The steady state activity of succinate dehydrogenase in the presence of opposing effectors

The extent of the deactivation of the mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase by oxaloacetate is a function of the redox state of the enzyme. Oxidized enzyme is deactivated by much lower concentrations of oxaloacetate than those needed to deactivate reduced enzyme. An accurate method for measuring this relationship is the redox titration of the enzymic activity of succinate dehydrogenase, carried out in the presence of oxaloacetate. For each concentration of oxaloacetate a different redox titration curve was reported with the apparent mid-potential decreasing with increasing oxaloacetate. These results are compatible with a model which proposes that both oxidized and reduced enzymes can form the catalytically non-active complex with oxaloacetate, but that the complex formed the the oxidized enzyme is more stable than that formed by the reduced enzyme. When the oxaloacetate concentration is low, reduction of the enzyme will lower the fraction of the succinate dehydrogenase-oxaloacetate complex, a reaction which we observe as reductive activation of the enzyme. If this experiment is repeated in the presence of high concentration of oxaloacetate, no activation of the enzyme takes place, but the low stability of the reduced enzyme oxaloacetate complex is revealed by the rapid exchange of the enzyme-bound oxaloacetate with the free ligand. The rate of this exchange is extremely slow at high positive potential and becomes faster upon lowering of the poise potential. The reductive activation of the succinate dehydrogenase is regarded as a two step reaction. In the first step the reduced non-active complex releases the oxaloacetate and in the second step the active form of the enzyme is evolved. These two steps can be observed experimentally; Reductive activation at a redox potential higher than the mid-potential of the oxaloacetate-malate couple (minus 166 mV) is characterized by Ea = 18 Kca/mole, the final equilibrium level of activation decreases upon lowering of the temperature. Reduction activation of the enzyme at minus 240 mV is a very rapid reaction which goes to completion at all temperatures tested and has an activation energy of 12.5 Kcal/mole. The mechanism of the reductive activation and its possible role in the regulation of succinate dehydrogenase in the mitochondria is discussed.     

Structural and kinetic studies on the activators of succinate dehydrogenase.

1. Diverse classes of compounds such as dicarboxylates, pyrophosphates, quinols and nitrophenols are known to activate mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.1). Examples in each class -- malonate, pyrophosphate, ubiquinol and 2,4-dinitrophenol -- are selected for comparative studies on the kinetic constants and structural relationship. 2. The activated forms of the enzyme obtained on preincubating mitochondria with the effectors exhibited Michaelian kinetics and gave double-reciprocal plots which are nearly parallel to that of the basal form. On activation, Km for the substrate also increased along with V. The effectors activated the enzyme at low concentrations and inhibited, in a competitive fashion, at high concentrations. The binding constant for activation was lower than that for inhibition for each effector. 3. These compounds possess ionizable twin oxygens separated by a distance of 5.5 +/- 0.8 A and having fractional charges in the range of -0.26 to -0.74 e. The common twin-oxygen feature of the substrate and the effectors suggested the presence of corresponding counter charges in the binding domain. The competitive nature of effectors with the substrate for inhibition further indicated the close structural resemblance of the activation and catalytic sites.     

Nature of the activation of succinate dehydrogenase by various effectors and in hypobaria and hypoxia

