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We have previously identified a CHO cell line (UT2 cells) that expresses only one 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase protein which is localized exclusively in peroxisomes [Engfelt, H.W., Shackelford, J.E., Aboushadi, N., Jessani, N., Masuda, K., Paton, V.G., Keller, G.A., and Krisans, S.K. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 24579-24587]. In this study, we utilized the UT2 cells to determine the properties of the peroxisomal reductase independent of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) HMG-CoA reductase. We demonstrated major differences between the two proteins. The peroxisomal reductase is not the rate-limiting enzyme for cholesterol biosynthesis in UT2 cells. The peroxisomal reductase protein is not phosphorylated, and its activity is not altered in the presence of inhibitors of cellular phosphatases. Its rate of degradation is not accelerated in response to mevalonate. Finally, the degradation process is not blocked by N-acetyl-Leu-Leu-norleucinal (ALLN). Furthermore, the peroxisomal HMG-CoA reductase is significantly more resistant to inhibition by statins. Taken together, the data support the conclusion that the peroxisomal reductase is functionally and structurally different from the ER HMG-CoA reductase.

The thermostable class I HMG-CoA reductase of Sulfolobus solfataricus offers potential for industrial applications and for the initiation of crystallization trials of a biosynthetic HMG-CoA reductase. However, of the 15 arginine codons of the hmgA gene that encodes S. solfataricus HMG-CoA reductase, 14 (93%) are AGA or AGG, the arginine codons used least frequently by Escherichia coli. The presence of these rare codons in tandem or in the first 20 codons of a gene can complicate expression of that gene in E. coli. Problems include premature chain termination and misincorporation of lysine for arginine. We therefore sought to improve the expression and subsequent yield of S. solfataricus HMG-CoA reductase by expanding the pool size of tRNA(AGA,AGG), the tRNA that recognizes these two rare codons. Coexpression of the S. solfataricus hmgA gene with the argU gene that encodes tRNA(AGA,AGG) resulted in an over 10-fold increase in enzyme yield. This has provided significantly greater quantities of purified enzyme for potential industrial applications and for crystallographic characterization of a stable class I HMG-CoA reductase. It has, in addition, facilitated determination of kinetic parameters and of pH optima for all four catalyzed reactions, for determination of the K(i) for inhibition by the statin drug mevinolin, and for comparison of the properties of the HMG-CoA reductase of this thermophilic archaeon to those of other class I HMG-CoA reductases., (Copyright 1999 Academic Press.)

Sequence analysis has revealed two classes of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. Crystal structures of ternary complexes of the Class II enzyme from Pseudomonas mevalonii revealed lysine 267 critically positioned at the active site. This observation suggested a revised catalytic mechanism in which lysine 267 facilitates hydride transfer from reduced coenzyme by polarizing the carbonyl group of HMG-CoA and subsequently of bound mevaldehyde, an inference supported by mutagenesis of lysine 267 to aminoethylcysteine. For this mechanism to be general, Class I HMG-CoA reductases ought also to possess an active site lysine. Three lysines are conserved among all Class I HMG-CoA reductases. The three conserved lysines of Syrian hamster HMG-CoA reductase were mutated to alanine. All three mutant enzymes had reduced but detectable activity. Of the three conserved lysines, sequence alignments implicate lysine 734 of the hamster enzyme as the most likely cognate of P. mevalonii lysine 267. Low activity of enzyme K734A did not reflect an altered structure. Substrate recognition was essentially normal, and both circular dichroism spectroscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation implied a native structure. Enzyme K734A also formed an active heterodimer when coexpressed with inactive mutant enzyme D766N. We infer that a lysine is indeed essential for catalysis by the Class I HMG-CoA reductases and that the revised mechanism for catalysis is general for all HMG-CoA reductases.

Protein degradation is employed in both regulation and quality control. Regulated degradation of specific proteins is often mediated by discrete regions of primary sequence known as degrons, whereas protein quality control involves recognition of structural features common to damaged or misfolded proteins, rather than specific features of an individual protein. The yeast HMG-CoA reductase isozyme Hmg2p undergoes stringently regulated degradation by machinery that is also required for ER quality control. The 523 residue N-terminal transmembrane domain of Hmg2p is necessary and sufficient for regulated degradation. To understand how Hmg2p undergoes regulated degradation by the ER quality control pathway, we analyzed over 300 mutants of Hmg2p. Regulated degradation of Hmg2p requires information distributed over the entire transmembrane domain. Accordingly, we refer to this determinant as a 'distributed' degron, which has functional aspects consistent with both regulation and quality control. The Hmg2p degron functions in the specific, regulated degradation of Hmg2p and can impart regulated degradation to fusion proteins. However, its recognition is based on dispersed structural features rather than primary sequence motifs. This mode of targeting has important consequences both for the prediction of degradation substrates and as a potential therapeutic strategy for targeted protein degradation using endogenous degradation pathways.

The biodegradative 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase of Pseudomonas mevalonii catalyzes the NAD(+)-dependent conversion of (S)-HMG-CoA to (R)-mevalonate. Crystallographic analysis of abortive ternary complexes of this enzyme revealed lysine 267 located at a position in the active site, suggesting that it might serve as the general acid/base for catalysis. Site-directed mutagenesis and subsequent chemical derivatization were therefore employed to investigate this active site lysine. Replacement of lysine 267 by alanine, histidine, or arginine resulted in mutant enzymes that lacked detectable activity. Lysine 267 was next replaced by the lysine analogues aminoethylcysteine and carboxyamidomethylcysteine. Using instead of the wild-type enzyme the fully active, cysteine-free mutant enzyme C156A/C296A, lysine 267 was first replaced by cysteine. Cysteine 267 of mutant enzyme C156A/C296A/K267C was then treated with bromoethylamine or iodoacetamide to insert aminoethylcysteine (AEC) or carboxyamidomethylcysteine at position 267. The carboxyamidomethylcysteine derivative was inactive, whereas mutant enzyme C156A/C296A/K267AEC exhibited high catalytic activity. That aminoethylcysteine, but not other basic amino acids, can replace the function of lysine 267 documents both the importance of this residue and the requirement for a precisely positioned positive charge at the active site of the enzyme.

