Scurvy Proline hydroxylase

One-third of the amino acid residues in collagen are Gly, while another quarter are Pro. The hydroxylated amino acids 4-hydroxyproline (Hyp) and 5-hydroxylysine (Hyl) are formed post-translationally by the action of proline hydroxylase and lysine hydroxylase. These Fe2+-containing enzymes require ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for activity. In the vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy, collagen does not form correctly due to the inability to hydroxylate Pro and Lys. Hyl residues are often post-translationally modified with carbohydrate. 

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, Fig. 2) is a water-soluble vitamin that dissociates at physiological pH. It is essential as a cofactor of several enzymes, including proline hydroxylase and lysine hydroxylase. Scurvy is known as the result of malnutrition with ascorbic acid. This vitamin deficiency is characterized by instable collagen. This results from insufficient hydroxylation of collagen molecules. Besides this, ascorbic acid has a function as an antioxidant. 

Mussini, E., Hutton Jr., J. J., and Udenfriend, S., 1967, Collagen proline hydroxylase in wound healing, granuloma formation, scurvy, and growth. Science 157 927-929. 

Selected prolines and lysines are hydroxylated by prolyl and lysyl hydroxylases. These enzymes, located in the RER, require ascorbate (vitamin C), deficiency of which produces scurvy. 

The formation of Hyp and Hyl residues in procollagen is catalyzed by iron-containing oxygenases ( proline and lysine hydroxylase, EC 1.14.11.1/2). Ascorbate is required to maintain their function. Most of the symptoms of the vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy (see p. 368) are explained by disturbed collagen biosynthesis. 

Hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine result from the hydroxylation by specific hydroxylases of proline and lysine residues after their incorporation into a-chains. The enzymes require ascorbic acid as a cofactor. [Note An ascorbic acid deficiency results in scurvy.] The hydroxyl group of the hydroxylysine residues of collagen may be enzymatically glycosy lated (most commonly, glucose and galactose are added sequentially to the triple helix). 

Most of the other clinical signs of scurvy can be accounted for by effects of deficiency on collagen synthesis as a result of impaired proline and lysine hydroxylase activity (Section 13.3.3). 

Most of the other clinical signs of scurvy can be accounted for by the effects of ascorbate deficiency on collagen synthesis, as a result of impaired proline and lysine hydroxylase activity. Depletion of muscle carnitine (section 5.5.1), as a result of impaired activity of trimethyllysine and y-butyrobetaine hydroxylases, may account for the lassitude and fatigue that precede clinical signs of scurvy. 

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