Functional Roles of Metabolic Intermediates in Regulating the Human Mitochondrial NAD(P)+-Dependent Malic Enzyme

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Human mitochondrial NAD(P)<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>-dependent malic enzyme (m-NAD(P)-ME) has a dimer of dimers quaternary structure with two independent allosteric sites in each monomer. Here, we reveal the different effects of nucleotide ligands on the quaternary structure regulation and functional role of the human m-NAD(P)-ME exosite. In this study, size distribution analysis was utilized to investigate the monomer-dimer-tetramer equilibrium of m-NAD(P)-ME in the presence of different ligands, and the monomer-dimer (<jats:italic>K</jats:italic><jats:sub>d,12</jats:sub>) and dimer-tetramer (<jats:italic>K</jats:italic><jats:sub>d,24</jats:sub>) dissociation constants were determined with these ligands. With NAD<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>, the enzyme formed more tetramers, and its <jats:italic>K</jats:italic><jats:sub>d,24</jats:sub> (0.06 µM) was 6-fold lower than the apoenzyme <jats:italic>K</jats:italic><jats:sub>d,24</jats:sub> (0.34 µM). When ATP was present, the enzyme displayed more dimers, and its <jats:italic>K</jats:italic><jats:sub>d,24</jats:sub> (2.74 µM) was 8-fold higher than the apoenzyme. Similar to the apoenzyme, the ADP-bound enzyme was present as a tetramer with a small amount of dimers and monomers. These results indicate that NAD<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> promotes association of the dimeric enzyme into tetramers, whereas ATP stimulates dissociation of the tetrameric enzyme into dimers, and ADP has little effect on the tetrameric stability of the enzyme. A series of exosite mutants were created using site-directed mutagenesis. Size distribution analysis and kinetic studies of these mutants with NAD<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> or ATP indicated that Arg197, Asn482 and Arg556 are essential for the ATP binding and ATP-induced dissociation of human m-NAD(P)-ME. In summary, the present results demonstrate that nucleotides perform discrete functions regulating the quaternary structure and catalysis of m-NAD(P)-ME. Such regulation by the binding of different nucleotides may be critically associated with the physiological concentrations of these ligands.</jats:p>