1998, Bömmel, Heike M., Reif, Andreas, Fröhlich, Lothar G., Frey, Armin, Hofmann, Heinrich, Marecak, Dale M., Groehn, Viola, Kotsonis, Peter, La, Mylinh, Köster, Sandra, Meinecke, Matthias, Bernhardt, Manfred, Weeger, Monika, Ghisla, Sandro, Prestwich, Glenn D., Pfleiderer, Wolfgang, Schmidt, Harald H. H. W.

Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are homodimeric enzymes that NADPH-dependently convert L-arginine to nitric oxide and L-citrulline. Interestingly, all NOS also require (6R)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-L-biopterin (H4Bip) for maximal activity although the mechanism is not fully understood. Basal NOS activity, i.e. that in the absence of exogenous H4Bip, has been attributed to enzyme-associated H4Bip. To elucidate further H4Bip function in purified NOS, we developed two types of pterin-based NOS inhibitors, termed anti-pterins. In contrast to type II anti-pterins, type I anti-pterins specifically displaced enzyme-associated H4Bip and inhibited H4Bip-stimulated NOS activity in a fully competitive manner but, surprisingly, had no effect on basal NOS activity. Moreover, for a number of different NOS preparations basal activity (percent of Vmax) was frequently higher than the percentage of pterin saturation and was not affected by preincubation of enzyme with H4Bip. Thus, basal NOS activity appeared to be independent of enzyme-associated H4Bip. The lack of intrinsic 4a-pterincarbinolamine dehydratase activity argued against classical H4Bip redox cycling in NOS. Rather, H4Bip was required for both maximal activity and stability of NOS by binding to the oxygenase/dimerization domain and preventing monomerization and inactivation during L-arginine turnover. Since anti-pterins were also effective in intact cells, they may become useful in modulating states of pathologically high nitric oxide formation.

1997, Kubasch, Niels, Hölzer, Manuela, Köster, Sandra, Curtius, Hans-Christoph, Ghisla, Sandro, Pfleiderer, Wolfgang

1995, Köster, Sandra, Thöny, Beat, Macheroux, Peter, Curtius, Hans-Christoph, Heizmann, Claus W., Pfleiderer, Wolfgang, Ghisla, Sandro

Pterin-4a-carbinolamine dehydratase/dimerization cofactor for hepatocyte nuclear factor-1α is a protein with two different functions. We have overexpressed and purified the human wild-type protein, and its Cys81Ser and Cys81Arg mutants. The Cys81Arg mutant has been proposed to be causative in a hyperphenylalaninaemic patient [Citron, B. A., Kaufman, S., Milstien, S., Naylor, E. W., Greene, C. L. & Davis, M. D. (1993) Am. J. Hum. Genet. 53, 768 774]. The dehydratase behaves as a tetramer on gel filtration, while cross-linking experiments showed mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrameric forms, irrespective of the presence of the single Cys81. Sulfhydryl-modifying reagents did not affect the activity, but rather showed that Cys81 is exposed. Various pterins bind and quench the tryptophan fluorescence suggesting the presence of a specific binding site. The fluorescence is destroyed upon light irradiation. Wild-type and the Cys81Ser protein enhance the rate of the phenylalanine hydroxylase assay ≈ 10-fold, a value similar to that of native dehydratase from rat liver; the Cys81Arg mutant, in contrast, has significantly lower activity. This is compatible with the hypothesis that the dehydratase is a rate-limiting factor for the in vivo phenylalanine hydroxylase reaction. The three proteins enhance the spontaneous dehydration of the synthetic substrate 6,6-dimethyl-7,8-dihydropterin-4a-carbinolamine ≈50 70-fold at 4°C and pH 8.5. The results are discussed in view of the recently solved three-dimensional structure of the enzyme [Ficner, R., Sauer, U. W., Stier, G. & Suck, D. (1995) EMBO J. 14, 2032 2042].