Polymerase chain reaction-based cloning of alkyl-dihydroxyacetonephosphate synthase complementary DNA from guinea pig liver.

Peroxisomes are indispensable organelles for ether lipid biosynthesis in mammalian tissues, and the deficiency of these organelles in a number of peroxisomal disorders leads to deficiencies in ether phospholipids. We have previously purified the committed enzyme for ether lipid biosynthesis, i.e. alkyl-dihydroxyacetone-phosphate synthase, to homogeneity. We have now determined the N-terminal amino acid sequence, as well as additional internal sequences obtained after cyanogen bromide cleavage of the enzyme. With primers directed against the N-terminal sequence and against a cyanogen bromide fragment sequence, a 1100-bp cDNA fragment was obtained by conventional polymerase chain reaction using first-strand cDNA from guinea pig liver as a template. The 5' and 3' ends of the cDNA were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The open reading frame encodes a protein of 658 amino acids, containing the N-terminal amino acid sequence as well as the cyanogen bromide cleavage fragment sequences. The derived amino acid sequence includes a mature protein 600 amino acids long and a presequence 58 amino acids long. The latter contains a stretch of amino acids known as peroxisomal targeting signal 2. The size of the mRNA was estimated to be around 4200 nucleotides. Recombinant His-tagged alkyl-dihydroxyacetonephosphate synthase expressed in Escherichia coli was enzymatically active.