The significance of subunit interface residues Arg 49 and Lys 50 in the function of porcine liver fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was explored by site-directed mutagenesis, initial rate kinetics, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The Lys 50 3 Met mutant had kinetic properties similar to the wild-type enzyme but was more thermostable. Mutants Arg 49 49 3 Cys mutant). In addition, AMP cooperativity was absent in the Arg 49 mutants. The R and T-state circular dichroism spectra of the position 49 mutants were identical and superimposable on only the R-state spectrum of the wild-type enzyme. Changes from noncompetitive to competitive inhibition by AMP can be accommodated within the framework of a steadystate Random Bi Bi mechanism. The appearance of uncompetitive inhibition, however, suggests that a more complex mechanism may be necessary to account for the kinetic properties of the enzyme.Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11, FBPase 1 ) governs a crucial step in carbohydrate metabolism, the hydrolysis of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (Fru-1,6-P 2 ) to fructose 6-phosphate and inorganic phosphate (P i ) in the presence of required divalent cations such as Mg 2ϩ (1, 2). In mammals, FBPase is a homotetramer, inhibited competitively by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2) (3-6) and allosterically by AMP (7-9). Crystallographic complexes reveal 1 AMP binding site/subunit (10) and a single common binding site for Fru-2,6-P 2 and fructose 6-phosphate approximately 20 Å away from the AMP site. Metal ions bind at or near the active site. Activation of FBPase by Mg 2ϩ exhibits sigmoidal kinetics with a Hill coefficient of 2 at neutral pH but exhibits hyperbolic kinetics at pH 9.6 (11, 12).In the context of FBPase kinetics, the binding of AMP results in a diverse and complex set of phenomena. The inhibition of FBPase by AMP and Fru-2,6-P 2 is synergistic (13, 14), and the Fru-2,6-P 2 -induced enhancement of AMP binding is attributed to a decrease in the k off for the nucleotide (4). AMP and Mg 2ϩ are mutually exclusive in their binding to FBPase (11,15). Crystallographic studies have shown that AMP indirectly perturbs metal binding sites (16). AMP inhibition is cooperative, with a Hill coefficient of 2 (7-9). The first two molecules of AMP putatively bind with positive cooperativity, whereas the last two molecules bind with negative cooperativity (17). The mechanism for AMP inhibition is nonlinear and noncompetitive, with respect to Fru-1,6-P 2 and nonlinear and competitive with respect to Mg 2ϩ (11).The four identical subunits (C1, C2, C3, and C4) of FBPase each consist of single AMP (residues 1-200) and FBP (residues 200 -335) binding domains (10). The tetramer is roughly a square with the upper left vertex occupied by subunit C1 followed by C2, C3, and C4 in a clockwise sense. Structures of AMP complexes of FBPase define the T-state, whereas structures of FBPase in complexes with substrates or substrate analogs without AMP define the R-state. To a first approximation, the...