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C Walsh

Publications and source records attributed to C Walsh.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Cytochrome P-450 isozyme 1 from phenobarbital-induced rat liver: purification, characterization, and interactions with metyrapone and cytochrome b5.

Cytochrome P-450 isozyme 1 (PB-1) (Mr congruent to 53 000) was purified to apparent homogeneity from phenobarbital (PB)-induced rat liver microsomes, and its spectral, structural, immunochemical, and catalytic properties were determined. PB-1, present in significant amounts in uninduced rat liver microsomes, is induced approximately 2-4-fold by phenobarbital, as compared to the greater than 30-fold induction typical of the major PB isozymes characterized previously. PB-1 was distinguished from the major PB-induced isozymes PB-4 and PB-5 [Waxman, D. J., & Walsh, C. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 10446-10457] by the absence of a Fe2+-metyrapone P446 complex, by its unique NH2-terminal sequence and distinct peptide maps, by the lack of immuno-cross-reactivity to PB-4, and by its characteristic substrate-specificity profile. Metyrapone effected a saturable enhancement of several PB-1-catalyzed reactions in the reconstituted system [Km(metyrapone) congruent to 200 microM], which varied in magnitude with the substrate, with a maximal stimulation of 5-8-fold in the case of acetanilide 4-hydroxylation. That metyrapone enhanced the corresponding microsomal activities only in cases where the metyrapone-sensitive PB-4 did not catalyze the same reaction at significant rates suggested that PB-1 is probably responsible for the substrate-dependent stimulatory effects of metyrapone on microsomal monooxygenations. In contrast to PB-4 and PB-5, PB-1 was characterized by a marked, but not absolute, dependence on cytochrome b5 (b5) for catalytic activity, with 4-7-fold stimulations typically effected by inclusion of stoichiometric b5 in the reconstituted system. That these b5-stimulations were lipid dependent and were abolished with specific proteolytic fragments lacking b5's COOH-terminal membranous segment evidenced the importance of this segment for efficient, b5-mediated electron transfer to P-450 PB-1 in the reconstituted monooxygenase system.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Generation of cat retinal ganglion cells in relation to central pathways.

The ganglion cells of the cat retina form classes distinguishable in terms of perikaryal size, dendritic morphology and functional properties. Further, the axons differ in their diameters, patterns of chiasmatic crossing and in their central connections. Here we define, by 3H-thymidine autoradiography, the order of production of cells of each class and relate the order of the 'birthdates' to the known axonal pathways. The ganglion cell classes are produced in broad waves, which overlap as cells are produced first for central then for peripheral retina. Medium-sized cells are produced before the largest cells, and small ganglion cells are produced throughout the period of cell generation. This sequence of cell production relates to the orderly arrangement of axons in the optic tract, and can also be related to the rules of chiasmatic crossing observed for each ganglion cell class.

Animals↗

Purification and properties of dihydroorotate oxidase from Crithidia fasciculata and Trypanosoma brucei.

Dihydroorotate oxidases have been highly purified from the parasitic protozoa Crithidia fasciculata and Trypanosoma brucei. The Crithidia enzyme was purified 4200-fold from a crude soluble protein extract in four steps. The protein is a dimer as judged from the native (Mr 60 000) and subunit (Mr 32 700) molecular weights. The purified enzyme exhibits a characteristic flavin electronic spectrum, and each mole of native dimer contains 1.0 mol of tightly bound flavin mononucleotide. Under anaerobic conditions, the flavin chromophore is reduced upon addition of L-dihydroorotate. In air-saturated buffer, the enzyme catalyzes the conversion of L-dihydroorotate to orotate with concomitant reduction of equimolar amounts of molecular oxygen to hydrogen peroxide. A variety of low molecular weight oxidants (e.g., quinones or ferricyanide) may replace oxygen as the electron acceptor during catalysis. The dihydroorotate oxidase of T. brucei was purified 1400-fold to apparent homogeneity by a highly similar isolation procedure. The estimated native (Mr 62 000) and subunit (Mr 30 500) molecular weights indicated a dimeric protein comparable in size to the enzyme from Crithidia. These results suggest that dihydroorotate oxidation is mediated by flavoprotein oxidases in these parasitic protozoa rather than by pterin-linked hydroxylases as recently proposed [Kidder, G. W., & Nolan, L.L. (1973) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 53, 929-936; Gutteridge, W. E., Dave, D., & Richards, W. H. G. (1979) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 582, 390-401].

