Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, December 2004, p. 603-616, Vol. 68, No. 4
1092-2172/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.68.4.603-616.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Oeiras,1 Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisboa,Portugal2
SUMMARY INTRODUCTION TYPE II NAD(P)H:QUINONE OXIDOREDUCTASES Biochemical and Genomic Aspects of NAD(P)H Dehydrogenases Prokaryotes. Eukaryotes. Analyses of NDH-2 Primary Structures Sequence comparisons of NDH-2. A human (mammalian) homologue of NDH-2? Membrane interaction of NDH-2. Quinone interactions of NDH-2. Physiological Role of NDH-2 A Therapeutic Application of NDH-2 FINAL REMARKS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS REFERENCES
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50 kDa, containing a flavin moiety. There are a few
compounds that can prevent their activity, but so far no general
specific inhibitor has been assigned to these enzymes. However, they
have the common feature of being resistant to the complex I classical
inhibitors rotenone, capsaicin, and piericidin A. NDH-2 have particular
relevance in yeasts like Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in
several prokaryotes, whose respiratory chains are devoid of complex I,
in which NDH-2 keep the
[NADH]/[NAD+] balance and are
the main entry point of electrons into the respiratory chains. Our
knowledge of these proteins has expanded in the past decade, as a
result of contributions at the biochemical level and the sequencing of
the genomes from several organisms. The latter showed that most
organisms contain genes that potentially encode NDH-2. An overview of
this development is presented, with special emphasis on microbial
enzymes and on the identification of three subfamilies of
NDH-2. |
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In the respiratory chain of mammalian mitochondria, the paradigm of aerobic respiratory chains, there are five main inner membrane complexes engaged in energy production. The NADH:quinone oxidoreductase, also called rotenone-sensitive NADH dehydrogenase (complex I) (NDH-1), is the largest complex of the respiratory chain and is responsible for the transfer of electrons from NADH to quinones, coupled with proton or sodium translocation across the membrane. Succinate:quinone oxidoreductase, or succinate dehydrogenase (complex II), is an enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which oxidizes succinate and reduces quinones, without proton translocation. Cytochrome bc1, or quinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase (complex III), transfers electrons from quinols to cytochrome c (or other electron transfer metalloproteins), and cytochrome c:oxygen oxidoreductase, an aa3-type enzyme (complex IV), receives these electrons and transfers them to oxygen. Complexes III and IV translocate protons across the membrane, thus contributing to the electrochemical potential. Complex V is ATP synthase, which uses the ion motive force for the synthesis of ATP. Complex V is a functionally reversible enzyme, which, in the presence of high concentrations of ATP, also promotes its hydrolyses, producing ADP (69). In addition to the inner membrane complexes, there is an NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase in the outer membrane of mammalian mitochondria that does not pump protons but that transfers electrons directly to cytochrome c, thus contributing to the formation of a membrane potential solely through complex IV (5).
Beyond the five main segments of the mammalian respiratory chains, which are generally present in all respiratory chains, "extra" enzymes are observed in organisms from other groups. An alternative way to drive electrons from quinol to oxygen, which is not involved in ion translocation (85), is present in the respiratory chains of plants (45) and fungi (38), the alternative oxidase. Five types of terminal oxygen reductases are known in prokaryotes: three types of heme-copper reductases (64), the cytochrome bd (quinol:oxygen oxidoreductase) (13), and the so-called alternative oxidase (quinol:oxygen oxidoreductase), which harbors a di-iron center (78).
Besides the canonical rotenone-sensitive NADH dehydrogenase activity, attributed to complex I, other enzymes perform this task in the aerobic respiratory chains (26, 53, 93, 94). Type II NADH:quinone oxidoreductases, also called rotenone-insensitive NADH dehydrogenases (NDH-2), are usually present in the electron transfer chains of bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli [8]) and archaea (e.g., Acidianus ambivalens [23]), as well as in eukaryotic organisms from the fungal (16, 89) and plant (55) kingdoms. It is noteworthy that, as observed for Saccharomyces cerevisiae (16), these are the only enzymes known to be responsible for the oxidation of NADH in the respiratory chains of some aerobic organisms (see Table 1). Type III NADH dehydrogenases (Nqr), the so-called Na+-translocating NADH:quinone oxidoreductases, are also present in the respiratory chains of several bacteria (e.g., Vibrio cholerae [4]).
