棕色固氮菌含铁超氧化物歧化酶重组研究

将棕色固氮菌230含铁超氧化物歧化酶对8mol/L脲,10mmol/L EDTA透析制备无活性缺辅基蛋白;将其在8mol/L脲中对10mmol/L硫酸亚铁铵透析得到重组超氧化物歧化酶。重组酶含有与天然酶相近的铁含量,活性为天然酶的89.1％。缺辅基蛋白,重组酶与天然酶都是由二个相同的亚基组成;重组酶的吸收光谱与荧光光谱与天然酶几乎一样,而缺辅基蛋白则有较大的差异;从园二色谱的分析得知,缺辅基蛋白不含有α—螺旋,而天然酶和重组酶中α螺旋的含量分别为21％和20％;缺辅基蛋白比天然酶或重组酶具有更大的巯基反应性。     

Further characterization of bovine pancreatic lipase.

1. The amino acid composition of bovine pancreatic lipase is very similar to that of porcine lipase. 2. Bovine lipase possesses a residue of lysine at the N-terminal position and a half cystine or a cysteine at the C-terminal position. 3. Bovine lipase contains two free sulfhydryl groups of different reactivities to 5, 5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic) acid. One of these groups is buried in the native conformation of the enzyme and is fully titrated in 1.5 M urea when reaction is performed in the presense of 1 mM EDTA.     

D-glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus megaterium M 1286: purification, properties and structure.

1) Glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus megaterium has been purified to a specific activity of 550 U per mg protein. The homogeneity of the purified enzyme was demonstrated by gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. 2) The amino acid composition has been determined. 3) The molecular weight of the native enzyme was found to be 116000 by gel permeation chromatography, in good agreement with the values of 120000 and 118000, which were ascertained electrophoretically according to the method of Hedrick and Smith and by density gradient centrifugation, respectively. 4) In the presence of 0.1% sodium dodecylsulfate and 8M urea, the enzyme dissociates into subunits with a molecular weight of 30000 as determined by dodecylsulfate gel electrophoresis. These values indicate that the native enzyme is composed of four polypeptide chains, each probably possessing one coenzyme binding site, which can be concluded from fluorescent titration of the NADH binding sites. 5) In polyacrylamide disc electrophoresis, samples of the purified enzyme exhibit three bands of activity, which present the native (tetrameric) form of glucose dehydrogenase and two monomeric forms (molecular weight 30000), arising under the conditions of pH and ionic strength of this method. 6) The enzyme shows a sharp pH optimum at pH 8.0 in Tris/HCl buffer, and a shift of the pH optimum to pH 9.0 in acetate/borate buffer. The limiting Michaelis constant at pH 9.0 for NAD is 4.5 mM and 47.5 mM for glucose. The dissociation constant for NAD is 0.69 mM. 7) D-Glucose dehydrogenase is highly specific for beta-D-glucose and is capable of using either NAD or NADP. The enzyme is insensitive to sulfhydryl group inhibitors, heavy metal ions and chelating agents.     

Helicobacter pylori utilises urea for amino acid synthesis

Abstract Helicobacter pylori has one of the highest urease activities of all known bacteria. Its enzymatic production of ammonia protects the organism from acid damage by gastric juice. The possibility that the urease activity allows the bacterium to utilise urea as a nitrogen source for the synthesis of amino acids was investigated. H. pylori (NCTC 11638) was incubated with 50 mM urea, enriched to 5 atom% excess ¹⁵N, that is the excess enrichment of ¹⁵N above the normal background, in the presence of either NaCl pH 6.0, or 0.2M citrate pH 6.0. E. coli (NCTC 9001) was used as a urease-negative control. ¹⁵N enrichment was detected by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. H. pylori showed intracellular incorporation of ¹⁵N in the presence of citrate buffer pH 6.0 but there was no significant incorporation of ¹⁵N in unbuffered saline or by E. coli in either pH 6.0 citrate buffer or unbuffered saline. The intracellular fate of the urea-nitrogen was determined by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry following incubation with ¹⁵N enriched 5 mM urea in the presence of either 0.2 M citrate buffer pH 6.0 or 0.2 M acetate buffer pH 6.0. After 5 min incubation in either buffer the ¹⁵n label appeared in glutamate, glutamine, phenylalanine, aspartate and alanine. It appears, therefore, that at pH and urea concentrations typical of the gastric mucosal surface, H. pylori utilises exogenous urea as a nitrogen source for amino acid synthesis. The ammonia produced by H. pylori urease activity thus facilitates the organism's nitrogen metabolism at neutral pH as well as protecting it from acid damage at low pH.     

Molecular properties of yeast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in the presence of ATP and KCl.

The influence of ATP and KCl on the quaternary structure and the enzymatic activity of D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from yeast(Y-GAPDH) has been studied by ultracentrifugation, gel chromatography and standard optical tests. In 0.1 M imidazole buffer pH 7.0, at low temperature (0°C) both complete deactivation and dissociation to dimers occur in the presence of 2 mM ATP and 0.1 M 2-mercaptoethanol. In 0.067 M phosphate buffer pH 7.0, containing 2 mM ATP and 1 mM dithiothreitol, only slight deactivation paralleled by minor changes of the native quaternary structure is observed. In this same buffer, increasing temperature leads to stabilization of both the tetrameric state and the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Deactivation and dissociation in the presence of 0.15 M KCl (in 0.2 M glycine buffer 9.1 ≥ pH ≥ 8.0) is a function of pH rather than electrolyte concentration; at neutral pH the enzyme is stabilized in its native state. Contrary to earlier assumptions in the literature, ATP and KCl under the above experimental conditions do not appear to play an important role in the $\text{in vivo}$ regulation of Y-GAPDH.     

Refolding and purification of yeast carboxypeptidase Y expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli

The genes encoding carboxypeptidase Y (CPY) and CPY propeptide (CPYPR) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Six consecutive histidine residues were fused to the C-terminus of the CPYPR for facilitated purification. High-level expression of CPY and CPYPR-His(6) was achieved but most of the expressed proteins were present in the form of inclusion bodies in the bacterial cytoplasm. The CPY and CPYPR-His(6) produced as inclusion bodies were separated from the cells and solubilized in 6 and 3 M guanidinium chloride, respectively. The denatured CPYPR-His(6) was refolded by dilution 1:30 into the renaturation buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl containing 0.5 M NaCl and 3 mM EDTA, pH 8.0), and the refolded CPYPR-His(6) was further purified to 90% purity by single-step immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography. The denatured CPY was refolded by dilution 1:60 into the renaturation buffer containing CPYPR-His(6) at various concentrations. Increasing the molar ratio of CPYPR-His(6) to CPY resulted in an increase in the CPY refolding yield, indicating that the CPYPR-His(6) plays a chaperone-like role in in vitro folding of CPY. The refolded CPY was purified to 92% purity by single-step p-aminobenzylsuccinic acid affinity chromatography. When refolding was carried out in the presence of 10 molar eq CPYPR-His(6), the specific activity, N-(2-furanacryloyl)-l-phenylalanyl-l-phenylalanine hydrolysis activity per milligram of protein, of purified recombinant CPY was found to be about 63% of that of native S. cerevisiae CPY.     

Essential histidine residues in dextransucrase: chemical modification by diethyl pyrocarbonate and dye photo-oxidation

Treatment of Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-512F dextransucrase with diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEP) at pH 6.0 and 25 degrees or photo-oxidation in the presence of Rose Bengal or Methylene Blue at pH 6.0 and 25 degrees, caused a rapid decrease of enzyme activity. Both types of inactivation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Enzyme partially inactivated by DEP could be completely reactivated by treatment with 100 mM hydroxylamine at pH 7 and 4 degrees. The presence of dextran partially protected the enzyme from inactivation. At pH 7 or below, DEP is relatively specific for the modification of histidine. DEP-modified enzyme showed an increased absorbance at 240 nm, indicating the presence of (ethoxyformyl)ated histidine residues. DEP modification of the sulfhydryl group of cysteine and of the phenolic group of tyrosine was ruled out by showing that native and DEP-modified enzyme had the same number of sulfhydryl and phenolic groups. DEP modification of the epsilon-amino group of lysine was ruled out by reaction at pH 6 and reactivation with hydroxylamine, which has no effect on DEP-modified epsilon-amino groups. The photo-oxidized enzyme showed a characteristic increase in absorbance at 250 nm, also indicating that histidine had been oxidized, and no decrease in the absorbance at 280 nm, indicating that tyrosine and tryptophan were not oxidized. A statistical, kinetic analysis of the data on inactivation by DEP showed that two histidine residues are essential for the enzyme activity. Previously, it was proposed that two nucleophiles at the active site attack bound sucrose, to give two covalent D-glucosyl-enzyme intermediates. We now propose that in addition, two imidazolium groups of histidine at the active site donate protons to the leaving, D-fructosyl moieties. The resulting imidazole groups then facilitate the formation of the alpha-(1----6)-glycosidic linkage by abstracting protons from the C-6-OH groups, and become reprotonated for the next series of reactions.     

Light-scattering and scanning transmission electron microscopic investigation of the hemocyanin of the bivalve, Yoldia limatula (Say)

1. The hemocyanin of the bivalve, Yoldia limatula (Say) was found by light-scattering to have a mol. wt of 8.0 +/- 0.6 x 10(6). Mass measurements by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) gave a particle mass of 8.25 +/- 0.42 x 10(6) for the native particle and 4.09 +/- 0.20 x 10(6) for the half-molecule. 2. The hemocyanin subunits fully dissociated in 8.0 M urea and 6.0 M GdmCl at pH 8.0, and at pH 11.0, 0.01 M EDTA have mol. wts of 4.38 x 10(5), 4.22 x 10(5) and 4.71 x 10(5), close to one-twentieth of the parent molecular weight of Y. limatula hemocyanin and most gastropod hemocyanins. 3. Analyses of the urea dissociation transitions studied at pH 8.0, 1 x 10(-2) M Mg2+, 1 x 10(-2) M Ca2+ and pH 8.0, 3 x 10(-3) M Ca2+ suggest few hydrophobic amino acid groups, of the order of 10 to 15 at the contact areas of each half-molecule or decamer. 4. The further dissociation of the decamers to dimers and the dimers to monomers indicates the presence of a larger number of amino acid groups of ca 35-40/dimer and 100-120/monomer. 5. This suggests hydrophobic stabilization of the dimer to dimer and monomer to monomer contacts within the decamers, as observed with other molluscan hemocyanins.     

Isolation, Purification and Partial Characterisation of Urease from Seeds of Water Melon (Citrullus vulgaris)

Urease from seeds of water melon was purified to apparent homogeniety upto a sp act of 3750 units/mg protein with 31% recovery. Enzyme showed single protein band on native PAGE by urease specific staining. The mol wt of the enzyme was 4,70,000 and the preparation was free from bound nucleotides (A₂₈₀/A₂₆₀=1.14). The enzyme exhibited maximum activity in 50 mM Tris-acetate buffer (pH 8.5). The Km for urease was 8 mM. The enzyme was not inhibited by 25 mM of EDTA in 50 mM Tris-acetate buffer (pH 8.0 and 8.5).     

Properties of urease immobilized on the functional organic silica surface

The paper deals with kinetics of the urea hydrolysis by microbial-origin urease dissolved and immobilized on the organic silica surface. It is shown that hydrolysis kinetics for soluble urease is described by the Michaelis-Menten equation until the concentration of urea reaches 1 M. Two fractions differing in the Michaelis constant are revealed for silochrome immobilized urease. The rate of urea hydrolysis by native and immobilized urease was studied depending on the pH value in presence of the substrate in the 1 M and 5 mM concentration. The hydrolysis rate of 1 M urea in the buffer-free solution by silochrome-immobilized urease is practically independent of pH within 4.5-6.5. Application of a 2.5 mM phosphate-citrate buffer as a solvent causes an increase in the hydrolysis rate within this pH range. For a soluble urease the 1 M urea hydrolysis rate dependence on pH is ordinary at pH 5.8-6.0. If the substrate concentration is 5 mM, the pH-dependences for the rate of the urea hydrolysis by silochrome- and aerosil-immobilized urease are close and at pH above 6.0 coincide with those for a soluble enzyme. The found differences in the properties of soluble and immobilized ureases are explained by the substrate and reaction products diffusion.     

Purification and properties of pig brain guanine deaminase.

Guanine deaminase (guanine aminohydrolase, EC 3.5.4.3) from pig brain was purified to homogeneity by column chromatography and ammonium sulphate fractionation. Homogeneity was established by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence and absence of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The molecular weight of 110 000 was determined by gel filtration and sucrose density gradient centrifugation. SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated subunits of a molecular weight of 50 000. The amino acid composition, the isoelectric point and the number of -SH groups were determined. 5.5'-Dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) reacts with about seven -SH groups in the native enzyme, but upon denaturation with SDS, 10 -SH groups react with this former reagent. Using electrolytic reduction, 44 half-cystines were determined in accordance with the number of cysteic acid residues determined by amino acid analysis after performic acid oxidation. The Km values determined for substrates of the enzyme were 1.1 . 10(-5) M for guanine in 0.1 M Tris. HCl buffer (pH 8.0) and 3.3 . 10(-4) M for 8-azaguanine in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 6.4. The pKa values determined for ionizable groups of the active site of the enzyme were near pH 6.2 and pH 8.2. The chemical and kinetic evidence suggests that cysteine and histidine may be essential for the catalysis.     

Mechanistic studies on carboxypeptidase A from goat pancreas: role of arginine residue at the active site

Chemical modification of carboxypeptidase Ag1 from goat pancreas with phenylglyoxal or ninhydrin led to a loss of enzymatic activity. The inactivation by phenylglyoxal in 200 mM N-ethylmorpholine, 200 mM sodium chloride buffer, pH 8.0, or in 300 mM borate buffer, pH 8.0, followed pseudo-first-order kinetics at all concentrations of the modifier. The reaction order with respect to phenylglyoxal was 1.68 and 0.81 in 200 mM N-ethylmorpholine, 200 mM NaCl buffer and 300 mM borate buffer, pH 8.0, respectively, indicating modification of single arginine residue per mole of enzyme. The kinetic data were supported by amino acid analysis of modified enzyme, which also showed the modification of single arginine residue per mole of the enzyme. The modified enzyme had an absorption maximum at 250 nm, and quantification of the increase in absorbance showed modification of single arginine residue. Modification of arginine residue was protected by beta-phenylpropionic acid, thus suggesting involvement of an arginine residue at or near the active site of the enzyme.     

Regulation in the chemolithotrophthiobacillus neapolitanus: Fructose-1,6-diphosphatase

Summary Partially purified fructose diphosphatase from the obligate chemolithotroph,Thiobacillus neapolitanus has been characterized, and some of its regulatory properties described. The enzyme had a high effinity for its substrate, but was inhibited by substrate at concentrations above 1 mM. The enzyme had an absolute requirement for a divalent cation. In the absence of EDTA there was a single pH optimum in the alkaline range between 8.5 and 9.5; in the presence of EDTA there was considerable was activity at both neutral and alkaline pH. This diphosphatase was inhibited by AMP at 10^–4 M or greater-, the lower the pH, the greater the AMP inhibition. Treatment of the enzyme with 5×10^–5 Mpara hydroxy mercuribenzoate allowed retention of full catalytic activity while abolishing considerable AMP inhibition. Exposure of the enzyme to several concentrations of urea had no effect on the AMP inhibition. Homocystine (0.06 mM) and coenzyme A (0.1 mM) had no effect. At 1 mM, PEP caused 60% inhibition, 2, 3-diphosphoglyceric acid produced 26% inhibition, and pyruvate had no effect.     

Chemical modification of bovine heart mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase. Selective modification of cysteine and histidine.

Bovine mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37) was inactivated by the specific modifications of a single histidine residue upon reaction with iodoacetamide. NADH protected against this loss of activity and reaction with the histidine residue, suggesting that the histidine is at the NADH binding site. N-Ethylmaleimide also modified the enzyme by reacting with 1 sulfhydryl residue. The reaction rate with N-ethylmaleimide was increased by decreasing the pH from neutrality or by the addition of urea. NADH protected against the modification of the sulfhydryl group under all the conditions tested, again suggesting active site specificity for this inactivation. This enzyme has a subunit weight of 33,000 and is a dimer. The native malate dehydrogenase will bind only 1 mol of NADH and it is thus assumed that there is only a single active site per dimer.     

Enzymic and physicochemical properties of Streptomyces griseus trypsin.

Streptomyces griseus trypsin has been isolated from Pronase by ion-exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex and SE-Sephadex. The isolated enzyme was homogeneous by the criteria tested except for a low degree of contamination by an enzyme with nontryptic activity. The latter could be partially resolved by chromatography on Bio-Rex 70. The molar absorbancy at 280 nm was found to be 3.96 times 10-4 M-1/cm and the E1cm1% was found to be 17.3. The molecular weight was 22,800 plus or minus 800. The enzyme was found to be stable at 0 degrees from pH 2 to 10. At 30 degrees the enzyme was maximally stable at pH 3-4 and significantly stabilized in the neutral and alkaline range by 15 mM Ca2+. Some evidence was obtained for a reversible denaturation of the enzyme at pH 12.0 and 2.0. The K-m for N-alpha-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester at pH 8.0 in 20 mM CaCl2-0.1 M KCl-10 mM Tris-HCl buffer at 30 degrees was found to be 7.7 plus or minus 1.9 times 10-6 M and the esterase activity was observed to be dependent on an ionizing group with pK-a equals 5.85. In 2H2O this pKa was increased to 6.35 and the rate of hydrolysis dicreased threefold. The rate of hydrolysis was independent of pH between 8 and 10. The inhibition of the enzyme with L-1-chloro-3-tosylamido-4-phenyl-2-butanone was shown to be associated with the alkylation of its single histidine residue. This residue is present in a homologous amino acid sequence as the active-site histidine in trypsin and chymotrypsin. Optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism measurements over the pH range 5.3-10.5 indicated no significant conformational change until the pH was increased above 10.1. The observation that, under the conditions tested, acetylation and carbamylation of the NH2-terminal valine were incomplete is consistent with the view that this group is buried as an ion pair and only becomes available for deprotonation and reaction upon denaturation of the enzyme at pH values greater than 10.0.     

Production and purification of protease from a Bacillus subtilis that can deproteinize crustacean wastes*

A protease-producing microorganism was isolated in northern Taiwan and identified as a strain of Bacillus subtilis. B. subtilis Y-108 thus isolated can be used for deproteinization of crustacean wastes in the preparation of chitin. For deproteinization tests, liquid phase fermentation of untreated shrimp shell, crab shell, and lobster shell wastes with this microbe showed protein removal of 88, 67, and 83%, respectively. In contrast, the protein removal of the acid treated wastes was 76, 62, 56%, respectively. The optimized conditions for protease production was found when the culture was shaken at 30 degrees C for 3 days in 100 ml of medium (phosphate buffer adjusted to pH 6.0) containing 7% shrimp and crab shell powder (SCSP), 0.1% K(2)HPO(4), 0.05% MgSO(4), 1.0% arabinose, 1.5% NaNO(3), and 1.5% CaCl(2). Under such conditions, the protease of B. subtilis Y-108 attained the highest activity. It was as high as 20.2 U/ml. The protease was purified in a three-step procedure involving ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B ionic exchange chromatography, and Sephacryl S-200 gel permeation chromatography. The enzyme was shown to have a relative molecular weight of 44 kDa by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The protease was most active at pH 8.0 and 50 degrees C with casein as substrate. The protease was activated by Mn(+2), Fe(+2), Zn(+2), Mg(+2), Co(+2), but inhibited completely by Hg(+2). The protease was also inhibited by metal-chelating agent such as EDTA, sulfhydryl reagents as beta-mercaptoethanol, and by cysteine hydrochloride, histidine, glycerol. The EDTA was the most effective inhibitor that caused complete inhibition of protease. It was concluded that this enzyme is a metal-chelator-sensitive neutral protease.     

The mercuric and organomercurial detoxifying enzymes from a plasmid-bearing strain of Escherichia coli.

