Homoadenosylcobalamins as probes for exploring the active sites of coenzyme B12-dependent diol dehydratase and ethanolamine ammonia-lyase.

[Omega-(Adenosyl)alkyl]cobalamins (homoadenosylcobalamins) are useful analogues of adenosylcobalamin to get information about the distance between Co and C5', which is critical for Co-C bond activation. In order to use them as probes for exploring the active sites of enzymes, the coenzymic properties of homoadenosylcobalamins for diol dehydratase and ethanolamine ammonia-lyase were investigated. The kcat and kcat/Km values for adenosylmethylcobalamin were about 0.27% and 0.15% that for the regular coenzyme with diol dehydratase, respectively. The kcat/kinact value showed that the holoenzyme with this analogue becomes inactivated on average after about 3000 catalytic turnovers, indicating that the probability of inactivation during catalysis is almost 500 times higher than that for the regular holoenzyme. The kcat value for adenosylmethylcobalamin was about 0.13% that of the regular coenzyme for ethanolamine ammonia-lyase, as judged from the initial velocity, but the holoenzyme with this analogue underwent inactivation after on average about 50 catalytic turnovers. This probability of inactivation is 3800 times higher than that for the regular holoenzyme. When estimated from the spectra of reacting holoenzymes, the steady state concentration of cob(II)alamin intermediate from adenosylmethylcobalamin was very low with either diol dehydratase or ethanolamine ammonia-lyase, which is consistent with its extremely low coenzymic activity. In contrast, neither adenosylethylcobalamin nor adeninylpentylcobalamin served as active coenzyme for either enzyme and did not undergo Co-C bond cleavage upon binding to apoenzymes.

Toward bifunctional antibody catalysis.

Antibodies that catalyze the deprotonation of unactivated benzisoxazoles to give the corresponding salicylonitriles were prepared using as antigen a 2-aminobenzimidazolium derivative coupled to a carrier protein via its benzene ring. The hapten was designed to induce an antibody binding site with both a base and an acid, in position to initiate proton transfer and stabilize developing negative charge at the phenoxide leaving group, respectively. Consistent with this design, the catalysts exhibit bell-shaped pH-rate profiles, while chemical modification identified several functional groups that could participate in bifunctional catalysis. One of the antibodies, 13G5, is particularly notable in catalyzing the elimination of 6-glutaramidebenzisoxazole with a > 10(5)-fold rate acceleration over background and an effective molarity of > 10(4) M for its catalytic base. These properties compare favorably to the efficiencies achieved by the best previously characterized antibodies with substantially more reactive substrates.

Homocoenzyme B12 and bishomocoenzyme B12: covalent structural mimics for homolyzed, enzyme-bound coenzyme B12.

Efficient electrochemical syntheses of "homocoenzyme B(12)" (2, Co(beta)-(5'-deoxy-5'-adenosyl-methyl)-cob(III)alamin) and "bishomocoenzyme B(12)" (3, Co(beta)-[2-(5'-deoxy-5'-adenosyl)-ethyl]-cob(III)alamin) are reported here. These syntheses have provided crystalline samples of 2 and 3 in 94 and 77 % yield, respectively. In addition, in-depth investigations of the structures of 2 and 3 in solution were carried out and a high-resolution crystal structure of 2 was obtained. The two homologues of coenzyme B(12) (2 and 3) are suggested to function as covalent structural mimics of the hypothetical enzyme-bound "activated" (that is, "stretched" or even homolytically cleaved) states of the B(12) cofactor. From crude molecular models, the crucial distances from the corrin-bound cobalt center to the C5' atom of the (homo)adenosine moieties in 2 and 3 were estimated to be about 3.0 and 4.4 A, respectively. These values are roughly the same as those found in the two "activated" forms of coenzyme B(12) in the crystal structure of glutamate mutase. Indeed, in the crystal structure of 2, the cobalt center was observed to be at a distance of 2.99 A from the C5' atom of the homoadenosine moiety and the latter was found to be present in the unusual syn conformation. In solution, the organometallic moieties of 2 and 3 were shown to be rather flexible and to be considerably more dynamic than the equivalent group in coenzyme B(12). The homoadenosine moiety of 2 was indicated to occur in both the syn and the anti conformations.