Itemizing enzyme ligand interactions in native and and half-active hybrid aspartate transaminase to probe site-site relationships

Porcine cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase reconstituted with [4'-13C]pyridoxal phosphate. pH- and ligand-induced changes of the coenzyme observed by 13C NMR spectroscopy

Apoenzyme samples of aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) purified from the cytosolic fraction of pig heart were reconstituted with [4'-13C]pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (pyridoxal-P). The 13C NMR spectra of AspAT samples thus generated established the chemical shift of 165.3 ppm for C4' of the coenzyme bound as an internal aldimine with lysine 258 of the enzyme at pH 5. In the absence of ligands the chemical shift of C4' was shown to be pH dependent, shifting 5 ppm upfield to a constant value of 160.2 ppm above pH 8, the resulting pKa of 6.3 in agreement with spectrophotometric titrations. The addition of the competitive inhibitor succinate to the internal aldimine raises the pKa of the imine to 7.8, consistent with the theory of charge neutralization in the active site. In the presence of saturating concentrations of 2-methylaspartic acid the C4' signal of the coenzyme was shown to be invariant with pH and located at 162.7 ppm, midway between the observed chemical shifts of the protonated and unprotonated forms of the internal aldimine. The intermediate chemical shift of the external aldimine complex is thought to reflect the observation of an equilibrium mixture composed of roughly equal populations of the protonated ketoenamine and a dipolar anion species, corresponding to their respective spectral bands at 430 and 360-370 nm. Conversion to the pyridoxamine form was accomplished via reaction of the internal aldimine with L-cysteinesulfinate or by reduction with sodium borohydride, and the resulting C4' chemical shifts were identified by difference spectroscopy. Finally, the line widths of the C4' resonance under the various conditions were measured and qualitatively compared. The results are discussed in terms of the current mechanism and molecular models of the active site of AspAT.

Correlation of polarized absorption spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction studies of crystalline cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase of pig hearts

Absorption spectra of large, well-formed crystals of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase have been recorded using plane polarized light. Making use of measurements of crystal thickness we have calculated extinction coefficients with the electric vector of the light parallel to both the a and c axes of the crystals of the enzyme in space group P2(1)2(1)2(1). The spectra have been resolved into components with lognormal distribution curves and the resulting integrated intensities have been used to calculate the c/a polarization ratios for the absorption bands of the bound co-enzyme pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. From the polarization ratio and the co-ordinates of the co-enzyme ring atoms, provided by X-ray crystallography, we have assigned principal molecular directions of the transition dipole moment within the plane of the co-enzyme ring. Of two possible orientations, only one predicts the correct crystal extinction coefficients for the 436 nm band. In this orientation, when viewed from the B face of the ring (i.e. looking into the active site of the enzyme), the transition moment is related to the N-1-C-4 axis of the ring by counterclockwise rotation by 27 degrees. A tentative assignment of the principal molecular directions of the transition moment has also been made for the 368 nm band of the high pH form of the enzyme. In each case, the plane of the co-enzyme ring was located from the atomic co-ordinates of the ring atoms and of those atoms attached directly to the ring. The projection of the N-1 to C-4 axis on to this plane was used to evaluate the orientation of the transition moment, which was presumed to lie precisely within the plane of the ring. We have tilted this plane systematically to evaluate the error in transition moment direction resulting from uncertainties in the atomic co-ordinates. When 2-methylaspartate is diffused into the crystals if forms a Schiff base with the co-enzyme in which the ring has tilted about 32 degrees from its original position and the polarization ratio of the 436 nm band drops from 1.6 in the free enzyme to about 0.38. On the assumption that the orientation of the transition moment within the co-enzyme does not change during this rotation, this value of the polarization ratio is within experimental error of that predicted from X-ray structures on the two forms. The 2-methylaspartate binds only to subunit 1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Quantitative description of absorption spectra of a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme using lognormal distribution curves

Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase of pig hearts have been analyzed by resolution with lognormal distribution curves. These have been compared with spectra of reference Schiff bases of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Spectra of the free enzyme in two different states of protonation and of complexes with monoanions, dicarboxylates, the substrates L-glutamate, L-aspartate, and L-erythro-3-hydroxyaspartate, and the quasi-substrate 2-methylaspartate have been analyzed. Relative amounts of three tautomeric species have been estimated, as have amounts of various enzyme-substrate intermediates. Bandshape parameters which can be used as a guide to analysis of spectra of other pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes are tabulated. Some formation constants and pKa values, which were evaluated at the same time as the spectra of the complexes, are also reported.

Measurement of aminotransferases: Part 1. Aspartate aminotransferase

Aminotransferases are ubiquitous enzymes of mammalian cells and several are of important diagnostic use. The application of aspartate aminotransferase activity measurements in serum from individuals suffering from myocardial infarction brought about a new dimension in clinical laboratory testing in the 1950s. This review focuses on measurement techniques for aspartate aminotransferase and their application (a subsequent article will review other aminotransferases). Assay techniques measuring enzyme activity are direct spectrophotometric measurements, manometric techniques, assays using dye substances, coupled enzyme techniques, and radiometric procedures. Of these procedures, the one employing malate dehydrogenase and NADH is the most important and is covered in particular detail. The estimation of the mitochondrial isoenzyme of aspartate aminotransferase is also of clinical interest, in particular for estimating severity of disease or in specific applications (e.g., chronic alcoholism). Methods reviewed for estimation of this enzyme are electrophoresis, chromatography, differential kinetic behavior, and immunochemical separation. Determination of the enzyme protein by techniques independent of its catalytic activity are also reviewed.

Crystalline aspartate aminotransferase: lattice-induced functional asymmetry of the two subunits

The enzymic activity of crystalline mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (L-aspartate:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC 2.6.1.1) was determined in suspensions of noncrosslinked microcrystals in 30% (wt/vol) polyethylene glycol. The crystals (average dimensions, 22 x 5 x 0.8 micron) were small enough to preclude diffusional rate limitation. They had the same habit as the triclinic crystals used for the determination of the spatial structure of the enzyme by x-ray crystallographic analysis [Ford, G. C., Eichele, G., and Jansonius, J. N. (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77, 2559-2563]. Determination of the Michaelis-Menten parameters showed that the packing of the enzyme dimer into the crystal lattice not only decreases its activity but also induces a functional nonequivalence of the two subunits that behave identically in solution. The crystalline enzyme possesses a high-affinity subunit with Km values similar to those of the enzyme in solution (K'm = 0.5 mM for aspartate and 1.2 mM for 2-oxoglutarate) and a low-affinity subunit (K'm = 5.5 mM and 14.5 mM, respectively). The catalytic activity of the high-affinity subunit is 3% and that of the low-affinity subunit is 15% of the activity of the enzyme in solution. The functional asymmetry of the crystalline enzyme dimer could also be demonstrated by selective mechanism-based modification of either type of active sites. In view of the apparently identical conformation of the two subunits in the crystalline enzyme, its decreased catalytic efficiency and its functional asymmetry likely are due to constraints exerted by the crystal lattice on the conformational adaptability of the two subunits. In triclinic crystals the two subunits of the enzyme dimer have dissimilar lattice contacts.

Three-dimensional structure of a pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent enzyme, mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase

X-ray diffraction studies to 2.8-A resolution have yielded the three-dimensional structure of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (L-aspartate:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC 2.6.1.1), an isologous alpha 2 dimer (Mr = 2 x 45,000). The subunits are rich in secondary structure and contain two domains, one of which anchors the coenzyme, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. Each active site lies between the subunits and is composed of residues from both of them.

Fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of effects of ligands on trifluoroacetonylated supernatant aspartate transaminase

The selective reaction of Cys-45 and -82, on the one hand, and Cys-390, on the other, with 3-bromo-1,1,1-trifluoropropanone allows for the probing of these regions of aspartate transaminase in the absence and in the presence of enzymatic ligands by 19F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The 19F chemical shifts of the resonance lines differ for the three cysteines and so does their behavior with pH changes. The resonance signals with chemical shifts at 615 and 800 Hz upfield from trifluoroacetic acid correspond to modified cysteine-82 and -45 and have tentatively been assigned in this order. The 615-Hz resonance is affected by pH changes that fit best the influence of a single ionizing residue. On the 800-Hz line, the pH changes appear to be the influence of a minimum of two ionizing residues. The 19F resonance from modified Cys-390 is pH independent in the pH range 5-9 for the pyridoxal phosphate, pyridoxamine phosphate, and apoenzyme forms of the enzyme. Occupation of the active site by a quasi-enzyme-substrate complex, trifluoromethionine pyridoxyl phosphate, affects the 19F chemical shift of modified Cys-390, making it pH dependent with a pK value of 8.4. The 19F NMR properties of the pyridoxal form of Cys-390-modified enzyme can be used to monitor some ligand interactions with the active-center region. Addition of alpha-ketoglutarate or succinate to the ketone labeled enzyme causes a decrease in the resonance line width, and titrations show that this procedure is a good method with which to study the affinity of the enzyme for these ligands. The interpretation of the chemical shift and line-width characteristics of the 19F resonance arising from Cys-390 are most consistent with a model in which the region around this residue seems to be affected by conformational changes arising from substrate binding to the active-center subsites in productive (covalent) manner. Nonproductive complexes which possess fast ligand-protein exchange, such as those between alpha-ketoglutarate or succinate with the pyridoxal phosphate form of the enzyme, may result only in a greater degree of freedom for Cys-390.