Interaction of neuronal nitric-oxide synthase and phosphofructokinase-M

J Biol Chem. 1999 Apr 9;274(15):10545-50. doi: 10.1074/jbc.274.15.10545.

Abstract

Neurons that express neuronal nitric-oxide synthase (nNOS) are resistant to NO-induced neurotoxicity; however, the mechanism by which these neurons are protected is not clear. To identify proteins possibly involved in this process, we performed affinity chromatography with the nNOS PDZ domain, a N-terminal motif that mediates protein interactions. Using this method to fractionate soluble tissue extracts, we identified the muscle isoform of phosphofructokinase (PFK-M) as a protein that binds to nNOS both in brain and skeletal muscle. PFK-M interacts with the PDZ domain of nNOS, and nNOS-PFK-M binding can be competed by peptides that bind to the PDZ domain of nNOS. We found that nNOS is significantly associated with PFK-M in skeletal muscle because nNOS can be immunodepleted from cytosolic skeletal muscle extracts using an antibody directed against PFK-M. In brain, nNOS and PFK-M are both enriched in synaptosomes, and specifically, in the synaptic vesicle fraction, where they can interact. At the cellular level, PFK-M is enriched in neurons that express nNOS protein. As fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate, the product of PFK activity, is neuroprotective, the interaction of nNOS and PFK may contribute to neuroprotection of nNOS positive cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Binding, Competitive
  • Brain / enzymology
  • Catalysis
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Isoenzymes / metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Molecular Weight
  • Muscles / enzymology
  • Neurons / enzymology
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase / metabolism*
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I
  • Phosphofructokinase-1 / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Rats

Substances

  • Isoenzymes
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I
  • Nos1 protein, rat
  • Phosphofructokinase-1