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TABLE 1. Distribution
of NADH:quinone oxidoreductases among fully sequenced aerobic (or
facultative) prokaryotes
genomesa
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The main reducing equivalent synthesized by the cell
central metabolism is NADH, making it the principal electron donor to
respiratory chains. In prokaryotes, NADH is produced in the cytosol,
mainly by the glycolytic enzymes glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate
dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, and three enzymes in
the tricarboxylic acid cycle: isocitrate,
-ketoglutarate, and malate dehydrogenases; in
eukaryotes the corresponding Krebs cycle reactions take
place at the mitochondrial matrix, thus yielding mitochondrial NADH
(79). The reduced
dinucleotide is oxidized by the respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenases,
described above, with its energy ultimately conserved in the
transmembrane electrochemical potential difference. In addition to its
prominent role in energy production, NADH is a potential source of
NAD+, the main cellular oxidant. Since the
amount of NAD+ is small in comparison
with the amount of substrates being oxidized, the NADH resulting from
the oxidative reaction must be rapidly reoxidized, restoring
the NAD+ levels, to ensure that the
oxidation is not limited by the lack of NAD+
(14). Moreover, the
[NADH]/[NAD+] ratio is
responsible for the regulation of some cell pathways leading to the
synthesis of ATP. The cell requirements of NAD+ make
NADH turnover a top priority over ATP synthesis. Although the oxidation
of one molecule of NADH by NDH-2 yields smaller amounts of ATP compared
with the same oxidation performed by complex I, their activity can be
essential when the [NADH]/[NAD+]
ratio is very high, precisely because they are able to reoxidize more
NADH and synthesize less ATP, therefore increasing the flux of
substrate oxidation through the respiratory chain.
In this article, an overview of the historical, functional, and structural aspects of the type II NADH:quinone oxidoreductases is presented and the recent developments in the field are discussed. A preliminary study carried out for hyperthermophilic type II NADH:quinone oxidoreductases (63) has been extended to examples of NDH-2 from organisms belonging to all the three domains of life and living in different habitats, thus leading to further insights in this family of enzymes.
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-helix-ß-sheet
structures for binding NAD(P)H and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) or
flavin mononucleotide (FMN)
(90). In most cases,
NADH-oxidizing enzymes can also oxidize NADPH, which is structurally
similar to NADH with the exception of a phosphate group replacing the
hydroxyl from position 2 in the ribose of AMP
(20). At alkaline pH, the
oxidation of NADPH can be prevented by electrostatic repulsion between
the negative charges of the phosphate group of NADPH and the
phospholipids of the membrane
(57). Until recently, all the rotenone-insensitive NA(D)PH:quinone oxidoreductases were described as lacking FMN and iron-sulfur clusters as cofactors but containing a noncovalently bound FAD instead. However, a few examples of NDH-2 with covalently bound FMN have recently been reported (2, 3), as well as a NDH-2 that contains a noncovalently bound FMN in place of FAD (19). There are also a few examples of NDH-2 that, beyond the typical feature of the two ADP-binding sites, also display an EF-hand motif that binds calcium (48, 67).
To address
this diversity, it was suggested that these enzymes could be classified
into three groups according to the conserved motives present in their
primary and secondary structures
(63) (Fig.
1). This classification is now firmly established, through a comprehensive
analysis of the amino acid sequences of NDH-2. Hence, group A comprises
the NDH-2 with two adenine dinucleotide-binding motives, involved in
noncovalently binding of NAD(P)H and flavins. Enzymes of this
kind are found in archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes. Group B contains
the NDH-2 that possess two ADP-binding motives plus a conserved EF-hand
fold. To date, the reported enzymes of this group belong exclusively to
eukaryotes, namely, fungi
(48) and plants
(67). There is also a
third group of NDH-2, group C, that comprises the enzymes with a single
conserved GXGXXG consensus motif in a ß
ß fold
and with a covalently bound flavin. In the primary structures of some
of these proteins, the absence of the second dinucleotide-binding
region is coincident with the presence of a conserved histidine residue
(Fig.
2), suggested to be involved in the covalent binding of the flavin.
However, this observation cannot be extended to all NDH-2C (Fig.
2), and it remains unclear
which residue is involved in the covalent binding of the
flavin. So far, biochemical data for group C enzymes are
restricted to hyperthermophilic archaea
(3,
23).
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FIG. 1. Classification
of type II NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductases according to their binding
motifs. Cylinders represent -helices, and arrows represent
ß-sheets; the EF-hand motif is represented by
EF.
