Inhibition by N'-nitrosonornicotine of the catalytic activity of glutamate dehydrogenase in alpha-ketoglutarate amination.

ABSTRACT

The effect of N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN), one of the tobacco-specific nitrosamines, on the catalytic activity of glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) in the alpha-ketoglutarate amination, using reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as coenzyme, was studied by a chronoamperometric method. The maximum reaction rate of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction and the Michaelis-Menten constant, or the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant, were determined in the absence and presence of NNN. NNN remarkably inhibited the bio-catalysis activity of GLDH, and was a reversible competitive inhibitior with K(i), estimated as 199 micromol l(-1) at 25 degrees C and pH 8.0.