Inhibition of cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase from porcine heart by R and S isomers of aminooxysuccinate and hydrazinosuccinate

Metabolic effects of an aspartate aminotransferase-inhibitor on two T-cell lines

An emerging method to help elucidate the mode of action of experimental drugs is to use untargeted metabolomics of cell-systems. The interpretations of such screens are however complex and more examples with inhibitors of known targets are needed. Here two T-cell lines were treated with an inhibitor of aspartate aminotransferase and analyzed with untargeted GC-MS. The interpretation of the data was enhanced by the use of two different cell-lines and supports aspartate aminotransferase as a target. In addition, the data suggest an unexpected off-target effect on glutamate decarboxylase. The results exemplify the potency of metabolomics to provide insight into both mode of action and off-target effects of drug candidates.

Aminophosphonate inhibitors of dialkylglycine decarboxylase: structural basis for slow binding inhibition

The kinetics of inhibition of dialkylglycine decarboxylase by five aminophosphonate inhibitors are presented. Two of these [(R)-1-amino-1-methylpropanephosphonate and (S)-1-aminoethanephosphonate] are slow binding inhibitors. The inhibitors follow a mechanism in which a weak complex is rapidly formed, followed by slow isomerization to the tight complex. Here, the tight complexes are bound 10-fold more tightly than the weak, initial complexes. The slow onset inhibition occurs with t(1/2) values of 1.3 and 0.55 min at saturating inhibitor concentrations for the AMPP and S-AEP inhibitors, respectively, while dissociation of these inhibitor complexes occurs with t(1/2) values of 13 and 4.6 min, respectively. The X-ray structures of four of the inhibitors in complex with dialkylglycine decarboxylase have been determined to resolutions ranging from 2.6 to 2.0 A, and refined to R-factors of 14.5-19.5%. These structures show variation in the active site structure with inhibitor side chain size and slow binding character. It is proposed that the slow binding behavior originates in an isomerization from an initial complex in which the PLP pyridine nitrogen-D243 OD2 distance is approximately 2.9 A to one in which it is approximately 2.7 A. The angles that the C-P bonds make with the p orbitals of the aldimine pi system are correlated with the reactivities of the analogous amino acid substrates, suggesting a role for stereoelectronic effects in Schiff base reactivity.

Syntheses and kinetic evaluation of racemic and optically active 2-benzyl-2-methyl-3,4-epoxybutanoic acids as irreversible inactivators for carboxypeptidase A

Racemic and optically active 2-benzyl-2-methyl-3,4-epoxybutanoic acids were synthesized and evaluated as inactivators for carboxypeptidase A, a representative zinc-containing proteolytic enzyme. Only the threo-form of the inactivator is effective and its potency in terms of k(inact)/K(I) value is lower by 42-fold compared with 2-benzyl-3,4-epoxybutanoic acid, indicating that the alpha-methyl group affects adversely in the inactivation contrary to the expectation that it would enhance the inactivation activity of the inhibitor through additional interactions of the methyl group with a small cavity (alpha-methyl hole) present next to the S1' hydrophobic pocket. Of the enantiomeric pair, the inactivator having the (2S,3R)-configuration is more potent than its enantiomer by 44-fold. The observed kinetic results may be rationalized on the basis that the methyl group in the inactivator having the (2R,3S)-configuration experiences the van der Waals repulsive interactions with the bottom of the active site crevice in binding to CPA, casting a doubt on the presence of the so-called alpha-methyl hole at the active site of carboxypeptidase A.