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FIG. 2. Alignment
of the amino acid sequences from selected NDH-2. When present, the
GXGXXG consensus motifs are given a black background; the EF-hand motif
is indicated by a dash over the sequence, whose strictly conserved and
conserved amino acid residues are given a dark gray and gray
background, respectively. Aam, A. ambivalens (AJ489504); Aaq,
A. aeolicus (NP_214500); Aaq 1, A. aeolicus
(AE000707); An, Aspergillus nidulans (XM_411637); At,
A. thaliana NDI1 (T09038); Av, A. vinelandii
(AF346487); Ec, E. coli (V00306); Hs, Homo sapiens
AMID (NP_116186); Nc, N. crassa NDE1 (AJ236906); Sc,
S. cerevisiae NDI1 (X61590); Sto, S. tokodaii C
(AP000983); Stu, S. tuberosum NDA (AJ245861), NDB (AJ2455862);
SyNdbA, Synechocystis (D90909); Tb, T. brucei
(AY125472); Te, T. elongatus (AP005372); Te1, T.
elongatus (AP005369); Tv, T. volcanium
(AP000996).
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The deamino-NADH:ubiquinone 1 reductase and the NADH:ubiquinone 1 reductase activities in E. coli membrane vesicles were compared, and it was observed that the former activity was more sensitive to piericidin A than the latter. Furthermore, the membranes exhibited two apparent Kms for NADH but only one for deamino-NADH (43). These observations corroborated the previous indications for the existence of two types of NADH dehydrogenases in the respiratory chain of E. coli. The first enzyme is able to oxidize both deamino-NADH and NADH, and its turnover leads to the production of a proton-motive force at a site between the primary dehydrogenase and ubiquinone (NDH-1); the second enzyme oxidizes exclusively NADH and does not generate a proton-motive force before ubiquinone (NDH-2).
Since the identification of E. coli NDH-2, several homologous enzymes have been found in the most diverse organisms.
Prokaryotes. In the Azotobacter vinelandii respiratory chain there is a group A enzyme, since it contains two ADP-binding regions (Fig. 2); it is a capsaicin-resistant NADH dehydrogenase (7). The enzyme is particularly active at high concentrations of oxygen, in contrast to the low rates of NADH oxidation performed by the complex I of this organism under the same conditions. The disruption of the gene encoding the A. vinelandii NDH-2A resulted in a great decrease of the respiratory activity; the mutant could not grow diazotrophically at high levels of oxygen and was fully able to grow at low oxygen levels or in the presence of NH4+ (6).
In the genome of the cyanobacterium Synechocistys sp. strain PCC 6803, there are three open reading frames coding for group A NDH-2: ndbA, ndbB, and ndbC. The ndb genes have been cloned, and deletion mutants have been produced which led to small changes in the respiratory activity. In addition, an expression construct of ndbB complemented an E. coli strain lacking both NDH-1 and NDH-2 (28).
Sequences encoding putative type II NADH dehydrogenases from groups A and C were also identified in the genomes of hyperthermophilic bacteria such as Aquifex aeolicus (15), and Thermosynechoccus elongatus (58) (Fig. 2 and 3; Table 1).
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FIG. 3. Dendrogram
of type II NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductases, based on an amino acid
sequence alignment of NDH-2 from prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.
The alignment was manually adjusted prior to dendrogram production by
using Clustal X (82),
excluding positions with gaps and correcting for multiple
substitutions. Aam, A. ambivalens (AJ489504); Aaq,
A. aeolicus (NP_214500); Aaq1, A. aeolicus
(AE000707); Ap, A. pernix (AP000060); At, A. thaliana
(AY084663), AtNDC, A. thaliana. (NM_120955), AtNDI1,
A. thaliana (BX828330); Av, A. vinelandii(AF346487); Ec, E. coli (V00306); Gs, Geobacter
sulfurreducens (AE017208); Hb, Halobacterium sp.
(AE005028); Hs, Homo sapiens AMID (NP_116186); NcNDI1,
N. Crassa (XM_322238); NcNDE1, N. crassa
(AJ236906); NcNDE2, N. crassa (XM_331371); No,
Nostoc (AP003584); Re, Rhizobium etli (U80928);
ScNDI1, S. cerevisiae (X61590); ScNDE1, S. cerevisiae
(Z47071); ScNDE2, S. cerevisiae (Z74133); Rs, Rhodobacter
sphaeroides (ZP_00006015); Sm, Sinorhizobium
meliloti (AL591789); StuNDA, S. tuberosum (AJ245861);
StuNDB, S. tuberosum (AJ245862); StoA, S. tokodaii A
(AP000990); StoC, S. tokodaii C (AP000983); SyNdbA,
Synechocystis (D90909); Tb, T. brucei (AY125472);
Te-T. elongatus (AP005372); Te1, T. elongatus
(AP005369); Tv, T. volcanium (AP000996); Tv1, T.
volcanium (AP000995); Yl, Yarrowia lipolytica
(AJ006852).
