6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase: the mechanism of action investigated by a comparison of the enzyme from different species.

The mechanism of action of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase with the alternative substrate 2-deoxy 6-phosphogluconate was investigated using enzymes from sheep liver, human erythrocytes and Trypanosoma brucei. The three enzymes oxidize 2-deoxy 6-phosphogluconate, but only the sheep liver enzyme releases the intermediate 2-deoxy,3-keto 6-phosphogluconate. Kinetic comparison showed that an increase in the rate of NADP+ reduction at high pH is due to increased release of the intermediate, rather than an increase in the overall reaction rate. 2-Deoxy,3-keto 6-phosphogluconate is decarboxylated by the erythrocyte and trypanosome enzymes but not the liver one in the absence of either NADPH or 6-phosphogluconate, which act as activators. The pH dependence of decarboxylation and the degree of activation suggest that 6-phosphogluconate is the activator which operates under normal assay conditions, while NADPH acts mainly by increasing the binding of the intermediate. The data suggest that the activity of 6PGDH is subjected to a two-way regulation: NADPH, which regulates the pentose phosphate pathway, inhibits the enzyme, while 6-phosphogluconate, levels of which rise when NADPH inhibition is removed, acts as an activator ensuring that 6-phosphogluconate is rapidly removed.

An insight into the mechanism of the aerobic oxidation of aldehydes catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes.

N-Heterocyclic carbene catalysis for the aerobic oxidation and esterification of aromatic aldehydes was monitored by ESI-MS (MS/MS) and the key intermediates were intercepted and characterized using the charge-tag strategy.

The cross-linking by o-phthalaldehyde of two amino acid residues at the active site of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase.

o-phthalaldehyde inactivates homodimeric, NADP+ dependent, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase from sheep liver, upon formation of a single isoindole derivative per enzyme subunit. This indicates that the thiol group of a cysteine residue or the epsilon-amino group of a lysine residue located within 3 A and crosslinked by the reagent is essential for catalysis. Fluorescence analyses of the modified enzyme suggest that the isoindole derivative forms at the binding site of the nicotinamide moiety of NADP+. The enzymes from Trypanosoma brucei and Lactococcus lactis are also inactivated suggesting a similar three-dimensional structure in this domain. The isoindole derivative does not form with two mutants of the T. brucei enzyme (Lys185His and Lys185Leu), this allowing to identify not only the lysine but also the cysteine involved in the cross-linking. The formation of the isoindole derivative inactivates not only the oxidative decarboxylation, but also two partial reactions catalysed by the enzyme.

Properties of diacetyl (acetoin) reductase from Bacillus stearothermophilus.

The cells of Bacillus stearothermophilus contain an NADH-dependent diacetyl (acetoin) reductase. The enzyme was easily purified to homogeneity, partially characterised, and found to be composed of two subunits with the same molecular weight. In the presence of NADH, it catalyses the stereospecific reduction of diacetyl first to (3S)-acetoin and then to (2S,3S)-butanediol; in the presence of NAD+, it catalyses the oxidation of (2S,3S)- and meso-butanediol, respectively, to (3S)-acetoin and to (3R)-acetoin, but is unable to oxidise these compounds to diacetyl. The enzyme is also able to catalyse redox reactions involving some endo-bicyclic octen- and heptenols and the related ketones, and its use is suggested also for the recycling of NAD+ and NADH in enzymatic redox reactions useful in organic syntheses.