Proton glutamate

Tolner, B., Poolman, B., Wallace, B., and Konings, W. N. (1992) Revised nucleotide sequence of the gltP gene, which encodes the proton-glutamate-aspartate transport protein of Escherichia coli K-12. J. Bacteriol. 174, 2391-2393. 

Finally, enzymes that bind metal cofactors such as Zn + and Mg + can use their properties as Lewis acids, for example, electron pair acceptors. An example is the enzyme thermolysin, whose mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 9. In this enzyme, glutamate-143 acts as an active site base to deprotonate water for attack on the amide carbonyl, which is at the same time polarized by coordination by an active site Zn + ion (6). The protonated glutamic acid then probably acts as an acidic group for the protonation of the departing amine. 

The gradients of H, Na, and other cations and anions established by ATPases and other energy sources can be used for secondary active transport of various substrates. The best-understood systems use Na or gradients to transport amino acids and sugars in certain cells. Many of these systems operate as symports, with the ion and the transported amino acid or sugar moving in the same direction (that is, into the cell). In antiport processes, the ion and the other transported species move in opposite directions. (For example, the anion transporter of erythrocytes is an antiport.) Proton symport proteins are used by E. coU and other bacteria to accumulate lactose, arabinose, ribose, and a variety of amino acids. E. coli also possesses Na -symport systems for melibiose as well as for glutamate and other amino acids. 

The isomerization of isopentenyl diphosphate to dimethylally diphos phate is catalyzed by JPP isomerase and occurs through a carbocation pathway Protonation of the IPP double bond by a hydrogen-bonded cysteine residue ir the enzyme gives a tertiary carbocation intermediate, which is deprotonated b a glutamate residue as base to yield DMAPP. X-ray structural studies on the enzyme show that it holds the substrate in an unusually deep, well-protectec pocket to shield the highly reactive carbocation from reaction with solvent 01 other external substances. 

The exocytotic release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles underlies most information processing by the brain. Since classical neurotransmitters including monoamines, acetylcholine, GABA, and glutamate are synthesized in the cytoplasm, a mechanism is required for their accumulation in synaptic vesicles. Vesicular transporters are multitransmembrane domain proteins that mediate this process by coupling the movement of neurotransmitters to the proton electrochemical gradient across the vesicle membrane. 

Synaptic vesicles isolated from brain exhibit four distinct vesicular neurotransmitter transport activities one for monoamines, a second for acetylcholine, a third for the inhibitory neurotransmitters GABA and glycine, and a fourth for glutamate [1], Unlike Na+-dependent plasma membrane transporters, the vesicular activities couple to a proton electrochemical gradient (A. lh+) across the vesicle membrane generated by the vacuolar H+-ATPase ( vacuolar type proton translocating ATPase). Although all of the vesicular transport systems rely on ApH+, the relative dependence on the chemical and electrical components varies (Fig. 1). The... 

This reaction requires the formation of an hydroxide ion, as in the enzyme reaction. A proper reference reaction for the first step in the enzyme would then be simply the proton transfer from a water molecule to a glutamic acid in solution ... 

Energy-linked transhydrogenase, a protein in the inner mitochondrial membrane, couples the passage of protons down the electrochemical gradient from outside to inside the mitochondrion with the transfer of H from intramitochondrial NADH to NADPH for intramitochondrial enzymes such as glutamate dehydrogenase and hydroxylases involved in steroid synthesis. 

Figure 12-13. Malate shuttle for transfer of reducing equivalents from the cytosol into the mitochondrion. Ketoglutarate transporter , glutamate/aspartate transporter (note the proton symport with glutamate).

Hsu, CC, Thomas, C, Chen, W, Davis, KM, Foos, T, Chen, JL, Wu, E, Floor, E, Schloss, JV and Wu, JY (1999) Role of synaptic vesicle proton gradient and protein phosphorylation on ATP-mediated activation of membrane-associated brain glutamate decarboxylase. J. Biol. Chem. 274 24366-24371. 

The reaction mechanism for glutamate racemase has been studied extensively. It has been proposed that the key for the racemization activity is that the two cysteine residues of the enzyme are located on both sides of the substrate bound to the active site. Thus, one cysteine residue abstracts the a-proton from the substrate, while the other detivers a proton from the opposite side of the intermediate enolate of the amino acid. In this way, the racemase catalyzes the racemization of glutamic acid via a so-called two-base mechanism (Fig. 15). 

The tertiary structure of glutamate racemase has already been resolved and it has also been shown that a substrate analog glutamine binds between two cysteine residues. These data enabled us to predict that the new proton-donating amino acid residue should be introduced at position 74 instead of Gly for the inversion of enantioselectivity of the decarboxylation reaction. 

Fig. 4. Proposed catalytic cycle for the hydroxylation of methane by MMO. The reductase and B components may interact with the hydroxylase in one or more steps of the cycle. Protons are shown in the step in which intermediate Q is generated, but other possibilities exist (see Fig. 3 and the text). The curved line represents a bridging glutamate carboxylate ligand.

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