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Biochemical evidence of group C NDH-2 was obtained by studying the archaea Sulfolobus metallicus (3) and Acidianus ambivalens (2, 23). The purified enzymes from both organisms catalyze NADH:quinone oxidoreduction. These proteins are monomers with apparent molecular masses of 47 and 49 kDa, respectively, and have a covalently bound FMN molecule. The absence of the second dinucleotide-binding region leaves the first region as the only one capable of binding the substrate. This idea is strengthened by previous indications from the structure of the Neurospora crassa NDE1 (47). The authors proposed that, in NDE1, the first motif should bind the substrate, NADPH, on the basis of the observation that the third glycine amino acid residue of the first GXGXXG motif, in NADPH-binding proteins, is generally replaced by serine, alanine, or proline amino acid residues and also that a conserved negatively charged amino acid residue at the end of the second ß-sheet is missing (28). This residue could be replaced by an asparagine residue, avoiding the unfavorable interaction between the negatively charged residue with the negatively charged 2'-phosphate of NADPH (54). These features are observed in the first and absent in the second dinucleotide-binding motif of NDE1 (48). The average reduction potentials of the A. ambivalens and S. metallicus enzymes were determined to be 70 and 160 mV, respectively, which are very high compared to the 370 mV reduction potential of S. cerevisiae NDI1. Nevertheless, other respiratory enzymes, such as the succinate:quinone oxidoreductases (SQR), also exhibit a quite positive flavin reduction potential (for an example, see reference 37a). The covalent attachment between the protein backbone and the flavin, also present in SQRs, may be responsible for increasing the reduction potential of the A. ambivalens and S. metallicus enzymes (2, 3). It should be noted that caldariella quinone, the endogenous quinone of these archaea, has a high reduction potential of +100 mV. For the archaeal enzymes, no flavin-derived semiquinone radical was observed, suggesting that a two-electron transfer reaction is favored, as expected for enzymes having two-electron redox compounds as electron donor and acceptor. The fact that either genomic or biochemical evidence of NDH-2C was found only in hyperthermophilic organisms may suggest the association of these enzymes with the extreme conditions under which the host organisms live. However, the possibility that they also exist in mesophilic organisms cannot be excluded. It is also crucial to gain biochemical support for NADH:quinone oxidoreduction activity of more NDH-2C, in particular from hyperthermophilic bacterial enzymes, to confirm that these enzymes are not restricted to hyperthermophilic archaea and to establish which flavin type is assembled in the bacterial NDH-2C.
Eukaryotes.
The Trypanosoma brucei NDH-2 is the first
example of an eukaryotic NDH-2 containing FMN. Unlike the archaeal
FMN-containing NDH-2, in the enzyme of T. brucei the FMN is
noncovalently bound. It was described as a functional dimer of 33-kDa
monomers, with the catalytic site facing the matrix
(19). The analysis of
T. brucei NDH-2 primary and secondary structures showed two
conserved GXGXXG motifs in a ß
ß structure;
therefore, it is a group A enzyme (Fig.
2 and
3).
The obligate aerobic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica has a group A type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenase in the outer surface of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Deletion mutants of the enzyme were fully viable. Complete inhibition of NADH oxidation in mitochondria solubilized with 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) was achieved with piericidin A, indicating that complex I activity was the sole NADH:quinone oxidoreduction activity left in those strains. The orientation of the alternative NADH dehydrogenase was assessed by measuring NADH:5-nonylubiquinone oxidoreductase activity before and after solubilization of the inner mitochondrial membrane. In the presence of piericidin A, this activity was not affected by solubilization, indicating that the active site of the enzyme faced the intermembrane space (35).
The respiratory chain of the facultative aerobic yeast S. cerevisiae does not contain a complex I. The oxidation of cytosolic and matrix NAD(P)H is performed by two external (NDE1 and NDE2) (41, 73) and one internal (NDI1) (42) NAD(P)H dehydrogenases. The purification of an external NADH dehydrogenase from S. cerevisiae mitochondria was described. The protein consisted of a single subunit with a molecular mass of 53 kDa that contained FAD and was insensitive to rotenone and piericidin A (16). Later, the protein was isolated, its encoding gene was disrupted, and the oxidation of several substrates by mitochondria from wild-type and mutant strains was measured. While the oxidation of external NADH was not affected in mutant mitochondria, the oxidation of substrates generating internal NADH was severely decreased or missing, showing that the inactivated enzyme was, in fact, the internal NADH dehydrogenase of S. cerevisiae (42). In 1998, Small and McAlister-Henn (73) and Luttik et al. (41) identified two other genes coding for mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenases (NDE1 and NDE2) that oxidize NADH from the cytosol. Both genes were deleted, and the NADH oxidation was monitored in mitochondria from the wild type and from nde deletion mutants. Compared to wild-type mitochondria, exogenous NADH oxidation was drastically reduced in one of the mutants, although the other showed no difference. However, in mitochondria from the double mutant, oxidation of external NADH was completely absent, confirming the external location of NDE1 and NDE2. According to the features of their primary and secondary structures, all NDH-2 reported in S. cerevisiae are group A enzymes (Figs. 2 and 3). Recently, Fang and Beattie suggested that the S. cerevisiae external NADH dehydrogenases are a potential source of mitochondrial superoxide (18).