Animals↗

Paramagnetic centers in the nickel-containing, deazaflavin-reducing hydrogenase from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum.

Two hydrogenases from the methanogenic bacterium Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum strain DeltaH have been purified and contain tightly bound nickel as well as the anticipated iron/sulfur atoms with a fixed ratio of 15-20 iron atoms per nickel. One hydrogenase reduces the 8-hydroxy-5-deazaflavin coenzyme factor 420 (F(420)), whereas the other has been purified as a methyl viologen-reducing hydrogenase. Both enzymes possess an EPR signal attributed to paramagnetic nickel as demonstrated by hyperfine coupling in (61)Ni-containing hydrogenases. Comparison to model compounds suggests a nickel(III) oxidation state in the inactive forms of these aerobically purified enzymes. Loss of the nickel(III) signal accompanies reductive activation but is not kinetically correlated with regain of high specific activity. On replacement of H(2) by argon in the gas phase over reduced, active, F(420)-reducing enzyme, several EPR signals appear, including a signal at g = 2.004 that is probably enzyme-bound FADH semiquinone, two signals at g = 2.140 and 2.196 that reflect a new form of paramagnetic nickel(III), and also a signal at g = 2.036 that may be an iron signal. The F(420)-reducing hydrogenase in the second paramagnetic nickel form is either itself active or in facile equilibrium with active enzyme. The size of the signal at g = 2.036 may correlate with the degree of activation of the enzyme. In contrast to the hydrogenase of Clostridium pasteurianum [Erbes, D. L., Burris, R. H. & Orme-Johnson, W. H. (1975) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 72, 4795-4799], which appears to use only iron/sulfur prosthetic groups and which reacts with one-electron-transfer agents, this methanogen hydrogenase seems to utilize iron, nickel, and flavin redox sites and to reduce obligate one-electron (viologen) and two-electron (deazaflavin) oxidants.

Coenzymes↗

Simultaneous reconstitution of Escherichia coli membrane vesicles with D-lactate and D-amino acid dehydrogenases.

Purified preparations of D-amino acid dehydrogenase [Olsiewski, P.J., Kaczorowski, G. J., & Walsh, C. T. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 225, 4487] and D-lactate dehydrogenase [Kohn, L.D., & Kaback, H.R. (1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 7012] bind independently to right-side-out and inverted Escherichia coli vesicles and to phosphatidylcholine liposomes without detectable competition. The reconstituted vesicles catalyze D-lactate- and D-alanine-dependent respiration (O2 uptake), proton translocation, and proton/lactose symport. The enzymes do not share common sites of association on either face of the E. coli membrane, and binding of both enzymes to the bilayer appears to be due to nonspecific affinity for the surface rather than specific binding to proteinaceous receptors. Each enzyme, however, appears to reduce a common proton translocating step in the membrane-bound respiratory chain, and substrate-derived electrons are transferred through a common rate-determining redox component that precedes the site of proton translocation. The results suggest that although binding is nonspecific, there is a common site for proton translocation in the membrane between the flavin-linked dehydrogenases and the cytochromes and that this site is accessible by distinct routes of electron transfer from primary dehydrogenases on either surface of the membrane.

Biological Transport↗

Phenobarbital-induced rat liver cytochrome P-450. Purification and characterization of two closely related isozymic forms.

The "major" phenobarbital (PB)-induced cytochrome P-450 species present in livers of male Sprague-Dawley rats was resolved into two catalytically active heme-protein fractions on diethylaminoethyl cellulose. The two species, P-450 PB-4 (Mr = 49,000) and P-450 PB-5 (Mr = 51,000), were purified to homogeneity, and their chromatographic, spectral, catalytic, and structural properties were compared. P-450 BP-5 eluted earlier on hydroxylapatite and exhibited a more significant cholate-induced Type I spectral shift than P-450 BP-4. Very similar substrate specificity profiles were evident when the two isozymes were reconstituted with lipid, cytochrome P-450 reductase, and cytochrome b5 for oxidative metabolism of several xenobiotics, although P-450 PB-4 exhibited a higher specific catalytic activity (greater than or equal to 5-fold) with all substrates tested. Marked differences were also observed in the sensitivities of both isozymes to several P-450 inhibitors. In addition, P-450 PB-4 was greater than or equal to 10-fold more susceptible than P-450 PB-5 to suicide inactivation by two allyl-containing compounds, allylisopropylacetamide and secobarbital, providing a possible explanation of the previously observed partial inactivation by such compounds of phenobarbital-induced P-450 activity in liver microsomes. One-dimensional peptide maps of the two isoenzymes were highly similar. Antibody raised against purified Long Evans rat liver P-450b (Thomas, P. E., Korzeniowski, D., Ryan, D., and Levin, W. (1979) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 192, 524-532) cross-reacted with P-450 PB-4 and P-450 PB-5. NH2-terminal sequence analysis demonstrated that the first 31 residues of both PB-4 and PB-5 were identical. These sequences indicated that a highly hydrophobic terminal segment, observed previously for other P-450s as well, is followed by a cluster of basic residues, suggesting that the NH2-terminal portion of these P-450s might be involved in membrane anchoring. Although it is unclear whether P-450 PB-4 and P-450 PB-5 are separate gene products or are related by post-translational modifications, this present demonstration of closely related isozymic forms suggests the possible added complexity of microheterogeneity for this family of microsomal monooxygenases.

Animals↗

Stereochemical studies on the hydration of monofluorofumarate and 2,3-difluorofumarate by fumarase.

Stereochemical and product analyses have been studied in our continuing work on the bioprocessing of fluorinated substrate analogues. The hydration pathways of the fumarase-catalyzed reaction on fluorofumarate lead to a product distribution of L-threo-beta-fluoromalate to oxalacetate of 1 to 16. The beta-fluoromalate product has not been previously reported. Oxalacetate formation from the initial product, alpha-fluoromalate, an alpha-fluorohydrin, proceeds by way of a direct nonenzymic decomposition path (as opposed to collapse to the enol of oxalacetate with subsequent tautomerization). Difluorofumarate is hydrated to an alpha-fluorohydrin, alpha, beta-difluoromalate, which decomposes to 3(S)-fluorooxalacetate trapped by in situ malate dehydrogenase mediated reduction to L-threo-beta-fluoromalate (2R,3S). L-threo-Fluoro[2-3H]-malate is a slow substrate for the reverse reaction as measured by labilization of 3H while the erythro isomer is barely detectable. The pathways responsible for this volatilization are discussed. Acetylenedicarboxylate hydration stereochemistry was also determined where the initial product of the reaction, the enol of oxalacetate, tautomerized and was trapped by enzymic reduction to L-malate.

Fumarate Hydratase↗

Mechanistic studies on cyclohexanone oxygenase.

The bacterial flavoprotein monooxygenase carries out an oxygen insertion reaction on cyclohexanone, with ring expansion to form the seven-membered cyclic product epsilon-caprolactone, a transformation quite distinct from the phenol leads to catechol transformation carried out by the bacterial flavoprotein aromatic hydroxylases. Cyclohexanone oxygenase catalysis involves the four-electron of O2 at the expense of a two-electron oxidation of NADPH, concomitant with a two-electron oxidation of cyclohexanone to epsilon-caprolactone. NADPH oxidase activity is fully coupled with oxygen transfer to substrate. Steady-state kinetic assays demonstrate a ter-ter mechanism for this enzyme. Pre-steady-state kinetic assays demonstrate the participation of a 4a-hydroperoxyflavin intermediate during catalysis. In addition to its ketolactonizing activity, cyclohexanone oxygenase carries out S-oxygenation of thiane to thiane 1-oxide, a reaction which represents a nucleophilic displacement by the sulfur upon the terminal oxygen of the hydroperoxide. This is in contrast to cyclohexanone oxygenations where the flavin hydroperoxide acts as a nucleophile. In addition, a stable apoenzyme form is accessible and can be reconstituted with various FAD analogues with up to 100% recovery of enzyme activity. The accumulated results presented here support a Baeyer-Villiger rearrangement mechanism for the enzymatic oxygenation of cyclohexanone.

Acinetobacter↗

Studies on the chirality of sulfoxidation catalyzed by bacterial flavoenzyme cyclohexanone monooxygenase and hog liver flavin adenine dinucleotide containing monooxygenase.

The stereochemical outcome of oxygen transfer to the sulfur moiety of aryl alkyl sulfides catalyzed by two flavoenzyme monooxygenases has been determined by resolution of sulfoxide product enantionmers on a high-pressure liquid chromatography column [Pirkle, W. H., Finn, J. M. Schreiner, J. L., & Hamper, B. C. (1981) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 103, 3964-3966] containing a 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl-D-phenylglycine chiral stationary phase. With 4-tolyl ethyl sulfide as substrate, cyclohexanone monooxygenase from Acinetobacter produces predominantly the (S)-(-)-sulfoxide (82% S, 18% R), a modest enantioselectivity. In contrast, the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) containing a monooxygenase purified from hog liver microsomes carries out sulfoxidation to yield the (R)-(+)-sulfoxide enantiomer as major product (95% R, 5% S). The presence of the minor sulfoxide enantiomer in each case appears to be due to incomplete chiral processing by each enzyme and not to a competing, achiral, nonenzymic sulfoxidation process. The mammalian FAD-containing monooxygenase also oxygenates the divalent sulfur of the antiarthritic drug sulindac sulfide to yield a single dextrorotatory isomer of the sulfoxide prodrug. Analysis of the chiral outcome of sulfoxidation catalyzed by rat liver microsomes indicated that phenobarbital treatment increases the capacity for S-(-)-oxygenation of 4-tolyl ethyl sulfide, suggesting that the phenobarbital-induced cytochrome P-450 isoenzymes catalyze formation of the (S)-(-)-sulfoxide preferentially, a surmise validated in the following paper [Waxman, D. J., Light, D. R., & Walsh, C. (1982) Biochemistry (following paper in this issue)]. With sulindac sulfide as substrate, though, both control and phenobarbital-induced microsomes catalyze sulfoxidation to yield the same (+)-sulfoxide enantiomer generated by the purified FAD-containing monoxygenase, suggesting a low degree of participation by the cytochrome P-450 isozymes in sulfoxidation of this compound.

Acinetobacter↗

Chiral sulfoxidations catalyzed by rat liver cytochromes P-450.

The chirality of sulfoxidation catalyzed by two cytochrome P-450 isozymes purified from phenobarbital-induced rat liver was studied by using 4-tolyl ethyl sulfide as a substrate. Both P-450 isoenzymes, termed PB-1 and PB-4, when reconstituted with purified rat liver NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and cytochrome b5, generated 4-tolyl ethyl sulfoxide which was predominantly in the S-(-) configuration. In the case of isozyme PB-1, the sulfoxide was 79 +/- 1% S and was formed with a turnover of 41 min-1; with isoenzyme PB-4, sulfoxide, 84 +/- 1%, S, was formed at 31 min-1. In addition, PB-1-1 catalyzed oxygen transfer to the p-methyl group of the sulfide substrates to yield the (ethylthio)benzyl alcohol with a turnover of 6.8 min-1, corresponding to a sulfur:carbon oxygenation partition ratio of 6:1. Isozyme PB-4 was approximately 80-fold less efficient at catalyzing this carbon hydroxylation, giving a sulfur:carbon ratio of approximately 375:1. In the absence of cytochrome b5, turnover numbers were reduced to approximately 15% and 67% of the above values for PB-1 and PB-4, respectively, with no change in sulfoxide chirality. This fact, and the lack of improvement in chirality upon inclusion of scavengers for reactive oxygen species, suggests that the approximately 79-84% chirality observed for the sulfoxide product reflects an intrinsic lack of complete stereospecificity in these cytochrome P-450 catalyzed reactions. The enantiomeric composition of 4-tolyl ethyl sulfoxide generated in rat liver microsomal incubations was shown to reflect the relative contribution of cytochrome P-450 isozymes, which generate the S-(-) enantiomer preferentially, and of the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) containing monooxygenase (EC 1.14.13.8), which as we have shown catalyzes (R)-(+)-sulfoxide formation [Light, D. R., Waxman, D. J. & Walsh, C. (1982) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. Thus, the chirality of microsome-catalyzed sulfoxidation is shown to be modulated by factors which alter the relative participation of these by factors which alter the relative participation of these two liver monooxygenases, such as phenobarbital induction, inclusion of inhibitors or activators (metyrapone and n-octylamine), and variation in sulfide substrate concentration.

Animals↗

Kinetic isotope effects in the oxidation of isotopically labeled NAD(P)H by bacterial flavoprotein monooxygenases.

Three bacterial flavoprotein monooxygenases, p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, orcinol hydroxylase, and salicylate hydroxylase, have been examined for steady-state kinetic isotope effects with (4R)-[4-2H]NAD(P)H and (4R)-[4-3H]NAD(P)H. The observed isotope selections are for deuterium, DV = 1.8-3.5 and D(V/K) = 1.7-5.1, and for tritium, T(V/K) = 5-19. For both orcinol hydroxylase and p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, reduction of enzyme-bound FAD by (4R)-[4-2H]NAD(P)H in pre-steady-state assays reveals intrinsic deuterium isotope effects of 10 +/- 2 on this redox step. These values are at the upper end of substrate deuterium effects seen in enzymatic reactions. Suppression of approximately 83% of the intrinsic isotope effects in the overall reaction rate (e.g., kH/kD = 10 down to DV = 2.5) corroborates earlier kinetic data on p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase [Husain, M., & Massey. V. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 6657] and suggests that these bacterial phenolic monooxygenases balance out internal transition states such that no single barrier is fully rate limiting.

