Project description:The aromatic amino acid hydroxylases (AAAHs) phenylalanine hydroxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase, and tryptophan hydroxylases 1 and 2 are structurally related enzymes that contain an active site iron atom and depend on tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) as cosubstrate. Due to their important roles in synthesis of serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline and their involvement in cardiovascular, neurological, and endocrine disorders, AAAHs have been targeted by substrate analogs, iron chelators, and allosteric ligands. Phenylalanine hydroxylase is also off-target of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor panobinostat. To systematically explore the binding of HDAC inhibitors to AAAHs, we screened a library of 307 HDAC inhibitors and structural analogs against tryptophan hydroxylase 1 using a fluorescence-based thermal stability assay, followed by activity assays. Selected hits were enzymatically tested against all four purified human AAAHs. Cellular thermal shift assay was performed for phenylalanine hydroxylase. We show that panobinostat and structurally related compounds such as TB57, which similarly to panobinostat also contains a cinnamoyl hydroxamate, bind to human AAAHs and inhibit these enzymes with high selectivity within the class (panobinostat inhibition (IC50): phenylalanine hydroxylase (18 nM) > tyrosine hydroxylase (450 nM) > tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (1960 nM). This study shows that panobinostat and related hydroxamic acid type HDAC inhibitors inhibit all AAAHs at therapeutically relevant concentrations. Our results warrant further investigations of the off-target relevance of HDAC inhibitors intended for clinical use and provide directions for new dual HDAC/AAAH and selective AAAH inhibitors. These findings may also provide a new mechanistic link between regulation of histone modification, AAAH function, and monoaminergic neurotransmission.
Project description:PH8 monoclonal antibody has previously been shown to react with all three aromatic amino acid hydroxylases, being particularly useful for immunohistochemical staining of brain tissue [Haan, Jennings, Cuello, Nakata, Chow, Kushinsky, Brittingham & Cotton (1987) Brain Res. 426, 19-27]. Western-blot analysis of liver extracts showed that PH8 reacted with phenylalanine hydroxylase from a wide range of vertebrate species. The epitope for antibody PH8 has been localized to the human phenylalanine hydroxylase sequence between amino acid residues 139 and 155. This highly conserved region of the aromatic amino acid hydroxylases has 11 out of 17 amino acids identical in phenylalanine hydroxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase and tryptophan hydroxylase.
Project description:Toxoplasma gondii infection has been described previously to cause infected mice to lose their fear of cat urine. This behavioral manipulation has been proposed to involve alterations of host dopamine pathways due to parasite-encoded aromatic amino acid hydroxylases. Here, we report successful knockout and complementation of the aromatic amino acid hydroxylase AAH2 gene, with no observable phenotype in parasite growth or differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, expression levels of the two aromatic amino acid hydroxylases were negligible both in tachyzoites and in bradyzoites. Finally, we were unable to confirm previously described effects of parasite infection on host dopamine either in vitro or in vivo, even when AAH2 was overexpressed using the BAG1 promoter. Together, these data indicate that AAH enzymes in the parasite do not cause global or regional alterations of dopamine in the host brain, although they may affect this pathway locally. Additionally, our findings suggest alternative roles for the AHH enzymes in T. gondii, since AAH1 is essential for growth in nondopaminergic cells.