenyl functional groups in biological electron transfer. Transition metal models

Copper(I) coordination to olefin bonds in pyridine compounds containing di- and triisoprenyl substituent groups had been investigated. Results from Raman and optical spectroscopic studies in aqueous ethanolic solutions indicate formation of pi complexes of 1:1 stoichiometry, with K congruent to 10(4) M-1. Despite there being several potential Cu(I) ligation sites on the alkyl side chain, only a single olefin bond is coordinated. The data are consistent with a model comprising extensive folding of the isoprenyl groups in the polar medium, with Cu(I) binding occurring at the exposed olefin group on the terminal unit. Ligand-bridged binuclear ions were formed by simultaneous coordination of an oxidant metal ion, (NH3)5RuIII, to the pyridine ring nitrogen atoms and Cu(I) to side-chain olefin bonds. Electron-transfer pathways were determined by kinetic analysis; both rate laws and comparative redox rates for complexes containing a variety of 4-alkylpyridine ligands indicate reaction predominantly by intermolecular processes. No evidence for intramolecular electron transfer, i.e., from Cu(I) through the bridging ligand to the bound Ru(III) center, could be found. This result is discussed both in terms of its implications toward the existence of very similar pathways proposed for electron transfer between heme and copper redox sites in cytochrome oxidase and within the wider context of apparent differences in the fundamental mechanisms of electron transfer in biological particles and transition metal ions.

Anti-ulcer effect of isoprenyl flavonoids. II. Synthesis and anti-ulcer activity of new chalcones related to sophoradin.

To investigate the anti-ulcer activity of the isoprenyl chalcone, sophoradin, which is present in a Chinese crude drug, Guang-dou-gen (the root of Sophora subprostrata), 30 related chalcones (1-30) were newly synthesized by condensation between substituted acetophenones and benzaldehydes, and their anti-ulcer activities were examined using Shay's pylorus-ligated rats, and water-immersed and restraint stress rats. Twenty-seven chalcones were substituted with isoprenyl or isoprenyloxyl groups and two with geranyloxyl groups (13, 30), with or without a carboxymethoxyl group, and one chalcone was substituted with allyloxyl group (14). All the chalcones were found to be effective by both methods. Several chalcones (2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 22), each having more than one isoprenyloxyl group, exhibited high inhibitory ratios by both methods. In particular, 2', 4'-dihydroxy-3'-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-4-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy) chalcone (2), 2'-hydroxy-4, 4'-bis (3-methyl-2-butenyloxy) chalcone (10), and 2'-carboxymethoxy-4, 4'-bis (3-methyl-2-butenyloxy) chalcone (15) exhibited very high inhibitory ratios (70-100%) by both methods, and were as potent as sophoradin.

Occurrence of squalene, di- and tetrahydrosqualenes, and vitamin MK8 in an extremely halophilic bacterium, Halobacterium cutirubrum

The nonpolar (acetone-soluble) lipids of the extremely halophilic bacterium, Halobacterium cutirubrum, were found to consist of red carotenoid pigments (43%) and squalenes (48%) with a small amount of a vitamin K-type quinone. The squalenes were shown by n.m.r. and mass spectra to consist of the fully isoprenoid squalene (S; C3OH5o), dihydrosqualene (S2; CJ&152), and tetrahydrosqualene (S4; C30H54) in the ratio of 1.0:0.4:0.1. S2 probably has one re- duced internal isoprenoid group, and S4 has one internal and one terminal reduced isoprenyl group. The vitamin K-type quinone was shown by n.m.r. and mass spectra to have a Cho isoprenoid side chain, and is thus identified as menaquinone-8 (MK-8).