Phenylalanine hydroxylase undergoes an obligatory prereduction step in order to become catalytically active as shown by stopped-flow kinetics and by measuring tyrosine formation at limiting 6-methyltetrahydropterin levels. This initial step requires oxygen and involves conversion of 6-methyltetrahydropterin directly to the quinonoid form with or without phenylalanine. The EPR spectrum of the resting enzyme (geff = 9.4-8.7, 4.3 and geff = 6.7, 5.4) is consistent with two species possessing distinctively different ligand environments for the non-heme, high-spin Fe3+. The intensity of the geff N 4.3 feature is inversely proportional to the specific activity of the enzyme, whereas the intensity of the geff E 6.7-5.4 region correlates with the activity of the enzyme. The I n our attempts to understand the mechanism of action of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) from rat liver, we (Gottschall et al., 1982) recently confirmed and extended an earlier observation by Fisher et al. (1972) that a tightly bound non-heme iron was necessary for the activity of the enzyme. We demonstrated that (1) the correct stoichiometry is one atom per subunit, (2) the enzymatic activity is proportional to the iron content, and (3) the iron can be removed from the enzyme and restored with nearly complete recovery of initial activity. In this paper we corroborate and expand the independent discovery (Marota & Shiman, 1984) that PAH is initially reduced to the catalytically active enzyme by the concomitant oxidation of 6-methyltetrahydropterin (6MPH4) directly to the quinonoid form in a stoichiometric reaction requiring oxygen but without the formation of reduced forms of oxygen such as superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, or of tyrosine. In this paper we (1) propose a two-step kinetic sequence for PAH activation and its catalytic turnover based on stopped-flow kinetic and complimentary product data, (2) define by EPR that the resting state of the activatable enzyme is associated with signals observed at geff = 6.7 and 5.4 consistent with high-spin Fe3+ (S = (3) show that the additional EPR signal observed at geff = 4.3 is associated with a form of the enzyme that is incapable of turnover, and (4) link the prereduction step to the conversion of PAH from an Fe3+ to an Fez+ state. Finally, we demonstrate that dithionite can substitute for 6MPH4 in the prereduction step and that the addition of one electron/subunit is sufficient to impart tightly coupled turnover. Experimental Procedures MaterialsDoubly distilled deionized water was used throughout. All reagents were of the highest grade commercially available. 0006-2960/84/0423-1295%01 SO10latter features are lost upon addition of phenylalanine under anaerobic or aerobic conditions. In the presence of ophenanthroline, the operation of the prereduction step results in nearly quantitative trapping of the iron in an Fez+ redox state. Dithionite can substitute for 6-methyltetrahydropterin in an anaerobic prereduction step, generating a catalytically active phenylalanine hydroxylase containing ...
The oxidation of 6-methyltetrahydropterin and tetrahydrobiopterin coupled to the formation of tyrosine by phenylalanine hydroxylase generates a precursor species to the quinonoid product that is tentatively identified as a 4a-hydroxy adduct based on its spectral similarity to the 4a-hydroxy-6-methyl-5-deazatetrahydropterin. The rate of appearance of this intermediate and that of tyrosine are equal and hydroxylase catalyzed in accord with the completion of the hydroxylation event. This observation, which confirms and extends an earlier one by Kaufman [Kaufman, S. (1975) in Chemistry and Biology of Pteridines (Pfleiderer, W., Ed.) p 291, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin], serves to link the reaction courses followed by pterin and pyrimidine cofactor analogues and supports the hypothesis that the 4a position is a site of O2 attachment. Thus, as expected, no prereduction of the enzyme was observed in anaerobic experiments utilizing stoichiometric amounts of enzyme and tetrahydropterin in the presence or absence of 1 mM phenylalanine. Activation of the hydroxylase by 1 mM lysolecithin leads to oxidation of the tetrahydropterin in the absence of phenylalanine. A ring-opened pyrimidine analogue of the tetrahydropterin, 2,5-diamino-4-[(meso-1-methyl-2-aminopropyl)amino]-6-hydroxypyrimidine, was studied to examine the possibility of tetrahydropterin ring opening in the enzymatic reaction prior to 4a-hydroxy adduct formation. However, no hydroxylase-catalyzed ring closure was observed.
The formation of L-tyrosine from L-phenylalanine and molecular oxygen is catalyzed by L-phenylalanine hydroxylase (phenylalanine 4-monooxygenase, EC I . 14.16.1) through the agency of a tetrahydropterin.' In the course of this reaction the cofactor is initially converted to a 4a-hydroxy tetrahydropterin adduct (4a-carbinolamine) which then is dehydrated to a quinonoid dihydropterin either enzymically by a 4acarbinolamine dehydra tase or spontaneously by buffer specie^.'.^ This hydroxy adduct
and will be on the same topic. In conjunction with these two conferences, AAPS PharmSciTech is planning to publish a special theme issue on Oral Controlled Release Development and Technology. This special theme issue is designed to update pharmaceutical scientists on the latest technologies in developing oral controlled release products. The issue will give an overview of controlled and sustained release development. Articles will discuss modeling for the design of controlled release products, regulatory and legal aspects of controlled release, material selection-including a discussion of the availability of new polymer materials, and an in-depth discussion of the latest technologies to develop and manufacture oral controlled release products. You are invited to contribute your research and review articles on any of the topics listed above for this theme issue. The process for submitting articles to the theme
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