Kinetics of inactivation of beta-lactamase I by 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid.

The kinetics of the inactivation of beta-lactamase I from Bacillus cereus 569 by preparations of 6 alpha-bromopenicillanic acid showed unexpected features. These can be quantitatively accounted for on the basis of the inactivator being the epimer, 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid. At pH 9.2, the rate-determining step in the inactivation is the formation of the inactivator. When pure 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid is used to inactivate beta-lactamase I, simple second-order kinetics are observed. The inactivated enzyme has a new absorption peak at 326 nm. The rate constant for inactivation has the same value as the rate constant for appearance of absorption at 326 nm; the rate-determining step may thus be fission of the beta-lactam ring of 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid. Inactivation is slower in the presence of substrate, and the observed kinetics can be quantitatively accounted for on a simple competitive model. The results strongly suggest that inactivation is a consequence of reaction at the active site.     

The beta-lactamase of Streptomyces cacaoi: interaction with cefoxitin and beta-iodopenicillanate

Cefoxitin was a very poor substrate for the beta-lactamase of Streptomyces cacaoi (kcat = 2.7 x 10(-4) s-1). In the presence of nitrocefin, a good substrate, cefoxitin behaved as a transient inactivator by immobilizing a large proportion of the enzyme as the acyl enzyme intermediate. The enzyme was also inactivated by beta-iodopenicillanate. In this case, the acyl enzyme rearranged into an alpha-beta unsaturated ester and inactivation was irreversible. In contrast to the situation prevailing with the Streptomyces albus G beta-lactamase, no turn-over of beta-iodopenicillanate was observed.     

Interaction of beta-iodopenicillanate with the beta-lactamases of Streptomyces albus G and Actinomadura R39.

The beta-lactamases of Streptomyces albus G and Actinomadura R39 are inactivated by beta-iodopenicillanate. However, in contrast with the beta-lactamase I from Bacillus cereus, they also efficiently catalyse the hydrolysis of the inactivator; with the S. albus G enzyme, kcat. is larger than 25s-1 and the number of turnovers before inactivation is 515. With the A. R39 enzyme, kcat. is larger than 50s-1 and the number of turnovers before inactivation is 80. After hydrolysis of the beta-lactam amide bond, the product rearranges into 2.3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-1,4-thiazine-3,6-dicarboxylate, which exhibits an absorption maximum at 305 nm.     

Penicillanic acid sulfone: an unexpected isotope effect in the interaction of 6 alpha- and 6 beta-monodeuterio and of 6,6-dideuterio derivatives with RTEM beta-lactamase from Escherichia coli

Penicillanic acid sulfone (1) is both a substrate and an inactivator of the RTEM beta-lactamase. About 7000 hydrolytic events occur before enzyme inactivation. The 6,6-dideuterio sulfone shows a 3-fold acceleration of both the hydrolysis reaction and the enzyme inactivation. The kinetic and spectroscopic results are nicely accommodated by a scheme in which a transiently stable intermediate is formed in an isotopically sensitive step. The deuterated material partitions less readily toward this transiently stable intermediate by virtue of a primary isotope effect, and more enzyme is then available for the hydrolysis and inactivation pathways. Use of the stereospecifically monodeuterated sulfones shows that the 6 beta hydrogen is preferentially abstracted in the formation of the transiently stable intermediate and allows a detailed picture of the interaction of the sulfone and the beta-lactamase to be drawn. The crystal structures of both the labeled and unlabeled compounds are reported.     

Interaction of clavulanate with the beta-lactamases of Streptomyces albus G and Actinomadura R39.

The reactions of beta-lactamases of Actinomadura R39 and Streptomyces albus G with clavulanate proceed along branched pathways. Both enzymes perform the hydrolysis of this beta-lactam with rather high efficiencies (kcat. = 18s-1 and 52s-1 respectively). If large clavulanate/enzyme ratios are used, complete inactivation of the enzymes is observed. At lower ratios, inactivation is only partial. Irreversible inactivation occurs after 400 and 20000 turnovers for the A. R39 and S. albus G enzymes respectively. With the A. R39 beta-lactamase, a transiently inhibited complex is also formed that remains undetectable with the S. albus G beta-lactamase. Kinetic models are presented and studied for the interaction between clavulanate and both enzymes. A tentative general reaction scheme is also discussed.     

Des-, syn- and anti-oxyimino-delta 3-cephalosporins. Intrinsic reactivity and reaction with RTEM-2 serine beta-lactamase and D-alanyl-D-alanine-cleaving serine and Zn2+-containing peptidases.

