The competence of dopamine beta-monooxygenase (DBM) to process selenide substrates was investigated, in anticipation that the expected selenoxide products would exhibit unique reactivity and redox properties. The prototypical selenide phenyl 2-aminoethyl selenide (PAESe) was synthesized and shown to be a substrate for DBM with the characteristic e/O2 ratio of 2:1 for monooxygenation. The kinetic parameters for oxygenation of PAESe were found to be similar to those for the DBM-catalyzed sulfoxidation of the cognate sulfide phenyl 2-aminoethyl sulfide [May, S. W., & Phillips, R. S. (1980) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 102, 5981-5983], and selenoxidation was stimulated by fumarate in a manner similar to other well-characterized DBM monooxygenation reactions. Identification of phenyl 2-aminoethyl selenoxide (PAESeO) as the enzymatic product was accomplished by the demonstration of coincident elution of authentic PAESeO with the enzymatic product in three significantly different HPLC systems. PAESeO was found to oxidize ascorbic acid with the concomitant and stoichiometric reduction of PAESeO back to the selenide, PAESe. As a consequence of this nonenzymatic reaction, ascorbate-supported DBM turnover was prematurely terminated under standard assay conditions due to depletion of reduced ascorbate. The kinetics of the redox reaction between PAESeO and ascorbate were investigated with a spectrophotometric assay of ascorbate at 300 nm, and a second-order rate constant of 3.4 M-1 s-1 was determined at pH 5.0, 25 degrees C. Spectrophotometric assay of cytochrome c (cyt c) reduction at 550 nm during the oxidation of ascorbate by PAESeO demonstrated that no cyt c trappable semidehydroascorbate was produced in this nonenzymatic reaction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Proteinases capable of cleaving proenkephalin into smaller peptides have been identified in bovine adrenal chromaffin granules using [35S]methionine-labeled recombinant rat proenkephalin as a selective substrate in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis proteinase radiozymography. This technique was used for the screening of subcellular fractions, general characterization of pH optima, and the mechanistic characterization of proteinases with both reversible and irreversible inhibitors. Two enzymes with approximate molecular masses of 76 and 30 kDa were shown to be localized to the highest-density fractions of chromaffin granules by sucrose density gradient fractionation. Both were enriched in a 1 M NaCl wash of purified chromaffin granule membranes, were active at high pH, and were characterized as serine proteinases based on inhibition by soybean trypsin inhibitor. The 30-kDa enzyme was also inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate, D-Phe-Pro-Arg-CH2Cl, and D-Val-Phe-Lys-CH2Cl and appeared to be the previously described adrenal trypsin-like enzyme. A third enzyme, of 66 kDa, was also associated with the 1 M NaCl wash of purified chromaffin granule membranes but was not localized exclusively to chromaffin granules in sucrose gradients. This proteinase was found to be Ca2+ activated and inhibited by EDTA but not diisopropyl fluorophosphate, soybean trypsin inhibitor, p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid, 1,10-phenanthroline, or pepstatin.
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