The reaction of aldolase with 2-methylmaleic anhydride

The measurement of amino groups in proteins and peptides

A technique is examined for determining amino groups with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid, in which the extinction at 420nm of sulphite complexes of the trinitrophenylated amino groups is measured. The sensitivity of the method is 5-200nmol of amino group. The method is especially suitable for checking the extent of blocking or unblocking of amino groups in proteins and peptides, owing to the short time required for reaction (5min at room temperature). The reaction of the reagent with thiol groups has been studied and was found to proceed 30-50 times faster than with in-amino groups of model compounds. The in(420) of a trinitrophenylated thiol group was found to be 2250m(-1).cm(-1). The reaction with several amino acids, peptides and proteins is presented. The in(420) of a typical alpha-amino group was found to be 22000m(-1).cm(-1) and that of an in-amino group, 19200m(-1).cm(-1). Difficulties inherent in the analysis of constituent amino group reactions in proteins are discussed.

Chemical modification of a cerebral sodium-plus-potassium ion-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase preparation

1. A particulate Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase preparation obtained by treatment of bovine cerebral microsomes with a sodium iodide reagent has been further treated with acid anhydrides likely to convert amino groups into acidic derivatives. 2. The extent of acylation of amino groups was determined by reaction of the remaining amino groups with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid. The unmodified preparation contains about 1.2 muequiv. of amino groups/mg of protein of which only about 0.5 muequiv. are accounted for by protein amino groups. Kinetics of the trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid reaction with the unmodified preparation are complex and are altered by ATP or ouabain. 3. The compounds examined cause loss of Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity when relatively few amino groups are modified but ATP was found to afford partial protection against inactivation by methylmaleic anhydride. Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity is partly restored to the dimethylmaleylated preparation by hydrolysis of the dimethylmaleyl-amide bonds but not if more than about 20% of the amino groups have been acylated. 4. Supernatants obtained by high-speed centrifugation of the dimethylmaleylated preparation contained up to 45% of the total protein with less than 10% of the total phospholipid. Methylmaleyl and benzenetricarboxylyl derivatives of the enzyme preparation behaved similarly but tetrafluorosuccinylated material was almost entirely deposited by centrifugation.

The reversible reaction of protein amino groups with exo-cis-3,6-endoxo-delta-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride

1. The reaction of exo-cis-3,6-endoxo-Delta(4)-tetrahydrophthalic anhydride with amino groups of model compounds and lysozyme is described. 2. Reaction with the in-amino group of N(alpha)-acetyl-l-lysine amide gives rise to two diastereoisomeric products; at acid pH the free amino group is liberated with anchimeric assistance by the neighbouring protonated carboxyl group with a half-time of 4-5h at pH3.0 and 25 degrees C. 3. The amino groups of lysozyme can be completely blocked, with total loss of enzymic activity. Dialysis at pH3.0 results in complete recovery of the native primary and tertiary structure of lysozyme and complete return of catalytic activity. 4. The specificity of reaction of this and other anhydrides with amino groups in proteins is discussed.

Comparison of aldolases extracted from rabbit muscle at low and high ionic strength

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The reactivity of thiol groups and the subunit structure of aldolase

1. Seven unique carboxymethylcysteine-containing peptides have been isolated from tryptic digests of rabbit muscle aldolase carboxymethylated with iodo[2-(14)C]acetic acid in 8m-urea. These peptides have been characterized by amino acid and end-group analysis and their location within the cyanogen bromide cleavage fragments of the enzyme has been determined. 2. Reaction of native aldolase with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid), iodoacetamide and N-ethylmaleimide showed that a total of three cysteine residues per subunit of mol.wt. 40000 were reactive towards these reagents, and that the modification of these residues was accompanied by loss in enzymic activity. Chemical analysis of the modified enzymes demonstrated that the same three thiol groups are involved in the reaction with all these reagents but that the observed reactivity of a given thiol group varies with the reagent used. 3. One reactive thiol group per subunit could be protected when the modification of the enzyme was carried out in the presence of substrate, fructose 1,6-diphosphate, under which conditions enzymic activity was retained. This thiol group has been identified chemically and is possibly at or near the active site. Limiting the exposure of the native enzyme to iodoacetamide also served to restrict alkylation to two thiol groups and left the enzymic activity unimpaired. The thiol group left unmodified is the same as that protected by substrate during more rigorous alkylation, although it is now more reactive towards 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) than in the native enzyme. 4. Conversely, prolonged incubation of the enzyme with fructose 1,6-diphosphate, which was subsequently removed by dialysis, caused an irreversible fall in enzymic activity and in thiol group reactivity measured with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid). 5. It is concluded that the aldolase tetramer contains at least 28 cysteine residues. Each subunit appears to be identical with respect to number, location and reactivity of thiol groups.