N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase D

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N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D
Identifiers
SymbolNAPEPLD
NCBI gene 222236
HGNC 21683
OMIM 612334
PDB 4QN9
RefSeq NM_001122838
UniProt Q6IQ20
Other data
EC number 3.1.4.54
Locus Chr. 7 q22.1
Search for
Structures Swiss-model
Domains InterPro

N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) is an enzyme that catalyzes the release of N-acylethanolamine (NAE) from N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (NAPE). This is a major part of the process that converts ordinary lipids into chemical signals like anandamide and oleoylethanolamine. In humans, the NAPE-PLD protein is encoded by the NAPEPLD gene. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Discovery

NAPE-PLD is an enzyme activity - a phospholipase, acting on phospholipids found in the cell membrane. It is not homology but the chemical outcome of its activity that classes it as phospholipase D. The enzymatic activity was discovered and characterized in a series of experiments culminating in the 2004 publication of a biochemical purification scheme from which peptide sequencing could be accomplished. [2] Researchers homogenized (finely ground) hearts from 150 rats and subjected the resulting crude lysate to sucrose sedimentation at 105,000 x g to separate out the cell membranes from the remainder of the cell. The integral membrane proteins were then solubilized using octyl glucoside and subjected to four column chromatography steps (HiTrap SP HP cation-exchange column, HiTrap Q anion-exchange column, HiTrap Blue affinity column, Bio-Gel HTP hydroxyapatite column). Each of these separates the different types of membrane proteins into different sample containers when the proteins are eluted from the column over time, and by measuring the activity of samples in each container it was possible to track which ones received the active enzyme. Measurement of the enzyme activity was done by thin layer chromatography of a radioactive substrate sensitive to the NAPE-PLD enzymatic activity: Cleavage of the substrate affected where it appeared on the plate when the radiation was detected on a bioimaging analyzer.

The result of this extensive procedure was still not a pure protein, but it produced a limited number of bands by SDS-PAGE, and one band of 46 kilodaltons was found to correlate in intensity with the enzymatic activity. This band was cut out from the gel and digested with trypsin, and peptides from it were separated from one another by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. The resulting fragments were then microsequenced by an automated Edman degradation. [5] Three corresponded to vimentin, an intermediate filament protein of 56 kDa believed to be a contaminant, and the other two matched the cDNA clone subsequently identified as NAPE-PLD.

Once this clue had been obtained, the identification could be confirmed by a less onerous procedure: Overexpression of the putative NAPE-PLD cDNA in COS-7 cells yielded a strong NAPE-PLD enzymatic activity, whose characteristics were shown to be similar to those of the original heart extract. [2]

Characteristics

The NAPEPLD cDNA sequence predicts 396 amino acid sequences in both mice and rats, which are 89% and 90% identical to that of humans. [2] NAPE-PLD was found to have no homology to the known phospholipase D genes, but can be classed by homology to fall into the zinc metallohydrolase family of the beta-lactamase fold. In particular, the highly conserved motif HX(E/H)XD(C/R/S/H)X50–70 HX15–30(C/S/D)X30–70 H was observed, which is, in general, associated with zinc binding and hydrolysis reaction in this class of proteins, leading the authors to propose that activity should be correlated with zinc content.

When recombinant NAPE-PLD was tested in COS cells in vitro it had similar activity toward several radiolabeled substrates: N-palmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine, N-arachidonoylphosphatidylethanolamine, N-oleoylphosphatidylethanolamine, and N-stearoylphosphatidylethanolamine all reacted with a Km between 2–4 micromolar and a Vmax between 73 and 101 nanomole per milligram per minute as calculated by Lineweaver–Burk plot. [2] (These generate N-palmitoylethanolamine, anandamide, N-oleoylethanolamine, and N-stearoylethanolamine, respectively) The enzyme also reacted N-palmitoyl-lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine and N-arachidonoyl-lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine with similar Km but at one-third to one-fourth the Vmax. These activities are consistent with the observation that many tissues produce a range of N-acylethanolamines.

However, NAPE-PLD had no ability to produce detectable phosphatidic acid from phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylethanolamine as is catalyzed by other phospholipase D enzymes. It also lacks the transphosphatidylation activity of phospholipase D that allows the creation of phosphatidyl alcohols rather than phosphatidic acid in the presence of ethanol or butanol.

