Ryoichi Saiki

Characterization of solanesyl and decaprenyl diphosphate synthases in mice and humans

The isoprenoid chain of ubiquinone (Q) is determined by trans‐polyprenyl diphosphate synthase in micro‐organisms and presumably in mammals. Because mice and humans produce Q9 and Q10, they are expected to possess solanesyl and decaprenyl diphosphate synthases as the determining enzyme for a type of ubiquinone. Here we show that murine and human solanesyl and decaprenyl diphosphate synthases are heterotetramers composed of newly characterized hDPS1 (mSPS1) and hDLP1 (mDLP1), which have been identified as orthologs of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Dps1 and Dlp1, respectively. Whereas hDPS1 or mSPS1 can complement the S. pombe dps1 disruptant, neither hDLP1 nor mDLP1 could complement the S. pombe dLp1 disruptant. Thus, only hDPS1 and mSPS1 are functional orthologs of SpDps1. Escherichia coli was engineered to express murine and human SpDps1 and/or SpDlp1 homologs and their ubiquinone types were determined. Whereas transformants expressing a single component produced only Q8 of E. coli origin, double transformants expressing mSPS1 and mDLP1 or hDPS1 and hDLP1 produced Q9 or Q10, respectively, and an in vitro activity of solanesyl or decaprenyl diphosphate synthase was verified. The complex size of the human and murine long‐chain trans‐prenyl diphosphate synthases, as estimated by gel‐filtration chromatography, indicates that they consist of heterotetramers. Expression in E. coli of heterologous combinations, namely, mSPS1 and hDLP1 or hDPS1 and mDLP1, generated both Q9 and Q10, indicating both components are involved in determining the ubiquinone side chain. Thus, we identified the components of the enzymes that determine the side chain of ubiquinone in mammals and they resembles the S. pombe, but not plant or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, type of enzyme.

Coenzyme Q10 supplementation rescues renal disease in Pdss2kd/kd mice with mutations in prenyl diphosphate synthase subunit 2.

Homozygous mice carrying kd (kidney disease) mutations in the gene encoding prenyl diphosphate synthase subunit 2 (Pdss2kd/kd) develop interstitial nephritis and eventually die from end-stage renal disease. The PDSS2 polypeptide in concert with PDSS1 synthesizes the polyisoprenyl tail of coenzyme Q (Q or ubiquinone), a lipid quinone required for mitochondrial respiratory electron transport. We have shown that a deficiency in Q content is evident in Pdss2kd/kd mouse kidney lipid extracts by 40 days of age and thus precedes the onset of proteinuria and kidney disease by several weeks. The presence of the kd (V117M) mutation in PDSS2 does not prevent its association with PDSS1. However, heterologous expression of the kd mutant form of PDSS2 together with PDSS1 in Escherichia coli recapitulates the Q deficiency observed in the Pdss2kd/kd mouse. Dietary supplementation with Q10 provides a dramatic rescue of both proteinuria and interstitial nephritis in the Pdss2kd/kd mutant mice. The results presented suggest that Q may be acting as a potent lipid-soluble antioxidant, rather than by boosting kidney mitochondrial respiration. Such Q10 supplementation may have profound and beneficial effects in treatment of certain forms of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis that mirror the renal disease of the Pdss2kd/kd mouse.

Phenotypes of Fission Yeast Defective in Ubiquinone Production Due to Disruption of the Gene for p-Hydroxybenzoate Polyprenyl Diphosphate Transferase

Ubiquinone is an essential component of the electron transfer system in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes and is synthesized from chorismate and polyprenyl diphosphate by eight steps. p-Hydroxybenzoate (PHB) polyprenyl diphosphate transferase catalyzes the condensation of PHB and polyprenyl diphosphate in ubiquinone biosynthesis. We isolated the gene (designated ppt1) encoding PHB polyprenyl diphosphate transferase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and constructed a strain with a disrupted ppt1 gene. This strain could not grow on minimal medium supplemented with glucose. Expression of COQ2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the defective S. pombe strain restored growth and enabled the cells to produce ubiquinone-10, indicating that COQ2 and ppt1 are functional homologs. The ppt1-deficient strain required supplementation with antioxidants, such as cysteine, glutathione, and alpha-tocopherol, to grow on minimal medium. This suggests that ubiquinone can act as an antioxidant, a premise supported by our observation that the ppt1-deficient strain is sensitive to H(2)O(2) and Cu(2+). Interestingly, we also found that the ppt1-deficient strain produced a significant amount of H(2)S, which suggests that oxidation of sulfide by ubiquinone may be an important pathway for sulfur metabolism in S. pombe. Ppt1-green fluorescent protein fusion proteins localized to the mitochondria, indicating that ubiquinone biosynthesis occurs in the mitochondria in S. pombe. Thus, analysis of the phenotypes of S. pombe strains deficient in ubiquinone production clearly demonstrates that ubiquinone has multiple functions in the cell apart from being an integral component of the electron transfer system.

