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NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase from Dictyostelium discoideum was purified 9300 fold with a yield of 4.6%. The enzyme is a hexamer of apparent molecular weight 294 kDa on Sephacryl S400 and a subunit molecular weight of 52 kDa as determined by SDS gel electrophoresis. The apparent Kms for alpha-ketoglutarate, NADPH and NH4+ are 1.2 mM, 9.7 microM and 2.2 mM respectively, and the purified enzyme has a broad pH optimum with a peak at pH 7.75. GTP has a slight stimulatory effect (22% at 83 microM) as does ADP (11% at 1 mM), and AMP is slightly inhibitory (9% at 1 mM) whereas adenosine, ATP and cAMP have little or no effect. Neither the Zn2+ chelating compound 1,10-phenanthroline nor EDTA have any effect on the enzyme while p-hydroxymercuribenzoic acid inhibits enzyme activity (50% at 80 microM) yet N-ethylmaleimide does not. In addition, the NADP-GDH activity varies little during the various stages of morphogenesis.

In extracts from vegetative Dictyostelium discoideum V12 the basal NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD-GDH) activity was low, but it increased on standing at 4 OC. When 0.1 mM-AMP was included in the assay mix, enzyme activity was stimulated nearly 30-fold. As the extract was allowed to age, the enzyme rapidly lost its ability to be stimulated by AMP. The response of NAD-GDH to AMP was also dependent on the stage of morphogenesis. The ratios of NAD-GDH activity assayed with and without AMP (+AMP/ -AMP ratios) in freshly prepared extracts from cells at 0, 4, 8 and 12 h of development were similar, but declined later in morphogenesis. The + AMP/ -AMP ratio decreased sharply during activation at 4 "C in extracts from cells at 0, 4,16 and 20 h of development. By contrast, extracts from cells starved for 8 and 12 h remained more responsive to AMP throughout activation. Analysis of Western blots showed that vegetative NAD-GDH did not undergo any detectable proteolytic cleavage during 96 h of activation at 4 OC. Also, no change in molecular mass appeared to take place within the cells until culmination (2&24 h), when some breakdown products appeared. Activation of NAD-GDH also occurred in D. discoideum strains NC4 and AX3, and in D. mucoroides. In addition, the enzyme from these four strains was stimulated by AMP and the +AMP/-AMP ratio declined with similar kinetics during activation. The enzyme from Polysphondylium violaceum was not activated on standing, but it was stimulated by AMP. The effect of activation of NAD-GDH is discussed in relation to a postulated catabolic role for this enzyme.

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