Pathway

This enzyme acts as the second step of a biochemical pathway initiated by the creation of N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine, by means of the transfer of an acyl group from the sn-1 position of glycerophospholipid onto the amino group of phosphatidylethanolamine. [2] While NAPE-PLD contributes to the biosynthesis of several NAEs in the mammalian central nervous system, it is not clear if this enzyme is not responsible for the formation of the endocannabinoid anandamide, since NAPE-PLD knockout mice have been reported to have wild-type levels or very reduced levels of anandamide. [6]

The N-acylethanolamines released by this enzyme become potential substrates for fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which hydrolyzes the free fatty acids from ethanolamine. Defects in this enzyme can cause NAPE-PLD products such as anandamide to build up to levels 15-fold higher than normally observed. [7]

Structure

This membrane enzyme forms homodimers, partly separated by an internal ~9-Å-wide channel. [8] The metallo beta-lactamase protein fold is adapted to associate with membrane phospholipids. A hydrophobic cavity provides an entry way for the substrate NAPE into the active site, where a binuclear zinc center catalyzes its hydrolysis. Bile acids bind with high affinity to selective pockets in this cavity, enhancing dimer assembly and enabling catalysis. NAPE-PLD facilitates crosstalk between bile acid signals and lipid amide signals. [8] [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anandamide</span> Chemical compound (fatty acid neurotransmitter)

Anandamide (ANA), also known as N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA), an N-acylethanolamine (NAE), is a fatty acid neurotransmitter. Anandamide was the first endocannabinoid to be discovered: it participates in the body's endocannabinoid system by binding to cannabinoid receptors, the same receptors that the psychoactive compound THC in cannabis acts on. Anandamide is found in nearly all tissues in a wide range of animals. Anandamide has also been found in plants, including small amounts in chocolate. The name 'anandamide' is taken from the Sanskrit word ananda, which means "joy, bliss, delight", plus amide.

Phosphatidic acids are anionic phospholipids important to cell signaling and direct activation of lipid-gated ion channels. Hydrolysis of phosphatidic acid gives rise to one molecule each of glycerol and phosphoric acid and two molecules of fatty acids. They constitute about 0.25% of phospholipids in the bilayer.

Phospholipase A<sub>2</sub> Peripheral membrane protein

The enzyme phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4, PLA2, systematic name phosphatidylcholine 2-acylhydrolase) catalyse the cleavage of fatty acids in position 2 of phospholipids, hydrolyzing the bond between the second fatty acid “tail” and the glycerol molecule:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endocannabinoid system</span> Biological system of neurotransmitters

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a biological system composed of endocannabinoids, which are endogenous lipid-based retrograde neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors, and cannabinoid receptor proteins that are expressed throughout the vertebrate central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. The endocannabinoid system remains under preliminary research, but may be involved in regulating physiological and cognitive processes, including fertility, pregnancy, pre- and postnatal development, various activity of immune system, appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory, and in mediating the pharmacological effects of cannabis. The ECS plays an important role in multiple aspects of neural functions, including the control of movement and motor coordination, learning and memory, emotion and motivation, addictive-like behavior and pain modulation, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lipid signaling</span> Biological signaling using lipid molecules

Lipid signaling, broadly defined, refers to any biological cell signaling event involving a lipid messenger that binds a protein target, such as a receptor, kinase or phosphatase, which in turn mediate the effects of these lipids on specific cellular responses. Lipid signaling is thought to be qualitatively different from other classical signaling paradigms because lipids can freely diffuse through membranes. One consequence of this is that lipid messengers cannot be stored in vesicles prior to release and so are often biosynthesized "on demand" at their intended site of action. As such, many lipid signaling molecules cannot circulate freely in solution but, rather, exist bound to special carrier proteins in serum.