In the early 1970s, the presence of two rotenone-insensitive NAD(P)H dehydrogenases in N. crassa mitochondria was reported (89). Oxygen consumption was observed after addition of rotenone to mitochondria respiring pyruvate/malate, thus indicating the activity of a rotenone-resistant NADH dehydrogenase facing the matrix. In 1982, Moller et al. showed that the oxidation of NADH by N. crassa mitochondria was stimulated in the presence of cations (57). Later, Melo et al. (46) reported the existence of two enzymes oxidizing cytosolic NAD(P)H in N. crassa mitochondria. They sequenced and disrupted the gene encoding a putative NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, NDE1, from the inner membrane of Neurospora mitochondria. The NAD(P)H oxidation was monitored in wild-type and mutant mitochondria, and it was observed that the mutant lacked exogenous NADPH oxidation at physiological pH, while exogenous NADH oxidation was still carried out by these mitochondria, indicating the presence of a second NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, NDE2, in the Neurospora respiratory chain. Moreover, it was reported that the inactivated enzyme was calcium dependent, in accordance with what was expected from its amino acid sequence data (Fig. 2), which, beyond the two ADP-binding regions, included an EF-hand motif. This was the first time that a calcium-dependent NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase was reported, and a new group of type II NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, NDH-2B, was introduced (47, 48). With the release of the N. crassa genome (22), at least two other sequences encoding putative NDH-2 dehydrogenases were identified. These proteins have recently been characterized; one corresponds to NDE2 (11), and the other was identified as the internal rotenone-insensitive NADH dehydrogenase (NDI1) (17).
Type II NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductases have also been described in the electron transport chain of plant mitochondria. There are reports of the purification of 42-kDa (39), 26-kDa (66), and 43-kDa (50) NAD(P)H dehydrogenases from red beetroot mitochondria. In these mitochondria, the purification of a 58-kDa protein was associated with external NAD(P)H oxidation activity (40). Studies of NADH and NADPH oxidation by intact mitochondria from Arum maculatum and potato tubers (68) and by inside-out submitochondrial particles from potato tubers and Jerusalem artichoke (49, 56, 65) led to the conclusion that there are four distinct NDH-2, two on each side of the inner membrane. Rasmusson et al. (67) described two different cDNAs from potato, homologous to genes encoding rotenone-insensitive NADH dehydrogenases in yeast and bacteria. The encoded proteins have approximate molecular masses of 55 kDa (NDA1) and 65 kDa (NDB1) and are located in the inner and outer surfaces of the inner mitochondrial membrane, respectively. It is noteworthy that the structure of NDB1 also displays an EF-hand motif, like the one previously described for the Neurospora homologue; therefore, it constitutes another example of a NDH-2B. Concerning NDA1, it is a type II NADH dehydrogenase from group A. Further studies of potato leaves revealed that the expression of nda1 is light dependent and that the expression levels of NDA1 are severely decreased on cold exposure, with a concomitant decrease in the rotenone-insensitive oxidation of matrix NADH (81).
The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana contains several open reading frames encoding NDH-2 homologues. Recently, these were compared to the potato homologues, and their expression responses to light were analyzed. Three distinct types of NDH-2 were identified: (i) two nda-like genes, one of which, nda1, showed light-dependent expression, related to the circadian cycle; (ii) four genes closely related to ndb1; and (iii) a novel homologue, ndc1, which is associated with cyanobacterial NDH-2 genes. ndc1 is suggested to have entered the eukaryotic cell via the chloroplast progenitor; it is likely that it was transferred to the nucleus and then fused with a mitochondrion targeting signal (51). The nda-like genes encode NDH-2A enzymes, while the ndb-like genes encode proteins belonging to group B (Fig. 3).
