title: Interaction and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase from Electrophorus electricus by nitrosamines.
abstract: Kinetic analysis has shown that dimethylnitrosamine, dipropylnitrosamine, dibutylnitrosamine, and diphenylnitrosamine initially act as reversible competitive inhibitors with respect to the substrate, acetylthiocholine chloride. The inhibitor constants Ki vary from 21-30 microM for the aliphatic nitrosamines to 8.2 microM for the aromatic diphenylnitrosamine. With time they act as irreversible covalent inhibitors with dimethylnitrosamine producing 82% inactivation after 40 min. Pseudo-first-order kinetics are observed with the rate constant being proportional to the concentration of the nitrosamine and the order of reaction being equal to one. Fluorometry, gel chromatography, and equilibrium dialysis have been used to study the binding of the nitrosamines with acetylcholinesterase. Scatchard analysis indicates that dimethyl-, dipropyl-, and dibutylnitrosamine have a weaker affinity for the enzyme (Kd 5.6-8.08 microM) compared to diphenylnitrosamine (Kd 2.32 microM). In all cases the number of binding sites was four.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shuttleworth
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: de Villiers
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Whiteley
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D004593:Electrophorus / Q000502:physiology; D007700:Kinetics; D009602:Nitrosamines / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011485:Protein Binding; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D009602:Nitrosamines; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase