title: Inhibition of tyrosine phenol-lyase from Citrobacter freundii by 2-azatyrosine and 3-azatyrosine.
abstract: The interactions of 2-azatyrosine and 3-azatyrosine with tyrosine phenol-lyase (TPL) from Citrobacter freundii have been examined. 2-Aza-DL-tyrosine and 3-aza-DL-tyrosine were synthesized by standard methods of amino acid synthesis, while the L-isomers were prepared from 3-hydroxypyridine and 2-hydroxypyridine, respectively, with TPL (Watkins, E. B., and Phillips, R. S. (2001) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 11, 2099-2100). 3-Azatyrosine was examined as a potential transition state analogue inhibitor of TPL. Both compounds were found to be competitive inhibitors of TPL, with K(i) values of 3.4 mM and 135 microM for 3- and 2-aza-L-tyrosine, respectively. Thus, 3-azatyrosine does not act as a transition state analogue, possibly due to the lack of tetrahedral geometry at C-1. However, 2-aza-L-tyrosine is the most potent competitive inhibitor of TPL found to date. The K(i) value of 2-aza-L-tyrosine is half that of 2-aza-DL-tyrosine, indicating that the D-enantiomer is inactive as an inhibitor. Neither azatyrosine isomer was shown to be a substrate for beta-elimination, based on coupled assays with lactate dehydrogenase and on HPLC measurements. Both isomers of azatyrosine form equilibrium mixtures of external aldimine and quinonoid intermediates when they bind to TPL. However, 2-azatyrosine reacts about 10-fold faster to form a quinonoid intermediate than does 3-azatyrosine. Since 2-azatyrosine is in the zwitterion or phenolate ion form at all the pH values examined, the strong binding of this compound suggests that L-tyrosine may be bound to the active site of TPL as the phenolate anion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Center for Metalloenzyme Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2556, USA.
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D000409:Alanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016971:Citrobacter freundii / Q000201:enzymology*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D015394:Molecular Structure; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D014447:Tyrosine Phenol-Lyase / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; C011870:beta-(5-hydroxy-2-pyridyl)alanine; D014447:Tyrosine Phenol-Lyase; D000409:Alanine