Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 25, 2026

In Vitro Assay to Measure Phosphatidylethanolamine Methyltransferase Activity
Published on: January 5, 2016
Characterization of glycerophosphoethanolamine ethanolaminephosphodiesterase from Streptomyces sanglieri
Shingo Mineta1, Kazutaka Murayama2, Daisuke Sugimori1
1Department of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology, Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology, Fukushima University, 1 Kanayagawa, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan.
Abstract:
Streptomyces sanglieri extracellularly produces a glycerophosphoethanolamine ethanolaminephosphodiesterase (GPE-EP). The gene encoding the enzyme was found to consist of a 2124-bp ORF, which codes for an N-terminal 48 residue signal peptide required for secretion and a 660 amino acid mature protein with a calculated molecular mass of 72,918 Da. The maximum activity for sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (GPE) was found at pH 8.4 and 65°C in the presence of 0.1% (w/v) Triton X-100. The enzyme was activated in the presence of 2 mM EDTA; however, Zn(2+) remarkably inhibited activity. During the hydrolysis of GPE at 65°C and pH 8.4, the apparent Vmax, turnover number (kcat) and Km were determined to be 0.430 mmol min(-1) mg-protein(-1), 522 s(-1) and 0.785 mM, respectively. The enzyme exhibited specificity toward GPE and hydrolyzed ethanolamine-type substrates such as 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, lysophosphatidylethanolamine and ethanolamine lysoplasmalogen, but not 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine. Moreover, the enzyme showed no activity toward other phospholipids, such as glycerophospholipids and plasmalogens, and sn-glycero-3-phosphodiesters except for sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol, suggesting that GPE-EP is not a phospholipase C (PLC). However, the amino acid sequence of GPE-EP shows 86% identity to that of PLC from Streptomyces sp. SirexAA-E (UniProt accession no. G2NFN1). Recombinant GPE-EP was functionally expressed in Escherichia coli using pET-24a(+). GPE hydrolysis by GPE-EP may represent a new pathway for phosphatidylethanolamine metabolism.

