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. 1997 Nov 15;328(Pt 1):33–36. doi: 10.1042/bj3280033

Cloning and overexpression of rat kidney biliverdin IX alpha reductase as a fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase: stereochemistry of NADH oxidation and evidence that the presence of the glutathione S-transferase domain does not effect BVR-A activity.

O Ennis 1, R Maytum 1, T J Mantle 1
PMCID: PMC1218883  PMID: 9359830

Abstract

Native biliverdin IX alpha reductase (BVR-A) is a monomer of molecular mass 34 kDa. We have developed an expression vector that allows the isolation of 40 mg of a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-BVR-A fusion protein from 1 litre of culture. The fusion protein (60 kDa) behaves as a dimer on gel filtration (120 kDa), so that we have artificially created a BVR-A dimer. The recombinant rat kidney enzyme exhibits pre-steady-state 'burst' kinetics that show a pH dependence similar to that already described for ox kidney BVR-A. Similar behaviour was obtained in the presence and absence of the GST domain both for the burst kinetics and during initial-rate studies in the presence and absence of albumin. The stereospecificity of the BVR-A-catalysed oxidation of [4-3H]NADH, labelled at the A and B faces, was shown to occur exclusively via the B face.

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Selected References

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