4-Hydroxybenzoate-3-Monooxygenase↗

Parasuicide. A review of treatment interventions.

From review of studies of treatment intervention in parasuicide it is concluded that: (1) Suicide prevention centres do not lower the incidence of suicide. (2) Retrospective follow-up studies of patients self-selected for treatment or no treatment find that patients who attend for treatment have a lower repeat rate of parasuicide. This may have nothing to do with treatment. (3) Intensive domicillary follow-up for 3-6 months after inpatient treatment in a specialised unit for parasuicide is no better at preventing further parasuicides than conventional follow-up in outpatient department or via the GP. (4) A multidisciplinary outreach programme was effective in one study but not three others. (5) Behaviour therapy was no better than insight oriented psychotherapies when administered intensely over 10 days for inpatients with a previous history of overdose. (6) Medication in the form of depot flupenthixol, 20 mg every 4 weeks was significantly better than placebo for chronic repeaters (3 or more attempts) but Mianserin 30 mg/d was not. (7) There was no relationship between improved symptoms, improved social circumstances or the repeat rate for parasuicide. In a controlled trial conducted by the authors in parasuicides, Mianserin 60 mg/d reduced depressive symptoms significantly more rapidly than Nomifensine or placebo but there was no difference by 6 weeks and the risk of repeat was not affected.

Adolescent↗

Mechanistic studies on the pyridoxal phosphate enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from Pseudomonas sp.

The enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase (ACPC deaminase) from a pseudomonad is a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) linked catalyst which fragments the cyclopropane substrate to alpha-ketobutyrate and ammonia [Honma, M., & Shimomura, T. (1978) Agric. Biol. Chem. 42, 1825]. Enzymatic incubations in D2O yield alpha-ketobutyrate with one deuterium at the C-4 methyl group and one deuterium at one of the C-3 prochiral methylene hydrogens. Stereochemical analysis of the location of the C-3 deuteron was accomplished by in situ enzymatic reduction to (2S)-2-hydroxybutyrate with L-lactate dehydrogenase and conversion to the phenacyl ester. The C-3 hydrogens of the (2S)-2-hydroxybutyryl moiety are fully resolved in a 250-MHz NMR spectrum. Absolute assignment of 3S and 3R loci was obtained with phenacyl (2S,3S)-2-hydroxy[3-2H]butyrate generated enzymatically by D-serine dehydratase action on D-threonine. ACPC deaminase shows a stereoselective outcome with a 3R:3S deuterated product ratio of 72:28. 2-Vinyl-ACPC is also a fragmentation substrate with exclusive regiospecific cleavage to yield the straight-chain keto acid product 2-keto-5-hexenoate. The D isomer of vinylglycine is processed to alpha-ketobutyrate and ammonia at 8% the Vmax of ACPC, while L-vinylglycine is not a substrate. It is likely that ACPC and D-vinylglycine yield a common intermediate--the vinylglycine-PLP-p-quinoid adduct--which is then protonated sequentially at C-4 and then C-3 to account for the observed deuterium incorporation. The D isomers of beta-substituted alanines (fluoroalanine, chloroalanine, and O-acetyl-D-serine) partition between catalytic elimination and enzyme inactivation. Each shows a different partition ratio, arguing against the common aminoacrylyl-PLP as the inactivating species.

Butyrates↗

Characteristics of beta, beta-difluoroalanine and beta, beta, beta -trifluoroalanine as suicide substrates for Escherichia coli B alanine racemase.

