Cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) is a metabolite of NAD+ that is as active as inositol trisphosphate (IP3) in mobilizing intracellular Ca2+ in sea urchin eggs. The activity of the enzyme responsible for synthesizing cADPR is found not only in sea urchin eggs but also in various mammalian tissue extracts, suggesting that cADPR may be a general messenger for Ca2+ mobilization in cells. An aqueous soluble enzyme, thought to be an NADase, has been purified recently from the ovotestis of Aplysia californica (Hellmich and Strumwasser, 1991). This paper shows that the Aplysia enzyme catalyzes the conversion of NAD+ to cADPR and nicotinamide. The Aplysia enzyme was purified by fractionating the soluble extract of Aplysia ovotestis on a Spectra/gel CM column. The purified enzyme appeared as a single band of approximately 29,000 Da on SDS-PAGE but could be further separated into multiple peaks by high-resolution, cation-exchange chromatography. All of the protein peaks had enzymatic activity, indicating that the enzyme had multiple forms differing by charge. Analysis of the reaction products of the enzyme by anion-exchange high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) indicated no ADP-ribose was produced; instead, each mole of NAD+ was converted to equimolar of cADPR and nicotinamide. The identification of the product as cADPR was further substantiated by proton NMR and also by its Ca(2+)-mobilizing activity. Addition of the product to sea urchin egg homogenates induced Ca2+ release and desensitized the homogenate to authentic cADPR but not to IP3. Microinjection of the product into sea urchin eggs elicited Ca2+ transients as well as the cortical exocytosis reaction. Therefore, by the criteria of HPLC, NMR, and calcium-mobilizing activity, the product was identical to cADPR. To distinguish the Aplysia enzyme from the conventional NADases that produce ADP-ribose, we propose to name it ADP-ribosyl cyclase.
We have previously shown that a metabolite of NAD+ generated by an enzyme present in sea urchin eggs and mammalian tissues can mobilize intracellular Ca2+ in the eggs. Structural determination established it to be a cyclized ADP-ribose, and the name cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) has been proposed. In this study, Ca2+ mobilizations induced by cADPR and inositol trisphosphate (IP3) in sea urchin egg homogenates were monitored with Ca2+ indicators and Ca2(+)-specific electrodes. Both methods showed that cADPR can release Ca2+ from egg homogenates. Evidence indicated that it did not act as a nonspecific Ca2(+)-ionophore or as a blocker of the microsomal Ca2(+)-transport; instead, it was likely to be operating through a specific receptor system. This was supported by its half-maximal effective concentration of 18 nM, which was 7 times lower than that of IP3. The receptor for cADPR appeared to be different from that of IP3 because heparin, an inhibitor of IP3 binding, had no effect on the cADPR action. The Ca2+ releases induced by cADPR and IP3 were not additive and had an inverse relationship, indicating overlapping stores were mobilized. Microinjection of cADPR into intact eggs induced transient intracellular Ca2+ changes and activated the cortical reaction. The in vivo effectiveness of cADPR was directly comparable with IP3 and neither required external Ca2+. In addition, both were effective in activating the eggs to undergo multiple nuclear cycles and DNA synthesis. These results suggest that cADPR could function as a second messenger in sea urchin eggs.
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