Functional synergism between the most common polymorphism in human alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase and four of the most common disease-causing mutations

The autosomal recessive disorder primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is caused by a deficiency of the liver-specific pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent Enzyme alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT). Numerous mutations and polymorphisms in the gene encoding AGT have been identified, but in only a few cases has the causal relationship between genotype and phenotype actually been demonstrated. In this study, we have determined the effects of the most common naturally occurring amino acid substitutions (both normal polymorphisms and disease-causing mutations) on the properties, especially specific catalytic activity, of purified recombinant AGT. The results presented in this paper show the following: 1) normal human His-tagged AGT can be expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli and purified in a correctly folded, dimerized and catalytically active state; 2) presence of the common P11L polymorphism decreases the specific activity of purified recombinant AGT by a factor of three; 3) AGTs containing four of the most common PH1-specific mutations (G41R, F152I, G170R, and I244T) are all soluble and catalytically active in the absence of the P11L polymorphism, but in its presence all lead to protein destabilization and aggregation into inclusion bodies; 4) naturally occurring and artificial amino acid substitutions that lead to peroxisome-to-mitochondrion AGT mistargeting in mammalian cells also lead to destabilization and aggregation in E. coli; and 5) the PH1-specific G82E mutation abolishes AGT catalytic activity by interfering with cofactor binding, as does the artificial K209R mutation at the putative site of cofactor Shiff base formation. These results are discussed in the light of the high allelic frequency ( approximately 20%) of the P11L polymorphism and its importance in determining the phenotypic manifestations of mutations in PH1.