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase is the rate-limiting enzyme and the first committed step in the biosynthesis of cholesterol in mammals. We have determined the crystal structures of two nonproductive ternary complexes of HMG-CoA reductase, HMG-CoA/NAD+ and mevalonate/NADH, at 2.8 A resolution. In the structure of the Pseudomonas mevalonii apoenzyme, the last 50 residues of the C terminus (the flap domain), including the catalytic residue His381, were not visible. The structures of the ternary complexes reported here reveal a substrate-induced closing of the flap domain that completes the active site and aligns the catalytic histidine proximal to the thioester of HMG-CoA. The structures also present evidence that Lys267 is critically involved in catalysis and provide insights into the catalytic mechanism.

The steady-state level of the resident endoplasmic reticulum protein, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), is regulated, in part, by accelerated degradation in response to excess sterols or mevalonate. Previous studies of a chimeric protein (HM-Gal) composed of the membrane domain of HMGR fused to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase, as a replacement of the normal HMGR cytosolic domain, have shown that the regulated degradation of this chimeric protein, HM-Gal, is identical to that of HMGR (Chun, K. T., Bar-Nun, S., and Simoni, R. D. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 22004-22010; Skalnik, D. G., Narita, H., Kent, C., and Simoni, R. D. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 6836-6841). Since the cytosolic domain can be replaced with beta-galactosidase without effect on regulated degradation, it has been assumed that the cytosolic domain was not important to this process and also that the membrane domain of HMGR was both necessary and sufficient for regulated degradation. In contrast to our previous results with HM-Gal, we observed in this study that replacement of the cytosolic domain of HMGR with various heterologous proteins can have an effect on the regulated degradation, and the effect correlates with the oligomeric state of the replacement cytosolic protein. Chimeric proteins that are oligomeric in structure are relatively stable, and those that are monomeric are unstable. To test the hypothesis that the oligomeric state of the cytosolic domain of HMGR influences degradation, we use an "inducible" system for altering the oligomeric state of a protein in vivo. Using a chimeric protein that contains the membrane domain of HMGR fused to three copies of FK506-binding protein 12, we were able to induce oligomerization by addition of a "double-headed" FK506-like "dimerizer" drug (AP1510) and to monitor the degradation rate of both the monomeric form and the drug-induced oligomeric form of the protein. We show that this chimeric protein, HM-3FKBP, is unstable in the monomeric state and is stabilized by AP1510-induced oligomerization. We also examined the degradation rate of HMGR as a function of concentrations within the cell. HMGR is a functional dimer; therefore, its oligomeric state and, we predict, its degradation rate should be concentration-dependent. We observed that it is degraded more rapidly at lower concentrations.

Real-space targets and molecular-dynamics search protocols have been combined to improve the convergence of macromolecular atomic refinement. This was accomplished by providing a local real-space target function for the molecular-dynamics program X-PLOR. With poor isomorphous replacement experimental phases, molecular dynamics does not improve real-space refinement. However, with high-quality anomalous diffraction phases convergence is improved at the start of refinement, and torsion-angle real-space molecular dynamics performs better than other available least-squares or maximum-likelihood methods in real or reciprocal space. It is shown that the improvements result from an optimization method that can escape local minima and from a reduction of overfitting through the implicit use of phases and through use of a local refinement in which errors in remote parts of the structure cannot be mutually compensating.

Both in eukaryotes and in archaebacteria the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (E.C. 1.1. 1.34) is known to catalyze an early reaction unique to isoprenoid biosynthesis. In humans, the HMG-CoA reductase reaction is rate-limiting for the biosynthesis of cholesterol and therefore constitutes a prime target of drugs that reduce serum cholesterol levels. Recent advances in genome sequencing that permitted comparison of 50 HMG-CoA reductase sequences has revealed two previously unsuspected classes of this enzyme. Based on sequence and phylogenetic considerations, we propose the catalytic domain of the human enzyme and the enzyme from Pseudomonas mevalonii as the canonical sequences for Class I and Class II HMG-CoA reductases, respectively. These sequence comparisons have revealed, in addition, that certain true bacteria, including several human pathogens, probably synthesize isoprenoids by reactions analogous to those of eukaryotes and that there therefore exist two distinct pathways for isoprenoid biogenesis in true bacteria., (Copyright 1999 Academic Press.)

The activity of HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) is tightly regulated, in part through post-transcriptional mechanisms that are mediated by nonsterol products of mevalonate metabolism. Previous reports have suggested that these mediators are derived from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP). Recent studies have implicated FPP hydrolysis products (e.g., farnesol), the squalene synthetase (SQS) reaction products presqualene pyrophosphate (PSQPP) and squalene, or their metabolites. To distinguish among these possible mediators, we evaluated the ability of HMGR and SQS inhibitors to induce compensatory increases in HMGR activity in cultured IM-9 cells. Mevinolin (HMGR inhibitor) produced predicted increases in HMGR activity that were related to the degree of cholesterolgenesis inhibition (e.g., 4-fold, 9-fold, and 17-fold increases relative to 50%, 76%, and 90% inhibition, respectively). By contrast, a variety of structurally distinct reversible, competitive, first half-reaction SQS inhibitors all reduced cholesterolgenesis by up to 90% with no appreciable increases in HMGR activity. These observations strongly suggest that nonsterol-mediated post-transcriptional mechanisms regulating HMGR activity remain intact after SQS first half-reaction inhibition, indicating that nonsterol regulator production is independent of SQS action and ruling out PSQPP, squalene and their metabolites as possible mediators. Unexpectedly, the SQS mechanism-based irreversible inactivator, zaragozic acid A (ZGA) exhibited the greatest degree of HMGR modulation, producing 5-fold, 11-fold, and 40-fold increases in HMGR activity at concentrations that produced 25%, 50%, and 75% cholesterolgenesis inhibition, respectively. The markedly greater magnitude of HMGR stimulation by ZGA versus mevinolin at similar levels of cholesterolgenesis inhibition suggests that ZGA may directly interfere with the production or action of the nonsterol regulator.

