Abstract
Stress resistance is essential for survival. The mechanisms of molecule stabilization during stress are of interest for biotechnology, where many enzymes and other biomolecules are increasingly used at high temperatures and/or salt concentrations. Diverse organisms, exhibit rapid synthesis and accumulation of the disaccharide trehalose in response to stress. Trehalose is also rapidly hydrolyzed as soon as stress ends. In isolated enzymes, trehalose stabilizes both, structure and activity. In contrast, at optimal assay conditions, trehalose inhibits enzyme activity. A general mechanism underlying the trehalose effects observed at all temperatures probably is the trehalose-mediated increase in solution viscosity that leads to protein domain motion inhibition. This may be analyzed using Kramer's theory. The role of viscosity in the effects of trehalose is analyzed in examples from the literature and in studies on the plasma membrane H+-ATPase from Kluyveromyces lactis. In the cell, it may be proposed that the large concentration of trehalose reached during stress stabilizes structures through viscosity. However, once stress ends trehalose has to be rapidly hydrolyzed in order to avoid the viscosity-mediated inhibition of enzymes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Crowe JH, Crowe LM, Mouradian R: Stabilization of biological membranes at low water activities. Cryobiology 20: 346–356, 1983
Singer MA, Lindquist S: Multiple effects of trehalose on protein folding in vitro and in vivo. Mol Cell 1: 639–648, 1998
Sampedro JG, Cortés P, Muñoz-Clares RA, Fernández A, Uribe S: Thermal inactivation of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase from Kluyveromyces lactis. Protection by trehalose. Biochim Biophys Acta 1544: 64–73, 2001
Wera S, De Schrijver E, Geyskens I, Nwaka S, Thevelein JM: Opposite roles of trehalase activity in heat-shock recovery and heat-shock survival in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochem J 343: 621–626, 1999
Singer MA, Lindquist S: Thermotolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: The Yin and Yang of trehalose. Trends Biotechnol 16: 460–468, 1998b
Sampedro JG, Muñoz-Clares RA, Uribe S: Trehalose mediated inhibition of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase from Kluyveromyces lactis. Viscosity and temperature dependence. J Bacteriol 184: 4384–4391, 2002
Hagen SJ, Hofrichter J, Eaton WA: Protein reaction kinetics in a room-temperature glass. Science 269: 959–962, 1995
Butler SL, Falke JJ: Effects of protein stabilizing agents on thermal backbone motions: A disulfide trapping study. Biochemistry 35: 10595–10600, 1996
Jacob M, Geeves M, Holtermann G, Schmid FX: Diffusional barrier crossing in a two-state protein folding reaction. Nat Struct Biol 6: 923–926, 1999
Bell W, Sun W, Hohmann S, Wera S, Reinders A, De Virgilio C, Wiemken A, Thevelein JM: Composition and functional analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae trehalose synthase complex. J Biol Chem 273: 33311–33319, 1998
Bell W, Klaassen P, Ohnacker M, Boller T, Herweijer M, Schoppink P, Van der Zee P, Wiemken A: Characterization of the 56-kDa subunit of yeast trehalose-6-phosphate synthase and cloning of its gene reveal its identity with the product of CIF1, a regulator of carbon catabolite inactivation. Eur J Biochem 209: 951–959, 1992
De Virgilio C, Bürckert N, Bell W, Jenö P, Boller T, Wiemken A: Disruption of TPS2, the gene encoding the 100-kDa subunit of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/phosphatase complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, causes accumulation of trehalose-6-phosphate and loss of trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase activity. Eur J Biochem 212: 315–323, 1993
Vuorio OE, Kalkkinen N, Londesborough J: Cloning of two related genes encoding the 56-kDa and 123-kDa subunits of trehalose synthase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Eur J Biochem 216: 849–861, 1993
Thevelein JM, Hohmann S: Trehalose synthase: Guard to the gate of glycolysis in yeast? Trends Biochem Sci 20: 3–10, 1995
Jorge JA, Polizeli ML, Thevelein JM, Terenzi HF: Trehalases and trehalose hydrolysis in fungi. FEMS Microbiol Lett 154: 165–171, 1997
Amaral FC, Van Dijck P, Nicoli JR, Thevelein JM: Molecular cloning of the neutral trehalase gene from Kluyveromyces lactis and the distinction between neutral and acid trehalases. Arch Microbiol 167: 202–208, 1997
Uno I, Matsumoto K, Adachi K, Ishikawa T: Genetic and biochemical evidence that trehalase is a substrate of cAMP-dependent protein kinase in yeast. J Biol Chem 258: 10867–10872, 1983
Nwaka S, Holzer H: Molecular biology of trehalose and the trehalases in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Prog Nucleic Acid Res Mol Biol 58: 197–237, 1998
