To examine the roles of PLD (phospholipase D) in the regulation of the apoptotic process, PLD1 and PLD2 were stably overexpressed in S1P 3 -CHO cells [CHO (Chinese-hamster ovary) cells expressing the S1P (sphingosine 1-phosphate) receptor S1P 3 ]. Treatment of S1P 3 -CHO cells with ActD (actinomycin D) induced apoptosis, as shown by the occurrence of nuclear fragmentation and the caspase-dependent proteolytic cleavage of PARP [poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase] and protein kinase Cδ. Overexpression of either PLD1 or PLD2 protected S1P 3 -CHO cells from ActD-induced apoptosis, as demonstrated by an increased number of viable cells and inhibition of PARP and protein kinase Cδ cleavage. However, in the early phase of apoptosis, ActD induced an increase in PLD activity and activation of key factors in the cell-survival signalling pathways, such as PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase), Akt, p70S6K (p70 S6 kinase) and ERK (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase). Furthermore, the ActD-induced activation of these survival signalling enzymes was potentiated by overexpression of either PLD1 or PLD2. The PI3K inhibitor LY294002 inhibited the ActD-induced activation of Akt and p70S6K, and completely abolished the effects of PLD1 or PLD2, whereas inhibition of ERK activity by the MEK inhibitor U0126 had a milder effect. The ActD-induced activation of p70S6K and ERKs was blocked by 1-butanol, but not by t-butanol; similar to S1P, exogenous PLD suppressed the ActD-induced events in the apoptosis signalling pathways. These results show that, in S1P 3 -CHO cells, increased expression of PLDs prevents ActD-induced apoptosis by enhanced activation of the PI3K signalling pathways.

Available evidence suggests the involvement of phospholipase D (PLD) in cell proliferation and survival. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase)/Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) are signalling molecules that have essential roles in cell proliferation and survival. We previously demonstrated that sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P)-induced PLD activation via the G-protein-coupled receptor endothelial differentiation gene (EDG) 3/S1P 3 was involved in S1P-induced stimulation of PI 3-kinase and Akt. In the present study, we examined the involvement of two PLD isozymes, PLD1 and PLD2, in insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated stimulation of PI 3-kinase/Akt and ERKs. IGF-I and to a lesser degree S1P stimulated PI 3-kinase activity in Chinese hamster ovary cells overexpressing EDG3/S1P 3 . IGF-I-induced ERK phosphorylation was suppressed by butan-1-ol, but not butan-2-ol, whereas no effect of butanol was observed in IGF-I-induced Akt activation in S1P 3 -overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary cells. Overexpression of wild-type PLD1 and PLD2 substantially potentiated S1P-, but not IGF-I-, induced activation of PI 3-kinase and Akt, whereas overexpression of the catalytically inactive mutant of PLD1 or PLD2 did not affect the responses to either agonist. On the other hand, overexpression of wild-type PLD1 and PLD2 potentiated IGF-I- and, to much smaller extents, S1P-induced ERK stimulation. ERK activation by IGF-I as well as S1P was dependent on Ras, but Akt activation by IGF-I was not dependent on Ras. These results suggest that PLDs are involved in growth factor regulation of at least two signalling pathways, PI 3-kinase/Akt and ERKs, depending on the class of cell-surface receptors.

Human dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD) 4/aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1C4 is a major isoform of hepatic DD that oxidizes trans -dihydrodiols of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to reactive and redox-active o -quinones and that reduces several ketone-containing drugs. To investigate the mechanism of transcriptional regulation of the human DD4 gene, the 5′-flanking region of the gene was fused to the luciferase gene. The results of luciferase assays using HepG2 cells and of 1,10-phenanthroline-copper footprinting indicated that two positive regulatory regions were located in regions from -701 to -684 and from -682 to -666. The former region contained a putative hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-4 binding motif, and the latter region contained an HNF-1 consensus binding sequence. DNA fragments of the HNF-4 or HNF-1 motif gave a shifted band in a gel-shift assay with nuclear extracts from HepG2 cells. The formation of the DNA-protein complex was inhibited by the HNF-4 or HNF-1 motif of the α 1 -antitrypsin gene. A supershift assay using antibodies to human HNF-4α, HNF-4γ and HNF-1α showed that HNF-4α and HNF-4γ bound to the HNF-4 motif, and that HNF-1α interacted with the HNF-1 motif. Introduction of mutations into the HNF-4 or HNF-1 motif lowered the luciferase activity to 10 or 8% respectively of that seen with the intact human DD4 gene. These results indicate that HNF-4α, HNF-4γ and HNF-1α regulate co-operatively the transcription of the human DD4 gene in HepG2 cells.

