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Quantitative evolutionary design of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase expression in human erythrocytes.

ABSTRACT: Why do the activities of some enzymes greatly exceed the flux capacity of the embedding pathways? This is a puzzling open problem in quantitative evolutionary design. In this work we investigate reasons for high expression of a thoroughly characterized enzyme: glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in human erythrocytes. G6PD catalyses the first step of the pathway that supplies NADPH for antioxidant defense mechanisms. Normal G6PD activity far exceeds the capacity of human erythrocytes for a steady NADPH supply, which is limited upstream of G6PD. However, the distribution of erythrocyte G6PD activity in human populations reveals a selective pressure for maintaining high activity. To clarify the nature of this selective pressure, we studied how G6PD activity and other parameters in a model of the NADPH redox cycle affect metabolic performance. Our analysis indicates that normal G6PD activity is sufficient but not superfluous to avoid NADPH depletion and ensure timely adaptation of the NADPH supply during pulses of oxidative load such as those that occur during adherence of erythrocytes to phagocytes. These results suggest that large excess capacities found in some biochemical and physiological systems, rather than representing large safety factors, may reflect a close match of system design to unscrutinized performance requirements. Understanding quantitative evolutionary design thus calls for careful consideration of the various performance specifications that biological components/processes must meet in order for the organism to be fit. The biochemical systems framework used in this paper is generally applicable for such a detailed examination of the quantitative evolutionary design of gene expression levels in other systems.

SUBMITTER: Salvador A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC283614 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantitative evolutionary design of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase expression in human erythrocytes.

Salvador Armindo A Savageau Michael A MA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20031112 24

Why do the activities of some enzymes greatly exceed the flux capacity of the embedding pathways? This is a puzzling open problem in quantitative evolutionary design. In this work we investigate reasons for high expression of a thoroughly characterized enzyme: glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in human erythrocytes. G6PD catalyses the first step of the pathway that supplies NADPH for antioxidant defense mechanisms. Normal G6PD activity far exceeds the capacity of human erythrocytes for a ...[more]

PMID: 14614139

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Project description:Neonatal jaundice is a common and severe disease in premature infants with Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended screening for G-6-PD deficiency in newborns for early recognition as well as to prevent unwanted outcomes in a timely manner. The present study aimed to assess a point-of-care, careSTARTTM G6PD biosensor as a quantitative method for the diagnosis of G-6-PD deficiency. Factors influencing the evaluation of G-6-PD enzyme activity were examined in 40 adults, including ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) anticoagulant, hematocrit concentration, storage temperature and time. Analytic performance of the careSTARTTM G6PD biosensor was evaluated in 216 newborns and compared with fluorescent spot test (FST) and standard quantitative G-6-PD enzyme activity (SGT) assay. The results of factors affecting the G-6-PD enzyme activity showed that the activity determined from finger-prick was not statistically different from venous blood (p = 0.152). The G-6-PD value was highly dependent on the hematocrit and rose with increasing hematocrit concentration. Its activity was stable at 4°C for 3 days. Reliability analysis between the careSTARTTM G6PD biosensor and SGT assay showed a strong correlation with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.82 and perfect agreement by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.90. Analysis of the area under the Receiver Operating Curve (AUC) illustrated that the careSTARTTM G6PD biosensor had 100% sensitivity, 96% specificity, 73% positive predictive value (PPV), 100% negative predictive value (NPV) and 97% accuracy at 30% of residual activity. While the diagnostic ability for identifying G-6-PD deficiency had 78% sensitivity, 89% specificity, 56% positive predictive value (PPV), 96% negative predictive value (NPV) and 88% accuracy when stratified by gender. The careSTARTTM G6PD biosensor is an attractive option as a point-of-care quantitative method for G-6-PD activity detection. Quantification of G-6-PD enzyme activity in newborns is the most effective approach for the management of G-6-PD deficiency to prevent severe jaundice and acute hemolysis.

Project description:Glucose 6-Phosphate Dehydrogenases (G6PDHs) from different sources show varying specificities towards NAD+ and NADP+ as cofactors. However, it is not known to what extent structural determinants of cofactor preference are conserved in the G6PDH family. In this work, molecular simulations, kinetic characterization of site-directed mutants and phylogenetic analyses were used to study the structural basis for the strong preference towards NADP+ shown by the G6PDH from Escherichia coli. Molecular Dynamics trajectories of homology models showed a highly favorable binding energy for residues K18 and R50 when interacting with the 2'-phosphate of NADP+, but the same residues formed no observable interactions in the case of NAD+. Alanine mutants of both residues were kinetically characterized and analyzed with respect to the binding energy of the transition state, according to the kcat/KM value determined for each cofactor. Whereas both residues contribute to the binding energy of NADP+, only R50 makes a contribution (about -1 kcal/mol) to NAD+ binding. In the absence of both positive charges the enzyme was unable to discriminate NADP+ from NAD+. Although kinetic data is sparse, the observed distribution of cofactor preferences within the phylogenetic tree is sufficient to rule out the possibility that the known NADP+-specific G6PDHs form a monophyletic group. While the β1-α1 loop shows no strict conservation of K18, (rather, S and T seem to be more frequent), in the case of the β2-α2 loop, different degrees of conservation are observed for R50. Noteworthy is the fact that a K18T mutant is indistinguishable from K18A in terms of cofactor preference. We conclude that the structural determinants for the strict discrimination against NAD+ in the case of the NADP+-specific enzymes have evolved independently through different means during the evolution of the G6PDH family. We further suggest that other regions in the cofactor binding pocket, besides the β1-α1 and β2-α2 loops, play a role in determining cofactor preference.

Dataset Information

Quantitative evolutionary design of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase expression in human erythrocytes.

Publications

Quantitative evolutionary design of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase expression in human erythrocytes.

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