Quaternary structure and activity of glutamate dehydrogenase are regulated by reversible S-palmitoylation and mitochondrial acyl-protein thioesterases.

Abstract

Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) is a key mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes the reversible oxidative deamination of glutamate to -ketoglutarate, thereby linking amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism. GDH forms catalytically active hexamers and is regulated by various allosteric modulators, including ADP and GTP. Here, we demonstrate that GDH undergoes auto-palmitoylation in the presence of palmitoyl-CoA, leading to a dose-dependent inhibition of enzymatic activity. Using acyl-PEG exchange assays and mass spectrometry, we show that GDH monomers are predominantly mono-palmitoylated, with modification detected at multiple cysteine residues, including Cys55, Cys115, and Cys197, among the six cysteines in the mature enzyme. Blue Native PAGE analysis revealed that palmitoylation disrupts the native hexameric assembly of mammalian GDH, which is organized as a dimer-of-trimers, promoting dissociation into dimers. Importantly, this modification is reversible, as incubation with mitochondrial acyl-protein thioesterases 1 (APT1) and, to a lesser extent, /{beta} hydrolase domain 10 (ABHD10) restores both the hexameric structure and enzymatic activity. The modified Cys55 residues are positioned near the trimer interface, providing a mechanism by which palmitoylation could prevent hexamer formation, whereas Cys115 and 197 may destabilize individual trimers. These findings establish S-palmitoylation as a novel regulatory mechanism for GDH, linking mitochondrial lipid metabolism to the reversible control of a central metabolic enzyme.