title: Mechanism-based inactivation of serine transhydroxymethylases by D-fluoroalanine and related amino acids.
abstract: Serine transhydroxymethylase, from lamb or rabbit liver, is known to catalyze slow transamination of D-alanine, but not of L-amino acids, in a tetrahydrofolate-independent reaction. Both enzymes will process the D-isomer of beta-fluoroalanine for alpha, beta-elimination of HF to yield an aminoacrylate-pyridoxal-P-enzyme intermediate. This intermediate partitions between harmless hydrolysis to pyruvate, NH4+, and active enzyme-pyridoxal-P (catalytic turnover) and suicidal enzyme alkylation by covalent modification with an average partition ratio of 40-60 turnovers/inactivation event/monomer unit of this tetrameric enzyme. Enzyme inactivation occurs with stoichiometric incorporation of radioactive label from D-[1,2-14C]fluoroalanine. Titration of enzymic cysteinyl --SH groups with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) indicates loss of 1 --SH group on inactivation. Acid hydrolysis of radioactive-inactive enzyme confirms cysteine residue modification. Treatment of inactive enzyme with 6 M urea, then KBH4, followed by acid hydrolysis yields two radioactive compounds, lanthionine and S-carboxyhydroxyethylcysteine, in about equal amounts. The addition of tetrahydrofolate stimulates both pyruvate production and inactivation to equal extents with about a 200-fold rate acceleration at 0.5 mM tetrahydrofolate to turnover numbers of approximately 120 min-1. The Km for D-fluoroalanine is high, 10-60 mM, and this low substrate affinity suggests D-fluoroalanine will not be a useful in vivo agent for selective inactivation of liver cell serine transhydroxymethylases.
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D003903:Deuterium; D012696:Glycine Hydroxymethyltransferase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D007700:Kinetics; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D011817:Rabbits; D012756:Sheep; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014166:Transferases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: C007742:3-fluoroalanine; D003903:Deuterium; D014166:Transferases; D012696:Glycine Hydroxymethyltransferase; D000409:Alanine