Fluorescence Studies on the Interaction between Pyridoxal Phosphate Enzymes

Binding of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate to the heme protein human cystathionine beta-synthase

Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzyme, catalyzes the condensation of serine and homocysteine to form cystathionine. Mammalian CBS was recently shown to be a heme protein. While the role of heme in CBS is unknown, catalysis by CBS can be explained solely by participation of PLP in the reaction mechanism. In this study, treatment of CBS with sodium borohydride selectively reduced the Schiff base but did not affect the heme. Purification and sequencing of the PLP-cross-linked peptide from a trypsin digest of the reduced enzyme revealed the evolutionarily conserved Lys119 to be the residue forming the Schiff base. Serine and hydroxylamine form an alpha-aminoacrylate and an oxime with PLP in CBS, respectively. The sulfhydryl-containing substrate, homocysteine, disturbs the heme environment but does not interact with PLP. In contrast to other PLP-dependent enzymes, CBS emits no PLP-related fluorescence when excited at 296 or 330 nm. PLP but not heme dissociates from the enzyme in the presence of hydroxylamine. The dissociation of PLP is a multistage process involving a short approximately 500 s lag phase, followed by a rapid inactivation and a slower PLP-oxime formation. PLP-free CBS exhibits a decrease of secondary structure as well as loss of CBS activity that can be only partially restored by PLP. This study constitutes the first comprehensive investigation of PLP interaction with a heme protein.

Effector binding sites in plasma amine oxidase

The interaction between plasma amine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.6) and chlorpromazine was studied by spectroscopic methods. The binding of chlorpromazine to the enzyme is paralleled by an increase in the emission anisotropy of the ligand. Titration of the enzyme with chlorpromazine using fluorescence methods revealed the presence of an heterogeneous population of binding sites characterized by the dissociation constants K1 = 7.4 muM and K2 = 35 muM. A kinetic analysis showed that a change in V and Km is induced by chlorpromazine. The increase in V (5.7 fold) is significant and cannot be attributed to modifications in the chemical structure of the effector chlorpromazine. The results are consistent with the concept that the binding of the effector induces a change in the conformation of the enzyme which is transmitted to the catalytic site.