Half-time analysis of the kinetics of irreversible enzyme inhibition by an unstable site-specific reagent

Experimental approach to the kinetic study of unstable site-directed irreversible inhibitors: kinetic origin of the apparent positive co-operativity arising from inactivation of trypsin by p-amidinophenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride

Experimental characterization of enzyme inactivation by unstable irreversible inhibitors has only previously been carried out by using discontinuous methods involving preincubation, removal of samples and further residual activity assays. A continuous method for the kinetic study of these inhibitors in the presence of an auxiliary substrate was recently proposed in a theoretical study. This method was based on approximate expressions for the evolution of the product concentration, which contained series expansions with five or more exponential terms, seriously complicating their use in practice. In the present paper, a new experimental method has been developed for the kinetic study of unstable and site-directed irreversible inhibitors, considering two different ranges of inhibitor concentration. Thus at low inhibitor concentrations, the system evolves from an initial to a final steady state, the rates of which are described by exact analytical equations. At high inhibitor concentrations, however, the product accumulation can be described by an exact uniexponential equation. This simple and efficient method has been applied to the kinetic study of trypsin inactivation by p-amidinophenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride, near the optimum pH of the enzyme. The dependence of the final steady-state rate on the substrate concentration shows apparent positive co-operativity which has not previously been reported. The kinetic origin of this type of co-operativity is predicted by one of the exact analytical equations derived here. The instability of new protein and non-protein irreversible inhibitors has to be carefully characterized to prevent true unstable irreversible inhibitors being wrongly described as allosteric reversible inhibitors.

A generalized theoretical treatment of the kinetics of an enzyme-catalysed reaction in the presence of an unstable irreversible modifier

A generalized theoretical treatment of the kinetics of an enzyme-catalysed reaction in the presence of an unstable irreversible inhibitor (or activator) is presented. Analytical expressions describing the time-dependence of product formation have been derived in coefficient form amenable to non-linear regression analysis for two operationally distinct types of reaction mechanism dependent on whether the reaction of the unstable modifier (X) with either or both the free enzyme (E) and enzyme-substrate complex (ES) occurs as a simple bimolecular process, or proceeds through the intermediacy of either or both adsorptive enzyme-modifier (EX) and enzyme-modifier-substrate (EXS) complexes in what may be considered as an extension of the Botts-Morales general modifier mechanism for (stable) reversible enzyme inhibitors and activators. Special cases of both models are classified in an analogous way to the traditional naming of reversible enzyme modifications, and guidelines concerning tests of mechanism and determination of kinetic parameters are given. In particular, it has been shown that kinetic constants describing enzyme inactivation by an unstable site-specific inhibitor forming a reversible EX complex prior to covalent modification step may be determined from a single progress curve. Kinetic analysis of the extended Botts-Morales mechanism describing irreversible enzyme inactivation has demonstrated that analytical expressions describing the time-course of product formation may be derived for a stable modifier by retaining the usual steady-state assumptions regarding the fluxes around ES and EXS provided quasi-equilibrium modifier binding to E and ES is assumed, but for unstable modifiers all of the binding steps must be assumed to be at quasi-equilibrium in the steady-state, except under restrictive circumstances.

Recent developments in inhibiting cysteine and serine proteases

Some 20 years ago, affinity labelling was introduced to help gather information on active-site catalytic groups and the mechanisms of proteolytic enzymes. Now this knowledge is used to produce specific and selective inhibitors for these enzymes. The concept of "biospecific drug design" has stimulated progress in turning the inhibitors into therapeutically applicable agents. For instance, sales of antihypertensive drugs based on inhibitors of the angiotensin converting enzyme are expected to be over 2 billion US-$ in 1992. This partly illustrates the efforts made by many researchers to introduce strategies in potease inhibition for medicinal purposes. This review discusses some of the concepts.

Ill-conditioning associated with the "end-point" method for the determination of kinetic parameters describing irreversible enzyme inactivation by an unstable inhibitor

Study of the complete time-course of irreversible enzyme inhibition by an unstable inhibitor yields more information than can be obtained by recording data only at the end point of reaction. Time-course analysis of co-operative irreversible enzyme inhibition by an unstable inhibitor has been shown to be considerably less susceptible to ill-conditioning than the "end-point" method for the determination of kinetic parameters describing inactivation. As a result, mechanisms that cannot be distinguished by the "end-point" method are readily differentiated by time-course analysis without the need to isolate intermediate species.