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L-Asparaginase of T. pyriformis is a membrane-bound enzyme with an active site situated on the outside surface of the membrane. When radioactive L-asparagine was incubated with T. pyriformis cells in the L-asparaginase assay medium, the hydrolysis was 240 higher than the uptake of this amino acid. In a similar experiment performed in salt medium (Wagner's solution), the hydrolysis was linearly increased and reached after one hour of incubation a value of 60 nmol/10(6) cells, while the uptake after 20 min of incubation reached a plateau with a value of 15 nmol/10(6) cells. The uptake of L-leucine under these conditions was 44 nmol/10(6) cells/hr, while no measurable transport of aspartic acid was observed. That L-aspartic acid is not migrated into T. pyriformis cells is in agreement with the finding that no efflux of this amino acid takes place as well. The uptake of L-asparagine is pH and K+ dependent, whereas Na+ ions strongly inhibit this uptake. The Km and Vmax values of L-asparagine uptake is 1.43 mM and 0.7 nmol/min, respectively. The half life of L-asparagine "protein transport system" was 40 min, a value which is very close to the half life of the membrane-bound L-asparaginase of this microorganism. Ouabain and vanadate inhibit the uptake of L-asparagine by more than 80%, while ouabain or vanadate inhibit in vivo 5% or 95% the activity of L-asparaginase, respectively. This indicates the lack of interrelationship between the L-asparagine "protein transport system" and the L-asparaginase protein molecule.

Most of L-asparaginase activity of Tetrahymena pyriformis was found to be present in microsomal membranes from which it has been purified to homogeneity (Tsirka, S.A.E. and Kyriakidis, D.A. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 83: 147-155, 1988). The native enzyme has a relative molecular weight of approximately 200 kDa, while under denaturing conditions the enzyme exhibits a subunit size of 39 kDa. Aminoacid analysis and an oligopeptide from N-terminal sequence have been determined. Dephosphorylation of L-asparaginase by alkaline phosphatase results in an activation of its catalytic activity. This enzyme also exhibits intrinsic phosphorylation activity with a Km value for ATP of 0.5 mM. Autophosphorylation with [gamma-32P] ATP of purified L-asparaginase results in the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues as well as in loss of its activity. Mg2+ and Ca2+ added together act synergistically to stimulate the kinase activity by more than 160%. The polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine activate the kinase approximately 100%, while neither cAMP or cGMP have any effect. These results indicate that this membrane protein with dual L-asparaginase/kinase activity must play an important role in regulating the intracellular levels of L-asparagine in Tetrahymena pyriformis.

In Tetrahymena pyriformis, ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) activities are present in the cytosolic and nuclear fractions and reach maximal values in the middle and late log phases of growth, respectively. The two activities have been purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate fractionation (20-45%), anion-exchange chromatography (DEAE-Bio-Gel A), gel-filtration (Sephadex G-150 and Sephadex G-100 superfine) and hydrophobic chromatography (Phenyl-Sepharose). Both the crude and the purified enzyme preparations are inactivated irreversibly by alpha-difluoromethylornithine, a suicide inhibitor of mammalian ornithine decarboxylase. The enzyme preparations from the nucleus and cytosol each showed a single band on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under native and denaturing conditions and on acrylamide gel electrofocusing. Both activities show the same pH optima (8.6) isoelectric point (5.3), molecular weight (64 000) and Kmorn (4.7 microM). The Km for L-lysine is 0.5 mM. The two activities also cross-react with acidic antizyme extracted from E. coli mutant MA 255. Based on the physicochemical properties, one can safely conclude that cytosolic and nuclear activities reside on the same protein molecule.

In Tetrahymena pyriformis the cytosolic ornithine decarboxylase (L-ornithine carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.17) activity is considerably inhibited by the presence of polyamines in the growth medium, while the nuclear ornithine decarboxylase is only slightly affected. Experimental evidence suggests that the presence of putrescine and/or spermidine elicits the appearance of non-competitive inhibitors of ornithine decarboxylase. One of the inhibitors has a molecular weight of 25,000 and properties of antizyme. In addition, two other low molecular weight inhibitors are extracted, one which is a phosphoserine oligopeptide, and the other which is phosphotyrosine. All inhibit non-competitively the homologous and heterologous (Escherichia coli and rat liver) ornithine decarboxylases. Similarly, non-competitive inhibition was obtained when the commercially available phosphoamino acids were tested against the already mentioned ornithine decarboxylases.

