title: Differences in the chemical and catalytic characteristics of two crystallographically 'identical' enzyme catalytic sites. Characterization of actinidin and papain by a combination of pH-dependent substrate catalysis kinetics and reactivity probe studies targeted on the catalytic-site thiol group and its immediate microenvironment.
abstract: The characteristics of actinidin (EC 3.4.22.14) and papain (EC 3.4.22.2), two cysteine proteinases whose catalytic-site regions appear to superimpose to a degree that approaches atomic co-ordinate accuracy of both crystal structures, were evaluated by determining (a) the pH-dependence in acid media of the acylation process of the catalytic act (k+2/Ks) using N alpha-benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide (L-Bz-Arg-Nan) as substrate and (b) the sensitivity of the reactivity of the catalytic-site thiol group and its pH-dependence to structural change in small, thiol-specific, two-protonic-state reactivity probes (2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide and methyl 2-pyridyl disulphide) where enzyme-probe contacts should be restricted to areas close to the catalytic site. Distortion of the catalytic sites of the two enzymes at pH less than 4 was evaluated over time-scales appropriate for both stopped-flow reactivity probe kinetics (less than or equal to 1-2 s) and steady-state substrate catalysis kinetics (3-5 min) by using the 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide monocation as a titrant for non-distorted catalytic sites. This permitted a lower pH limit to be defined for valid kinetic analysis of both types. The behaviour of the enzymes at pH less than 4 requires a kinetic model in which the apparently biomolecular reaction of enzyme with probe reagent is separated from the process leading to loss of conformational integrity by a potentially reversible step. The acylation of actinidin with L-Bz-Arg-Nan in acidic media occurs in two protonic states, one produced by raising the pH across pKa less than 4 which probably characterizes the formation of -S-/-ImH+ ion pair (pKa approx. 3) and the other, of higher reactivity, produced by raising the pH across pKa 5.5, which may characterize rearrangement of catalytic-site geometry. The pH-dependence of the acylation of papain by L-Bz-Arg-Nan is quite different and is not influenced by protonic dissociation with pKa values in the range 5-6. The earlier conclusion that the acylation of papain depends on two protonic dissociations each with pKa approx. 4 was confirmed. This argument is now more firmly based because titration with 2,2'-dipyridyl disulphide permits the loss of conformational integrity to be taken into account in the analysis of the kinetic data at very low pH. Methyl 2-pyridyl disulphide was synthesized by reaction of pyridine-2-thione with methyl methanethiolsulphonate and its pKa at I = 0.1 was determined by spectral analysis at 307 nm to be 2.8.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, University of London, U.K.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salih
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Malthouse
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kowlessur
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Driscoll
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brocklehurst
mesh_terms: D000215:Acylation; D001586:Benzoylarginine Nitroanilide / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D003461:Crystallography; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D010206:Papain / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011725:Pyridines / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011725:Pyridines; D001586:Benzoylarginine Nitroanilide; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C018745:actinidain; D010206:Papain