The structure of a complex of Torpedo californica acetylcholinesterase with the transition state analog inhibitor m-(N,N,N-trimethylammonio)-2,2,2-trifluoroacetophenone has been solved by X-ray crystallographic methods to 2.8 Å resolution. Since the inhibitor binds to the enzyme about 1010-fold more tightly than the substrate acetylcholine, this complex provides a visual accounting of the enzyme−ligand interactions that provide the molecular basis for the catalytic power of acetylcholinesterase. The enzyme owes about 8 kcal mol-1 of the 18 kcal mol-1 of free energy of stabilization of the acylation transition state to interactions of the quaternary ammonium moiety with three water molecules, with the carboxylate side chain of E199, and with the aromatic side chains of W84 and F330. The carbonyl carbon of the trifluoroketone function interacts covalently with S200 of the S200−H440−E327 catalytic triad. The operation of this triad as a general acid−base catalytic network probably provides 3−5 kcal mol-1 of the free energy of stabilization of the transition state. The remaining 5−7 kcal mol-1 of transition state stabilization probably arises from tripartite hydrogen bonding between the incipient oxyanion and the NH functions of G118, G119, and A201. The acetyl ester hydrolytic specificity of the enzyme is revealed by the interaction of the CF3 function of the transition state analog with a concave binding site comprised of the residues G119, W233, F288, F290, and F331. The highly geometrically convergent array of enzyme−ligand interactions visualized in the complex described herein envelopes the acylation transition state and sequesters it from solvent, this being consistent with the location of the active site at the bottom of a deep and narrow gorge.
Ten meta-substituted aryl trifluoromethyl ketones (m-XC6H4COCF3; X = H, CH3, CF3, C2H5, isopropyl, t-butyl, NH2, NMe2, N+Me3, NO2) have been evaluated as inhibitors of acetylcholinesterases from Electrophorus electricus and Torpedo californica. Trifluoro ketones that have small meta substituents (X = H, CH3, CF3, C2H5, NH2, NO2) are rapid reversible inhibitors, whereas the remaining compounds in this study show time-dependent inhibition. Dissociation constants (Ki values) for these compounds span a range of approximately 10(7)-fold, with trifluoroacetophenone (X = H) being the least potent and m-(N,N,N-trimethylammonio)trifluoroacetophenone (X = Me3N+) being the most potent inhibitor. For the latter compound Ki values are 1.5 and 15 fM for inhibitions of the respective acetylcholinesterases (Nair, H. K., Lee, K., & Quinn, D. M. (1993) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115, 9939-9941). Linear correlations of log(kcat/Km) for substrate turnover versus pKi of inhibitors have slopes of approximately 0.6, which suggest that aryl trifluoro ketones bind to AChE in a manner that structurally resembles transition states in the acylation stage of catalysis. Substituent variation in the inhibitors allows one to gauge the importance for AChE function of molecular recognition in the quaternary ammonium binding locus of the active site. This locus is frequently termed the "anionic site" and consists of E199, W84, and perhaps Y130 and F330. Correlations of pKi versus hydrophobicity constant are linear for alkyl and trifluoromethyl substituents but fail for nitrogen-containing substituents. However, three-dimensional correlations of pKi versus sigma m and molar refractivity of substituents indicate that dispersion interactions in the anionic locus contribute approximately 10(5)-fold (delta delta G = 7 kcal mol-1) to the above-mentioned 10(7)-fold range of inhibitor potencies. The remaining approximately 100-fold arises from the inductive electronic effects of substituents on the stability of the tetrahedral adduct that forms between the ketone carbonyl of inhibitors and S200 in the esteratic locus of the active site. Values of k(on), the second-order rate constant for binding of time-dependent inhibitors, monitor a diffusion-controlled process. Moreover, k(on) for the quaternary ammonio inhibitor is 20-70-fold higher than for inhibitors that have uncharged meta substituents, which likely reflects the effect of the electrical field of AChE on ligand and substrate binding.
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