Juvenile hormone III (JH III) induces acyclic isoprenoid pheromone production in male Ips paraconfusus. A likely regulatory enzyme in this process is 3-hydroxy-e-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-R). To begin molecular studies on pheromone production, a 1.16-kb complementary DNA representing approximately one-third of I. paraconfusus HMG-R was isolated by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. The predicted translation product is 59% and 75% identical to the corresponding portion of HMG-R from the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, respectively. Northern blots show that topical application of JH III increases HMG-R transcript levels in male thoraces in an apparent dose- and time-dependent manner. These data support the model that JH III raises HMG-R transcript levels, resulting in increased activity of the isoprenoid pathway and de novo pheromone production.

What is the connection among the following three medical conditions: Niemann-Pick type C disease (a cause of mental retardation and early death), systemic lipidosis (in which an obscure side effect of numerous drugs transforms lysosomes into lamellar bodies), and holoprosencephaly (a catastrophe in embryonic development)? Recent evidence suggests that the pathogenesis in each use involves impaired sensing of cellular cholesterol.

We have recently reported that the isoprenoid compound farnesol accelerates degradation of the cholesterologenic enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, when added to cultured cells. We have thus proposed that farnesol is a required nonsterol regulator of this degradation event (T. E. Meigs, D. S. Roseman, and R. D. Simoni, 1996, J. Biol. Chem. 271, 7916-7922). In this report, we have studied the enzyme farnesyl pyrophosphatase (FPPase) in Chinese hamster ovary cells. We demonstrate that FPPase activity increases under conditions of increased metabolic flow through the isoprenoid pathway. Also, we show that a nonhydrolyzable analog of farnesyl pyrophosphate, an isoprenoid (phosphinylmethyl)phosphonate, inhibits FPPase in vitro, and when added to cells this inhibitor blocks the mevalonate-dependent, sterol-induced degradation of HMG-CoA reductase. Furthermore, exogenous farnesol overcomes the effect of this inhibitor. These results suggest an isoprenoid-mediated regulatory mechanism governing intracellular farnesol production and support the hypothesis that farnesol is a nonsterol regulator of reductase degradation.

The enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (HMG-R) is the major rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway in many organisms, including yeasts. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, there are two isoenzymes of HMG-R (Hmg1p and Hmg2p). Both consist of an anchoring transmembrane domain and a catalytic domain. We have removed the known controlling features of HMG-R by overproducing the catalytic domain of Hmg1p. This overproduction leads to an enhancement of squalene production, implying that HMG-R has been deregulated. The enhancement is apparent under semianaerobic and aerobic conditions. Despite the increase in squalene production, the amount of ergosterol produced by the HMG-R-overproducing yeast was not increased. This result suggests the presence of another regulatory step between squalene and ergosterol formation. Squalene levels generated by cells overproducing the catalytic domain of HMG-R were estimated to be up to 10 times those produced by wild-type cells. The enhancement in squalene production coincided with a reduction in growth rate. This reduction may be a direct consequence of the buildup of high concentrations of squalene and presqualene intermediates of the pathway.

We have expressed the catalytic domain of Chinese hamster HMG-CoA reductase, and 13 point mutations involving the region around the single phosphorylation site for AMP-activated protein kinase. After phosphorylation, these were used to test the specificity of isoforms of protein phosphatase-2A [bovine PP2A(C) (catalytic subunit) and PP2A1 (ABC heterotrimer)] and protein phosphatase-2C (human alpha; mouse alpha, beta1, beta2, beta3, beta4, beta5). PP2A1 had > 50-fold higher activity for HMG-CoA reductase variants than PP2A(C), but their relative selectivity for different variants was similar. Although the specificities of PP2A and PP2C were distinct, no dramatic differences in selectivity were observed between different PP2C isoforms.

An integrated human-mouse positional candidate approach was used to identify the gene responsible for the phenotypes observed in a mouse model of Niemann-Pick type C (NP-C) disease. The predicted murine NPC1 protein has sequence homology to the putative transmembrane domains of the Hedgehog signaling molecule Patched, to the cholesterol-sensing regions of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), and to the NPC1 orthologs identified in human, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mouse model may provide an important resource for studying the role of NPC1 in cholesterol homeostasis and neurodegeneration and for assessing the efficacy of new drugs for NP-C disease.

Niemann-Pick type C (NP-C) disease, a fatal neurovisceral disorder, is characterized by lysosomal accumulation of low density lipoprotein (LDL)-derived cholesterol. By positional cloning methods, a gene (NPC1) with insertion, deletion, and missense mutations has been identified in NP-C patients. Transfection of NP-C fibroblasts with wild-type NPC1 cDNA resulted in correction of their excessive lysosomal storage of LDL cholesterol, thereby defining the critical role of NPC1 in regulation of intracellular cholesterol trafficking. The 1278-amino acid NPC1 protein has sequence similarity to the morphogen receptor PATCHED and the putative sterol-sensing regions of SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase.