Phospholipase D (EC 3.1.4.4, lipophosphodiesterase II, lecithinase D, choline phosphatase, PLD; systematic name phosphatidylcholine phosphatidohydrolase) is an enzyme of the phospholipase superfamily that catalyses the following reaction

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmitoylation</span>

Palmitoylation is the covalent attachment of fatty acids, such as palmitic acid, to cysteine (S-palmitoylation) and less frequently to serine and threonine (O-palmitoylation) residues of proteins, which are typically membrane proteins. The precise function of palmitoylation depends on the particular protein being considered. Palmitoylation enhances the hydrophobicity of proteins and contributes to their membrane association. Palmitoylation also appears to play a significant role in subcellular trafficking of proteins between membrane compartments, as well as in modulating protein–protein interactions. In contrast to prenylation and myristoylation, palmitoylation is usually reversible (because the bond between palmitic acid and protein is often a thioester bond). The reverse reaction in mammalian cells is catalyzed by acyl-protein thioesterases (APTs) in the cytosol and palmitoyl protein thioesterases in lysosomes. Because palmitoylation is a dynamic, post-translational process, it is believed to be employed by the cell to alter the subcellular localization, protein–protein interactions, or binding capacities of a protein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatty-acid amide hydrolase 1</span>

Fatty-acid amide hydrolase 1 or FAAH-1(EC 3.5.1.99, oleamide hydrolase, anandamide amidohydrolase) is a member of the serine hydrolase family of enzymes. It was first shown to break down anandamide (AEA), an N-acylethanolamine (NAE) in 1993. In humans, it is encoded by the gene FAAH. FAAH also regulate the contents of NAE's in Dictyostelium discoideum, as they modulate their NAE levels in vivo through the use of a semispecific FAAH inhibitor.

Serine hydrolases are one of the largest known enzyme classes comprising approximately ~200 enzymes or 1% of the genes in the human proteome. A defining characteristic of these enzymes is the presence of a particular serine at the active site, which is used for the hydrolysis of substrates. The hydrolysis of the ester or peptide bond proceeds in two steps. First, the acyl part of the substrate is transferred to the serine, making a new ester or amide bond and releasing the other part of the substrate is released. Later, in a slower step, the bond between the serine and the acyl group is hydrolyzed by water or hydroxide ion, regenerating free enzyme. Unlike other, non-catalytic, serines, the reactive serine of these hydrolases is typically activated by a proton relay involving a catalytic triad consisting of the serine, an acidic residue and a basic residue, although variations on this mechanism exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oleoylethanolamide</span> Chemical compound

Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) is an endogenous peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α) agonist. It is a naturally occurring ethanolamide lipid that regulates feeding and body weight in vertebrates ranging from mice to pythons.

N-Acylphosphatidylethanolamines (NAPEs) are hormones released by the small intestine into the bloodstream when it processes fat. NAPEs travel to the hypothalamus in the brain and suppress appetite. This mechanism could be relevant for treating obesity.

<i>N</i>-Acylethanolamine Class of chemical compounds

An N-acylethanolamine (NAE) is a type of fatty acid amide where one of several types of acyl groups is linked to the nitrogen atom of ethanolamine, and highly metabolic formed by intake of essential fatty acids through diet by 20:4, n-6 and 22:6, n-3 fatty acids, and when the body is physically and psychologically active,. The endocannabinoid signaling system (ECS) is the major pathway by which NAEs exerts its physiological effects in animal cells with similarities in plants, and the metabolism of NAEs is an integral part of the ECS, a very ancient signaling system, being clearly present from the divergence of the protostomian/deuterostomian, and even further back in time, to the very beginning of bacteria, the oldest organisms on Earth known to express phosphatidylethanolamine, the precursor to endocannabinoids, in their cytoplasmic membranes. Fatty acid metabolites with affinity for CB receptors are produced by cyanobacteria, which diverged from eukaryotes at least 2000 million years ago (MYA), by brown algae which diverged about 1500 MYA, by sponges, which diverged from eumetazoans about 930 MYA, and a lineages that predate the evolution of CB receptors, as CB1 – CB2 duplication event may have occurred prior to the lophotrochozoan-deuterostome divergence 590 MYA. Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) evolved relatively recently, either after the evolution of fish 400 MYA, or after the appearance of mammals 300 MYA, but after the appearance of vertebrates. Linking FAAH, vanilloid receptors (VR1) and anandamide implies a coupling among the remaining ‘‘older’’ parts of the endocannabinoid system, monoglyceride lipase (MGL), CB receptors, that evolved prior to the metazoan-bilaterian divergence, but were secondarily lost in the Ecdysozoa, and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithocholic acid</span> Chemical compound

