title: Effects of various imidazole ligands on heme conformation in endothelial nitric oxide synthase.
abstract: We have evaluated the influence of a series of substituted imidazoles on the heme structure of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Optical, MCD, and EPR spectra reveal widely differing effects on heme spin state and geometry. 1-Substituted imidazoles always yield low-spin heme complexes, but the size of the 2- and 4-substituent influences their structural effects on the heme. Methyl substituents lead to low-spin complexes while the bulky phenyl group yields high-spin complexes. The only exception to this behavior is provided by 2-aminoimidazole. Although this compound has three functional groups which can serve as an axial ligand to the heme, its binding to eNOS leads to a pure high-spin complex. This result can only be interpreted as due to a direct binding of 2-aminoimidazole to the guanidine binding subdomain of L-arginine. MCD spectra also imply that an O-ligand is present in the low-spin resting eNOS, while EPR data reveal the presence of two low-spin heme complexes in resting eNOS and its imidazole complexes. EPR also distinguishes four different high-spin forms of eNOS generated by different imidazole analogues. This series of ligands promises to be useful in probing the subtle structural difference among the active sites of three NOS isozymes and in developing selective inhibitors to these important enzymes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston 77030, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Berka
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000201:enzymology*; D006418:Heme / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008024:Ligands; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation / Q000187:drug effects*; D013053:Spectrophotometry
chemical_list: D007093:Imidazoles; D008024:Ligands; D006418:Heme; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase