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Expression, purification and characterization of recombinant human choline acetyltransferase: phosphorylation of the enzyme regulates catalytic activity.

ABSTRACT: Choline acetyltransferase synthesizes acetylcholine in cholinergic neurons and, in humans, may be produced in 82- and 69-kDa forms. In this study, recombinant choline acetyltransferase from baculovirus and bacterial expression systems was used to identify protein isoforms by two-dimensional SDS/PAGE and as substrate for protein kinases. Whereas hexa-histidine-tagged 82- and 69-kDa enzymes did not resolve as individual isoforms on two-dimensional gels, separation of wild-type choline acetyltransferase expressed in insect cells revealed at least nine isoforms for the 69-kDa enzyme and at least six isoforms for the 82-kDa enzyme. Non-phosphorylated wild-type choline acetyltransferase expressed in Escherichia coli yielded six (69 kDa) and four isoforms (82 kDa) respectively. Immunofluorescent labelling of insect cells expressing enzyme showed differential subcellular localization with the 69-kDa enzyme localized adjacent to plasma membrane and the 82-kDa enzyme being cytoplasmic at 24 h. By 64 h, the 69-kDa form was in cytoplasm and the 82-kDa form was only present in nucleus. Studies in vitro showed that recombinant 69-kDa enzyme was a substrate for protein kinase C (PKC), casein kinase II (CK2) and alpha-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (alpha-CaM kinase), but not for cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA); phosphorylation by PKC and CK2 enhanced enzyme activity. The 82-kDa enzyme was a substrate for PKC and CK2 but not for PKA or alpha-CaM kinase, with only PKC yielding increased enzyme activity. Dephosphorylation of both forms of enzyme by alkaline phosphatase decreased enzymic activity. These studies are of functional significance as they report for the first time that phosphorylation enhances choline acetyltransferase catalytic activity.

SUBMITTER: Dobransky T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1221131 | biostudies-other | 2000 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Sirtuins are NAD(+)-dependent deacetylases involved in the regulation of diverse cellular processes and are conserved throughout phylogeny. Here we report about in vitro transphosphorylation of the only NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase (mDAC) present in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by eukaryotic-type Ser/Thr kinases, particularly PknA. The phosphorylated mDAC displayed decreased deacetylase activity compared to its unphosphorylated counterpart. Mass-spectrometric study identified seven phosphosites in mDAC; however, mutational analysis highlighted major contribution of Thr-214 for phosphorylation of the protein. In concordance to this observation, variants of mDAC substituting Thr-214 with either Ala (phospho-ablated) or Glu (phosphomimic) exhibited significantly reduced deacetylase activity suggesting phosphorylation mediated control of enzymatic activity. To assess the role of phosphorylation towards functionality of mDAC, we opted for a sirtuin knock-out strain of Escherichia coli (?dac), where interference of endogenous mycobacterial kinases could be excluded. The ?dac strain in nutrient deprived acetate medium exhibited compromised growth and complementation with mDAC reversed this phenotype. The phospho-ablated or phosphomimic variant, on the other hand, was unable to restore the functionality of mDAC indicating the role of phosphorylation per se in the process. We further over-expressed mDAC or mDAC-T214A as His-tagged protein in M. smegmatis, where endogenous eukaryotic-type Ser/Thr kinases are present. Anti-phosphothreonine antibody recognized both mDAC and mDAC-T214A proteins in western blotting. However, the extent of phosphorylation as adjudged by scanning the band intensity, was significantly low in the mutant protein (mDAC-T214A) compared to that of the wild-type (mDAC). Furthermore, expression of PknA in the mDAC complemented ?dac strain was able to phosphorylate M. tuberculosis sirtuin. The growth profile of this culture in acetate medium was slow compared to that transformed with only vector. On the other hand, use of a kinase dead variant, PknA-K42N instead of PknA, did not display such behavior, which again supported phosphorylation mediated control of mDAC protein. Thus, our results ostensibly render evidence for cross-talk between two distinct post-translational modifications, phosphorylation and deacetylation, in any bacteria. Bioinformatic analysis further indicated conservation of Thr-214 among different mDAC orthologs, thereby arguing the event as mycobacteria specific.

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Expression, purification and characterization of recombinant human choline acetyltransferase: phosphorylation of the enzyme regulates catalytic activity.

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