Moonlighting Glutamate Formiminotransferases Can Functionally Replace 5-Formyltetrahydrofolate Cycloligase
作者:Linda Jeanguenin、Aurora Lara-Núñez、Anne Pribat、Melissa Hamner Mageroy、Jesse F. Gregory、Kelly C. Rice、Valérie de Crécy-Lagard、Andrew D. Hanson
DOI:10.1074/jbc.m110.190504
日期:2010.12
5-Formyltetrahydrofolate (5-CHO-THF) is formed by a side reaction of serine hydroxymethyltransferase. Unlike other folates, it is not a one-carbon donor but a potent inhibitor of folate enzymes and must therefore be metabolized. Only 5-CHO-THF cycloligase (5-FCL) is generally considered to do this. However, comparative genomic analysis indicated (i) that certain prokaryotes lack 5-FCL, implying that they have an alternative 5-CHO-THF-metabolizing enzyme, and (ii) that the histidine breakdown enzyme glutamate formiminotransferase (FT) might moonlight in this role. A functional complementation assay for 5-CHO-THF metabolism was developed in Escherichia coli, based on deleting the gene encoding 5-FCL (ygfA). The deletion mutant accumulated 5-CHO-THF and, with glycine as sole nitrogen source, showed a growth defect; both phenotypes were complemented by bacterial or archaeal genes encoding FT. Furthermore, utilization of supplied 5-CHO-THF by Streptococcus pyogenes was shown to require expression of the native FT. Recombinant bacterial and archaeal FTs catalyzed formyl transfer from 5-CHO-THF to glutamate, with k(cat) values of 0.1-1.2 min(-1) and K-m values for 5-CHO-THF and glutamate of 0.4-5 mu M and 0.03-1 mM, respectively. Although the formyltransferase activities of these proteins were far lower than their formiminotransferase activities, the K-m values for both substrates relative to their intracellular levels in prokaryotes are consistent with significant in vivo flux through the formyltransferase reaction. Collectively, these data indicate that FTs functionally replace 5-FCL in certain prokaryotes.