Human dihydrodiol dehydrogenase with 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity exists in four forms (AKR1C1Ő1C4) that belong to the aldoŐketo reductase (AKR) family. Recent crystallographic studies on the other proteins in this family have indicated a role for a tyrosine residue (corresponding to position 216 in these isoenzymes) in stacking the nicotinamide ring of the coenzyme. This tyrosine residue is conserved in most AKR family members including AKR1C1Ő1C3, but is replaced with histidine in AKR1C4 and phenylalanine in some AKR members. In the present study we prepared mutant enzymes of AKR1C4 in which His-216 was replaced with tyrosine or phenylalanine. The two mutations decreased 3-fold the K m for NADP + and differently influenced the K m and k cat for substrates depending on their structures. The kinetic constants for bile acids with a 12α-hydroxy group were decreased 1.5Ő7-fold and those for the other substrates were increased 1.3Ő9-fold. The mutation also yielded different changes in sensitivity to competitive inhibitors such as hexoestrol analogues, 17β-oestradiol, phenolphthalein and flufenamic acid and 3,5,3´,5´-tetraiodothyropropionic acid analogues. Furthermore, the mutation decreased the stimulatory effects of the enzyme activity by sulphobromophthalein, clofibric acid and thyroxine, which increased the K m for the coenzyme and substrate of the mutant enzymes more highly than those of the wild-type enzyme. These results indicate the importance of this histidine residue in creating the cavity of the substrate-binding site of AKR1C4 through the orientation of the nicotinamide ring of the coenzyme, as well as its involvement in the conformational change by binding non-essential activators.

Cynomolgus and Japanese monkey kidneys, dog and pig livers and rabbit lens contain dimeric dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.20) associated with high carbonyl reductase activity. Here we have isolated cDNA species for the dimeric enzymes by reverse transcriptase-PCR from human intestine in addition to the above five animal tissues. The amino acid sequences deduced from the monkey, pig and dog cDNA species perfectly matched the partial sequences of peptides digested from the respective enzymes of these animal tissues, and active recombinant proteins were expressed in a bacterial system from the monkey and human cDNA species. Northern blot analysis revealed the existence of a single 1.3 kb mRNA species for the enzyme in these animal tissues. The human enzyme shared 94%, 85%, 84% and 82% amino acid identity with the enzymes of the two monkey strains (their sequences were identical), the dog, the pig and the rabbit respectively. The sequences of the primate enzymes consisted of 335 amino acid residues and lacked one amino acid compared with the other animal enzymes. In contrast with previous reports that other types of dihydrodiol dehydrogenase, carbonyl reductases and enzymes with either activity belong to the aldo-keto reductase family or the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase family, dimeric dihydrodiol dehydrogenase showed no sequence similarity with the members of the two protein families. The dimeric enzyme aligned with low degrees of identity (14-25%) with several prokaryotic proteins, in which 47 residues are strictly or highly conserved. Thus dimeric dihydrodiol dehydrogenase has a primary structure distinct from the previously known mammalian enzymes and is suggested to constitute a novel protein family with the prokaryotic proteins.

