Tyrosine-DOPA oxidase

Mushroom tyrosinase was extracted as described by Ingebrigtsen and Flurkey (J. Food Sci., in press). Tyrosinase activity was monitored using either catechol, dopa or tyrosine as the substrates. All assays were carried out in the presence and absence of 0.1% SDS (w/v) to detect active and latent enzyme activities. The catechol oxidase activity of tyrosinase was assayed in 50 mM phosphate (pH 6.0) containing 10 mM catechol and the absorbance monitored at 410 nm (25-26). The dopa oxidase activity of tyrosinase was assayed in 50 mM phosphate (pH 6.0) containing 5 mM L-dopa and the absorbance monitored at 475 nm. The tyrosine hydroxylase activity of tyrosinase was assayed in 33 mM phosphate (pH 6.0) containing 0.33 mM L-tyrosine and the absorbance monitored at 280 nm. Protein content was determined by the method of Lowry et al. (26). 

It has also been observed that tryptophan, like dopa, inhibits tyrosine hydroxylase and dopa oxidase activity of melanosomal tyrosinase and that its inhibitory mechanism differs from inhibition caused by non-substrate type compounds like cysteine and ascorbic acid (36). In fact, tyrosinase is inhibited by its own substrate in vitro and this inhibition mechanism differs from that caused by cysteine and ascorbic acid (242, 268). 

Albinism, due to lack of tyrosinase and dopa oxidase, which form the natural melanin pigments of skin, hair and retina from tyrosine. The condition is unassociated with any abnormal urinary metabolite. Of these inborn errors, albinism is the most common, cystinuria is moderately rare, and the others are very uncommon. The most dangerous are porphyrinuria, with its hypersensitisation to light, and cystinuria, which tends to the formation of renal calculi. 

Winder, AJ Harris, H. New Assays for the Tyrosine Hydoxilase and Dopa Oxidase... 

Fig. 2. Biosynthetic pathway for epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. The enzymes cataly2ing the reaction are (1) tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), tetrahydrobiopterin and O2 are also involved (2) dopa decarboxylase (DDC) with pyridoxal phosphate (3) dopamine-P-oxidase (DBH) with ascorbate, O2 in the adrenal medulla, brain, and peripheral nerves and (4) phenethanolamine A/-methyltransferase (PNMT) with. Cadenosylmethionine in the adrenal...

Neural cells convert tyrosine to epinephrine and norepinephrine (Figure 31—5). While dopa is also an intermediate in the formation of melanin, different enzymes hydroxylate tyrosine in melanocytes. Dopa decarboxylase, a pyridoxai phosphate-dependent enzyme, forms dopamine. Subsequent hydroxylation by dopamine P-oxidase then forms norepinephrine. In the adrenal medulla, phenylethanolamine-A -methyltransferase uti-hzes S-adenosyhnethionine to methylate the primary amine of norepinephrine, forming epinephrine (Figure 31-5). Tyrosine is also a precursor of triiodothyronine and thyroxine (Chapter 42). 

Tyrosine hydroxylase is the rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of catecholamines. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is found in all cells that synthesize catecholamines and is a mixed-function oxidase that uses molecular oxygen and tyrosine as its substrates and biopterin as its cofactor [1], TH is a homotetramer, each subunit of which has a molecular weight of approximately 60,000. It catalyzes the addition of a hydroxyl group to the meta position of tyrosine, thus forming 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (l-DOPA). 

Ordinarily, low concentrations of catecholamines are free in the cytosol, where they may be metabolized by enzymes including monoamine oxidase (MAO). Thus, conversion of tyrosine to l-DOPA and l-DOPA to dopamine occurs in the cytosol dopamine then is taken up into the storage vesicles. In norepinephrine-containing neurons, the final P-hydroxylation occurs within the vesicles. In the adrenal gland, norepinephrine is N-methylated by PNMT in the cytoplasm. Epinephrine is then transported back into chromaffin granules for storage. 

Fig. 1. Prosthetic groups in oxidases (A FAD B Thio-Tyrosine C NAD(P) + D 6-Hydroxy-DOPA E Methoxanthin (Pyrroloquinoline quinone PQQ) F Tryptophane-Tryptophan quinone)...

Figure 2.16. Pathways for the synthesis and metabolism of the catecholamines. A=phenylalanine hydroxylase+pteridine cofactor+Oj B tyrosine hydroxylase+ tetrahydropteridme+Fe+ +Oj C=dopa decarboxylase+pyridoxal phosphate D= dopamine beta-oxidase+ascorbate phosphate+Cu+ +Oj E=phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase+S-adenosylmethionine l=monoamine oxidase and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2=catechol-0-methyltransferase+S-adenosylmethionine.

The noradrenaline normally contained in the storage granules can be partly or completely replaced by structurally related sympathomimetic amines, either by injection of the amine itself, or of suitable precursors such as a-methyl-DOPA or a-methyl-w-tyrosine. These amines can be depleted from the heart by guanethidine in the same way as the noradrenaline which they had replaced. a-Methylnoradrenaline [337] and metaraminol [338] are depleted less readily than noradrenaline from rabbit or rat hearts, whereas dopamine, octopamine and w-octopamine are depleted more readily than noradrenaline [339]. The more rapid depletion of these last three compounds was attributed to weaker binding in the storage granules [339], but could equally well be due to their greater susceptibility to destruction by monoamine oxidase, since both a-methyl-noradrenaline and metaraminol are resistant to attack by monoamine oxidase. 

Although numerous compounds have been tested as inhibitors of tyrosine hydroxylase 1379], no guanidines appear yet among them. Guanethidine itself has no significant effect on DOPA decarboxylase [323, 380] nor on dopamine-/3-oxidase [259,381,382]. Neither guanoxan, which is also a potent noradrenaline... 