Comparison of a coq7 deletion mutant with other respiration‐defective mutants in fission yeast

Among the steps in ubiquinone biosynthesis, that catalyzed by the product of the clk‐1/coq7 gene has received considerable attention because of its relevance to life span in Caenorhabditis elegans. We analyzed the coq7 ortholog (denoted coq7) in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, to determine whether coq7 has specific roles that differ from those of other coq genes. We first confirmed that coq7 is necessary for the penultimate step in ubiquinone biosynthesis, from the observation that the deletion mutant accumulated the ubiquinone precursor demethoxyubiquinone‐10 instead of ubiquinone‐10. The coq7 mutant displayed phenotypes characteristic of other ubiquinone‐deficient Sc. pombe mutants, namely, hypersensitivity to hydrogen peroxide, a requirement for antioxidants for growth on minimal medium, and an elevated production of sulfide. To compare these phenotypes with those of other respiration‐deficient mutants, we constructed cytochrome c (cyc1) and coq3 deletion mutants. We also assessed accumulation of oxidative stress in various ubiquinone‐deficient strains and in the cyc1 mutant by measuring mRNA levels of stress‐inducible genes and the phosphorylation level of the Spc1 MAP kinase. Induction of ctt1, encoding catalase, and apt1, encoding a 25 kDa protein, but not that of gpx1, encoding glutathione peroxidase, was indistinguishable in four ubiquinone‐deficient mutants, indicating that the oxidative stress response operates at similar levels in the tested strains. One new phenotype was observed, namely, loss of viability in stationary phase (chronological life span) in both the ubiquinone‐deficient mutant and in the cyc1 mutant. Finally, Coq7 was found to localize in mitochondria, consistent with the possibility that ubiquinone biosynthesis occurs in mitochondria in yeasts. In summary, our results indicate that coq7 is required for ubiquinone biosynthesis and the coq7 mutant is not distinguishable from other ubiquinone‐deficient mutants, except that its phenotypes are more pronounced than those of the cyc1 mutant.

Heteromer formation of a long‐chain prenyl diphosphate synthase from fission yeast Dps1 and budding yeast Coq1

Ubiquinone is an essential factor for the electron transfer system and is also a known lipid antioxidant. The length of the ubiquinone isoprenoid side‐chain differs amongst living organisms, with six isoprene units in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, eight units in Escherichia coli and 10 units in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and in humans. The length of the ubiquinone isoprenoid is determined by the product generated by polyprenyl diphosphate synthases (poly‐PDSs), which are classified into homodimer (i.e. octa‐PDS IspB in E. coli) and heterotetramer [i.e. deca‐PDSs Dps1 and D‐less polyprenyl diphosphate synthase (Dlp1) in Sc. pombe and in humans] types. In this study, we characterized the hexa‐PDS (Coq1) of S. cerevisiae to identify whether this enzyme was a homodimer (as in bacteria) or a heteromer (as in fission yeast). When COQ1 was expressed in an E. coli ispB disruptant, only hexa‐PDS activity and ubiquinone‐6 were detected, indicating that the expression of Coq1 alone results in bacterial enzyme‐like functionality. However, when expressed in fission yeast Δdps1 and Δdlp1 strains, COQ1 restored growth on minimal medium in the Δdlp1 but not Δdps1 strain. Intriguingly, ubiquinone‐9 and ubiquinone‐10, but not ubiquinone‐6, were identified and deca‐PDS activity was detected in the COQ1‐expressing Δdlp1 strain. No enzymatic activity or ubiquinone was detected in the COQ1‐expressing Δdps1 strain. These results indicate that Coq1 partners with Dps1, but not with Dlp1, to be functional in fission yeast. Binding of Coq1 and Dps1 was demonstrated by coimmunoprecipitation, and the formation of a tetramer consisting of Coq1 and Dps1 was detected in Sc. pombe. Thus, Coq1 is functional when expressed alone in E. coli and in budding yeast, but is only functional as a partner with Dps1 in fission yeast. This unusual observation indicates that different folding processes or protein modifications in budding yeast/E. coli versus those in fission yeast might affect the formation of an active enzyme. These results provide important insights into the process of how PDSs have evolved from homo‐ to hetero‐types.