Tauropine dehydrogenase from the starfish Asterina pectinifera (Echinodermata: Asteroidea): presence of opine production pathway in a deuterostome invertebrate

Tauropine dehydrogenase (tauropine:NAD oxidoreductase; TaDH) was purified to homogeneity from the body wall of the starfish Asterina pectinifera Müller at Troschel(Echinodermata: Asteroidea) by means of (NH4)2SO4 precipitation followed by column chromatographies in DEAE-cellulose, Sephadex G75, Macro-prep ceramic hydroxyapatite, PBE 94, and Toyopearl HW50S. The enzyme was a monomeric protein of approximately 42000 Da and pI 5.2. The maximum rate of the tauropine biosynthetic reaction was observed at pH 6.0, and that of the tauropine catabolic reaction was at pH 8.7-9.2. Taurine and pyruvate were the preferred substrates. The tauropine catabolic reaction was inhibited by the substrate tauropine: the peak rate was observed at 12.5 mM. Apparent Km values for NADH, taurine, and pyruvate were 0.036 +/- 0.002, 21.3 +/- 1.6, and 0.46 +/- 0.02 mM, respectively, and for tauropine and NAD+ were 2.64 +/- 0.73 and 0.068 +/- 0.005 mM, respectively. The molecular and catalytic properties of the starfish TaDH were basically similar to those of TaDH from other species belonging to the lower invertebrate phyla and the middle phyla of Prostostomia. Tauropine accumulation in vivo during experimental anoxia was also demonstrated. These results gave clear evidence of opine production pathway in deutrostome invertebrate.     

Tauropine dehydrogenase from the sandwormArabella iricolor (Polychaeta: Errantia): Purification and characterization

This is the first report of the purification of tauropine dehydrogenase (NAD: tauropine oxidoreductase) from a polychaete worm. In the sandwormArabella iricolor Montagu (Polychaet: Errantia), two forms of TaDH were detected: major component (pl = 7.5) and minor one (pI = 6.4). The major TaDH component was purified to homogeneity by means of (NH₄)₂SO₄ precipitation, anion-exchange, affinity, chromatofocusing and hydrophobic chromatography, and characterized. From the molecular mass of 43.7 kDa obtained by rapid gel-filtration and that of 43.5 kDa by SDS-PAGE, the sandworm enzyme appeared to be a monomeric protein. Maximum rates of reduction of pyruvate and oxidation of tauropine were observed at pH 7.0 and 8.5, respectively. Pyruvate and taurine were preferred substrate for the enzyme. Apparent Km values determined using constant co-substrate concentrations were: 35.7 mM, 0.34 mM, and 0.036 mM for taurine, pyruvate and NADH, respectively, in the tauropine synthesizing reaction; and 4.8 mM and 0.051 mM for tauropine and NAD⁺, respectively, in the tauropine oxidizing reaction. The tauropine synthesizing reaction was subject to substrate inhibition by pyruvate: maximum rate was observed at 2.5–3.0 mM (inhibitory range of pyruvate concentration producing half-maximal rate was 26.8 mM).     

Purification and properties of tauropine dehydrogenase from a red alga,Rhodoglossum japonicum

Tauropine dehydrogenase which is a member of opine dehydrogenases and catalyzes the reductive condensation of taurine with pyruvate was purified from a red alga, Rhodoglossum japonicum using a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration, affinity, and ion exchange chromatography. The molecular mass of this enzyme, obtained by HPLC using TSK SW2000G in its native form and SDS-PAGE in its denatured form, was 39000 and 42000, respectively. This means tauropine dehydrogenase has monomeric structure like other opine dehydrogenases. The relative activities for amino acids as substrate were 100 for taurine, 17 for valine and 12 for homotaurine. The apparent Km values for taurine, pyruvate and NADH were 15.0 mM, 0.80 mM and 0.04 mM, and for tauropine and NAD⁺ were 30 mM and 0.12 mM, respectively. Diurnal change of tauropine content was observed in R. japonicum, tauropine increased in the daytime and decreased in the nighttime.     