This copper-dependent enzyme [EC 1.14.18.1] (also known as tyrosinase, phenolase, monophenol oxidase, and cresolase) catalyzes the reaction of L-tyrosine with L-dopa and dioxygen to produce L-dopa, dopaquinone, and water. This classification actually represents a set of copper proteins that also catalyze the reaction of catechol oxidase [EC 1.10.3.1] if only 1,2-benzenediols are available as substrates. 

Biosynthesis of catecholamines. The rate-limiting step, conversion of tyrosine to dopa, can be inhibited by metyrosine (K-methyltyrosine). The alternative pathway shown by the dashed arrows has not been found to be of physiologic significance in humans. However, tyramine and octopamine may accumulate in patients treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors. 

The general scheme of the biosynthesis of catecholamines was first postulated in 1939 (29) and finally confirmed in 1964 (Fig. 2) (30). Although not shown in Figure 2, in some cases the amino acid phenylalanine [63-91-2] can serve as a precursor it is converted in the liver to (-)-tyrosine [60-18-4] by the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. Four enzymes are involved in E formation in the adrenal medulla and certain neurons in the brain tyrosine hydroxylase, dopa decarboxylase (also referred to as L-aromatic amino acid decarboxylase), dopamine-P-hydroxylase, and phenylethanolamine iV-methyltransferase. Neurons that form DA as their transmitter lack the last two of these enzymes, and sympathetic neurons and other neurons in the central nervous system that form NE as a transmitter do not contain phenylethanolamine N-methyl-transferase. The component enzymes and their properties involved in the formation of catecholamines have been purified to homogeneity and their properties examined. The human genes for tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine- 3-oxidase and dopa decarboxylase, have been cloned (31,32). It is anticipated that further studies on the molecular structure and expression of these enzymes should yield interesting information about their regulation and function. 

FIGURE 23.7 Dopamine (DA) is synthesized within neuronal terminals from the precursor tyrosine by the sequential actions of the enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase, producing the intermediary L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (Dopa), and aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase. In the terminal, dopamine is transported into storage vesicles by a transporter protein (T) associated with the vesicular membrane. Release, triggered by depolarization and entry of Ca2+, allows dopamine to act on postsynaptic dopamine receptors (DAR). Several distinct types of dopamine receptors are present in the brain, and the differential actions of dopamine on postsynaptic targets bearing different types of dopamine receptors have important implications for the function of neural circuits. The actions of dopamine are terminated by the sequential actions of the enzymes catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) and monoamine oxidase (MAO), or by reuptake of dopamine into the terminal. 

Catechol melanin, a black pigment of plants, is a polymeric product formed by the oxidative polymerization of catechol. The formation route of catechol melanin (Eq. 5) is described as follows [33-37] At first, 3-(3, 4 -dihydroxyphe-nyl)-L-alanine (DOPA) is derived from tyrosine. It is oxidized to dopaquinone and forms dopachrome. 5,6-Dihydroxyindole is formed, accompanied by the elimination of C02. The oxidative coupling polymerization produces a melanin polymer whose primary structure contains 4,7-conjugated indole units, which exist as a three-dimensional irregular polymer similar to lignin. Multistep oxidation reactions and coupling reactions in the formation of catechol melanin are catalyzed by a copper enzyme such as tyrosinase. Tyrosinase is an oxidase con-... 

Monooxygenase with L-tyrosine Oxidase with L-DOPA... 

Tyrosine, itself a degradation product of phenylalanine (Sec. 15.1), is initially converted to 3.4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa), and the corresponding do pa quinone, by the copper-containing enzyme tyrosinase. Tyrosinase is found in melanocytes and is a mixed-function oxidase. It catalyzes the following reaction ... 

As shown in Fig. 3 (Top Panel), dietary tyrosine is transported into axon terminals of DA neurons and converted in the cytoplasm to DOPA by the rate limiting enzyme TH. DOPA is then rapidly decarboxylated by DDC to DA which is taken up and stored in synaptic vesicles until release. Excess newly synthesized DA is metabolized by mitochondrial monoamine oxidase (MAO) to DOPAC which rapidly diffuses out of neurons and is taken up and converted to homovanillic acid (HVA) by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT)-containing glial cells in the neuropil (Hansson and Sellstrom, 1983 Kimelberg, 1986). Upon arrival of an action potential at the axon terminal, vesicular DA is released into the synapse via calcium-dependent exocytosis where it is free to interact with stimulatory Di and/or inhibitory D2 DA receptors on postsynaptic target cells and inhibitory D2 autoreceptors on presynaptic terminals. A major portion of DA is removed from the synapse by high affinity DA transporters located on presynaptic terminals, and recaptured DA is either metabolized to DOPAC by mitochondrial MAO or stored in synaptic vesicles for subsequent re-release. A small portion of DA can also be taken up from the synapse by glia and metabolized to 3-methoxytyramine (3MT) and HVA. 

Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the neurochemical events associated with neurotransmitter synthesis, release, re-uptake and metabolism in axons of diencephalic DA neurons terminating in classical synapses (Top Panel), and TIDA neurosecretory neurons terminating in close proximity to the hypophysial portal system (Botton Panel). Arrows with dashed lines represent end-product inhibition of TH activiy by DA (Top + Bottom Panels) or DA presynaptic autoreceptor-mediated inhibition of DA synthesis and release (Top Panel). Abbreviations COMT, Catechol-O-methyltransferase D, dopamine DDC, DOPA decarboxylase DOPA, 3,4-dihydrophenylalanine DOPAC, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid HVA, homovanillic acid MAO, monoamine oxidase 3MT, 3-methoxytyramine TH, tyrosine hydroxylase.

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