The presence and configuration (syn or anti) of an oxyimino group in the 7 (beta)-acyl side chain of 3-cephems do not modify the intrinsic reactivity of the beta-lactam ring, but have highly enzyme-specific effects. When compared with the corresponding desoxyimino beta-lactam compound: (i) with the plasmid-mediated Escherichia coli RTEM-2 serine beta-lactamase, the substrate activity of the anti isomer is increased and that of the syn isomer is decreased; (ii) with the Streptomyces R61 serine D-alanyl-D-alanine cleaving peptidase (a highly penicillin-sensitive enzyme), the rate of enzyme acylation is not or only little affected when the oxyimino group is in the syn configuration, but is decreased when the oxyimino group is in the anti configuration; (iii) with the Actinomadura R39 serine D-alanyl-D-alanine-cleaving peptidase (an exceedingly highly penicillin-sensitive enzyme), the rate of enzyme acylation is unaffected whatever the configuration of the substituent. The oxidation of the sulphur atom of the dihydrothiazine ring on the beta-face of the molecule makes it both a poorer inactivator of the DD-peptidases and a poorer substrate of the beta-lactamase. The Streptomyces albus G Zn2+-containing D-alanyl-D-alanine-cleaving peptidase (a highly penicillin-resistant enzyme) remains highly resistant to all compounds tested.     

Reversible deactivation of beta-lactamase by quinacillin. Extent of the conformational change in the isolated transitory complex.

Conditions have been established where the deactivation of the beta-lactamase from Staphylococcus aureus PC1 by the penicillin substrate, quinacillin, is close to complete but fully reversible. The temperature-dependence of the rate of re-activation indicated a half-life of about 170 min for the deactivated state at 0 degrees C. Measurement of the relative viscosity of mixtures of enzyme and quinacillin at 8.4 degrees C ruled out any significant difference in shape or solvation between the deactivated and the normal enzyme. C.d. measurements of the deactivated protein, separated from excess quinacillin, showed that the quinacillin side-chain chromophore was bound in an asymmetric environment. The ellipticity associated with the bound quinacillin chromophore decreased with the same first-order rate constant as that for reappearance of enzyme activity. These findings support the accumulation of a deactivated state that contains bound quinacillin or a derivative. Quinacillin caused a 3-fold increase in the rate of 3H exchange-out (at a rate that was low compared with that for the substantially unfolded or expanded protein). However, there was rapid exchange-out of about 50 3H atoms on addition of 1 M-urea to the deactivated enzyme, whereas the same concentration had no effect on the exchange-out of 3H from native enzyme. The interpretation that quinacillin increases the susceptibility of the native state to unfolding in the presence of urea is supported by the demonstration that SO4(2)- ions decreased the rate and extent of deactivation but had no effect on the rate of re-activation, as predicted from the observation that SO4(2)- ions, in competition with urea, stabilize the native state relative to the partially unfolded state H [Mitchinson & Pain (1985) J. Mol. Biol. 184, 331-342].     

The reversible deactivation of beta-lactamase from Staphylococcus aureus by quinacillin and cephaloridine and its modification by antibodies

The effect of antibody on the reversible deactivation of the beta-lactamase (penicillin amino-beta-lactamhydrolase, EC 3.5.2.6) from Staphylococcus aureus has been studied using quinacillin and cephaloridine as substrates. The latter has been shown to exhibit the characteristics of an A-type substrate Citri, N., Samuni, A. and Zyk, N. (1976) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 73, 1048-1052) and reversibly to lower the activity of the enzyme towards benzylpenicillin in a manner analogous to quinacillin. Both divalent and monovalent antibodies reduce the activity of the lactamase to 60% of the native value in the absence of substrate. The reduction by monovalent antibody is slow (t1/2 approximately equal to 25 min). Both divalent and monovalent antibodies modify the time-course of reversible deactivation independently of being added before or subsequent to deactivation by substrate. The full recovery of activity is delayed in the case of quinacillin and accelerated for cephaloridine. The activity against benzylpenicillin in the deactivated states is unaffected. These effects are shown to reflect the changed rates of hydrolysis of the two substrates in the presence of antibody. The effect of antibody is mediated by minor conformational change. Continuous assays for following the hydrolysis of quinacillin and cephaloridine by optical rotation are reported.     

Inactivation of bacterial D-amino acid transaminases by the olefinic amino acid D-vinylglycine.