Camptotheca acuminata is a Chinese tree that produces the anti-cancer monoterpenoid indole alkaloid camptothecin (CPT). 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) supplies mevalonate for the terpenoid moiety of CPT and its hydroxylated derivative 10-hydroxycamptothecin (10-OH-CPT). We previously described the isolation of a gene encoding HMGR from C. acuminata (hmg1) and analyzed its expression in transgenic tobacco [6]. Here, we report on the isolation of genomic (hmg2) and cDNA (hmg3) clones representing two additional HMGR gene family members and characterize the expression of all three genes in C. acuminata. Transcript levels for two family members were highest in the shoot apex, dry seeds (hmg1), and bark (hmg3) which are the tissues containing the highest levels of CPT and 10-OH-CPT respectively. Levels of hmg3 mRNA also correlated with the accumulation of 10-OH-CPT during germination. In C. acuminata leaf disks, hmg1 mRNA increased in response to wounding, and this induction was suppressed by methyl jasmonate (MeJA), in agreement with results previously obtained in transgenic tobacco [6]. In contrast, wounding and MeJA did not affect hmg2 or hmg3 transcript levels in C. acuminata. These results show that members of the C. acuminata HMGR gene family are differentially expressed in various tissues under different physiological conditions which may contribute to the regulation of monoterpenoid indole alkaloid synthesis in this species.

We have examined the amino terminal membrane anchoring domain of Arabidopsis thaliana 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (Hmg1p), a key enzyme of the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway. Using both in vitro and in vivo approaches, we have analyzed a series of recombinant derivatives to identify key structural elements which play a role in defining Hmg1p transmembrane topology. Based on our results, we have proposed a topological model for Hmg1p in which the enzyme spans the lipid bilayer twice. We have shown the two transmembrane segments, designated TMS1 and TMS2, to be structurally and functionally inequivalent in their ability to direct the targeting and orientation of reporter proteins. Furthermore, we provide evidence indicating both the extreme amino terminal end and carboxyl terminal domain of the protein reside in the cytosol. This model therefore provides a key basis for the future examination of the role of the transmembrane domain in the targeting and regulation of Hmg1p in plant cells.

Based on multiple gel permeation chromatographic experiments, we report a Stokes radius of 59.7 A for Pseudomonas mevalonii 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase; EC 1.1.1.88) and its His381Asn, His381Gln, and His381Lys mutant enzymes. Comparison of this Stokes radius with the radius calculated from the crystal structure indicated that the active form of P. mevalonii HMG-CoA reductase was a hexamer and not a dimer as previously thought. The Stokes radius, an S26,w of 11.0, and an estimated V of 0.723 were used in the Svedberg equation to calculate an anhydrous molecular mass of 270,084 Da for P. mevalonii HMG-CoA reductase (monomer mass 45,538 Da), consistent with the enzyme being a hexamer in solution. The Stokes radii of all standard proteins examined correlated with the inverse error function complement of their partition coefficient, Kd. Kd did not correlate with logarithm of the standard protein's molecular weight. Eight nonstandard proteins had Stokes radii that matched their crystallographic radii of longest axis. This indicated that the frozen conformation of a protein in its crystal form can dictate restraints on its shape in solution.

The initially nonphosphorylatable 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase of Pseudomonas mevalonii (E.C. 1.1.1.88) was engineered to phosphorylatable forms in order to identify elements critical for phosphorylation of HMG-CoA reductase by AMP-activated protein kinase. P. mevalonii, mutant enzymes phosphorylatable by AMP-activated protein kinase were engineered by substituting cognate residues from the kinase recognition sequence of Syrian hamster HMG-CoA reductase (E.C. 1.1.1.34). Various combinations of residues 381-391, which correspond to the kinase recognition sequence of the hamster enzyme, were mutated. P. mevalonii mutant enzyme R387S, in which a serine had been inserted at position P, which corresponds to that of the regulatory serine of the hamster enzyme, was only weakly phosphorylated. Genes that encoded thirty-six additional mutant enzymes containing various portions of the hamster kinase recognition sequence were constructed. Following expression, purified mutant enzymes were assayed as substrates for AMP-activated protein kinase. Identified as critical for phosphorylation was the simultaneous presence of aspartate or asparagine at position P+3 and of leucine at position P+4, three and four residues on the C-terminal side of the phosphorylatable serine, respectively. Two basic residues at positions P-1, P-2, or P-3 also appeared to be critical for phosphorylation when present in combination with aspartate or asparagine at P+3 and leucine at P+4.

Mutant 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductases of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii were constructed to test the proposed mechanism that phosphorylation downregulates the activity of higher eukarya HMG-CoA reductases via charge-charge interaction with the active site histidine. To first verify the sequence-based inference that His 398 is the catalytic histidine of the H. volcanii enzyme, enzyme H398Q was constructed, purified, and assayed for catalysis of three reactions: [1] reductive deacylation of HMG-CoA, [2] reduction of mevaldehyde, and [3] oxidative acylation of mevaldehyde. Enzyme H398Q had low activity for catalysis of reaction [1] or [3], but readily catalyzed mevaldehyde reduction. By analogy to hamster HMG-CoA reductase, we conclude that His 398 is the active site histidine. Mutant forms of the 403-residue H. volcanii enzyme were constructed to model phosphorylation and infer whether attenuated activity involved interaction with His 398. Chimeric H. volcanii-hamster enzymes constructed in an effort to create an active, phosphorylatable chimeric enzyme were inactive or not phosphorylated. We therefore added Asp at position 404 to mimic the introduction of negative charge that would accompany phosphorylation. Enzyme 404D/H398Q was inactive for reaction [1] or [3], but catalyzed reaction [2] at 35% the wild-type rate. These observations are consistent with the model that attenuation of catalytic activity results from an ionic interaction between the imidazolium cation of His 398 and the carboxylate anion of Asp 404.

