Stereochemical aspects of cholinesterase catalysis

Proceeding from the sterochemical regularities of the nucleophilic substitution reaction at the carbonyl group and the assumption that the spatial structure of the active center of cholinesterases is complementary to the molecule of the ester substrates for these enzymes, some general features of the stereoselectivity phenomena in the reactions of acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) and butyrylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8) with organophosphorus inhibitors are discussed. For these enzymes the models of the active center are proposed in terms of different binding sites and the catalytic center. On the basis of this model, the stereochemical pecularities and the physicochemical background of the stereoselectivity effects on enzyme inhibition, reactivation, and “aging” reactions can be understood. Knowledge of the absolute configuration of several chiral organophosphorus inhibitors also makes it possible to determine the absolute spatial arrangement of the hydrophobic binding sites on the active surface of cholinesterases.