Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes

Human erythrocytes require a continual supply of glutamate to support glutathione synthesis, but are unable to transport this amino acid across their cell membrane. Consequently, erythrocytes rely on de novo glutamate biosynthesis from α-ketoglutarate and glutamine to maintain intracellular levels o...

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Main Authors: Ellinger, James J., Lewis, Ian A., Markley, John L.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Springer Netherlands 2011
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081430/
id pubmed-3081430
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spelling pubmed-30814302011-06-06 Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes Ellinger, James J. Lewis, Ian A. Markley, John L. Article Human erythrocytes require a continual supply of glutamate to support glutathione synthesis, but are unable to transport this amino acid across their cell membrane. Consequently, erythrocytes rely on de novo glutamate biosynthesis from α-ketoglutarate and glutamine to maintain intracellular levels of glutamate. Erythrocytic glutamate biosynthesis is catalyzed by three enzymes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and glutamine aminohydrolase (GA). Although the presence of these enzymes in RBCs has been well documented, the relative contributions of each pathway have not been established. Understanding the relative contributions of each biosynthetic pathway is critical for designing effective therapies for sickle cell disease, hemolytic anemia, pulmonary hypertension, and other glutathione-related disorders. In this study, we use multidimensional 1H–13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and multiple reaction mode mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) to measure the kinetics of de novo glutamate biosynthesis via AST, ALT, and GA in intact cells and RBC lysates. We show that up to 89% of the erythrocyte glutamate pool can be derived from ALT and that ALT-derived glutamate is subsequently used for glutathione synthesis. Springer Netherlands 2011-03-06 2011-04 /pmc/articles/PMC3081430/ /pubmed/21380856 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10858-011-9481-9 Text en © The Author(s) 2011
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Ellinger, James J.
Lewis, Ian A.
Markley, John L.
spellingShingle Ellinger, James J.
Lewis, Ian A.
Markley, John L.
Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
author_facet Ellinger, James J.
Lewis, Ian A.
Markley, John L.
author_sort Ellinger, James J.
title Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
title_short Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
title_full Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
title_fullStr Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
title_full_unstemmed Role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
title_sort role of aminotransferases in glutamate metabolism of human erythrocytes
description Human erythrocytes require a continual supply of glutamate to support glutathione synthesis, but are unable to transport this amino acid across their cell membrane. Consequently, erythrocytes rely on de novo glutamate biosynthesis from α-ketoglutarate and glutamine to maintain intracellular levels of glutamate. Erythrocytic glutamate biosynthesis is catalyzed by three enzymes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and glutamine aminohydrolase (GA). Although the presence of these enzymes in RBCs has been well documented, the relative contributions of each pathway have not been established. Understanding the relative contributions of each biosynthetic pathway is critical for designing effective therapies for sickle cell disease, hemolytic anemia, pulmonary hypertension, and other glutathione-related disorders. In this study, we use multidimensional 1H–13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and multiple reaction mode mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) to measure the kinetics of de novo glutamate biosynthesis via AST, ALT, and GA in intact cells and RBC lysates. We show that up to 89% of the erythrocyte glutamate pool can be derived from ALT and that ALT-derived glutamate is subsequently used for glutathione synthesis.
publisher Springer Netherlands
publishDate 2011
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081430/
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