Nutritional modulation of gene expression and homocysteine utilization by vitamin B12

Vitamins B12, B6, and folic acid converge at the homocysteine metabolic junction where they support the activities of two key enzymes involved in intracellular homocysteine management, methionine synthase (MS) and cystathionine beta-synthase. The molecular mechanism for the regulation of homocysteine metabolism by B12 supplementation has been investigated in this study. B12 supplementation does not alter mRNA or protein turnover rates but induces translational up-regulation of MS by shifting the mRNA from the ribonucleoprotein to the polysome pool. The B12-responsive element has been localized by deletion analysis using a reporter gene assay to a 70-bp region located at the 3' end of the 5'-untranslated region of the MS mRNA. The cellular consequence of the B12 response is a 2- and 3.5-fold increase in the flux of homocysteine through the MS-dependent transmethylation pathway in HepG2 and 293 cells, respectively. It is speculated that B12-induced up-regulation of MS may have evolved as an adaptive strategy for rapidly sequestering an essential and rare nutrient whose availability may have been limited in the evolutionary history of mammals, a problem that is exacerbated by the absence of this vitamin from the plant kingdom.