Characterization and amino acid sequence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae dihydrofolate reductase

Dihydrofolate reductase has been purified from a trimethoprim-resistant strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The enzyme showed a single component on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Mr = 18,000) and on isoelectric focusing in 5 M urea (pI = 6.8). Although gel electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions resolved the preparation into two enzymatically active proteins (called form 1 and form 2), they were not genetically determined isozymes. Both had a similar dihydrofolate Km (2 microM), NADPH Km (10 microM), and trimethoprim Ki (20 nM), and form 2 (the slower migrating species) was shown to be generated from form 1 by the electrophoresis conditions. The complete covalent structure of the enzyme has also been determined. It is a single polypeptide composed of 162 residues and containing 4 cysteines. The gonococcal dihydrofolate reductase shares a 35% homology with the chicken liver enzyme and a 40% homology with the Escherichia coli enzyme. Most of these identities are residues that have been implicated in the binding of NADPH and methotrexate to the E. coli and Lactobacillus casei reductases.