Londesborough J, Varimo K: Characterization of two trehalases in baker's yeast. Biochem J 219: 511–518, 1984
Nwaka S, Mechler B, Holzer H: Deletion of the ATH1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae prevents growth on trehalose. FEBS Lett 386: 235–238, 1996
Winderickx J, de Windle JH, Crauwels M, Hino A, Hohmann S, Van Dijck P, Thevelein JM: Regulation of genes enconding subunits of the trehalose synthase complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Novel variations of STRE-mediated transcription control? Mol Gen Genet 252: 470–482, 1996
Kopp M, Muller H, Holzer H: Molecular analysis of the neutral trehalase gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 268: 4766–4774, 1993
Zahringer H, Thevelein JM, Nwaka S: Induction of neutral trehalase Nth1 by heat and osmotic stress is controlled by STRE elements and Msn2/Msn4 transcription factors: variations of PKA effect during stress and growth. Mol Microbiol 35: 397–406, 2000
Francois J, Neves MJ, Hers HG: The control of trehalose biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Evidence for a catabolite inactivation and repression of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase and trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase. Yeast 7: 575–587, 1991
Wiemken A: Trehalose in yeast, stress protectant rather than reserve carbohydrate. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 58: 209–217, 1990
Behm CA: The role of trehalose in the physiology of nematodes. Int J Parasitol 27: 215–229, 1997
Elbein AD: The metabolism of alpha,alpha-trehalose. Adv Carbohydr Chem Biochem 30: 227–256, 1974
Thevelein JM: Regulation of trehalose mobilization in fungi. Microbiol Rev 48: 42–59, 1984
van Laere AJ, Carlier AR, van Asschie JA: Effect of 5-fluorouracil and cycloheximide on the early development of Phycomyces blakesleeanus spores and the activity of N-acetylglucosamine synthesizing enzymes. Arch Microbiol 108: 113–116, 1976
Parrou JL, Teste MA, Francois J: Effects of various types of stress on the metabolism of reserve carbohydrates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Genetic evidence for a stress-induced recycling of glycogen and trehalose. Microbiology 143: 1891–1900, 1997
Hottiger T, Boller T, Wiemken A: Rapid changes of heat and desiccation tolerance correlated with changes of trehalose content in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells subjected to temperature shifts. FEBS Lett 220: 113–115, 1987
Meikle AJ, Reed RH, Gadd GM: Osmotic adjustment and the accumulation of organic solutes in whole cells and protoplasts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Gen Microbiol 134: 3049–3060, 1988
Regev R, Peri I, Gilboa H, Avi-Dor Y: 13C NMR study of the interrelation between synthesis and uptake of compatible solutes in two moderately halophilic eubacteria. Bacterium Ba1 and Vibrio costicola. Arch Biochem Biophys 278: 106–112, 1990
Wood JM, Bremer E, Csonka LN, Kraemer R, Poolman B, van der Heide T, Smith LT: Osmosensing and osmoregulatory compatible solute accumulation by bacteria. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 130: 437–460, 2001
Nyyssola A, Leisola M: Actinopolyspora halophila has two separate pathways for betaine synthesis. Arch Microbiol 176: 294–300, 2001
Lippert K, Galinski EA, Truper HG: Biosynthesis and function of trehalose in Ectothiorhodospira halochloris. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 63: 85–91, 1993
Dardanelli MS, Gonzalez PS, Bueno MA, Ghittoni NE: Synthesis, accumulation and hydrolysis of trehalose during growth of peanut rhizobia in hyperosmotic media. J Basic Microbiol 40: 149–156, 2000
Crowe JH, Hoekstra FA, Crowe LM: Anhydrobiosis. Annu Rev Physiol 54: 579–599, 1992
Crowe JH, Crowe LM, Oliver AE, Tsvetkova N, Wolkers W, Tablin F: The trehalose myth revisited: Introduction to a symposium on stabilization of cells in the dry state. Cryobiology 43: 89–105, 2001
Courtenay ES, Capp MW, Anderson CF, Record MT Jr: Vapor pressure osmometry studies of osmolyte-protein interactions: implications for the action of osmoprotectants in vivo and for the interpretation of ‘osmotic stress’ experiments in vitro. Biochemistry 39: 4455–4471, 2000
Gekko K, Timasheff SN: Mechanism of protein stabilization by glycerol: Preferential hydration in glycerol-water mixtures. Biochemistry 20: 4667–4676, 1981
Hottiger T, De Virgilio C, Hall MN, Boller T, Wiemken A: The role of trehalose synthesis for the acquisition of thermotolerance in yeast. II. Physiological concentrations of trehalose increase the thermal stability of proteins in vitro. Eur J Biochem 219: 187–193, 1994