Human liver dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD; EC 1.3.1.20) exists in isoforms (DD1, DD2 and DD4) composed of 323 amino acids. DD1 and DD2 share 98% amino acid sequence identity, but show lower identities (approx. 83%) with DD4, in which a marked difference is seen in the C-terminal ten amino acids. DD4 exhibits unique catalytic properties, such as the ability to oxidize both ( R )- and ( S )-alicyclic alcohols equally, high dehydrogenase activity for bile acids, potent inhibition by steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and activation by sulphobromophthalein and clofibric acid derivatives. In this study, we have prepared chimaeric enzymes, in which we exchanged the C-terminal 39 residues between the two enzymes. Compared with DD1, CDD1-4 (DD1 with the C-terminal sequence of DD4) had increased k cat / K m values for 3α-hydroxy-5β-androstanes and bile acids of 3–9-fold and decreased values for the other substrates by 5–100-fold. It also became highly sensitive to DD4 inhibitors such as phenolphthalein and hexoestrol. Another chimaeric enzyme, CDD4-1 (DD4 with the C-terminal sequence of DD1), showed the same ( S )-stereospecificity for the alicyclic alcohols as DD1, had decreased k cat / K m values for bile acids with 7β- or 12α-hydroxy groups by more than 120-fold and was resistant to inhibition by betamethasone. In addition, the activation effects of sulphobromophthalein and bezafibrate decreased or disappeared for CDD4-1. The recombinant DD4 with the His 314 → Pro (the corresponding residue of DD1) mutation showed intermediate changes in the properties between those of wild-type DD4 and CDD4-1. The results indicate that the binding of substrates, inhibitors and activators to the enzymes is controlled by residues in their C-terminal domains; multiple residues co-ordinately act as determinants for substrate specificity and inhibitor sensitivity.

The intracellular distribution of sphingosine (Sph) kinase activity was examined in human platelets. A large proportion (72%) of the total activity was found to be associated with the membrane fraction, and the membrane-associated fraction had higher specific activity compared with the cytosolic enzyme. Most of the membrane-associated activity could be extracted with 1 M NaCl. The cytosolic activity was unstable upon heat treatment, with 80% of the activity being lost during incubation at 45 °C for 1 h, whereas the NaCl-extractable fraction was stable under the same conditions. When subjected to Mono Q column chromatography, the cytosolic fraction produced two activity peaks and the NaCl-extractable fraction gave a single peak. These three Sph kinase activities showed different responses to stimulation by β-octylglucoside and inhibition by N , N -dimethylsphingosine and l - threo -dihydrosphingosine, suggesting the presence of multiple enzyme forms in human platelets.

Human liver contains three isoforms (DD1, DD2 and DD4) of dihydrodiol dehydrogenase with 20α- or 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity; the dehydrogenases belong to the aldo–oxo reductase (AKR) superfamily. cDNA species encoding DD1 and DD4 have been identified. However, four cDNA species with more than 99% sequence identity have been cloned and are compatible with a partial amino acid sequence of DD2. In this study we have isolated a cDNA clone encoding DD2, which was confirmed by comparison of the properties of the recombinant and hepatic enzymes. This cDNA showed differences of one, two, four and five nucleotides from the previously reported four cDNA species for a dehydrogenase of human colon carcinoma HT29 cells, human prostatic 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, a human liver 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-like protein and chlordecone reductase-like protein respectively. Expression of mRNA species for the five similar cDNA species in 20 liver samples and 10 other different tissue samples was examined by reverse transcriptase-mediated PCR with specific primers followed by diagnostic restriction with endonucleases. All the tissues expressed only one mRNA species corresponding to the newly identified cDNA for DD2: mRNA transcripts corresponding to the other cDNA species were not detected. We suggest that the new cDNA is derived from the principal gene for DD2, which has been named AKR1C2 by a new nomenclature for the AKR superfamily. It is possible that some of the other cDNA species previously reported are rare allelic variants of this gene.

Human liver dihydrodiol dehydrogenase isoenzymes (DD1 and DD2), in which only seven amino acid residues are substituted, differ remarkably in specificity for steroidal substrates and inhibitor sensitivity: DD1 shows 20α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity and sensitivity to 1,10-phenanthroline, whereas DD2 oxidizes 3α-hydroxysteroids and is highly inhibited by bile acids. In the present study we performed site-directed mutagenesis of the seven residues (Thr-38, Arg-47, Leu-54, Cys-87, Val-151, Arg-170 and Gln-172) of DD1 to the corresponding residues (Val, His, Val, Ser, Met, His and Leu respectively) of DD2. Of the seven mutations, only the replacement of Leu-54 with Val produced an enzyme that had almost the same properties as DD2. No significant changes were observed in the other mutant enzymes. An additional site-directed mutagenesis of Tyr-55 of DD1 to Phe yielded an inactive protein, suggesting the catalytically important role of this residue. Thus a residue at a position before the catalytic Tyr residue might play a key role in determining the orientation of the substrates and inhibitors.

