Stabilization of the predominant disease-causing aldolase variant (A149P) with zwitterionic osmolytes

Biochemistry. 2011 Feb 8;50(5):663-71. doi: 10.1021/bi101523x. Epub 2011 Jan 11.

Abstract

Hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI) is a disease of carbohydrate metabolism that can result in hyperuricemia, hypoglycemia, liver and kidney failure, coma, and death. Currently, the only treatment for HFI is a strict fructose-free diet. HFI arises from aldolase B deficiency, and the most predominant HFI mutation is an alanine to proline substitution at position 149 (A149P). The resulting aldolase B with the A149P substitution (AP-aldolase) has activity that is <100-fold that of the wild type. The X-ray crystal structure of AP-aldolase at both 4 and 18 °C reveals disordered adjacent loops of the (α/β)(8) fold centered around the substitution, which leads to a dimeric structure as opposed to the wild-type tetramer. The effects of osmolytes were tested for restoration of structure and function. An initial screen of osmolytes (glycerol, sucrose, polyethylene glycol, 2,4-methylpentanediol, glutamic acid, arginine, glycine, proline, betaine, sarcosine, and trimethylamine N-oxide) reveals that glycine, along with similarly structured compounds, betaine and sarcosine, protects AP-aldolase structure and activity from thermal inactivation. The concentration and functional moieties required for thermal protection show a zwitterion requirement. The effects of osmolytes in restoring structure and function of AP-aldolase are described. Testing of zwitterionic osmolytes of increasing size and decreasing fractional polar surface area suggests that osmolyte-mediated AP-aldolase stabilization occurs neither primarily through excluded volume effects nor through transfer free energy effects. These data suggest that AP-aldolase is stabilized by binding to the native structure, and they provide a foundation for developing stabilizing compounds for potential therapeutics for HFI.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Enzyme Stability
  • Fructose Intolerance / enzymology*
  • Fructose Intolerance / genetics
  • Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase / chemistry*
  • Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase / genetics*
  • Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase / metabolism
  • Genetic Variation*
  • Humans
  • Mutation, Missense*
  • Organic Chemicals / chemistry*
  • Protein Conformation

Substances

  • Organic Chemicals
  • Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase