The rare inherited disorder hyperprolinaemia type II presents with fits in childhood, usually precipitated by infection. A diagnosis of hyperprolinaemia type II and vitamin B(6) deficiency was made in a well nourished child with fits. It is thought that pyridoxine deficiency was implicated in her fits and was the result of inactivation of the vitamin by the proline metabolite, pyrroline-5-carbo...

A rapid spectrophotometric assay to determine the activities of HPI and HPII catalases in Escherichia coli extracts has been developed. This assay is based upon the differential heat stabilities of the two enzymes and offers significant advantages over previous methods for quantitation of their activities. Measurement of catalase activities in extracts of various mutant strains confirmed the ab...

Catalase HPII from Escherichia coli is a homotetramer of 753 residue subunits. The multimer displays a number of unusual structural features, including interwoven subunits and a covalent bond between Tyr415 and His392, that would contribute to its rigidity and stability. As the temperature of a solution of HPII in 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7) is raised from 50 to 92 degrees C, the en...

The subunit of catalase HPII from Escherichia coli is 753 residues in length and contains a core of approximately 500 residues, with high structural similarity to all other heme catalases. To this core are added extensions of approximately 80 and 180 residues at the N- and C-termini, respectively. The tetrameric structure is made up of a pair of interwoven dimers in which 90 N-terminal residues...

A gene homologous to rpoS was cloned from a fatal human pathogen, Vibrio vulnificus. The functional role of rpoS in V. vulnificus was accessed by using an rpoS knockout mutant strain. This mutant was impaired in terms of the ability to survive under oxidative stress, nutrient starvation, UV irradiation, or acidic conditions. The increased susceptibility of the V. vulnificus mutant in the expone...

We describe a study of 312 subjects in 71 families near related to a proband with type II hyperprolinaemia. The subjects were Irish travellers (nomads) among whom consanguineous marriage and high fertility are common. Thirteen additional cases of type II hyperprolinaemia were discovered; all were offspring of consanguineous unions. A further 50 subjects were found to have mild hyperprolinaemia....

SIGNIFICANCE Proline catabolism refers to the 4-electron oxidation of proline to glutamate catalyzed by the enzymes proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and l-glutamate γ-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (GSALDH, aka ALDH4A1). These enzymes and the intermediate metabolites of the pathway have been implicated in tumor growth and suppression, metastasis, hyperprolinemia metabolic disorders, schizophrenia susc...

BACKGROUND Amino acid dehydrogenases (L-amino acid: oxidoreductase deaminating; EC 1.4.1.X) are members of the wider superfamily of oxidoreductases that catalyze the reversible oxidative deamination of an amino acid to its keto acid and ammonia with the concomitant reduction of either NAD+, NADP+ or FAD. These enzymes have been received much attention as biocatalysts for use in biosensors or...

Pyomelanin is the major constituent of pigment in melanogenic Aeromonas strains of bacteria. However, eumelanin, synthesized from tyrosine via L-DOPA and polyphenol oxidases (PPOs), may also be present in this genus since L-DOPA is frequently detected in culture fluids of several species. To address this question, we used a deletion mutant of Aeromonas media strain WS, in which pyomelanin synth...

Site-directed mutagenesis of the katE gene of Escherichia coli was used to change, individually and in combination, Cys438 and Cys669 to serine in catalase HPII. The Cys438-->Ser mutation caused a 30% reduction in the specific activity of the enzyme, whereas the Cys669-->Ser mutation did not affect enzyme activity. The titration of free sulfhydryl groups in HPII revealed that Cys669 was reactiv...