Through expression cloning we have isolated a cDNA-encoding SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), which regulates cholesterol metabolism by stimulating cleavage of transcription factors SREBP-1 and -2, thereby releasing them from membranes. The cDNA was isolated from Chinese hamster ovary cells with a dominant mutation that renders them resistant to sterol-mediated suppression of cholesterol synthesis and uptake. Sterol resistance was traced to a G-->A transition at codon 443 of SCAP, changing aspartic acid to asparagine. The D443N mutation enhances the cleavage-stimulating ability of SCAP and renders it resistant to inhibition by sterols. SCAP has multiple membrane-spanning regions, five of which resemble the sterol-sensing domain of HMG CoA reductase, an endoplasmic reticulum enzyme whose degradation is accelerated by sterols. SCAP appears to be a central regulator of cholesterol metabolism in animal cells.

The 102-residue small domain of the 428-residue NAD(H)-dependent HMG-CoA reductase of Pseudomonas mevalonii (EC 1.1.1.88) binds NAD(H) at a distinctive, non-Rossmann dinucleotide binding fold. The three-dimensional structure reveals that Asp146 lies close to the 2'-OH of NAD-. To investigate the role of this residue in determination of coenzyme specificity, Asp146 was mutated to Ala, Gly, Ser, and Asn. The mutant enzymes were analyzed for their ability to catalyze the oxidative acylation of mevalonate to HMG-CoA using either the natural coenzyme NAD+ or the alternate coenzyme NADP+. Mutation of Asp146 to Ala or Gly increased the specificity for NADP+, expressed as the ratio of kcat/K(m) for NADP+ to kcat/K(m) for NAD+, 1200-fold (enzyme D146G) and 6700-fold (enzyme D146A). Mutation of Asp146 was accompanied by 565-fold (D146G) and 330-fold (D146A) increases in kcat/K(m) for NADP+ and 2-fold (D146G) and 20-fold (D146A) decreases in kcat/K(m) for NAD+. To further improve NADP+ specificity, Gln147, Leu148, Leu149, or Thr192 of enzyme D146G or D146A was replaced by lysine or arginine, which could stabilize the 2'-phosphate of NADP+. Enzymes D146G/T192K, D146G/T192R, D146G/L148K, D146A/L148K, and D146A/L148R exhibited 3200-, 4500-, 56000-, 72000-, and 83000-fold increases in the specificity for NADP+ relative to the wild-type enzyme.

The enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) catalyzes the conversion of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA to mevalonic acid, considered the rate-limiting step in isoprenoid biosynthesis. In plants, isoprenoid compounds play important roles in mediating plant growth and development, electron transport, photosynthesis, and disease resistance. Sequence comparisons of plant HMGR proteins with those from yeast and mammalian systems reveal high levels of sequence identity within the catalytic domain but significant divergence in the membrane domain. Mammalian HMGRs are integral membrane proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum with eight membrane-spanning regions. In contrast, the membrane domain of plant HMGRs is predicted to contain only one to two transmembrane spans. We have isolated and sequenced a clone (pCD4) encoding exon 1 of tomato hmg1. The membrane domain structures of two differentially regulated tomato HMGR isoforms, HMG1 and HMG2, were analyzed using in vitro transcription and translation systems. Microsomal membrane insertion of the tomato HMGRs is co-translational and does not involve cleavage of an N-terminal targeting peptide. HMGR membrane topography was established by protease protection studies of the HMG1 membrane domain and an analogous region of HMG2 engineered to contain a c-myc epitope tag. The data indicate that both tomato HMGRs span the membrane two times with both the C and N termini located in the cytosol. Lumenal localization of the short peptide predicted to lie within the endoplasmic reticulum was further confirmed by in vitro glycosylation of an asparagine-linked glycosylation site present in HMG2.

The enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) catalyzes the synthesis of mevalonate. This is the first committed step of isoprenoid biosynthesis. A common feature of all known plant HMGR isoforms is the presence of two highly conserved hydrophobic sequences in the N-terminal quarter of the protein. Using an in vitro system, we showed that the two hydrophobic sequences of Arabidopsis HMGR1S function as internal signal sequences. Specific recognition of these sequences by the signal recognition particle mediates the targeting of the protein to microsomes derived from the endoplasmic reticulum. Arabidopsis HMGR is inserted into the microsomal membrane, and the two hydrophobic sequences become membrane-spanning segments. The N-terminal end and the C-terminal catalytic domain of Arabidopsis HMGR are positioned on the cytosolic side of the membrane, whereas only a short hydrophilic sequence is exposed to the lumen. Our results suggest that the plant HMGR isoforms known to date are primarily targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum and have the same topology in the membrane. This reinforces the hypothesis that mevalonate is synthesized only in the cytosol. The possibility that plant HMGRs might be located in different regions of the endomembrane system is discussed.

In all eukaryotic cells that have been examined, specific membrane arrays are induced in response to increased levels of the ER membrane protein, HMG-CoA reductase. Analysis of these inducible membranes has the potential to reveal basic insights into general membrane assembly. Yeast express two HMG-CoA reductase isozymes, and each isozyme induces a morphologically distinct proliferation of the endoplasmic reticulum. The isozyme encoded by HMG1 induces karmellae, which are long stacks of membranes that partially enclose the nucleus. In contrast, the isozyme encoded by HMG2 induces short stacks of membrane that may be associated with the nucleus, but are frequently present at the cell periphery. To understand the molecular nature of the different cellular responses to Hmg1p and Hmg2p, we mapped the region of Hmg1p that is needed for karmellae assembly. For this analysis, a series of exchange alleles was examined in which a portion of the Hmg2p membrane domain was replaced with the corresponding Hmg1p sequences. Results of this analysis indicated that the ER lumenal loop between predicted transmembrane domains 6 and 7 was both necessary and sufficient for karmellae assembly, when present in the context of an HMG-CoA reductase membrane domain. Immunoblotting experiments ruled out the simple possibility that differences in the amounts of the various chimeric HMG-CoA reductase proteins was responsible for the altered cellular responses. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that each yeast isozyme induces or organizes a qualitatively different organization of ER membrane.