Lithocholic acid, also known as 3α-hydroxy-5β-cholan-24-oic acid or LCA, is a bile acid that acts as a detergent to solubilize fats for absorption. Bacterial action in the colon produces LCA from chenodeoxycholic acid by reduction of the hydroxyl functional group at carbon-7 in the "B" ring of the steroid framework.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethanolamide</span> Class of chemical compounds

Ethanolamides are chemical compounds which are amides formed from carboxylic acids and ethanolamine. Some ethanolamides are naturally occurring, such as anandamide, palmitoylethanolamide and prostamides, which play physiological roles as lipid neurotransmitters and autacoids.

A lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) is a chemical compound derived from a phosphatidylethanolamine, which is typical of cell membranes. LPE results from partial hydrolysis of phosphatidylethanolamine, which removes one of the fatty acid groups. The hydrolysis is generally the result of the enzymatic action of phospholipase A2. LPE can be used in agricultural use to regulate plant growth such as color increase, sugar content increase, plant health increase, and storability increase without side effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1-Lysophosphatidylcholine</span>

2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholines are a class of phospholipids that are intermediates in the metabolism of lipids. Because they result from the hydrolysis of an acyl group from the sn-1 position of phosphatidylcholine, they are also called 1-lysophosphatidylcholine. The synthesis of phosphatidylcholines with specific fatty acids occurs through the synthesis of 1-lysoPC. The formation of various other lipids generates 1-lysoPC as a by-product.

N-acetylphosphatidylethanolamine-hydrolysing phospholipase D (EC 3.1.4.54, NAPE-PLD, anandamide-generating phospholipase D, N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D, NAPE-hydrolyzing phospholipase D) is an enzyme with systematic name 'N-acetylphosphatidylethanolamine phosphatidohydrolase. It catalyses the following chemical reaction

The endocannabinoid transporters (eCBTs) are transport proteins for the endocannabinoids. Most neurotransmitters are water-soluble and require transmembrane proteins to transport them across the cell membrane. The endocannabinoids on the other hand, are non-charged lipids that readily cross lipid membranes. However, since the endocannabinoids are water immiscible, protein transporters have been described that act as carriers to solubilize and transport the endocannabinoids through the aqueous cytoplasm. These include the heat shock proteins (Hsp70s) and fatty acid-binding proteins for anandamide (FABPs). FABPs such as FABP1, FABP3, FABP5, and FABP7 have been shown to bind endocannabinoids. FABP inhibitors attenuate the breakdown of anandamide by the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in cell culture. One of these inhibitors (SB-FI-26), isolated from a virtual library of a million compounds, belongs to a class of compounds that act as an anti-nociceptive agent with mild anti-inflammatory activity in mice. These truxillic acids and their derivatives have been known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects in mice and are active components of a Chinese herbal medicine used to treat rheumatism and pain in human. The blockade of anandamide transport may, at least in part, be the mechanism through which these compounds exert their anti-nociceptive effects.

<i>N</i>-Acylamides

N-acyl amides are a general class of endogenous fatty acid compounds characterized by a fatty acyl group linked to a primary amine metabolite by an amide bond. Broadly speaking, N-acyl amides fall into several categories: amino acid conjugates, neurotransmitter conjugates, ethanolamine conjugates, and taurine conjugates. N-acyl amides have pleiotropic signaling functions in physiology, including in cardiovascular function, metabolic homeostasis, memory, cognition, pain, motor control and others. Initial attention focused on N-acyl amides present in mammalian organisms, however recently lipid signaling systems consisting of N-acyl amides have also been found to be present in invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster. N-acyl amides play important roles in many biochemical pathways involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes, as well as the metabolic enzymes, transporters, and receptors that regulate their signaling.

N-acylethanolamine acid amide hydrolase (NAAA) EC 3.5.1.- is a member of the choloylglycine hydrolase family, a subset of the N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase superfamily. NAAA has a molecular weight of 31 kDa. The activation and inhibition of its catalytic site is of medical interest as a potential treatment for obesity and chronic pain. While it was discovered within the last decade, its structural similarity to the more familiar acid ceramidase (AC) and functional similarity to fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) allow it to be studied extensively.

References

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