The alanine racemase from Escherichia coli B has been shown to process DL isomers of beta -fluoroalanine as suicide substrates with an identical partitioning ratio for each enantiomer of 820 catalytic eliminations of HF per enzymatic inactivation event [Wang, E., & Walsh, C. T. (1978) Biochemistry 17, 1313], suggesting the aminoacrylate--PLP complex as a common, symmetrical partitioning species. In an attempt to vary the partition ratio, an index of killing efficiency, systematically the beta, beta-difluoroalanine and beta, beta, beta-trifluoroalanine isomers have now been evaluated for substrate processing, suicidal inactivation kinetics and partitioning ratio, and stability of inactive, derivatized enzyme forms. Both difluoroalanine isomers show high Km values (116 mM for D, 102 mM for L) in catalytic HF loss to form fluoropyruvate. The Vmax for the D isomer is about 14-fold higher than that for the L isomer. Limiting inactivation rate constants, calculated from kcat and observed partition ratios of 5000 and 2600, respectively, are 2.2 min-1 for D-difluoroalanine and 0.33 min-1 for L-difluoroalanine. For comparison, DL-trifluoroalanine turns over less than 10 times per enzyme molecule inactivated and so is a very efficient suicide substrate. The estimated inactivation rate constant is less than or equal to 1.0 min-1. These data are analyzed in terms of partitioning behavior of the monofluoro- and difluoroaminoacrylate--PLP complexes as partitioning intermediates for turnover or for racemase inactivation. While mono- and trifluoroalanines yield stable inactive species, the difluoroalanine isomers produce labile enzyme derivatives, and regain of catalytic activity is analyzed in terms of the anticipated oxidation state at the beta carbon of the substrate fragment adducted to the enzyme.

Alanine↗

Determination of partition ratios for allylisopropylacetamide during suicidal processing by a phenobarbital-induced cytochrome P-450 isozyme from rat liver.

Allylisopropylacetamide is shown to be a suicide substrate for the phenobarbital-inducible cytochromes P-450. In phenobarbital-induced rat liver microsomes about 70% of the cytochrome P-450-mediated N,N-dimethylaniline N-demethylase activity is sensitive to allylisopropylacetamide inactivation; the residual 30% of the N-demethylase activity is incapable of allylisopropylacetamide turnover and insensitive to allylisopropylacetamide inactivation. The partition number for inactivation of the susceptible population of cytochrome P-450 indicates turnover of 201 molecules of allylisopropylacetamide per molecule of P-450 inactivated. A purified phenobarbital-induced isozyme of cytochrome P-450, when reconstituted with purified rat liver cytochrome P-450 reductase, is also inactivated by allylisopropylacetamide in a suicide fashion with a corrected partition ratio of 184 turnovers of allylisopropylacetamide per inactivation event. This partition number is corrected for the competing O2-dependent autoinactivation of cytochrome P-450 which we have previously shown to occur with the purified isozyme (Loosemore, M., Light, D. R., and W#alsh, C. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 9017-9020). The 201 product molecules of cytochrome P-450-mediated turnover of allylisopropylacetamide in either the microsomal or purified enzyme system are probably the epoxide, are reactive toward alkylation of cellular nucleophiles, and covalently modify protein and exogenous calf thymus DNA molecules.

Acetamides↗

Mechanistic studies on reactions of bacterial methionine gamma-lyase with olefinic amino acids.

Methionine gamma-lyase (EC 4.4.1.11), which catalyzes the formation of methanethiol, alpha-ketobutyrate, and ammonia from L-methionine (eq 1), promotes the oxidative deamination of several four- and five-carbon olefinic amino acids (1-5). With the exception of vinylglycine (1), the Vmax rates of keto acid formation from the unsaturated substrate analogues are substantially lower than that for processing of methionine to alpha-ketobutyrate; vinylglycine is deaminated to ketobutyrate and ammonia with a Vmax twice that for L-methionine turnover. L-Allylglycine, L-2-amino-3-trans-pentenoate, and L-2-amino-3-cis-pentenoate (2, 4, 5) are all converted to 2-keto-pentanoic acid (alpha-ketovalerate). L-2-Amino-3-cis-pentenoate (5) is also a time-dependent, irreversible inactivator of the enzyme. None of the other substrate analogues tested appears to inactivate the enzyme. Spectral analysis of the enzymatic reaction with cis isomer 5 reveals the formation of a high-wavelength chromophore (lambda max = 550 nm ) which implies that a beta, gamma-unsaturated pyridoxal p-quinoid (VI) accumulates. No such absorbing species appears to form during the reaction of trans isomer 4 with methionine gamma-lyase. But a 550-nm chromophore develops when both 4 and 5 are reacted with Al(NO3)3 and pyridoxal methochloride in methanolic KOH. It would appear that the geometry of the protein and the olefinic amino acid as an intermediate enzyme-substrate adduct controls the kinetics of reaction, such that azaallylic isomerization becomes selectively rate determining for reaction with 5. When this isomerization is slow, an accumulating Michael-type acceptor (VI) could lead to the observed irreversible inactivation of the enzyme.

Alkenes↗