D-Vinylglycine (2-amino-3-butenoate) functions as a transamination substrate and irreversible inactivator of the homogeneous pyridoxal phosphate-dependent D-amino acid transaminases from Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus sphaericus. In the absence of alpha-ketoglutarate as co-substrate, vinyl-glycine causes little if any inactivation of either enzyme; in the presence of excess alpha-ketoglutarate, both enzymes are inactivated with pseudo-first order kinetics. The limiting rate constant for inactivation of the B. sphaericus enzyme is 1.9 min-1, for the B. subilis enzyme it is 0.36 min-1. The number of catalytic events before inactivation is about 450 for the B. sphaericus enzyme and about 800 for the B. subtilis enzyme; that is, about 0.2% inactivation in each catalytic cycle for the former enzyme and 0.15% for the latter. Comparisons are made with the L-aspartate amino-transferase from pig heart which is inactivated completely in one catalytic cycle and the L-alanine aminotransferase which is not inactivated in many cycles. Comparisons are also made between the likely mode of D-transaminase inactivation produced by vinylglycine and the mode of inactivation induced by beta-chloro-D-alanine.     

Kinetics of inactivation of green crab (Scylla Serrata) alkaline phosphatase during removal of zinc ions by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium

Green crab (Scylla Serrata) alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1.) is a metalloenzyme, the each active site in which contains a tight cluster of two zinc ions and one magnesium ion. The kinetic theory of the substrate reaction during irreversible inhibition of enzyme activity previously described by Tsou has been applied to a study on the kinetics of the course of inactivation of the enzyme by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium (EDTA). The kinetics of the substrate reaction with different concentrations of the substrate p-nitrophenyl phosphate (PNPP) and inactivator EDTA suggested a complexing mechanism for inactivation by, and substrate competition with, EDTA at the active site. The inactivation kinetics are single phasic, showing the initial formation of an enzyme-EDTA complex is a relatively rapid reaction, followed a slow inactivation step that probably involves a conformational change of the enzyme. Zinc ions are finally removed from the enzyme. The presence of metal ions apparently stabilizes an active-site conformation required for enzyme activity.     

Kinetics and mechanism of inactivation of the RTEM-2 beta-lactamase by phenylpropynal. Identification of the characteristic chromophore

beta-Lactamases of all three classes, A, B, and C, are inactivated by phenylpropynal and p-nitrophenylpropynal. The inactivation of RTEM-2 beta-lactamase and of Bacillus cereus beta-lactamase I is accelerated in the presence of A type substrates such as dicloxacillin, quinacillin, and cefoxitin, which are thought to expand or loosen the conformation of these enzymes. In the presence and absence of cefoxitin the inactivation of the RTEM-2 beta-lactamase is first and second order, respectively, in phenylpropynal concentration. The additional phenylpropynal molecule in the latter case may serve the same function as cefoxitin, viz. catalyze access to sensitive functional groups. Correlation of the loss of activity of the RTEM-2 enzyme with the extent of modification suggests that the modification of any one of about four kinetically equivalent groups leads to inactivation. Modification of all of the above mentioned enzymes leads to formation of a characteristic chromophore of unusual stability to nucleophiles, which absorbs maximally between 315 and 320 nm. A consideration of the properties of model compounds demonstrated that the protein-bound chromophore is that of a 1-phenyl-3-imino-1-propen-1-ammonium ion (Formula: see text), formed by reaction of phenylpropynal with two enzymic amine groups, and thus cross-linking the enzyme intramolecularly. Phenylpropynal may be a convenient general reagent for rapid and stable intramolecular cross-linking of proteins through lysine.     

Mechanism of action of adenosylcobalamin: glycerol and other substrate analogues as substrates and inactivators for propanediol dehydratase--kinetics, stereospecificity, and mechanism.

A number of vicinal diols were found to react with propanediol dehydratase, typically resulting in the conversion of enzyme-bound adenosylcobalamin to cob(II)alamin and formation of aldehyde or ketone derives from substrate. Moreover, all are capable of effecting the irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. The kinetics and mechanism of product formation and inactivation were investigated. Glycerol, found to be a very good substrate for diol dehydratase as well as a potent inactivator, atypically, did not induce cob(II)alamin formation to any detectable extent. With glycerol, the inactivation process was accompanied by conversion of enzyme-bound adenosylcobalamin to an alkyl or thiol cobalamin, probably by substitution of an amino acid chain near the active site for the 5'-deoxy-5'-adenosyl ligand on the cobalamin. The inactivation reaction with glycerol as the inactivator exhibits a deuterium isotope effect of 14, strongly implicating hydrogen transfer as an important step in the mechanism of inactivation. The isotope effect on the rate of product formation was found to be 8.0. Experiments with isotopically substituted glycerols indicate that diol dehydrase distinguishes between "R" and "S" binding conformations, the enzyme-(R)-glycerol complex being predominately responsible for the product-forming reaction, while the enzyme-(S)-glycerol complex results primarily in the activation reaction. Mechanistic implications are discussed. A method for removing enzyme-bound hydroxycobalamin that is nondestructive to the enzyme and a technique for measuring the binding constants of (R)- and (S)-1,2-propanediols are presented.     

