Polyamine oxidase (PAO) is a flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent enzyme involved in polyamine catabolism. Animal PAOs oxidize spermine (Spm), spermidine (Spd), and/or their acetyl derivatives to produce H2O2, an aminoaldehyde, and Spd or putrescine, respectively, thus being involved in a polyamine back-conversion pathway. On the contrary, plant PAOs that have been characterized to date oxidize Spm and Spd to produce 1,3-diaminopropane, H2O2, and an aminoaldehyde and are therefore involved in the terminal catabolism of polyamines. A database search within the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome sequence showed the presence of a gene (AtPAO1) encoding for a putative PAO with 45% amino acid sequence identity with maize (Zea mays) PAO. The AtPAO1 cDNA was isolated and cloned in a vector for heterologous expression in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was purified by affinity chromatography on guazatine-Sepharose 4B and was shown to be a flavoprotein able to oxidize Spm, norspermine, and N1-acetylspermine with a pH optimum at 8.0. Analysis of the reaction products showed that AtPAO1 produces Spd from Spm and norspermidine from norspermine, demonstrating a substrate oxidation mode similar to that of animal PAOs. To our knowledge, AtPAO1 is the first plant PAO reported to be involved in a polyamine back-conversion pathway.
多胺氧化酶(PAO)是一种依赖于黄素腺嘌呤二核苷酸的酶,参与多胺降解。动物PAOs氧化精胺(Spm)、亚精胺(Spd)和/或它们的乙酰衍生物,产生H2O2、氨基醛和Spd或腐胺,因此参与多胺回转途径。相反,到目前为止已经表征的植物PAOs氧化Spm和Spd,产生1,3-二氨基丙烷、H2O2和氨基醛,因此参与多胺的末端降解。在拟南芥(拟南芥)基因组序列中进行数据库搜索,显示存在一个编码推测PAO的基因(AtPAO1),其氨基酸序列同玉米(玉米)PAO具有45%的同源性。 AtPAO1 cDNA被分离并克隆到Escherichia coli的载体中进行异源表达。亲和层析在guazatine-Sepharose 4B上纯化重组蛋白,并显示为一种能够在pH 8.0下氧化Spm、norspermine和N1-acetylspermine的黄素蛋白。反应产物的分析表明,AtPAO1从Spm产生Spd,从norspermine产生norspermidine,证明其底物氧化模式类似于动物PAOs。据我们所知,AtPAO1是首个报道参与多胺回转途径的植物PAO。
In contrast to animals, where polyamine (PA) catabolism efficiently converts spermine (Spm) to putrescine (Put), plants have been considered to possess a PA catabolic pathway producing 1,3-diaminopropane, Δ 1-pyrroline, the corresponding aldehyde, and hydrogen peroxide but unable to back-convert Spm to Put. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome contains at least five putative PA oxidase (PAO) members with yet-unknown localization and physiological role(s). AtPAO1 was recently identified as an enzyme similar to the mammalian Spm oxidase, which converts Spm to spermidine (Spd). In this work, we have performed in silico analysis of the five Arabidopsis genes and have identified PAO3 (AtPAO3) as a nontypical PAO, in terms of homology, compared to other known PAOs. We have expressed the gene AtPAO3 and have purified a protein corresponding to it using the inducible heterologous expression system of Escherichia coli. AtPAO3 catalyzed the sequential conversion/oxidation of Spm to Spd, and of Spd to Put, thus exhibiting functional homology to the mammalian PAOs. The best substrate for this pathway was Spd, whereas the N 1-acetyl-derivatives of Spm and Spd were oxidized less efficiently. On the other hand, no activity was detected when diamines (agmatine, cadaverine, and Put) were used as substrates. Moreover, although AtPAO3 does not exhibit significant similarity to the other known PAOs, it is efficiently inhibited by guazatine, a potent PAO inhibitor. AtPAO3 contains a peroxisomal targeting motif at the C terminus, and it targets green fluorescence protein to peroxisomes when fused at the N terminus but not at the C terminus. These results reveal that AtPAO3 is a peroxisomal protein and that the C terminus of the protein contains the sorting information. The overall data reinforce the view that plants and mammals possess a similar PA oxidation system, concerning both the subcellular localization and the mode of its action.