The catalytic domain of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase isoform 1 (HMGR1cd) from Arabidopsis thaliana has been expressed in Escherichia coli in a catalytically active form and purified. The high efficiency of the bacterial expression system together with the simplicity of the purification procedure used in this study resulted in the attainment of large quantities of pure enzyme (about 5 mg/l culture) with a final specific activity of up to 17 U/mg. This specific activity is higher than that reported to date for any 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) purified from a plant source. HMGR1cd activity was completely blocked by the HMGR inhibitor mevinolin (IC50 = 12.5 nM). No significant differences were observed between the Km values of HMGR1cd for NADPH (71 +/- 7 microM) and (S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (8.3 +/- 1.5 microM) and those of pure HMGR preparations obtained from different plant sources. The purified HMGR1cd was reversibly inactivated by phosphorylation at a single site by Brassica oleracea HMGR kinase A, which is functionally related to the mammalian AMP-activated protein kinase. The site of phosphorylation is Ser577 in the complete sequence of A. thaliana HMGR1. The results in this paper represent the first evidence that a higher plant HMGR is regulated by direct phosphorylation, at least in a cell-free system. Our results also reinforce the view that the AMP-activated protein kinase/SNF1 family is an ancient and highly conserved protein kinase system.

We have previously shown that the membrane domain of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase from hamster contains all of the sequences required for both localization to the endoplasmic reticulum and regulated degradation of the enzyme. It has been reported that the enzymatic activity and mRNA levels of HMG-CoA reductase from sea urchin embryos cultured in the presence of regulators were unchanged compared to levels in control embryos (Woodward, H.D., Allen, M.C., and Lennarz, W.J. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 18411-18418). This observation led us to investigate the possibility that the sea urchin enzyme is not subject to regulated protein turnover. Interestingly, the sea urchin enzyme shares 62% amino acid sequence identity with the hamster enzyme in the membrane domain and shares similar predicted topological features. In the current studies we have compared the degradation phenotypes of the sea urchin HMG-CoA reductase and the hamster HMG-CoA reductase in Chinese hamster ovary cells to further elucidate the role of the membrane domain in enzyme degradation in response to physiological regulators. To accomplish this, we constructed sea urchin HMGal (uHMGal), the structural equivalent of hamster HMGal (httMGal), which has the sea urchin HMG-CoA reductase membrane domain fused to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase. The uHMGal was stably expressed in CHO cells, and we found that the degradation of uHMGal is not accelerated by sterols, and even in the absence of sterols, it is less stable than hHMGal. We also constructed chimeric hamster/sea urchin HMGal molecules to investigate which amino acid sequences from the hamster enzyme are sufficient to confer sterol-regulated degradation upon the sea urchin enzyme. Our results identify the second membrane-spanning domain of hamster enzyme as important for the regulated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase.

The rate-limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis in mammals is catalyzed by 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, a four-electron oxidoreductase that converts HMG-CoA to mevalonate. The crystal structure of HMG-CoA reductase from Pseudomonas mevalonii was determined at 3.0 angstrom resolution by multiple isomorphous replacement. The structure reveals a tightly bound dimer that brings together at the subunit interface the conserved residues implicated in substrate binding and catalysis. These dimers are packed about a threefold crystallographic axis, forming a hexamer with 23 point group symmetry. Difference Fourier studies reveal the binding sites for the substrates HMG-CoA and reduced or oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide [NAD(H)] and demonstrate that the active sites are at the dimer interfaces. The HMG-CoA is bound by a domain with an unusual fold, consisting of a central alpha helix surrounded by a triangular set of walls of beta sheets and alpha helices. The NAD(H) is bound by a domain characterized by an antiparallel beta structure that defines a class of dinucleotide-binding domains.

The effect of bile acid precursors on the activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase was investigated. Cholesterol and 34 of its derivatives, including 23 potential intermediates in bile acid biosynthesis, were incubated with cultures of human fibroblasts for 24 h in the absence or presence of lipoproteins, and the activity of HMG-CoA reductase was then determined. In the absence of lipoproteins, many of the bile acid intermediates were inhibitory at a high concentration (2.5 microM), while only three, 27-hydroxycholesterol, 7 alpha, 27-dihydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one, and 7 alpha, 12 alpha, 27-trihydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one, caused a significant suppression at lower concentrations (often > 80% suppression at 0.25 microM). Even at 0.06 microM these sterols caused > 50% suppression of the enzyme activity. In addition, 27-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one, not usually considered to be an intermediate in bile acid biosynthesis, was a very potent inhibitor. Comparative studies showed that the effect of the three bile acid precursors was similar to that of 25-hydroxy-, 24-hydroxy-, and 7-oxo-cholesterol and 3 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-15-one. The presence of lipoproteins decreased or eliminated the inhibitory effect of most intermediates. Studies of the metabolism of the three most potent inhibitors in the fibroblasts indicated that the suppression was due to the compounds per se and not to products of their metabolism. The results show that a few specific intermediates in the formation of bile acids are potent suppressors of HMG-CoA reductase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The attenuation of catalytic activity that accompanies phosphorylation of Ser871 of Syrian hamster 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.34) reflects primarily the introduction of negative charge (Omkumar, R. V., Darnay, B. G., and Rodwell, V. W. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 6810-6814). To investigate how a negative charge at position 871 attenuates activity, we phosphorylated wild-type and mutant HMG-CoA reductases and assayed reduction of the putative intermediate mevaldehyde to mevalonate. We observed attenuated activity when the phosphorylated wild-type enzyme was assayed in the presence or absence of coenzyme A, but not when assayed in the presence of desthio-CoA. These observations recall the behavior of mutant enzyme H865Q, for which coenzyme A inhibits, whereas desthio-CoA stimulates mevaldehyde reduction (Frimpong, K. F., and Rodwell, V. W. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 11478-11483). Catalysis of mevaldehyde reduction by mutant enzyme H865Q was unaffected by phosphorylation. By contrast, mutant enzymes H860Q and H868Y, in which nearby, but noncatalytic, histidines had been mutated, exhibited wild-type behavior upon phosphorylation. We conclude that the introduction of negative charge at position 871 impairs the function of His865, presumably by a specific electrostatic interaction. We propose a novel mechanism by which phosphorylation regulates activity. Phosphorylation of the terminal serine of the consensus AGxLV(K/R)SHMxxNRS motif of eukaryotic HMG-CoA reductases attenuates activity by impairing the ability of the catalytic histidine to protonate the CoAS- anion formed during the reductive deacylation of HMG-CoA to mevaldehyde.