Sola-Penna M, Meyer-Fernandes JR: Protective role of trehalose in thermal denaturation of yeast pyrophosphatase. Z Naturforsch 49: 327–330, 1994
Colaco C, Sen S, Thangavelu M, Pinder S, Roser B: Extraordinary stability of enzymes dried in trehalose: Simplified molecular biology. Biotechnology 10: 1007–1011, 1992
Gross C, Watson K: Transcriptional and translational regulation of major heat shock proteins and patterns of trehalose mobilization during hyperthermic recovery in repressed and derepressed Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Can J Microbiol 44: 341–350, 1998
Estruch F: Stress-controlled transcription factors, stress-induced genes and stress tolerance in budding yeast. FEMS Microbiol Rev 24: 469–486, 2000
Magazù S, Maisano G, Migliardo P, Middendorf HD, Villari V: Hydration and transport properties of aqueous solutions of α-α-trehalose. J Chem Phys 109: 1170–1174, 1998
Rampp M, Buttersack C, Ludemann HD: c,T-dependence of the viscosity and the self-diffusion coefficients in some aqueous carbohydrate solutions. Carbohydr Res 328: 561–572, 2000
Frauenfelder H, Fenimore PW, McMahon BH: Hydration, slaving and protein function. Biophys Chem 98: 35–48, 2002
van Mierlo CP, Steensma E: Protein folding and stability investigated by fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: The flavodoxin story. J Biotechnol 79: 281–298, 2000
Ptitsyn OB: Protein folding: Nucleation and compact intermediates. Biochemistry (Mosc) 63: 367–373, 1998
Kramers HA: Brownian motion in a field of force and the diffusion model of chemical reactions. Physica 7: 284–304, 1940
Jacob M, Schmid FX: Protein folding as a diffusional process. Biochemistry 38: 13773–13779, 1999
Kanchisa MI, Tsong TY: Mechanism of the multiphasic kinetics of the folding and unfolding of globular proteins. J Mol Biol 124: 177–194, 1978
Chrunyk BA, Matthews CR: Role of diffusion in the folding of the alpha subunit of tryptophan synthase from Escherichia coli. Biochemistry 29: 2149–2154, 1990
Vaucheret H, Signon L, Le Bras G, Garel JR: Mechanism of renaturation of a large protein, aspartokinase-homoserine dehydrogenase. Biochemistry 26: 2785–2790, 1987
Gross JM, Baldwin RL: Kinetic mechanism of a partial folding reaction. 2. Nature of the transition state. Biochemistry 37: 2556–2563, 1998
Jacob MH, Saudan C, Holtermann G, Martin A, Perl D, Merbach AE, Schmid FX: Water contributes actively to the rapid crossing of a protein unfolding barrier. J Mol Biol 318: 837–845, 2002
Tsou CL: The role of active site flexibility in enzyme catalysis. Biochemistry (Mosc) 63: 253–300, 1998
Demchenko AP, Ruskyn OI, Saburova EA: Kinetics of the lactate dehydrogenase reaction in high-viscosity media. Biochim Biophys Acta 998: 196–203, 1989
Martin SF, Hergenrother PJ: Catalytic cycle of the phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus. Solvent viscosity, deuterium isotope effects, and proton inventory studies. Biochemistry 38: 4403–4408, 1999
Nieslanik BS, Dabrowski MJ, Lyon RP, Atkins WM: Stopped-flow kinetic analysis of the ligand-induced coil-helix transition in glutathione S-transferase A1–1: Evidence for a persistent denatured state. Biochemistry 38: 6971–6980, 1999
Nakamoto RK, Slayman CW: Molecular properties of the fungal plasma-membrane H+-ATPase. J Bioenerg Biomembr 21: 621–632, 1989
Williams SP, Haggie PM, Brindle KM, 19F NMR measurements of the rotational mobility of proteins in vivo. Biophys J 72: 490–498, 1997
Sierks MR, Sico C, Zaw M: Solvent and viscosity effects on the rate-limiting product release step of glucoamylase during maltose hydrolysis. Biotechnol Prog 13: 601–608, 1997
Guerra G, Uribe S, Pardo JP: Reactivity of the H+-ATPase from Kluyveromyces lactis to sulfhydryl reagents. Arch Biochem Biophys 321: 101–107, 1995
Bowman BJ, Slayman CW: The effects of vanadate on the plasma membrane ATPase of Neurospora crassa. J Biol Chem 254: 2928–2934, 1979
Lowry OH, Rosenbrough NJ, Farr AL, Randall RJ: Protein measurement with the folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem 193: 265–275, 1951
Fiske CH, Subbarow Y: The colorimetric determination of phosphorous, J Biol Chem 66: 375–400, 1925
Anderson KW, Murphy AJ: Alterations in the structure of the ribose moiety of ATP reduce its effectiveness as a substrate for the sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase. J Biol Chem 258: 14276–14278, 1983
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sampedro, J.G., Uribe, S. Trehalose-enzyme interactions result in structure stabilization and activity inhibition. The role of viscosity. Mol Cell Biochem 256, 319–327 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MCBI.0000009878.21929.eb
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MCBI.0000009878.21929.eb