A compilation of data from the type II NADH:quinone oxidoreductases described in the present review is summarized in Table 2. In spite of the presence of one or two ADP-binding domains, the prokaryotic NDH-2 have similar molecular masses, around 47 kDa. The molecular mass of the putative NDH-2, whose presence is based exclusively on the genomes of their organisms, was calculated according to their primary structures, and similar values were obtained. It is likely that the size of the protein is important for accomplishing function, namely, to assume a correct tertiary structure that ensures an efficient binding and catalysis of the substrate and interactions with both quinones and the membranes. The affinity of these proteins to NADH is a delicate point: there are insufficient data from enzymes to make a prudent generalization. The range of Km(NADH) presented is very broad, from 2 to 50 µM. The hyperthermophilic archaeal enzymes from group C have the lowest Km(NADH) values (e.g. A. ambivalens [23]; Table 2). The enzymes from mesophilic bacteria have Kms ranging from 13 µM in A. vinelandii (6) to 50 µM in E. coli (43). With the exception of the T. brucei NDH-2A, the Km(NADH) values of the eukaryotic enzymes are within the same range, in spite of being determined for different electron acceptors (Table 2). The Km determinations were carried out using different electron acceptors: potassium ferricyanide for the S. metallicus and A. ambivalens enzymes; quinones for the NDH-2 from T. brucei (19), S. cerevisiae NDI1 (16), and Y. lipolytica (35); and oxygen for the A. vinelandii (6), N. crassa NDE1 and NDE2 (46); and S. tuberosum (65) internal-type II NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductases. The Km(NADH) of the E. coli NDH-2 was determined using either quinones or oxygen as electron acceptors, and the same value was obtained (43). However, artificial electron donors may affect substrate affinity; for instance, the Km(NADH) for the S. cerevisiae NDH to dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) was determined as 9.4 µM (86), which is a very different value from that obtained using Q6 as the electron acceptor (Table 2). Therefore, these values must be carefully compared. It is also important to stress that the catalytic activity of NDH-2 from E. coli (8), S. metallicus (3), and A. ambivalens (23) is severely affected by the presence of lipids in the reaction mixture: a 3-fold and 300-fold increase in activity was determined for the S. metallicus and E. coli enzymes, respectively; furthermore, for the A. ambivalens enzyme, activity was detected only in the presence of lipids (see also "Membrane interaction of NDH-2" below). The mechanism through which the NADH:quinone oxidoreduction reaction takes place is not clear, since the only data available refer to the NDH-2 from T. brucei and the NDI1 from S. cerevisiae, for which the oxidation of NAD(P)H via a ping-pong mechanism was proposed (19, 86).
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TABLE 2. Summary
of NDH-2 biochemical features
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TABLE 3. Percent
identity and similarity between the NDH-2 aligned in Fig.
2a
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Envisaging the corroboration of the observations made from the alignment, a dendrogram was constructed, using Clustal X, based on the sequence alignment (Fig. 3). The obtained dendrogram supports the suggestion that the NDH-2 affiliate according to the motives present in their primary and secondary structures, thus sustaining the three-group classification for alternative NADH dehydrogenases. Enzymes from group A are present in organisms from the three domains of life, while NDH-2B were observed only in plants and fungi. From the analysis of the dendrogram, the idea that group C enzymes are typical of those from hyperthermophilic prokaryotes is strengthened. Both NDH-2 from the hyperthermophilic bacterium A. aeolicus and one NDH-2 from T. elongatus (which also contains a NDH-2A) are associated with NDH-2C from the hyperthermophilic archaea reported above (Fig. 3). Moreover, the archaeal NDH-2A from Halobacterium spp. and S. tokodaii are associated with the group A NDH-2. These results weaken the argument that the NDH-2C would cluster according to their phylogenetic origin and emphasize the fact that they group according to the conserved motives present in their primary and secondary structures (Fig. 1). The human AMID grouped together with the NDH-2A, as expected from the analysis of its primary and secondary structures.
A human (mammalian) homologue of NDH-2? As mentioned above, the mammalian respiratory chains are described as devoid of type II NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductases. However, Nohl et al. (60) and Oliveira et al. (61) reported an external NADH dehydrogenase from rat heart mitochon-dria.
The E. coli NDH-2A was used to search for a homologous enzyme in the human genome. The protein displaying more significant similarity to the E. coli enzyme (see above) is a mitochondrial AIF homologue, AMID (91), whose primary structure displays the curious feature of having the typical two ADP-binding motifs characteristic of the group A and B enzymes perfectly conserved, suggesting that this protein could have NAD(P)H dehydrogenase activity. The AIF is a mitochondrial FAD-containing protein that activates caspase-independent apoptosis (80). The mitochondrion-homologous AMID is suggested to trigger a caspase- and p53-independent apoptosis (91). AMID expression in several human tissues was analyzed by Northern blotting. AMID mRNA was not detected in the tested healthy tissues but was observed in colon cancer cell lines DLD and HCT116 and also in B lymphoma cell line RPMI8226 (91). Could AMID be the human homologue of the protein described by Nohl and Oliveira? This is an interesting question, deserving further investigation.
Membrane interaction of NDH-2.