1. Hepatic mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (succinate:(acceptor)oxidoreductase, EC 1.3.99.1) was activated by preincubation of mitochondria with four diverse classes of compounds, the dicarboxylic acids, nitrophenols, quinols (and ubiquinols) and pyrophosphates. Of the various compounds tested malonate, oxaloacetate and pyrophosphate, well-known competitive inhibitors of the enzyme, and also hydroquinone and ubiquinols were effective even at low concentrations and showed maximal stimulation in 2 min.2. Activation of succinate dehydrogenase by ubiquinol-9 and ubiquinol-10 was comparable to succinate activation in fresh mitochondria, and was much higher in the aged samples.3. Preincubation of mitochondria with succinate, 2,4-dinitrophenol, pyrophosphate and ATP also stimulated the succinate-2,2′,5,5′-tetraphenyl-3,3′-(4,4′-biphenylene) ditetrazolium chloride (NT) reductase activity, whereas malonate, hydroquinone and ubiquinol-9 were ineffective. A differential activation of the flavoprotein by the oxidized and reduced forms of ubiquinone-9 was observed, the former stimulating the reduction of NT and the latter of phenazine methosulphate-2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol.4. Repeated washing of the activated mitochondrial samples with the sucrose homogenizing medium, partially reversed the activation by effectors other than succinate. Further washing of the activated preparations after a second preincubation with succinate reverted the enzyme activity to the basal level in the case of malonate, ATP and pyrophosphate but not that of hydroquinone and ubiquinol-9.5. Increase in the activity of hepatic mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase, but not of succinate-NT reductase, known to occur in rats exposed to hypobaria was also observed in hypoxia indicating that it is an effect of lowered O₂ tension. The enzyme activity in these “partially activated” preparations was stable to washing with the sucrose homogenizing medium and could be fully activated to the same level as in the controls showing thereby the qualitative nature of the change. On washing these succinate-activated preparations further with the medium, the “hypobaric activation” was not reversed to the basal level, whereas the “hypoxic activation” was reversed. These results suggest that the effectors responsible for the activation of succinate dehydrogenase under hypobaric and hypoxic conditions are probably different; the former may be of the ubiquinol type and the latter of the malonate type.     

Reversible activation of succinate dehydrogenase

1. Treatment of particulate respiratory chain preparations in ways expected to raise or lower the concentration of endogenous soluble low-molecular-weight compounds respectively increased and diminished the capacity of succinate dehydrogenase to become activated reversibly and ;spontaneously' when preparations were diluted in tris acetate buffer and incubated at 37 degrees . 2. Addition of critically low concentrations of recognized activators to preparations that failed to undergo reversible ;spontaneous' activation when incubated at 1mg. of protein/ml. conferred on them the capacity to do so. 3. Preparations with a diminished tendency to undergo reversible ;spontaneous' activation had an increased tendency to become irreversibly inactivated on prolonged incubation at 1mg. of protein/ml. in tris acetate. 4. Extraction procedures designed to demonstrate the presence of possible endogenous activators in enzyme preparations failed to reveal a single substance to which such a role could be conclusively attributed. A mixture of compounds was found, however, including certain amino acids that have been shown to act as activators. It is questionable whether these compounds would be present at sufficiently high concentrations to act as activators when enzyme preparations are diluted to 1mg. of protein/ml. 5. Despite the failure to demonstrate conclusively the presence of endogenous activators, the balance of evidence appears to favour the hypothesis that reversible ;spontaneous' activation of these preparations can best be explained by the presence of such substances, and a scheme describing the mechanism of activation and deactivation of succinate dehydrogenase is discussed in relation to these and other observations.     

Mechanism of the reductive activation of succinate dehydrogenase.

When succinate dehydrogenase contains oxalacetate in firmly bound form, activity cannof the enzyme results in dissociation of oxalacetate and activation of the enzyme. The course of reductive titrations appears the same whether or not the enzyme contains oxalacetate, and complete reduction as monitored by bleaching of chromophoric groups requires the incorporation of 6 to 7 reducing equivalents in either case. The stoichiometry is that expected from the non-heme iron and flavin content of the enzyme. Activation of the enzyme during reductive titrations occurs predominantly with the incorporation of the second pair of electrons, while determination of activation levels at various poised potentials shows that the group involved is reduced with the uptake of 2 H+ and 2 e-. These characteristics are consistent with titration of the flavin moiety rather than non-heme iron groups. Thus it appears that activation is concurrent with the reduction of flavin to the hydroquinone form. From the measured half-reduction potential for activation, that of the flavin in an oxalacetate-free enzyme has been estimated at -90 to -60 mv at pH 7.     

Iron-sulfur components of succinate dehydrogenase: stoichiometry and kinetic behavior in activated preparations.

Extensively or completely activated preparations of beef heart succinate dehydrogenase have been investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques at 6 to 97 K. Reductive titrations with dithionite and rapid kinetic studies were performed with various types of soluble and membrane-bound preparations of the enzyme. The following components were detected and their behavior analyzed: a free radical, presumably arising from the covalently bound flavin on reduction, two iron-sulfur centers of the ferredoxin type, the signals of which appear on reduction, and a highpotential iron-sulfur component, detectable in the oxidized state. The high-potential component was only detected in complex II and inner-membrane preparations. This component and one of the ferredoxin-type centers were present in amounts close to stoichiometric with the flavin and were reduced by substrate. The other ferredoxin-type center was present in amounts between 0.1 and 0.5 times that of the flavin and was reduced only by dithionite. Of the components reduced by succinate, however, only a fraction (up to 50% of the high-potential iron-sulfur center and 40-60% of the ferredoxin-type iron-sulfur center) was reduced within the turnover time of the enzymes; In complex II not more than about 10% of the flavin appeared in the semiquinone form at any time. Soluble, purified preparations behaved similarly except that the high-potential component was nearly or completely absent and extensive accumulation of the free radical occurred (up to 70 to 80% of the flavin) in titration and kinetic experiments. No significant difference was observed between the rates of semiquinone formation and the reduction of the ferredoxin-type or high-potential centers by the substrate. Also no qualitative differences in the properties studied in this work became apparent between prepatations containing 4 or 8 iron atoms, respectively.     

Pig heart lipoamide dehydrogenase: solvent equilibrium and kinetic isotope effects.

Lipoamide dehydrogenase is a flavoprotein which catalyzes the reversible oxidation of dihydrolipoamide, Lip(SH)2, by NAD+. The ping-pong kinetic mechanism involves stable oxidized and two-electron-reduced forms. We have investigated the rate-limiting nature of proton transfer steps in both the forward and reverse reactions catalyzed by the pig heart enzyme by using a combination of alternate substrates and solvent kinetic isotope effect studies. With NAD+ as the variable substrate, and at a fixed, saturating concentration of either Lip(SH)2 or DTT, inverse solvent kinetic isotope effects of 0.68 +/- 0.05 and 0.71 +/- 0.05, respectively, were observed on V/K. Solvent kinetic isotope effects on V of 0.91 +/- 0.07 and 0.69 +/- 0.02 were determined when Lip(SH)2 or DTT, respectively, was used as reductant. When Lip(SH)2 or DTT was used as the variable substrate, at a fixed concentration of NAD+, solvent kinetic isotope effects of 0.74 +/- 0.06 and 0.51 +/- 0.04, respectively, were observed on V/K for these substrates. Plots of the kinetic parameters versus mole fraction D2O (proton inventories) were linear in all cases. Solvent kinetic isotope effect measurements performed in the reverse direction using NADH as the variable substrate showed equivalent, normal solvent kinetic isotope effects on V/KNADH when oxidized lipoamide, lipoic acid, or DTT were present at fixed, saturating concentrations. Solvent kinetic isotope effects on V were equal to 1.5-2.1. When solvent kinetic isotope effect measurements were performed using the disulfide substrates lipoamide, lipoic acid, or DTT as the variable substrates, normal kinetic isotope effects on V/K of 1.3-1.7 were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Transient kinetic and deuterium isotope effect studies on the catalytic mechanism of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase.

The catalytic mechanism of the phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase reaction in both directions was investigated by studying: (a) pre-steady state transients in reduced coenzyme appearance or disappearance or disappearance and in protein fluorescence; (b) deuterium isotope effects on the transients and on the steady state reactions; and (c) the partial reaction between the enzyme-NADH complex and hydroxypyruvate-P. These studies led to the scheme below for the ternary complex interconversion. E1-NADH-hydroxypyruvate-P(1)equilibriumE2-NADH-hydroxypyruvate-P(2)equilibriumE3-NADH-hydroxypyruvate-P + H+(3)equilibriumE3-NAD+-3-phosphoglycerate(4)equilibriumE4-NAD+-3-phosphoglycerate Steps 1,2, and 4 are ternary complex isomerizations. Step 3 is the hydride transfer. Under steady state conditions isomerization 2 is the rate-determining step in the direction of hydroxypyruvate-P reduction at higher pH values. At lower pH values, the hydride transfer step is also partially rate-determining. The rate-determining step in the direction of 3-phosphoglycerate oxidation occurs subsequent to the hydride transfer step at higher pH values. At lower pH values the rate is determined by both isomerization 4 and the hydride transfer step. Isomerizations 1, 2, and 4 were inhibited by serine, an allosteric inhibitor, indicating that the inactive conformation of the enzyme is incapable of performing any of the steps of the ternary complex interconversion. Phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase corresponds to a V-type allosteric enzyme. When the enzyme-NADH complex was mixed with hydroxypyruvate-P at pH 8.5, a rapid quenching of enzymebound NADH fluorescence occurred. This process was studied under pseudo-first order conditions and shown to be the result of hydroxypyruvate-P binding.     

Lead ion effect on creatine kinase: equilibrium and kinetic studies of inactivation and conformational changes

The effects of lead ions on creatine kinase (CK) were studied by measuring activity changes, intrinsic fluorescence spectra and 8-anilo-1-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS)-binding fluorescence along with size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Below 5 mM Pb(2+) concentration, there was nearly no change of the enzyme activity and a slight change of the ANS-binding fluorescence. The CK activity decreased significantly from 10 to 25 mM Pb(2+) concentrations. No residual activity was observed above 25 mM Pb(2+). The kinetic time courses of inactivity and unfolding were all mono-phase courses with the inactivation rate constants being greater than the unfolding rate constants for the same Pb(2+) concentration. The changes in fluorescence maximum and fluorescence intensity were relatively slow for 40-80 mM Pb(2+) as well as in the initial stage for less than 5 mM Pb(2+), showing that two transition states exist for Pb(2+) induced equilibrium-unfolding curves. The intrinsic fluorescence spectra and ANS-binding fluorescence measurements showed that even for high Pb(2+) concentrations, CK did not fully unfold. Additionally, the SEC results showed that the enzyme molecule still existed in an inactive dimeric state at 20 and 40 mM Pb(2+) solutions. All the results indicated the presence of at least one stable unfolding equilibrium intermediate of CK during Pb(2+) unfolding.     

Carboxymethylated liver alcohol dehydrogenase. Transient kinetic studies and effect of substrate structure on alcohol oxidation.

1. The rate constants for NADH binding and dissociation for carboxymethylated alcohol dehydrogenase have been determined and compared to those for the native enzyme. 2. Steady-state and transient kinetic experiments have shown that the hydrogen transfer step is rate-determining for oxidation of ethanol by carboxymethylated alcohol dehydrogenase. The rate constant of 0.19 s-1 is considerably slower than that for the native enzyme. 3. The steady-state parameter, V/[E], was obtained for each of a series of alcohols and correlated with the Taft sigma parameter. The linear relationship obtained indicates that the same step, hydrogen transfer, is rate-determining for all the alcohols. The sigma value obtained is the same as for the native enzyme; the implications of this for the mechanism of hydrogen transfer are discussed.     

Tightly bound oxalacetate and the activation of succinate dehydrogenase

Soluble succinate dehydrogenase prepared from acetone powders of submitochondrial particles is almost entirely in the deactivated state and contains 0.5 mole of oxalacetate (OAA) per mole of histidyl flavin. OAA is dissociated by succinate, malonate, IDP, ITP, and high concentrations of anions at elevated temperatures, but not significantly in the cold, with concurrent activation of the enzyme; the high energy of activation observed for OAA release and for activation suggests that a conformation change in the protein is involved. On removal of OAA, a reversible activation-deactivation cycle dependent on the pH is demonstrable. Submitochondrial particles behave similarly but appear to contain 1 mole of tightly bound OAA per histidyl flavin in the deactivated state.