JBC, Vol. 250, Issue 4, 1223-1230, Feb, 1975
Complex formation between mycobacterial polysaccharides or cyclodextrins and palmitoyl coenzyme A
R. Bergeron, Y. Machida and K. Bloch
The mycobacterial polysaccharides MMP (3-O-methyl-mannose-containing
polysaccharide), MGLP (lipolysaccharide containing 6-O-methylglucose and
glucose), and the cyclodextrins (cyclohexaamylose and cycloheptaamylose)
form stoichiometric complexes with palmitoyl-CoA (Machida, Y., Bergeron,
R., Flick, P., and Bloch, K. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 6246-6247). Complex
formation is presumed to result from hydrophobic interactions. In order to
enhance the hydrophobic character of the cyclodextrins the following
derivatives have been synthesized: heptakis (2,di-O-propyl)-, heptakis
(2,6-di-O-methyl)-, pentakis (6-O-methyl)-, heptakis (3-O-methyl)-, and
permethylated beta-cyclo-dextrin. These compounds stimulate fatty acid
synthesis catalyzed by the Mycobacterium smegmatis fatty acid synthetase,
the magnitude of the effect decreasing in the order in which the alkylated
cyclodextrins are listed above. MMP or MGLP are qualitatively
indistinguishable from alkylated cyclodextrins both with respect to
palmitoyl-CoA binding and with respect to effects on enzyme systems,
suggesting that they form inclusion complexes of the same type. On the
basis of model building it is postulated that MMP in solution assumes a
helical conformation with a hydrophobic channel about 6 A in diameter and
approximately 29 A long, dimensions appropriate for accommodating the
paraffinic chain of palmitoyl-CoA in the form of an inclusion complex.
Since palmitoyl-CoA binds to polysaccharide much more tightly than free
palmitate it is further postulated that ionized groups of the CoA moiety of
acyl CoA participate in the binding and do so by hydrogen bonding to the
hydrophilic exterior of helical MMP. Palmitoyl-CoA, and to a lesser extent
palmitate, affect the optical rotation of MMP and also of the alkylated
cyclodextrins indicating that complex formation induces conformational
changes in the polysaccharides.