1. Synthesis, structure, spectroscopic and ferroelectric properties of an acentric polyoxotungstate containing 1:2-type [Sm(α-PW₁₁O₃₉)₂]¹¹⁻ fragment and D-proline components
Yingjie Liu, Hailou Li, Jingli Zhang, Junwei Zhao, Lijuan Chen Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2015 Jan 5;134:101-8. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2014.06.076. Epub 2014 Jun 24.
An organic-inorganic hybrid mono-Sm(III) substituted phosphotungstate KNa3[HPro]₇[Sm(α-PW₁₁O₃₉)₂]·Pro·₁₈H₂O (1) (Pro=D-proline) has been synthesized in the conventional aqueous solution and structurally characterized by elemental analyses, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) analyses, IR spectra, UV spectra, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The molecule of 1 consists of a classical 1:2-type [Sm(α-PW₁₁O₃₉)₂](11-) fragment and free D-proline components. It should be pointed out that the synergistic action between the in-situ formed chiral [Sm(α-PW₁₁O₃₉)₂](11-) fragment and chiral D-proline components results in the formation of the chiral 1. The luminescence emission of 1 reveals three characteristic bands that derive from the (4)G₅/₂→(6)H₅/₂, (4)G₅/₂→(6)H₇/₂ and (4)G₅/₂→(6)H₉/₂ transitions of the Sm(III) cation as well as the synergistic contribution of the O→W transitions of [α-PW₁₁O₃₉](7-) moieties and a π(*)-n or π(*)-π transitions of Pro. Its ferroelectric behavior has been measured.
2. Identification and characterization of trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline dehydratase and Δ(1)-pyrroline-2-carboxylate reductase involved in trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline metabolism of bacteria
Seiya Watanabe, Yoshiaki Tanimoto, Seiji Yamauchi, Yuzuru Tozawa, Shigeki Sawayama, Yasuo Watanabe FEBS Open Bio. 2014 Feb 26;4:240-50. doi: 10.1016/j.fob.2014.02.010. eCollection 2014.
trans-4-Hydroxy-l-proline (T4LHyp) and trans-3-hydroxy-l-proline (T3LHyp) occur mainly in collagen. A few bacteria can convert T4LHyp to α-ketoglutarate, and we previously revealed a hypothetical pathway consisting of four enzymes at the molecular level (J Biol Chem (2007) 282, 6685-6695; J Biol Chem (2012) 287, 32674-32688). Here, we first found that Azospirillum brasilense has the ability to grow not only on T4LHyp but also T3LHyp as a sole carbon source. In A. brasilense cells, T3LHyp dehydratase and NAD(P)H-dependent Δ(1)-pyrroline-2-carboxylate (Pyr2C) reductase activities were induced by T3LHyp (and d-proline and d-lysine) but not T4LHyp, and no effect of T3LHyp was observed on the expression of T4LHyp metabolizing enzymes: a hypothetical pathway of T3LHyp → Pyr2C → l-proline was proposed. Bacterial T3LHyp dehydratase, encoded to LhpH gene, was homologous with the mammalian enzyme. On the other hand, Pyr2C reductase encoded to LhpI gene was a novel member of ornithine cyclodeaminase/μ-crystallin superfamily, differing from known bacterial protein. Furthermore, the LhpI enzymes of A. brasilense and another bacterium showed several different properties, including substrate and coenzyme specificities. T3LHyp was converted to proline by the purified LhpH and LhpI proteins. Furthermore, disruption of LhpI gene from A. brasilense led to loss of growth on T3LHyp, d-proline and d-lysine, indicating that this gene has dual metabolic functions as a reductase for Pyr2C and Δ(1)-piperidine-2-carboxylate in these pathways, and that the T3LHyp pathway is not linked to T4LHyp and l-proline metabolism.
3. Recharacterization of the mammalian cytosolic type 2 (R)-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase as 4-oxo-l-proline reductase (EC 1.1.1.104)
Sebastian Kwiatkowski, Maria Bozko, Michal Zarod, Apolonia Witecka, Kubra Kocdemir, Adam K Jagielski, Jakub Drozak J Biol Chem. 2022 Mar;298(3):101708. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101708. Epub 2022 Feb 10.
Early studies revealed that chicken embryos incubated with a rare analog of l-proline, 4-oxo-l-proline, showed increased levels of the metabolite 4-hydroxy-l-proline. In 1962, 4-oxo-l-proline reductase, an enzyme responsible for the reduction of 4-oxo-l-proline, was partially purified from rabbit kidneys and characterized biochemically. However, only recently was the molecular identity of this enzyme solved. Here, we report the purification from rat kidneys, identification, and biochemical characterization of 4-oxo-l-proline reductase. Following mass spectrometry analysis of the purified protein preparation, the previously annotated mammalian cytosolic type 2 (R)-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BDH2) emerged as the only candidate for the reductase. We subsequently expressed rat and human BDH2 in Escherichia coli, then purified it, and showed that it catalyzed the reversible reduction of 4-oxo-l-proline to cis-4-hydroxy-l-proline via chromatographic and tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Specificity studies with an array of compounds carried out on both enzymes showed that 4-oxo-l-proline was the best substrate, and the human enzyme acted with 12,500-fold higher catalytic efficiency on 4-oxo-l-proline than on (R)-β-hydroxybutyrate. In addition, human embryonic kidney 293T (HEK293T) cells efficiently metabolized 4-oxo-l-proline to cis-4-hydroxy-l-proline, whereas HEK293T BDH2 KO cells were incapable of producing cis-4-hydroxy-l-proline. Both WT and KO HEK293T cells also produced trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline in the presence of 4-oxo-l-proline, suggesting that the latter compound might interfere with the trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline breakdown in human cells. We conclude that BDH2 is a mammalian 4-oxo-l-proline reductase that converts 4-oxo-l-proline to cis-4-hydroxy-l-proline and not to trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline, as originally thought. We also hypothesize that this enzyme may be a potential source of cis-4-hydroxy-l-proline in mammalian tissues.