A human liver 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase isoenzyme, a member of the aldoŐketo reductase family, shows a marked preference for NADP(H) over NAD(H), and is activated by sulphobromophthalein, which increases the K m values for both NADP(H) and substrates. Here we report kinetic alterations in binding of the coenzymes and the activator to the enzyme caused by site-directed mutagenesis of Lys-270 and Arg-276, which are strictly conserved among the aldoŐketo reductase family of enzymes. The mutated enzymes, K270M and R276M, showed increases in the K m for NADP + of 22- and 290-fold respectively; the K m for alcohol substrate and the k cat of the NADP + -linked reaction were also elevated, by 9- and 5-fold respectively. No kinetic constant of the NAD + -linked reaction was altered by more than 3-fold. Calculation of the free-energy changes showed that the 2ƀ-phosphate group of NADP + contributes 16.3 kJ/mol (3.9 kcal/mol) of binding energy to its interaction with the wild-type enzyme, and the mutagenesis to K270M and R276M destabilized the binding energy of NADP + by 6.3 and 13.0 kJ/mol (1.5 and 3.1 kcal/mol) respectively. In addition, the mutations attenuated enzyme activation by sulphobromophthalein, which bound to the mutant enzymes as an inhibitor. The inhibition for the R276M mutant was competitive with respect to NADP + and non-competitive with respect to the substrate, whereas that for the K270M mutant was mixed-type, showing activation at coenzyme concentrations greater than 20ȕ K m . These results suggest that the two basic residues in the 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase isoenzyme play crucial roles in binding both the negatively charged 2ƀ-phosphate group of NADP + and the sulphonic groups of sulphobromophthalein.

We previously isolated three monomeric dihydrodiol dehydrogenases, DD1, DD2 and DD4, from human liver, and cloned a cDNA (C9) thought to encode DD2, which is identical with those for human bile-acid-binding protein and an oxidoreductase of human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. In the present study we have provided evidence that the C9 cDNA clone encodes DD1, not DD2. A recombinant enzyme expressed from the cDNA in a bacterial system was purified, and its catalytic properties, bile-acid-binding ability and primary sequence were compared with those of the hepatic dihydrodiol dehydrogenases. The results show that DD1 encoded by C9 possesses prostaglandin F synthase activity but low affinity for lithocholic acid, whereas DD2, showing differences of six amino acid residues from the DD1 sequence, exhibited high-affinity binding for the bile acid. Refined relationship between dihydrodiol dehydrogenases and their related proteins of human tissues is proposed.

Human liver contains at least two isoenzymes (DD2 and DD4) of 3α-hydroxysteroid/dihydrodiol dehydrogenase. The NADP(H)-linked oxidoreductase activities of DD4 were activated more than 4-fold by sulphobromophthalein at concentrations above 20 μM and under physiological pH conditions. Sulphobromophthalein did not stimulate the activities of DD2 and human liver aldehyde reductase, which are functionally and/or structurally related to DD4. No stimulatory effect on the activity of DD4 was observed with other organic anions such as Indocyanine Green, haematin and Rose Bengal. The binding of sulphobromophthalein to DD4 was instantaneous and reversible, and was detected by fluorescence and ultrafiltration assays. The activation by sulphobromophthalein decreased the activation energy in the dehydrogenation reaction for the enzyme, and increased both k cat. and K m values for the coenzymes and substrates. Kinetic analyses with respect to concentrations of NADP + and ( S )-(+)-indan-1-ol indicated that sulphobromophthalein was a non-essential activator of mixed type showing a dissociation constant of 2.6 μM. Thus, the human 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase isoenzyme has a binding site specific to sulphobromophthalein, and the hepatic metabolism mediated by this isoenzyme may be influenced when this drug is administered.