Membranes are composed of a lipid
monolayer (archaea) or bilayer (bacteria and mitochondria), hydrophilic
on the outer surfaces and hydrophobic in the middle. The simplest
method of membrane anchoring involves one transmembrane
-helix
traversing the membrane once, in contrast to the case where several
-helices or ß-strands pass through the bilayer several
times. An alternative strategy for membrane anchoring of proteins uses
-helices parallel to the plane of the membrane, which are
sometimes amphipathic, with, in this case, predominantly polar residues
along one side of the helix and nonpolar side chains on the remainder
opposite the helical structure, as observed in several enzymes such as
prostaglandin synthase (9,
74) and proposed for type
E succinate:quinone oxidoreductases
(37). The anchoring of
NDH-2 to the membrane remains controversial, since transmembrane
helices are not commonly present among NDH-2 proteins. The secondary
structures of NDH-2 were studied using PSIPRED
(44), and the
transmembrane topology was then predicted using SOSUI
(27). Sequences from
integral membrane proteins with known structures were also analyzed and
used to confirm the correct prediction of transmembrane
-helices. In addition, the amino acid sequence of human AIF
(1M6IA) was analyzed and the obtained predictions were cross-checked
with the structural data available for this enzyme. All these controls
gave correct predictions, thus supporting the predictions of NDH-2
secondary structures.
Among all the enzymes used in the
dendrogram (Fig. 3), only
two are predicted to contain transmembrane helices: the NDH-2A from
Geobacter sulfurreducens, which has three putative
transmembrane helices, and N. crassa NDE1, a NDH-2B, with only
one. The latter prediction is consistent with the fact that, on
alkaline treatment of N. crassa mitochondria, the enzyme
remains in the membrane fraction
(48). The absence of
transmembrane helices in the remaining enzymes and the observation that
hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids are located on opposite sides
in some of the predicted
-helices suggest a membrane-protein
interaction through the hydrophobic face of these amphipathic
-helices (2). The
analyses of E. coli (group A) and A. ambivalens
(group C) NDH-2 primary structures revealed an example where the most
probable
-helices are conserved (Fig.
4), sharing a high probability of having an amphipathic nature. This
conservation is extended to other examples of NDH-2A (e.g., S.
cerevisiae NDH) and NDH-2C (e.g., S. tokodaii), but other
enzymes exist where no conservation of the position of the amphipathic
-helices was observed (Fig.
4). Nevertheless, the
analyses of the secondary structures of all NDH-2 used in this study
predicted the presence of amphipathic
-helices, reinforcing
our previous hypothesis that this strategy is used for membrane
attachment.
![]() View larger version (10K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 4. Illustration
of putative amphipathic helices present in NDH-2 from groups A, B, and
C. Highlighting indicates putative -helices in the secondary
structures. Dark shading in -helices indicates possible
amphipathic nature. 1, E. coli NDH-2 (group A); 2, A.
ambivalens NDH-2 (group C); 3, N. crassa NDE1 (group B).
Numbers refer to helix position in the amino acid
sequence.
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Quinone interactions of NDH-2. Quinones, which ensure electron transfer between several membrane-bound electron transport complexes, are essentially of three types: naphthoquinones, benzoquinones, and benzothiophenoquinones. Due to this variability and to the very small number of three-dimensional structures of quinone-containing proteins, it is very difficult to identify, solely on the basis of amino acid sequences, the quinone-binding sites. These structural motifs are often the site of action of several inhibitors. Fisher and Rich proposed the existence of at least two types of quinone-binding sites (21). The type I site is characterized by one conserved central histidine residue flanked downstream by an aliphatic residue, usually a conserved leucine residue, and upstream by a threonine (type IA), leucine (type IB), or serine (type IC) residue. The type II motif contains a conserved tyrosine and a phenylalanine in a central core, flanked upstream by a leucine residue and downstream by an isoleucine and a proline residues. The analysis of NDH-2 sequences from different species and groups identified type I quinone-binding motifs as the predominant ones present in this family of enzymes (Table 2). Moreover, most of the predicted binding sites are located between the two dinucleotide-binding regions, although their relative position is not strictly conserved. An attempt to establish a relationship between the position of the quinone-binding site and the secondary structure of the NDH-2 was also performed, but no evidence was found. In addition, a correlation between quinone-binding types and NDH-2 groups could not be established. However, the presence of different quinone-binding motifs within the NDH-2 family may suggest that the type of quinone-binding site can change according to the nature of the quinone molecule present in each organism, in this way allowing a more effective protein-quinone interaction.
