We have isolated two kinds of cDNA clones encoding glyoxalase I from a
human fibrosarcoma HT-1080 cDNA library, One of them is identical to
the glyoxalase I cDNA isolated by us, and the other encodes a protein
in which alanine at position 111 of the reported sequence for glyoxala
se I is replaced by glutamic acid. When the two cDNAs were co-translat
ed in vitro, three bands representing two homodimers and one heterodim
er appeared on native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as observed
for glyoxalase I purified from human erythrocytes or derived from a HT
-1080 cell lysate, Escherichia coli cells carrying an expression vecto
r of one of the novel glyoxalase I cDNAs showed glyoxalase I activity,
These results reveal that two isoforms of human glyoxalase I showing
different electrophoretic properties result from a change in one amino
acid residue.