Cobalamin must be metabolized intracellularly in order to bind two enzymes: methionine synthase in cytoplasm and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase in mitochondria. Defects in this process cause different inborn errors of cobalamin metabolism (cblA-cblG and mut). A previous study described a cobalamin-binding protein, in addition to methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, in crude mitochondrial fractions. The amount of [57Co]cobalamin bound to this protein was increased in cblB, mut and cblD variant2 cell lines, compared to control cell lines. In the present study, this protein was identified as transcobalamin (TC). Mitochondrial fractions from a cblB cell line were incubated with anti-TC antibodies, which precipitated the cobalamin-bound protein. Analysis of mitochondrial and cytoplasmic fractions isolated from a chloroquine-incubated cblF cell line showed that isolated mitochondrial fractions contain lysosomal material, suggesting that the identified TC is lysosomal. Quantification of cobalamin-bound TC levels in whole cell extracts showed significant increases in cblB and mut groups compared to control cell lines.

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Methionine dependence, the inability of cells to grow when the amino acid methionine is replaced in culture medium by its metabolic precursor homocysteine, is characteristic of many cancer cell lines. Most cells proliferate normally under these conditions. The methionine dependent tumorigenic human melanoma cell line MeWo-LC1 was derived from the methionine independent non-tumorigenic line MeWo. The MeWo-LC1 cell line has been shown to have a cellular phenotype similar to that of cells from patients with the cblC inborn error of cobalamin metabolism, with decreased synthesis of cobalamin coenzymes and decreased activity of the cobalamin dependent enzymes methionine synthase and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase. Inability of cblC cells to complement the defect in cobalamin metabolism in MeWo-LC1 suggested that the defect was caused by decreased activity of the MMACHC gene product. However, no potentially disease causing mutations could be detected in the coding sequence of MMACHC in MeWo-LC1. No MMACHC expression could be detected in MeWo-LC1, and there was virtually complete methylation of a CpG island at the 5' end of the MMACHC gene in MeWo-LC1, consistent with inactivation of the gene by methylation; the CpG island was partially methylated in MeWo and only lightly methylated in control fibroblasts. Transfection of MeWo-LC1 with wild type MMACHC with a constitutive promoter resulted in correction of the defect in cobalamin metabolism and restoration of the ability of cells to grow in medium containing homocysteine. We conclude that epigenetic inactivation of the MMACHC gene is responsible for methionine dependence in MeWo-LC1.

No description available.