• 약학회지
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.420-427
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• 1988

Post-translational modification of protein amino acid residues is a well known metabolic phenomenon. One such side chain modification, protein methylation, occur ubiquitously in nature, in organism ranging from prokaryotic to eukaryotic and the biological significance of protein methylation has begun to emerge. The observation that cytochrome C methylation facilitates the binding of this hemoprotein to mitochondria could be placed as the one of the examples along this line. However, the detail biological meaning of cytochrome C methylation is remained to be clarified. In the aspect of such reason this research was done. The results of this experiment were; 1) pure Euglena gracilis cytochrome C552 was isolated, 2) methylarginine and methylmethionine were not found in cytochrome C552 sequence, 3) however, Unknown Peak at 20.78min of retention time was found, and 4) this Unknown Peak was found only from Euglena cytochrome C552, so far.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.7-13
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• 1988

The yeast cytochrome c gene has been recloned, and the resulting cytochrome c mRNA has been translated in rabbit reticulocyte lysate translation system. The newly synthesized apocytochrome c could be methylated by exogenously added cytochrome c-lysine N-methyltransferase. Enzymatic methylation of in vitro synthesized apocytochrome c was found to facilitate specifically its import into mitochondria of yeast, but not of rat liver.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.79-87
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• 1989

Enzymatic methylation of arginine and lysine residues of several cytochrome c and lysine residue of calmodulin always resulted in lowering of their respective isoelectric points (pI). Employing cytochromes c derived from various sources, we examined a possible relationship between the degree of amino acid sequence degeneracy and the magnitude of change in the pI values by enzymatic methylation, and found that there was no correlation between these two parameters. By constructing space-filling models of oligopeptide fragments adjacent to the potential methylation sites, we have noted that not all the methylatable residues are able to form hydrogen bonds prior to the methylation. Two preparations of yeast apocytochrome c, one chemically prepared by removing heme from holocytochrome c and the other by translating yeast iso-1-cytochrome c mRNA in vitro, exhibited slightly higher Stokes radii than the homologous holocytochrome c, indicating relatively 'relaxed or open' conformation of the protein. However, when the in vitro synthesized methylated apocytochrome c was compared with the unmethylated counter-part, the Stokes radius of the latter was found to be larger.

• 한국미생물생명공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국미생물생명공학회 1986년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.505.1-505
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• 1986

The gene for iso-1-cytochrome c for Saccharomyces cerevisiae was recloned into a pSP65 vector containing an active bacteriophage SP6 promoter. The iso-1-cytochrome c gene was cloned as an 856 bp Xho 1-Hind III fragment. When the resulting plasmid was digested at the Hind 111 site 279 bases downstream from the termination codon of the gene and transcribed in vitro using SP6 RNA polymerase, full length transcripts were produced. The SP6 iso-1-cytochrome c mRNA was translated using a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system and the protein products analyzed on SDS polyacrylamide gels. One major band was detected by autofluorography. This band was found to have a molecular weight of 12,000 Da and coincided with the Coomassie staining band of apocytochrome c from S. cerebisiae. The product was also shown to be identical with that of standard yeast apocytochrome c on an isoelectric focusing gel. The in vitro synthesized iso-a-cytochrome c was methylated by adding partially purified S-adenosyl-L-methionine . protein-lysine N-methyltransferase (Protein methylase III; EC 2.1.1.43) from S. cerevisiae along with S-adenosyl-L-methionine to the in vitro translation mixtures. The methylation was shown to be inhibited by the addition of the methylase inhibitor S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine or the protein synthesis inhibitor pu omycin. The methyl derivatives in the protein were identified as $\varepsilon$-N-mono, di and trimethyllysine by amino acid analysis. The molar ratio of methyl groups incorporated to that of cytochrome c molecules synthesized showed that 23% of the translated cytochrome c molecules were methylated by protein methylase III.

• 약학회지
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.295-301
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• 1983

Among the many protein modifications methylation is being investigated actively with regard to bacterial chemotaxis, gene regulation, muscle contraction, cytochrome c methylation, and the synthesis of the acyl transporter, carnitine. In this study the activities of protein methylase I, II, and III in pancreatic tissues of rat, mouse, and guinea pig were examined. Furthermore, the effect of cholinergic agents on the activity of protein methylases in pancreatic fragment of guinea pig was also examined in order to test the relationship between protein methylation and pancreatic secretion. The results are as follows. 1) The activities of protein methylases were generally high in pancreatic tissues of guinea pig and mouse but low in the tissue of rat. 2) The cholinergic stimulants, acetylcholine and carbachol at a concentration of $10^{-5}M$ decreased the activities of protein methylase I, II, and III compared with unstimulated control. 3) The inhibitory effect of the cholinergic stimulant on the activities of protein methylases was not blocked by atropine at a concentration of $10^{-5}M$.