L-Asparaginase activity reaches maximal values at the stationary phase of growth of Tetrahymena pyriformis and fluctuates upon the growth conditions and the composition of the medium. Most of the L-asparaginase activity (80%) is associated with the endoplasmic reticulum, and the remaining with the pellicles. Detergents either alone or in combination with NaCl up to 0.5 M concentration failed to solubilize L-asparaginase. Solubilization can be accomplished by means of either the chaotropic agents KSCN and NaClO4, or 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer pH 8.0, following pretreatment of the particulates with 2% w/v Triton X100. L-Asparaginase has been purified to near homogeneity by hydrophobic and gel filtration chromatography. The native enzyme has a relative molecular weight of 230,000. It is a multiple subunit enzyme, with subunit size of 39,000. Its isoelectric point is at pH 6.8. It acts optimally at pH 8.6 with a Km of 2.2 mM. It does not hydrolyse L-glutamine and its reaction is inhibited competitively by D-aspartic acid and D-asparagine as well as by L-asparagine analogues with substituents at the beta position.

A protein kinase and an acidic phosphoprotein phosphatase were purified from Tetrahymena pyriformis which phosphorylate and dephosphorylate the purified ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) of this microorganism. The protein kinase and the phosphoprotein phosphatase are copurified with ODC and can be separated in three distinct peaks only by a hydrophobic column of phenyl-Sepharose. The purified kinase is not dependent on cAMP, requires Mg2+ for its catalytic activity and has a molecule mass of 45 kDa. Incubation of [32P]ODC with the purified phosphoprotein phosphatase results in a complete loss of 32P and its catalytic activity. Phosphorylation of the inactive phosphatase-treated ODC by endogenous kinase or rat liver casein kinase-2 results in 100 or 40% reactivation of the initial untreated ODC activity, respectively.

A membrane-bound L-asparaginase (EC 3.5.1.1) of Tetrahymena pyriformis was purified to homogeneity. The purified enzyme is a lipoprotein, since it is inactivated by phospholipase C and its activity is restored by the addition of naturally occurring lipids, such as phosphatidylcholine, triolein and oleyl acetate. The relative effectiveness of a variety of phospholipids, free saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, or neutral lipids, such as esters of fatty acids and glycerides, with respect to the activation of purified L-asparaginase is compared. Enzyme activity is reconstituted in the presence of lipids and evidence for the formation of an enzyme-phospholipid complex is presented. The data of this report suggest that L-asparaginase may have a requirement for lipids that reconstitute a physiological hydrophobic environment, similar to the one existing in vivo.

A cytosolic acid phosphoprotein phosphatase was purified by ion exchange (DEAE-Biogel A, DE-52) and hydrophobic (Phenyl-Sepharose) chromatography. The purified phosphoprotein phosphatase was homogeneous as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under native or denature conditions. The enzyme has a Mr of 90.000. The Km value and the optimum pH determined with p-nitrophenyl phosphate was 0.3 mM and 4.0, respectively. The enzyme is inhibited by NaF, ATP, 5'-pyridoxal phosphate and slightly activated by divalent cations.

L-Asparaginase of Tetrahymena pyriformis is a lipoprotein with relative M(r) approximately 200 kDa and one subunit size of 39 kDa. This enzyme also exhibits protein kinase activity and it is autophosphorylated in tyrosine residues. Phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of L-asparaginase resulted in complete loss or activation by more than 10-fold of its catalytic activity. Both native and dephosphorylated forms of L-asparaginase are inactivated by phospholipase C and this inactivation can be reversed by the addition of lipids. Based on these results a working hypothesis is suggested that L-asparaginase of T. pyriformis exists in four interconvertible forms: Form A, phosphorylated complexed with lipids, form HA, dephosphorylated (highly active), form I, free of lipids, (inactive) and form B, free of lipids and phosphate.