Beta-lactamase inactivation by mechanism-based reagents

The mechanistic pathway followed by the E. coli RTEM beta-lactamase has been studied with a view to clarifying the mode of action of a number of recently discovered inactivators of the enzyme. There is clear evidence that the beta-lactamase-catalysed hydrolysis of the 7-alpha-methoxycephem, cefoxitin, proceeds via an acyl-enzyme intermediate. An analysis of the inactivation reactions of all the known beta-lactam derivatives that result in irreversible loss of enzyme activity permits the identification of three structural features required for a beta-lactamase inactivator. The application of these principles suggests a new group of mechanism-based inactivators of the enzyme: the sulphones of N-acyl derivatives of 6-beta-aminopenicillanic acid that are themselves poor substrates for the enzyme. These sulphones are powerful inactivators of the beta-lactamase.     

(+/-)-(1S,2R,5S)-5-Amino-2-fluorocyclohex-3-enecarboxylic acid. A potent GABA aminotransferase inactivator that irreversibly inhibits via an elimination-aromatization pathway

Inhibition of gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase (GABA-AT) increases the concentration of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter in human brain, which could have therapeutic applications for a variety of neurological diseases, including epilepsy. On the basis of studies of several previously synthesized conformationally restricted GABA-AT inhibitors, (+/-)-(1S,2R,5S)-5-amino-2-fluorocyclohex-3-enecarboxylic acid (12) was designed as a mechanism-based inactivator. This compound was shown to irreversibly inhibit GABA-AT; substrate protects the enzyme from inactivation. Mechanistic experiments demonstrated the loss of one fluoride ion per active site during inactivation and the formation of N-m-carboxyphenylpyridoxamine 5'-phosphate (26), the same product generated by inactivation of GABA-AT by gabaculine (8). An elimination-aromatization mechanism is proposed to account for these results.     

Understanding resistance to beta-lactams and beta-lactamase inhibitors in the SHV beta-lactamase: lessons from the mutagenesis of SER-130

Bacterial resistance to beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations by single amino acid mutations in class A beta-lactamases threatens our most potent clinical antibiotics. In TEM-1 and SHV-1, the common class A beta-lactamases, alterations at Ser-130 confer resistance to inactivation by the beta-lactamase inhibitors, clavulanic acid, and tazobactam. By using site-saturation mutagenesis, we sought to determine the amino acid substitutions at Ser-130 in SHV-1 beta-lactamase that result in resistance to these inhibitors. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that ampicillin and ampicillin/clavulanic acid resistance was observed only for the S130G beta-lactamase expressed in Escherichia coli. Kinetic analysis of the S130G beta-lactamase demonstrated a significant elevation in apparent Km and a reduction in kcat/Km for ampicillin. Marked increases in the dissociation constant for the preacylation complex, KI, of clavulanic acid (SHV-1, 0.14 microm; S130G, 46.5 microm) and tazobactam (SHV-1, 0.07 microm; S130G, 4.2 microm) were observed. In contrast, the k(inact)s of S130G and SHV-1 differed by only 17% for clavulanic acid and 40% for tazobactam. Progressive inactivation studies showed that the inhibitor to enzyme ratios required to inactivate SHV-1 and S130G were similar. Our observations demonstrate that enzymatic activity is preserved despite amino acid substitutions that significantly alter the apparent affinity of the active site for beta-lactams and beta-lactamase inhibitors. These results underscore the mechanistic versatility of class A beta-lactamases and have implications for the design of novel beta-lactamase inhibitors.     

Reversible inhibition of penicillinase by quinacillin: evaluation of mechanisms involving two conformational states of the enzyme.