We employed the overexpressed catalytic domains of wild-type Syrian hamster 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase, EC 1.1.1.34) and of mutant enzymes E558Q, H865Q, and D766N to investigate the roles of Glu558, His865, and Asp786 in catalysis. Five reactions were studied: reductive deacylation of HMG-CoA or of mevaldyl-CoA to mevalonate, reduction of mevaldehyde to mevalonate, oxidation of mevaldyl-CoA to HMG-CoA, and oxidative acylation of mevaldehyde to HMG-CoA. While only the wild-type enzyme catalyzed all five reactions, mutant enzymes E558Q and H865Q catalyzed other reactions at significant rates. Mutant enzyme D766N, although apparently structurally similar to the wild-type enzyme, was inactive for all five reactions. While an ineffective catalyst for the overall reaction, mutant enzyme H865Q catalyzed the reduction of mevaldehyde to mevalonate at about the wild-type rate. Coenzyme A, which stimulated mevaldehyde reduction by the wild-type enzyme, inhibited mutant enzyme H865Q, apparently due to an impaired ability to protonate the coenzyme A thioanion, CoAS-. Based on these data, we infer that Glu558, His865, and Asp766 function in catalysis at the indicated stage of the overall reaction, [formula: see text] and we propose a revised mechanism for catalysis by mammalian HMG-CoA reductases.

We employed site-directed mutagenesis based on sequence comparisons and characterization of purified mutant enzymes to identify Glu558 and Asp766 of Syrian hamster 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (EC 1.1.1.34) as essential for catalysis. Mutant enzymes E558D, E558Q, and D766N had wild-type Km values for (S)-HMG-CoA and NADPH, but exhibited less than 0.5% of the wild-type catalytic activity. The inactive mutant polypeptides E558Q and D766N nevertheless can associate to generate an active enzyme. In vitro, 6% of the wild-type activity was observed when mutant polypeptides E558D and D766N were mixed in the absence of chaotropic agents. When mutant polypeptides E558Q and D766N were co-expressed in Escherichia coli, the resulting purified enzyme had 25% of wild-type activity. Hamster HMG-CoA reductase thus is a two-site, dimeric enzyme whose subunits associate to form an active site in which each monomer contributes at least one residue (e.g. Glu558 from one monomer and Asp766 from the other). The wild-type enzyme behaves as a dimer during size exclusion chromatography and has one HMG-CoA binding site per monomer. Syrian hamster HMG-CoA reductase thus appears to be a homodimer with two active sites which are located at the subunit interface.

An AMP-activated protein kinase has been reported to phosphorylate rodent 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase [HMG-CoA reductase; (S)-mevalonate:-NAD+ oxidoreductase (CoA-acylating), EC 1.1.1.88] at Ser-871, thereby lowering its catalytic activity [Clarke, P. R. & Hardie, D. G. (1990) EMBO J. 9, 2439-2446]. To explore the physiologic role of this reaction, we prepared a cDNA encoding a mutant form of hamster HMG-CoA reductase with alanine substituted for serine at residue 871. When overexpressed in transfected cells, the wild-type enzyme, but not the Ser-871 to Ala mutant, was labeled with [32P]phosphate, confirming Ser-871 as the site of phosphorylation. The wild-type enzyme, but not the mutant enzyme, showed reduced activity when the cells were harvested with the phosphatase inhibitor KF, confirming phosphorylation as a mechanism for inactivation within the cell. Despite the lack of phosphorylation, the posttranscriptional feedback regulation of the mutant enzyme was normal, as indicated by reduced activity when cells were incubated with mevalonate, 25-hydroxycholesterol, or low density lipoprotein. Moreover, the mutant enzyme showed a normal acceleration of degradation when the transfected cells were incubated with sterols. Cells expressing the wild-type enzyme showed a decreased incorporation of [14C]pyruvate into sterols when ATP was depleted by incubation with 2-deoxy-D-glucose. No such reduction was seen in cells expressing the Ser-871 to Ala mutant enzyme. We conclude that the AMP-activated protein kinase does not play a role in end-product feedback regulation of HMG-CoA reductase, but rather it comes into play when cellular ATP levels are depleted, thereby lowering the rate of cholesterol synthesis and preserving the energy stores of the cell.

Treatment with diallyl disulfide, a constituent of garlic oil, irreversibly inactivated microsomal and a soluble 50 kDa form of HMG-CoA reductase. No radioactivity was found to be protein-bound on treating the soluble enzyme with [35S]diallyl disulfide, indicating the absence of the mixed disulfide of the type allyl-S-S-protein. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses of the diallyl-disulfide-treated protein showed no traces of the dimer of the type protein-S-S-protein, but clearly indicated BME-reversible increased mobility, as expected of an intramolecular protein disulfide. The sulfhydryl groups, as measured by alkylation with iodo[2-14C]acetic acid, were found to decrease in the diallyl-disulfide-treated enzyme protein. Tryptic peptide analysis also gave support for the possible presence of disulfide-containing peptides in such a protein. It appears that diallyl disulfide inactivated HMG-CoA reductase by forming an internal protein disulfide that became inaccessible for reduction by DTT, and thereby retaining the inactive state of the enzyme.