Kinetic properties of 5-carboxymethyl-2-hydroxymuconate semialdehyde dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli

Kinetic properties of purified 5-carboxymethyl-2-hydroxymuconate semialdehyde (CHMSA) dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.-) in the 4-hydroxyphenylacetate meta-cleavage pathway from Escherichia coli have been studied. The temperature--activity relationship for the enzyme from 27 to 45 degrees C showed an Arrhenius plot with an inflexion at 36 degrees C. When 5-carboxymethyl-2-hydroxymuconic semialdehyde and NAD were used as variable substrates, the double reciprocal plots were all linear and the lines intersected at one point below the horizontal axis, suggesting that a sequential mechanism is operating. From the replots of intercepts and slopes against reciprocal substrate concentrations were calculated Km (CHMSA) = 9.0 +/- 1.02 microM, Km (NAD) = 29.1 +/- 4.65 microM and the value for the dissociation constant of enzyme--NAD complex = 6.3 +/- 1.21 microM. ATP and the product of the reaction (NADH) acted as competitive inhibitors of the enzyme with respect to NAD. Apparent Ki values, estimated from Dixon plots, were 25.0 +/- 3.5 and 88.0 +/- 22.1 microM for NADH and ATP, respectively.     

Purification, properties and primary structure of alanine dehydrogenase involved in taurine metabolism in the anaerobe Bilophila wadsworthia

Alanine dehydrogenase [L-alanine:NAD+ oxidoreductase (deaminating), EC 1.4.1.4.] catalyses the reversible oxidative deamination of L-alanine to pyruvate and, in the anaerobic bacterium Bilophila wadsworthia RZATAU, it is involved in the degradation of taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonate). The enzyme regenerates the amino-group acceptor pyruvate, which is consumed during the transamination of taurine and liberates ammonia, which is one of the degradation end products. Alanine dehydrogenase seems to be induced during growth with taurine. The enzyme was purified about 24-fold to apparent homogeneity in a three-step purification. SDS-PAGE revealed a single protein band with a molecular mass of 42 kDa. The apparent molecular mass of the native enzyme was 273 kDa, as determined by gel filtration chromatography, suggesting a homo-hexameric structure. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined. The pH optimum was pH 9.0 for reductive amination of pyruvate and pH 9.0-11.5 for oxidative deamination of alanine. The apparent Km values for alanine, NAD+, pyruvate, ammonia and NADH were 1.6, 0.15, 1.1, 31 and 0.04 mM, respectively. The alanine dehydrogenase gene was sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence corresponded to a size of 39.9 kDa and was very similar to that of the alanine dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis.     

Characterization of Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus glutamate dehydrogenase purified by dye-ligand chromatography

Glutamate dehydrogenase (L-glutamate:NAD+ oxidoreductase (deaminating); EC 1.4.1.2) has been purified from Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus in a single step using dye-ligand chromatography. The enzyme (GDH) was present in high yields and was stabilized in crude extracts. A subunit molecular weight of 49000 +/- 500 was determined by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and six bands were obtained after cross-linking the subunits with dimethyl suberimidate. This bacterial GDH was predominantly NAD+-linked, but was able to utilize both NADP+ and NADPH at 4% of the rates with NAD+ and NADH, respectively. An investigation of the amino acid specificity revealed some similarities with GDH from mammalian sources and some clear differences. The values of apparent Km for the substrates ammonia, 2-oxoglutarate, NADH, NAD+ and glutamate were 18.4, 0.82, 0.066, 0.031 and 6 mM, respectively. The P. asaccharolyticus GDH was not regulated by purine nucleotides, but was subject to strong inhibition with increasing ionic strength.     

A specific enzymatic method for the determination of taurine

An enzymatic assay was developed for the quantitative determination of the amino acid taurine by following spectrophotometrically the oxidation of NADH using tauropine dehydrogenase. This enzyme was sufficiently purified from the shell adductor muscle of the ormer, Haliotis lamellosa, by a single-step isolation procedure on an ion-exchange column. The enzyme is highly specific for taurine. The quantitation of taurine is possible in the range of 1.6 to 100 nmol/ml; the assay time takes about 90 min. The method was successfully applied to the estimation of taurine in neutralized perchloric acid extracts of different muscles of various molluscs without further treatment. Correct quantitation of taurine is possible even in the presence of a 10-fold higher concentration of L-alanine.     

Alanine dehydrogenase from Streptomyces fradiae. Purification and properties

Alanine dehydrogenase was purified to homogeneity from a cell-free extract of Streptomyces fradiae, which produces tylosin. The enzyme was purified 1180-fold to give a 21% yield, using a combination of hydrophobic chromatography and ion-exchange fast protein liquid chromatography. The relative molecular mass of the native enzyme was determined to be 210,000 or 205,000 by equilibrium ultracentrifugation or gel filtration, respectively. The enzyme is composed of four subunits, each of Mr 51,000. Using analytical isoelectric focusing the isoelectric point of alanine dehydrogenase was found to be 6.1. The Km were 10.0 mM for L-alanine and 0.18 mM for NAD+. Km values for reductive amination were 0.23 mM for pyruvate, 11.6 mM for NH4+ and 0.05 mM for NADH. Oxidative deamination of L-alanine proceeds through a sequential-ordered binary-ternary mechanism in which NAD+ binds first to the enzyme, followed by alanine, and products are released in the order ammonia, pyruvate and NADH.     

Thermostable alanine dehydrogenase from thermophilic Bacillus sphaericus DSM 462. Purification, characterization and kinetic mechanism

Alanine dehydrogenase (L-alanine: NAD+ oxidoreductase, deaminating) was simply purified to homogeneity from a thermophile, Bacillus sphaericus DSM 462, by ammonium sulfate fractionation, red-Sepharose 4B chromatography and preparative slab gel electrophoresis. The enzyme had a molecular mass of about 230 kDa and consisted of six subunits with an identical molecular mass of 38 kDa. The enzyme was much more thermostable than that from a mesophile, B. sphaericus, and retained its full activity upon heating at 75 degrees C for at least 60 min and with incubation in pH 5.5-9.5 at 75 degrees C for 10 min. The enzyme can be stored without loss of its activity in a frozen state (-20 degrees C, at pH 7.2) for over 5 months. The optimum pH for the L-alanine deamination and pyruvate amination were around 10.5 and 8.2, respectively. The enzyme exclusively catalyzed the oxidative deamination of L-alanine in the presence of NAD+, but showed low amino acceptor specificity; hydroxypyruvate, oxaloacetate, 2-oxobutyrate and 3-fluoropyruvate are also aminated as well as pyruvate in the presence of NADH and ammonia. Initial velocity and product inhibition studies showed that the reductive amination proceeded through a sequential mechanism containing partially random binding. NADH binds first to the enzyme, and then pyruvate and ammonia bind in a random fashion. The products are sequentially released from the enzyme in the order L-alanine then NAD+. A dead-end inhibition by the formation of an abortive ternary complex which consists of the enzyme, NAD+ and pyruvate was included in the reaction. A possible role of the dead-end inhibition is to prevent the enzyme from functioning in the L-alanine synthesis. The Michaelis constants for the substrates were as follows: NADH, 0.10 mM; pyruvate, 0.50 mM; ammonia, 38.0 mM; L-alanine, 10.5 mM and NAD+, 0.26 mM.     

Purification and properties of alanine dehydrogenase from Bacillus sphaericus.

1. The bacterial distribution of alanine dehydrogenase (L-alanine:NAD+ oxidoreductase, deaminating, EC 1.4.1.1) was investigated, and high activity was found in Bacillus species. The enzyme has been purified to homogeneity and crystallized from B. sphaericus (IFO 3525), in which the highest activity occurs. 2. The enzyme has a molecular weight of about 230 000, and is composed of six identical subunits (Mr 38 000). 3. The enzyme acts almost specifically on L-alanine, but shows low amino-acceptor specificity; pyruvate and 2-oxobutyrate are the most preferable substrates, and 2-oxovalerate is also animated. The enzyme requires NAD+ as a cofactor, which cannot be replaced by NADP+. 4. The enzyme is stable over a wide pH range (pH 6.0--10.0), and shows maximum reactivity at approximately pH 10.5 and 9.0 for the deamination and amination reactions, respectively. 5. Alanine dehydrogenase is inhibited significantly by HgCl2, p-chloromercuribenzoate and other metals, but none of purine and pyrimidine bases, nucleosides, nucleotides, flavine compounds and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate influence the activity. 6. The reductive amination proceeds through a sequential ordered ternary-binary mechanism. NADH binds first to the enzyme followed by ammonia and pyruvate, and the products are released in the order of L-ALANINE AND NAD+. The Michaelis constants are as follows: NADH (10 microM), ammonia (28.2 mM), pyruvate (1.7 mM), L-alanine (18.9 mM) and NAD+ (0.23 mM). 7. The pro-R hydrogen at C-4 of the reduced nicotinamide ring of NADH is exclusively transferred to pyruvate; the enzyme is A-stereospecific.     

Negative modulation of Escherichia coli NAD kinase by NADPH and NADH.

NAD kinase was purified 93-fold from Escherichia coli. The enzyme was found to have a pH optimum of 7.2 and an apparent Km for NAD+, ATP, and Mg2+ of 1.9, 2.1, and 4.1 mM, respectively. Several compounds including quinolinic acid, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, nicotinamide mononucleotide, AMP, ADP, and NADP+ did not affect NAD kinase activity. The enzyme was not affected by changes in the adenylate energy charge. In contrast, both NADH and NADPH were potent negative modulators of the enzyme, since their presence at micromolar concentrations resulted in a pronounced sigmoidal NAD+ saturation curve. In addition, the presence of a range of concentrations of the reduced nucleotides resulted in an increase of the Hill slope (nH) to 1.7 to 2.0 with NADH and to 1.8 to 2.1 with NADPH, suggesting that NAD kinase is an allosteric enzyme. These results indicate that NAD kinase activity is regulated by the availability of ATP, NAD+, and Mg2+ and, more significantly, by changes in the NADP+/NADPH and NAD+/NADH ratios. Thus, NAD kinase probably plays a role in the regulation of NADP turnover and pool size in E. coli.     

Properties of glutamate dehydrogenase purified from Bacteroides fragilis

The dual pyridine nucleotide-specific glutamate dehydrogenase [EC 1.4.1.3] was purified 37-fold from Bacteroides fragilis by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sephadex A-25 chromatography twice, and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300. The enzyme had a molecular weight of approximately 300,000, and polymeric forms (molecular weights of 590,000 and 920,000) were observed in small amounts on polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the subunit was 48,000. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was pH 5.1. This glutamate dehydrogenase utilized NAD(P)H and NAD(P)+ as coenzymes and showed maximal activities at pH 8.0 and 7.4 for the amination with NADPH and with NADH, respectively, and at pH 9.5 and 9.0 for the deamination with NADP+ and NAD+, respectively. The amination activity with NADPH was about 5-fold higher than that with NADH. The Lineweaver-Burk plot for ammonia showed two straight lines in the NADPH-dependent reactions. The values of Km for substrates were: 1.7 and 5.1 mM for ammonium chloride, 0.14 mM for 2-oxoglutarate, 0.013 mM for NADPH, 2.4 mM for L-glutamate, and 0.019 mM for NADP+ in NADP-linked reactions, and 4.9 mM for ammonium chloride, 7.1 mM for 2-oxoglutarate, 0.2 mM for NADH, 7.3 mM for L-glutamate, and 3.0 mM for NAD+ in NAD-linked reactions. 2-Oxoglutarate and L-glutamate caused substrate inhibition in the NADPH- and NADP+-dependent reactions, respectively, to some extent. NAD+- and NADH-dependent activities were inhibited by 50% by 0.1 M NaCl. Adenine nucleotides and dicarboxylic acids did not show remarkable effects on the enzyme activities.     

Purification and properties of beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase from Mycobacterium phlei ATCC354.

beta-Hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.30) was purified 145-fold from Mycobacterium phlei ATCC354 by ammonium sulphate fractionation and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The pH optima for oxidation and reduction reactions were 8.4 and 6.8 respectively. The purified enzyme was specific for NAD, NADH, acetoacetate and D(-)-beta-hydroxybutyrate. Km values for DL-beta-hydroxybutyrate and NAD were 7.4 mM and 0.66 mM respectively. The enzyme was inactivated by mercurial thiol inhibitors and by heat, but could be protected by NADH, Ca2+ and partially by Mn2+. The enzyme did not require metal ions and was insensitive to EDTA, glutathione, dithiothreitol, beta-mercaptoethanol and cysteine.     

Isolation and characterization of lactate dehydrogenase from white fin muscles of the skate Raja clavata

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from white driving muscle of skate Raja clavata was purified by the differential precipitation of ammonium sulphate between 52 and 55% saturation. Only one protein band with the LDH activity was obtained by nondenaturing electrophoresis. The same result was obtained by the SDS-electrophoresis. The relative molecular weight calculated by this method in the presence of DS-Na was 34 kDa; Km was 29 +/- 7 and 71 +/- 16 microM for NAD.H and pyruvate, respectively. The reaction was maximally activated by 0.8-6.0 mM pyruvate and inhibited in the regions above this level. Dilution of LDH below concentration of 1 microgram/ml reduced the enzyme activity. The pH-optimum for the LDH activity ranged 7.0-8.0.     

The elementary reactions of the pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. A study of the inhibition by phosphorylation.

1. A method was devised for preparing pig heart pyruvate dehydrogenase free of thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP), permitting studies of the binding of [35S]TPP to pyruvate dehydrogenase and pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate. The Kd of TPP for pyruvate dehydrogenase was in the range 6.2-8.2 muM, whereas that for pyruvate dehydrogenase phosphate was approximately 15 muM; both forms of the complex contained about the same total number of binding sites (500 pmol/unit of enzyme). EDTA completely inhibited binding of TPP; sodium pyrophosphate, adenylyl imidodiphosphate and GTP, which are inhibitors (competitive with TPP) of the overall pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction, did not appreciably affect TPP binding. 2. Initial-velocity patterns of the overall pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction obtained with varying TPP, CoA and NAD+ concentrations at a fixed pyruvate concentration were consistent with a sequential three-site Ping Pong mechanism; in the presence of oxaloacetate and citrate synthase to remove acetyl-CoA (an inhibitor of the overall reaction) the values of Km for NAD+ and CoA were 53+/- 5 muM and 1.9+/-0.2 muM respectively. Initial-velocity patterns observed with varying TPP concentrations at various fixed concentrations of pyruvate were indicative of either a compulsory order of addition of substrates to form a ternary complex (pyruvate-Enz-TPP) or a random-sequence mechanism in which interconversion of ternary intermediates is rate-limiting; values of Km for pyruvate and TPP were 25+/-4 muM and 50+/-10 nM respectively. The Kia-TPP (the dissociation constant for Enz-TPP complex calculated from kinetic plots) was close to the value of Kd-TPP (determined by direct binding studies). 3. Inhibition of the overall pyruvate dehydrogenase reaction by pyrophosphate was mixed non-competitive versus pyruvate and competitive versus TPP; however, pyrophosphate did not alter the calculated value for Kia-TPP, consistent with the lack of effect of pyrophosphate on the Kd for TPP. 4. Pyruvate dehydrogenase catalysed a TPP-dependent production of 14CO2 from [1-14C]pyruvate in the absence of NAD+ and CoA at approximately 0.35% of the overall reaction rate; this was substantially inhibited by phosphorylation of the enzyme both in the presence and absence of acetaldehyde (which stimulates the rate of 14CO2 production two- or three-fold). 5. Pyruvate dehydrogenase catalysed a partial back-reaction in the presence of TPP, acetyl-CoA and NADH. The Km for TPP was 4.1+/-0.5 muM. The partial back-reaction was stimulated by acetaldehyde, inhibited by pyrophosphate and abolished by phosphorylation. 6. Formation of enzyme-bound [14C]acetylhydrolipoate from [3-14C]pyruvate but not from [1-14C]acetyl-CoA was inhibited by phosphorylation. Phosphorylation also substantially inhibited the transfer of [14C]acetyl groups from enzyme-bound [14C]acetylhydrolipoate to TPP in the presence of NADH. 7...     

Inhibition of the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system by NAD+ and NADP+ in cell-extracts of Methanosarcina barkeri

In cell extracts of Methanosarcina barkeri, the methylcoenzyme M methylreductase system with H2 as the electron donor was inhibited by NAD+ and NADP+, but NADH and NADPH had no effect on enzyme activity. NAD+ (4 and 8 mM) shifted the saturation curve for methylcoenzyme M from hyperbolic (Hill coefficient [nH] = 1.0; concentration of substrate giving half maximal velocity [Km] = 0.21 mM) to sigmoidal (nH = 1.5 and 2.0), increased Km (Km = 0.25 and 0.34 mM), and slightly decreased Vmax. Similarly NADP+ at 4m and 8 mM increased nH to 1.6 and 1.85 respectively, but the Km values (0.3 and 0.56 mM) indicated that NADP+ was a more efficient inhibitor than NAD+.     

A detailed investigation of the properties of lactate dehydrogenase in which the ''Essential'' cysteine-165 is modified by thioalkylation.

The reaction of pig heart lactate dehydrogenase with methyl methanethiosulphonate resulted in the modification of one thiol group per protomer, and this was located at cysteine-165 in the enzyme sequence. On reduction, both the thiomethylation of cysteine-165 and any changes in kinetic properties of the enzyme were completely reversed. Cysteine-165 has been considered essential for catalytic activity; however, cysteine-165-thiomethylated dehydrogenase possessed full catalytic activity, although the affinity of the enzyme for carbonyl-or hydroxy-containing substrates was markedly decreased. The nicotinamide nucleotide-binding capacity was unaffected, as judged by the formation of fluorescent complexes with NADH. The enzyme-mediated activation of NAD+, as judged by sulphite addition, was unaffected in thiomethylated lactate dehydrogenase. However, the affinity of oxamate for the enzyme--NADH complex was decreased by 100-fold and it was calculated that this constituted a net increase of 10.4 kJ/mol in the activation energy for binding. Thiomethylated lactate dehydrogenase was able to form an abortive adduct between NAD+ and fluoropyruvate. However, the equilibrium constant for adduct formation between pyruvate and NAD+ was too low to demonstrate this complex at reasonable pyruvate concentrations. A conformational change in the protein structure on selective thiomethylation was revealed by the decreased thermostability of the modified enzyme. The alteration of lactate dehydrogenase catalytic properties on modification depended on the bulk of the reagent used, since thioethylation resulted in an increase in Km for pyruvate (13.5 +/- 3.5 mm) and an 85% decrease in maximum catalytic activity. The implications of all these findings for the catalytic mechanism of lactate dehydrogenase are discussed.     

Steady-state investigations of the mechanism of histidinol dehydrogenase.

Initial velocities of the histidinol dehydrogenase reaction (EC 1.1.1.23) were measured as a function of the concentrations of the substrates histidinol and NAD+ and in the presence and absence of the product NADH. The data are consistent with a Bi Uni Uni Bi Ping Pong mechanism. The kinetic constants of this mechanism were determined; Km for histidinol was found to be 14 microM and for NAD+ 0.7 mV; Ki for NAD+ was 0.4 mM.     

Purification and properties of xanthine dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas acidovorans.

Xanthine dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.37) from Pseudomonas acidovorans has been purified to near homogeneity (approx. 65-fold). The enzyme has a molecular weight of about 275 000. Electrophoresis in gels containing sodium dodecyl sulphate showed the presence of two types of subunit with molecular weights of about 81 000 and 63 000. Thus the intact molecule probably contains two of each type of subunit. Xanthine and hypoxanthine are good substrates, and NAD+ is an effective electron acceptor. With xanthine and NAD+ as substrates the purified enzyme has a specific activity of about 20 mumol NADH formed/min per mg protein. Michaelis constants for xanthine and NAD+ are 0.07 and 0.12 mM, respectively, and for hypoxanthine and NAD+ 0.29 and 0.16 mM, respectively.     

A synthesis of acylphosphonic acids and of 1-aminoalkylphosphonic acids: the action of pyruvate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase on acetylphosphonic acid.

Acylphosphonic acids, R-CO-PO(OH)2, have been synthesized by the steps [formula: see text] of which the last is new and provides a mild method for de-esterifying acylphosphonic acids. Their reductive amination gives a simple way of making 1-aminoalkylphosphonic acids. Acetylphosphonic acid inhibited NAD+ reduction by pyruvate with the pyruvate dehydrogenases from Escherichia coli and Bacillus stearothermophilus. The inhibition was competitive with pyruvate, with Ki of 6 microM for the E. coli enzyme (pyruvate Km 0.5 mM) and one of 0.4 mM of the B. stearothermophilus enzyme (pyruvate Km 0.1 mM). Acetylphosphonate and its monomethyl ester are substates for pig heart lactate dehydrogenase, with Km values of 15 mM and 10 mM respectively (pyruvate Km 0.05 mM) and specificity constants one thousandth that for pyruvate.