Active sites residues of beef liver carnitine octanoyltransferase (COT) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT-II).

The carnitine acyltransferases which catalyse the reversible transfer of fatty acyl groups between carnitine and coenzyme A have been proposed to contain a catalytic histidine. Here, the chemical reactivity of active site groups has been used to demonstrate differences between the active sites of beef liver carnitine octanoyltransferase (COT) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-II (CPT-II). Treatment of CPT-II with the histidine-selective reagent, diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC), resulted in simple linear pseudo-first-order kinetics. The reversal of the inhibition by hydroxylamine and the pKa (7.1) of the modified residue indicated that the residue was a histidine. The order of the inactivation kinetics showed that 1mol of histidine was modified per mol of CPT-II. When COT was treated with DEPC the kinetics of inhibition were biphasic with an initial rapid loss of activity followed by a slower loss of activity. The residue reacting in the faster phase of inhibition was not a histidine but possibly a serine. The modification of this residue did not lead to complete loss of activity suggesting that a direct role in catalysis is unlikely. It was deduced that the residue modified by DEPC in the slower phase was a lysine and indeed fluorodinitrobenzene (FDNB) inactivated COT with linear pseudo-first-order kinetics. The COT peptide containing the FDNB-labelled lysine was isolated and sequenced. Alignment of this sequence placed it 10 amino acids downstream of the putative active-site histidine.

Comparison of the active sites of the purified carnitine acyltransferases from peroxisomes and mitochondria by using a reaction-intermediate analogue.

The carnitine acyltransferases contribute to the modulation of the acyl-CoA/CoA ratio in various cell compartments with consequent effects on many aspects of fatty acid metabolism. The properties of the enzymes are different in each location. The kinetic mechanisms and kinetic parameters for the carnitine acyltransferases purified from peroxisomes (COT) and from the mitochondrial inner membrane (CPT-II) were determined. Product-inhibition studies established that COT follows a rapid-equilibrium random-order mechanism, but CPT-II follows a strictly ordered mechanism in which acyl-CoA or CoA must bind before the carnitine substrate. Hemipalmitoylcarnitinium [(+)-HPC], a prototype tetrahedral intermediate analogue of the acyltransferase reaction, inhibits CPT-II 100-fold better than COT. (+)-HPC behaves as an analogue of palmitoyl-L-carnitine with COT. In contrast, with CPT-II(+)-HPC binds more tightly to the enzyme than do substrates or products, suggesting that it is a good model for the transition state and, unlike palmitoyl-L-carnitine, (+)-HPC can bind to the free enzyme. The data support the concept of three binding domains for the acyltransferases, a CoA site, an acyl site and a carnitine site. The CoA site is similar in COT and CPT-II, but there are distinct differences between the carnitine-binding site which may dictate the kinetic mechanism.

(+)-Hemipalmitoylcarnitinium strongly inhibits carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I in intact mitochondria.

The reaction of the methyl ester of (R)-norcarnitine with 1-bromo-2-heptadecanone produces (+)-6-[(methoxycarbonyl)methyl]-2-pentadecyl-4,4-dimethylmorpholinium bromide, 3, which hydrolyzes to (+)-6-(carboxylatomethyl)-2-pentadecyl-4,4-dimethylmorpholinium (hemipalmitoylcarnitinium, HPC) upon treatment with aqueous sodium hydroxide. Single-crystal X-ray analyses have confirmed the structures of (+)-HPC and 3. (+)-HPC inhibits carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT-I) activity for the forward reaction (palmitoyl-CoA + carnitine-->) in intact mitochondria from rat heart and rat liver. (+)-HPC competitively (versus carnitine) inhibits CPT-I activity in both rat heart and liver mitochondria with Ki = 2.8 +/- 0.5 and 4.2 +/- 0.7 microM, respectively. As one of the strongest specific inhibitors of CPT-I, HPC is a potential therapeutic agent in myocardial ischemia and Type II diabetes.

Determination of amines, amine metabolites and some amine metabolizing enzymes by high performance liquid chromatography.

Some useful high performance liquid chromatographic methods for the determination of amines, amine metabolites and amine metabolizing enzymes are described. These include the separation of tyramine in wines and beers, determination of tryptamine in urine, assay of monoamine oxidase and catechol-O-methyltransferase and analysis of amine-aldehyde condensation products.

Behaviour and properties of catechol-O-methyltransferase from human placenta.

A procedure is reported for the purification of human placental catechol-O-methyltransferase. The preparation is apparently homogeneous and behaves as a monomer with an approximate Mr of 23,000. The sequence of the first 21 amino acid residues from the N-terminal end of the protein is reported. The activity of the enzyme is strongly influenced by the nature of the buffer in which it is assayed.