Induction of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) is essential for the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenoid phytoalexins and steroid derivatives in Solanaceous plants following stresses imposed by wounding and pathogen infection. To better understand this complex step in stress-responsive isoprenoid synthesis, we isolated three classes of cDNAS encoding HMGR (hmg1, hmg2, and hmg3) from a potato tuber library using a probe derived from an Arabidopsis HMGR cDNA. The potato cDNAs had extensive homology in portions of the protein coding regions but had low homology in the 3' untranslated regions. RNA gel blot analyses using gene-specific probes showed that hmg1 was strongly induced in tuber tissue by wounding, but the wound induction was strongly suppressed by treatment of the tissue with the fungal elicitor arachidonic acid or by inoculation with an incompatible or compatible race of the fungal pathogen Phytophtora infestans. The hmg2 and hmg3 mRNAs also accumulated in response to wounding, but in contrast to hmg1, these mRNAs were strongly enhanced by arachidonic acid or inoculation. Inoculation with a compatible race of P. infestans resulted in similar patterns in HMGR gene expression of hmg2 and hmg3 except that the magnitude and rate of the changes in mRNA levels were reduced relative to the incompatible interaction. The differential regulation of members of the HMGR gene family may explain in part the previously reported changes in HMGR enzyme activities following wounding and elicitor treatment. The suppression of hmg1 and the enhancement of hmg2 and hmg3 transcript levels following elicitor treatment or inoculation with the incompatible race parallel the suppression in steroid and stimulation of sesquiterpenoid accumulations observed in earlier investigations. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that there are discrete organizational channels for sterol and sesquiterpene biosynthesis in potato and other Solanaceous species.

We have raised two monospecific antibodies against synthetic peptides derived from the membrane domain of the ER glycoprotein 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate limiting enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. This domain, which was proposed to span the ER membrane seven times (Liscum, L., J. Finer-Moore, R. M. Stroud, K. L. Luskey, M. S. Brown, and J. L. Goldstein. 1985. J. Biol. Chem. 260:522-538), plays a critical role in the regulated degradation of the enzyme in the ER in response to sterols. The antibodies stain the ER of cells and immunoprecipitate HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal, a chimeric protein composed of the membrane domain of the reductase fused to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase, the degradation of which is also accelerated by sterols. We show that the sequence Arg224 through Leu242 of HMG-CoA reductase (peptide G) faces the cytoplasm both in cultured cells and in rat liver, whereas the sequence Thr284 through Glu302 (peptide H) faces the lumen of the ER. This indicates that a sequence between peptide G and peptide H spans the membrane of the ER. Moreover, by epitope tagging with peptide H, we show that the loop segment connecting membrane spans 3 and 4 is sequestered in the lumen of the ER. These results demonstrate that the membrane domain of HMG-CoA reductase spans the ER eight times and are inconsistent with the seven membrane spans topological model. The approximate boundaries of the proposed additional transmembrane segment are between Lys248 and Asp276. Replacement of this 7th span in HMGal with the first transmembrane helix of bacteriorhodopsin abolishes the sterol-enhanced degradation of the protein, indicating its role in the regulated turnover of HMG-CoA reductase within the endoplasmic reticulum.

After describing the main steps of cholesterol biosynthesis the author recalls that the cholesterogenesis rate is feedback-inhibited by dietary cholesterol and examines the various processes of modulation. Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG) CoA reductase, the key rate-limiting enzyme, is a 97 kDa endoplasmic reticulum glycoprotein, anchored 7-fold in this membrane. The N-terminal membrane-bound domain plays a fundamental role in the modulation of reductase activity. This modulation is essentially mediated by decreased gene transcription and enhanced degradation of the protein. The possible modulation by a bicyclic cascade system involving phosphorylation (inactivation) and dephosphorylation (activation) of reductase does not seem to play an essential role in vivo. Finally, recent data show that the lipid composition (C/P molar ratio) of some reticular membranes (fibroblasts, for example) can strongly modulate the activity of this ubiquitous enzyme.

We purified and characterized a membrane-associated enzyme system from radish (Raphanus sativus L.) that is capable of converting acetyl-CoA into 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA). The enzyme system apparently comprises acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase (EC 2.3.1.9) and HMG-CoA synthase (EC 4.1.3.5). Its activity in vitro can be strongly stimulated by FeII. When ferrous ions are applied chelated with ethylenediaminetetraacetate, citrate or adenosine 5-triphosphate (ATP), the stimulation is further increased. Stimulation is due to a higher catalytic efficiency as indicated by an increase in Vmax, whereas the affinity of the enzyme towards acetyl-CoA remains constant (Km = 6 micro M). A considerable portion of HMG-CoA lyase activity is associated with the same membranes. HMG-CoA lyase (EC 4.1.3.4) is also solubilized and partially co-purified. Its activity requires comparatively high concentrations of Mg2+. The conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonic acid is catalyzed by HMG-CoA reductase (EC 1.1.1.34) that is associated with the same membranes. By cDNA encoding the Arabidopsis HMG-CoA reductase, we isolated a corresponding gene from a cDNA library newly established from etiolated radish seedlings. This full-length cDNA, referred to as lambda cRS3, encodes a polypeptide 583 amino acids with a molecular mass of about 63 kDa. The hydropathy profile suggests the presence of two hydrophobic membrane-spanning domains within the N-terminal 165 amino acids. The carboxy-terminal part, where the catalytic site resides, is highly conserved in all eukaryotic HMG-CoA reductase genes sequenced so far.