Effect of lysine to alanine mutations on the phosphate activation and BPTES inhibition of glutaminase

Abstract

The GLS1 gene encodes a mitochondrial glutaminase that is highly expressed in brain, kidney, small intestine and many transformed cells. Recent studies have identified multiple lysine residues in glutaminase that are sites of N-acetylation. Interestingly, these sites are located within either a loop segment that regulates access of glutamine to the active site or the dimer:dimer interface that participates in the phosphate-dependent oligomerization and activation of the enzyme. These two segments also contain the binding sites for bis-2[5-phenylacetamido-1,2,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]ethylsulfide (BPTES), a highly specific and potent uncompetitive inhibitor of this glutaminase. BPTES is also the lead compound for development of novel cancer chemotherapeutic agents. To provide a preliminary assessment of the potential effects of N-acetylation, the corresponding lysine to alanine mutations were constructed in the hGACΔ1 plasmid. The wild type and mutated proteins were purified by Ni(+)-affinity chromatography and their phosphate activation and BPTES inhibition profiles were analyzed. Two of the alanine substitutions in the loop segment (K311A and K328A) and the one in the dimer:dimer interface (K396A) form enzymes that require greater concentrations of phosphate to produce half-maximal activation and exhibit greater sensitivity to BPTES inhibition. By contrast, the K320A mutation results in a glutaminase that exhibits near maximal activity in the absence of phosphate and is not inhibited by BPTES. Thus, lysine N-acetylation may contribute to the acute regulation of glutaminase activity in various tissues and alter the efficacy of BPTES-type inhibitors.

Keywords: Alanine substitution; BPTES inhibition; Glutaminase; Lysine N-acetylation; Ni(+)-affinity chromatography; Phosphate activation.