In E. coli, complex I is more strongly expressed during the early and late exponential phases and also during stationary phase (87), while the highest levels of rotenone-insensitive NAD(P)H dehydrogenase expression are found during the exponential phase (24). In addition, under aerobic or nitrate respiratory conditions, NDH-2 is the preferred NADH dehydrogenase, while NDH-1 is preferred during fumarate respiration (83). It was also reported that the E. coli ndh-2 is repressed under anaerobic conditions (75, 76), due to the direct action of the oxygen-responsive transcription factor of the fumarate and nitrate reduction (FNR), which binds to the ndh-2 promoter sites FNR I and FNR II (24). Expression of ndh-2 from E. coli is also regulated by the growth phase-responsive transcription factor Fis, which binds to three distinct sites of the ndh-2 promoter. The binding to Fis I and Fis II promoter sites mediates the activation of protein expression, while binding to the Fis III promoter site leads to repression (29). The expression of the E. coli complex I is positively regulated by Fis (87), whose levels are high in the transition of the lag phase of growth to the exponential phase and fall during the exponential phase, in accordance with the decrease in the expression levels of NDH-1 and enhancement of NDH-2 expression, which is the main NADH dehydrogenase, in this phase. The amounts of Fis increase during the stationary phase, leading to a concomitant increase in NDH-1 expression.
At high oxygen concentrations, the A. vinelandii NDH-2A is particularly active, while complex I rates of NADH oxidation are significantly lower under the same conditions, suggesting that NDH-2A may play an important role in the respiratory protection of nitrogenase. The Km of the A. vinelandii complex I for NADH (24.2 µM) is higher than that determined for NDH-2 (13 µM), in contrast to what is observed in the respiratory chains of most studied organisms. This peculiarity emphasizes the idea that the oxidation of NADH by the respiratory chain of A. vinelandii may occur mainly via the alternative NADH dehydrogenase (6). It is suggested that the NDH-2A from Synechocystis spp. are redox sensors that play a regulatory role responding to the redox state of the plastoquinone pool and the cytosolic levels of NADH (28). The N. crassa NDH is the sole NDH-2 reported to be responsible for matrix NADH oxidation; it is functionally complementary to complex I and may play an important role during spore germination (17). Recent studies of potato leaves revealed that the expression of nda1 is sensitive to cold and is light dependent; the later effect suggests that it could be related to photosynthesis (81).
From the examples considered in the present study, the presence of non-proton-pumping NAD(P)H dehydrogenases varies among different organisms, where examples of enzymes from groups A, B, and C can be observed. Their specific role is still unclear in many cases, but they might be involved in situations of NAD(P)H stress. In addition to metabolic functions, a regulatory role in response to the quinone pool redox state (28) or to the oxygen concentration (6) has been proposed. In N. crassa, these enzymes might play an important role in metabolic adaptation of the organism to different carbon sources when sucrose, the most effective substrate, is not available (17). In Y. lipolytica, the external NDH-2 was redirected to the matrix, where it was able to rescue complex I mutants which were lethal in its absence (34). Different organisms have different roles for NDH-2, suggesting that these enzymes give them the plasticity to better adapt to their environmental conditions.
An approach to overcoming complex I defects is to introduce in patient cells a type II NADH:quinone oxidoreductase to restore the function of oxidizing NADH in their mitochondria (36). The internal NADH dehydrogenase from S. cerevisiae (NDI1) was expressed in E. coli (36) and in complex I-deficient Chinese hamster cells (70), where they functioned as a member of the respiratory chain in the host cells. NDI1 was able to restore the NADH oxidase activity in the latter case. Human kidney cells were also transfected by the gene encoding NDI1. The enzyme was successfully transcribed and translated to produce a functional enzyme linked to the electron transport chain of the host cell mitochondria (71). More recent experiments revealed that the S. cerevisiae NDH was expressed successfully in human embryonic kidney 293 cells and that it could complement complex I activity in cells with respiratory deficiencies caused by NDH-1 defects. Moreover, the enzyme was functionally active in nonproliferating human cells, which were able to grow in the presence of the complex I inhibitor rotenone (72). A very encouraging observation was the fact that the expression of NDI1 in human cells lacking the mitochondrially encoded ND4 subunit of complex I, which is essential for enzyme activity, completely restored NADH dehydrogenase activity. In addition, when the gene encoding NDI1 was introduced into the nuclear genome of a human cell line, the protein was located in mitochondria and had its binding site facing the matrix (1). These achievements confirm the potential of the NDH-2 enzymes to eventually cure human complex I-mediated diseases.
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Finally, the study of rotenone-insensitive NADH dehydrogenases, started in the laboratory bench, has moved to computers in the genomic era. The large amount of precious information available in the genomes must be converted into knowledge in a post-genomic age; this can be done only by going back to the laboratory and testing the genomic suggestions.
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