Slow-binding inhibition of gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase by hydrazine analogues

(3-Hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine and methylhydrazine have been found to be potent slow-binding inhibitors of the pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase (GABA-AT). Both compounds follow mechanism A (Morrison, J.F.; Walsh, C. T. Adv. Enzymol. 1988, 61, 201-301) which does not involve formation of a rapidly reversible enzyme-inhibitor complex before the formation of the final tight complex. The rate constant for formation of the enzyme-inhibitor complex determined from the slow-binding kinetics was 2.08 x 10(3) and 1.98 x 10(4) M-1 min-1 for methylhydrazine and (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine, respectively. The rate constant for dissociation of the enzyme--inhibitor complex determined for the slow-binding kinetics was 4.6 x 10(-3) and 5 x 10(-3) min-1, respectively. The inhibition constants calculated from the slow-binding inhibition kinetics are 2.2 microM for methylhydrazine and 0.3 microM for (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine. Reactivation of the inhibited enzyme was not first order, perhaps due to a side reaction of the hydrazine, but was consistent with the results obtained from the slow-binding kinetics. Inhibition constants were calculated from the level of enzyme activity at equilibrium inhibition. These constants are 2.8 and 0.46 microM for methylhydrazine and (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine, respectively, in good agreement with those calculated from the slow-binding inhibition kinetics. 3-Hydrazinopropionate also behaved as a slow-binding inhibitor. However, the dependence of its kinetics on the concentration of inhibitor could not be described by the slow-binding or slow, tight-binding inhibition models. These kinetics could not be described by the tight-binding character of the inhibition because the addition of the competitive inhibitor propionic acid at 100 times its Ki did not affect the shape of the curve for inhibitor concentration dependence. The slow-binding inhibition appeared to require 2-4 molecules of 3-hydrazinopropionate/enzyme. The reactivation of enzyme inhibited by 3-hydrazinopropionate was first order with a rate constant of 6.9 x 10(-3) min-1. Its equilibrium inhibition constant was calculated to be < 20 nM. However, the inhibition constant calculated was dependent on the concentration of inhibitor because of the unusual character discussed above and may be much lower. Only 1 PLP/enzyme dimer reacted with methylhydrazine or (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine, as indicated by Scatchard plots, or with 3-hydrazinopropionate, as shown by a spectrophotometric titration. Slow-binding inhibition does not appear to be the result of a significant enzyme conformational change because there is no change in the tryptophan fluorescence of GABA-AT upon binding either methylhydrazine or 3-hydrazinopropionate. Implications for the design of hydrazine inhibitors of GABA-AT are discussed.

Time-dependent inhibition of gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase, by 3-hydroxybenzylhydrazine

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) aminotransferase is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of GABA into succinic semialdehyde. Hydrazine analogues have long been known to act as inactivators of PLP-dependent enzymes, including GABA aminotransferase, however, no studies of the molecular mechanism of inactivation of PLP-dependent enzymes by hydrazines have been reported. 3-Hydroxybenzylhydrazine is shown to be a potent in vitro time-dependent inhibitor of pig brain GABA aminotransferase. UV-visible and 1H NMR studies, both with GABA aminotransferase and with PLP as a chemical model for the enzyme-catalyzed reaction, indicate that 3-hydroxybenzylhydrazine reacts both enzymatically and nonenzymatically to form the 3-hydroxybenzylhydrazone of PLP without tautomerization.

Peptide amidation in an invertebrate: purification, characterization, and inhibition of peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase from the heads of honeybees (Apis mellifera)

Peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), an enzyme involved in formation of neuropeptides with a C-terminal amide functionality in mammals and amphibians, was isolated from the head of an invertebrate, the honeybee, Apis mellifera, and purified 220-fold in 1% overall yield. The bee PHM has a molecular weight of 71,000, is membrane associated but can be solubilized with a detergent (n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside), and cross-reacts with rabbit antibodies generated toward bacterially expressed rat PHM. In the presence of copper, oxygen, and ascorbic acid, the enzyme hydroxylates model tripeptides such as dansyl-L-Phe-L-Phe-Gly on the methylene carbon of the glycine residue with retention of configuration. Using this tripeptide as substrate, the Km is 1.7 microM and the Vmax is 2.3 nmol.micrograms-1.h-1. Treatment of the insect PHM with D-Phe-L-Phe-D-vinylglycine, a substrate analogue and mechanism-based inactivator of PHM from pig pituitary, results in irreversible loss of activity. The diastereomeric analogue, D-Phe-L-Phe-L-vinylglycine, is only a competitive inhibitor (IC50 = 320 microM).