Staphylococcal penicillinase (EC 3.5.2.6) is shown to undergo partial, fully reversible inactivation of benzylpenicillinase activity on incubation with the substrate quinacillin, the hydrolysis of which follows a corresponding biphasic time-course. The kinetics fit a scheme involving slow isomerization of the enzyme between conformational states that differ in K_m and V_max for quinacillin. The possibility that inactivation is related to formation of a previously observed covalent enzyme-quinacillin conjugate is ruled out because the kinetics of its formation differ from those of inactivation. This implies that the conjugate arises from a state of the enzyme substrate complex present during the normal catalytic cycle. The multiplicity of binding sites found suggests that a reactive catalytic intermediate substitutes several amino-acid side chains during denaturation of the enzyme-quinacillin mixture, thus providing an explanation of earlier results.     

Inactivation of Bacillus cereus beta-lactamase I by 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid: kinetics

The kinetics of the inactivation of Bacillus cereus beta-lactamase I by 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid are described. Loss of beta-lactamase activity is accompanied by a decrease in protein fluorescence, by the appearance of a protein-bound chromophore at 326 nm, and by loss of tritium from 6 alpha-[3H]-6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid. It is shown that all of the above changes probably have the same rate-determining step. The inactivation reaction is competitively inhibited by cephalosporin C, a competitive inhibitor of this enzyme, and by covalently bound clavulanic acid, suggesting that 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid reacts directly with the beta-lactamase active site. It is proposed that this inhibitor reacts initially as a normal substrate and that the rate-determining step of the inactivation is acylation of the enzyme. A rapid irreversible inactivation reaction rather than normal hydrolysis of the acyl-enzyme then follows acylation; 6 beta-bromopenicillanic acid is thus a suicide substrate.     

6-(Methoxymethylene)penicillanic acid: inactivator of RTEM beta-lactamase from Escherichia coli

The Z and E isomers of 6-(methoxymethylene)-penicillanic acid have been synthesized, and their interaction with the RTEM beta-lactamase has been studied. The Z isomer is an inhibitor and an inactivator of the enzyme, and there is some similarity between its behavior and that of other mechanism-based inactivators such as clavulanic acid and the penam sulfones. Kinetic analysis of the interaction of the enzyme with the Z isomer has allowed a detailed evaluation of the factors that are important in the design of anti-beta-lactamase agents. In contrast to the Z compound, the E isomer of 6-(methoxymethylene)penicillanic acid is not a substrate, an inhibitor, or an inactivator of the enzyme.     

Inactivation of TEM-1 beta-lactamase by 6-acetylmethylenepenicillanic acid

6-Acetylmethylenepenicillanic acid is a new kinetically irreversible inhibitor of various beta-lactamases. Interaction between 6-acetylmethylenepenicillanate and purified TEM-1 beta-lactamase during the inactivation process was investigated. 6-Acetylmethylenepenicillanate inhibited the enzyme in a second-order fashion with a rate constant of 0.61 microM-1 . S-1. The apparent inactivation constant decreased in the presence of increasing concentrations of the substrate benzylpenicillin. Native enzyme (pI 5.4) was converted into two inactive forms with pI 5.25 and 5.15, the latter form being transient and readily converted into the more stable form with pI 5.15. Even a 50-fold excess of inhibitor over enzyme did not produce any other inactivated species of the enzyme. All the results obtained suggest that 6-acetylmethylenepenicillanate is a potent irreversible and active-site-directed inhibitor of TEM-1 beta-lactamase.     

Kinetics of inactivation of creatine kinase during modification of its thiol groups

Kinetics of inactivation and modification of the reactive thiol groups of creatine kinase by 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) or iodoacetamide have been compared, the former by following the substrate reaction in presence of the inactivator [Wang, Z.-X., & Tsou, C.-L. (1987) J. Theor. Biol. 127, 253]. The microscopic constants for the reaction of the inactivators with the free enzyme and with the enzyme-substrate complexes were determined. From the results obtained it appears that with respect to ATP both inactivators are noncompetitive whereas for creatine iodoacetamide is competitive but DTNB is not. The formation of the ternary complex protects against the inactivation by both DTNB and iodoacetamide. The inactivation kinetics is monophasic with both inactivators, but under similar conditions, the modification reactions in the presence of the transition-state analogue of creatine-ADP-Mg2+-nitrate show biphasic kinetics as also reported by Price and Hunter [Price, N.C., & Hunter, M.G. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 445, 364]. If the reactive ternary complex and the enzyme complexed with the transition-state analogue react in the same way with these reagents, the modification of one fast-reacting thiol group for each enzyme molecule leads to complete inactivation, indicating that the enzyme has to be in the dimeric state to be active.