与动物不同的是,多胺(PA)在动物体内可以有效地将亚精胺(Spm)转化为腐胺(Put),但是植物被认为具有一种PA降解途径,可以产生1,3-二氨基丙烷,Δ1-吡咯烷,相应的醛和过氧化氢,但无法将Spm回转为Put。拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)基因组中至少包含五个假定的PA氧化酶(PAO)成员,其定位和生理作用尚未知晓。最近鉴定了AtPAO1,它是一种类似于哺乳动物Spm氧化酶的酶,可以将Spm转化为亚精胺(Spd)。在这项工作中,我们进行了对五个拟南芥基因的计算机分析,并确定PAO3(AtPAO3)是一种非典型的PAO,与其他已知的PAO相比,其同源性不高。我们表达了AtPAO3基因,并利用大肠杆菌的诱导异源表达系统纯化了相应的蛋白质。AtPAO3催化了Spm到Spd的顺序转化/氧化,以及Spd到Put的转化,因此表现出与哺乳动物PAO的功能同源性。该途径的最佳底物是Spd,而Spm和Spd的N1-乙酰衍生物的氧化效率较低。另一方面,当使用二胺(agmatine,cadaverine和Put)作为底物时,没有检测到活性。此外,虽然AtPAO3与其他已知的PAO没有显著的相似性,但它被强效的PAO抑制剂guazatine有效地抑制。AtPAO3在C端具有过氧化物酶体定位信号,当与N端融合时可以将绿色荧光蛋白定位到过氧化物酶体,但与C端融合时不能。这些结果揭示了AtPAO3是一种过氧化物酶体蛋白质,并且蛋白质的C端包含了排序信息。总体数据加强了植物和哺乳动物具有相似的PA氧化系统的观点,涉及到亚细胞定位和其作用方式。
In the polyamine back-conversion pathway, spermine and spermidine are first acetylated by spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) and then oxidized by polyamine oxidase (PAO) to produce spermidine and putrescine respectively. Although PAO was first purified more than two decades ago, the protein has not yet been linked to genomic sequences. In the present study, we apply a BLAST search strategy to identify novel oxidase sequences located on human chromosome 10 and mouse chromosome 7. Homologous mammalian cDNAs derived from human brain and mouse mammary tumour were deduced to encode proteins of approx. 55kDa having 82% sequence identity. When either cDNA was transiently transfected into HEK-293 cells, intracellular spermine pools decreased by approx. 30%, whereas spermidine increased 2—4-fold. Lysates of human PAO cDNA-transfected HEK-293 cells, but not vector-transfected cells, rapidly oxidized N1-acetylspermine to spermidine. Substrate specificity determinations with the lysate assay revealed a preference ranking of N1-acetylspermine = N1-acetylspermidine>N1,N12-diacetylspermine>spermine; spermidine was not acted upon. This ranking is identical to that reported for purified PAO and distinctly different from the recently identified spermine oxidase (SMO), which prefers spermine over N1-acetylspermine. Monoethyl- and diethylspermine analogues also served as substrates for PAO, and were internally cleaved adjacent to a secondary amine. We deduce that the present oxidase sequences are those of the FAD-dependent PAO involved in the polyamine back-conversion pathway. In Northern blot analysis, PAO mRNA was much less abundant in HEK-293 cells than SMO or SSAT mRNA, and all three were differentially induced in a similar manner by selected polyamine analogues. The identification of PAO sequences, together with the recently identified SMO sequences, provides new opportunities for understanding the dynamics of polyamine homoeostasis and for interpreting metabolic and cellular responses to clinically-relevant polyamine analogues and inhibitors.