Two separate enzymes, which determine resistance to inorganic mercury and organomercurials, have been purified from the plasmid-bearing Escherichia coli strain J53-1(R831). The mercuric reductase that reduces Hg2+ to volatile Hg0 was purified about 240-fold from the 160,000 X g supernatant of French press disrupted cells. This enzyme contains bound FAD, requires NADPH as an electron donor, and requires the presence of a sulfhydryl compound for activity. The reductase has a Km of 13 micron HgCl2, a pH optimum of 7.5 in 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer, an isoelectric point of 5.3, a Stokes radius of 50 A, and a molecular weight of about 180,000. The subunit molecular weight, determined by gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, is about 63,000 +/- 2,000. These results suggest that the native enzyme is composed of three identical subunits. The organomercurial hydrolase, which breaks the mercury-carbon bond in compounds such as methylmercuric chloride, phenylmercuric acetate, and ethylmercuric chloride, was purified about 38-fold over the starting material. This enzyme has a Km of 0.56 micron for ethylmercuric chloride, a Km of 7.7 micron for methylmercuric chloride, and two Km values of 0.24 micron and over 200 micron for phenylmercuric acetate. The hydrolase has an isoelectric point of 5.5, requires the presence of EDTA and a sulfhydryl compound for activity, has a Stokes radius of 24 A, and has a molecular weight of about 43,000 +/- 4,000.     

Autoxidation of ascorbic acid catalyzed by a semisynthetic enzyme

The semisynthetic enzyme 6 was prepared by alkylation of the cysteine-25 sulfhydryl group of papain with the bipyridine 5 and was shown to stoichiometrically bind copper ion; 7 catalyzed the autoxidation of ascorbic acid derivatives with saturation kinetics approximately 20-fold faster than a model system using 3-Cu(II).     

Human gastric lipase: a sulfhydryl enzyme

One sulfhydryl group was modified per mol of native human gastric lipase after incubation at pH 8.0 with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) for 18 h or with 4,4'-dithiopyridine for 100 min. With both reagents a direct correlation was found between the modification of one sulfhydryl group and the loss of human gastric lipase activity. Incubation of human gastric lipase with a new hydrophobic sulfhydryl reagent dodecyldithio-5-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) in 30-fold molar excess, at pH 3.0, 5.0, and 8.0, induced immediate and complete human gastric lipase inactivation. Unlike 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) and 4,4'-dithiopyridine, dodecyldithio-5-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) almost instantaneously stopped the course of tributyrin hydrolysis by human gastric lipase. Human gastric lipase can thus be said to be a sulfhydryl enzyme.     

Irreversible stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity of fat cell membranes of phosphoramidate and phosphonate analogs of GTP.

The ability of 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) to stimulate irreversibly the adenylate cyclease activity of fat cell membranes has been studied by preincubating the membranes with this or related analogs followed by assaying after thoroughly washing the membranes. Activation can occur in a simple Tris-HCl buffer, in the absence of added divalent cations and in the presence of EDTA. Dithiothreitol enhances the apparent degree of activation, perhaps by stabilization. The importance of utilizing optimal conditions for stabilizing enzyme activity, and of measuring the simultaneous changes in the control enzyme, is illustrated. The organomercurial, p-aminophenylmercuric acetate, inhibits profoundly the activity of the native as well as the Gpp(NH)p-stimulated adenylate cyclase, but in both cases subsequent exposure to dithiothreitol restores fully the original enzyme activity. However, the mercurial-inactivated enzyme does not react with Gpp(NP)p, as evidenced by the subsequent restoration of only the control enzyme activity upon exposure to dithiothreitol. Thus, reaction with Gpp(NH)p requires intact sulfhydryl groups, but the activated state is not irreversibly destroyed by the inactivation caused by sulfhydryl blockade. GTP and, less effectively, GDP and ATP inhibit activation by Gpp(NH)p, but interpretations are complicated by the facts that this inhibition is overcome with time and that GTP and ATP can protect potently from spontaneous inactivation. These two nucleotides can be used in the Gpp(NH)p preincubation to stabilize the enzyme. The Gpp(NH)p-activated enzyme cannot be reversed spontaneously during prolonged incubation at 30 degrees C in the absence or presence of GTP, ATP, MgCl2, glycine, dithiothreitol, NaF or EDTA. The strong nucleophile, neutral hydroxylamine, decreases the Gpp(NH)p-activated enzyme activity and no subsequent activation is detected upon re-exposure to the nucleotide.