Peptides containing histidine at position 2 were observed to undergo spontaneous N-terminal oxidative deamination in aqueous solution in the presence of Ni(II), sulfite, and ambient oxygen. The reaction resulted in the formation of a free carbonyl on the Nterminal ␣-carbon (␣-ketoamide) and was catalytic with respect to nickel. This oxidative deamination was confirmed by 13 C NMR, 1 H NMR, mass spectrometry, and chemical tests. No evidence of modification of histidine was found. It was demonstrated that the nickel-dependent N-terminal oxidative deamination also occurred in His-2 peptides using potassium peroxymonosulfate (oxone) as an oxidant. When oxone was used, oxygen was not required for the deamination to proceed. The results suggest that both nickel-catalyzed reactions (sulfite and oxygen, and oxone) produce an imine intermediate that spontaneously hydrolyzes to form the free carbonyl. These findings may provide a physiologically relevant model for oxidative carbonyl formation in vivo, as well as a useful method for producing a site-specific carbonyl on peptides and proteins.Excessive exposures to both nickel and sulfite are known to produce serious toxic and carcinogenic effects in animals and humans (1-4). The generation of potentially harmful radicals from sulfite oxidation by transition metal catalysis has been well established (5). Nickel salts are physiologically redoxinactive, and therefore nickel toxicity in vivo is inferred to involve activation by coordination with peptides and proteins. A variety of catalytic oxidative properties of Ni(II)/peptide complexes have been reported in the literature. These include decarboxylation of the Ni(II)-Gly-Gly-His complex in the presence of molecular oxygen (6), the ability of Ni(II)-histidyl peptide complexes to function as Fenton reaction catalysts (7,8), and the ability of the Ni(II)-Gly-Gly-L-His complex to catalyze the oxidation and cleavage of DNA (9, 10) and to promote the formation of intermolecular protein cross-links (11, 12). Muller et al. (13) and Liang et al. (14) have recently reported that autooxidation of sulfite catalyzed by the Ni(II)-complexed LysGly-His-amide tripeptide can oxidatively damage DNA. They postulate in situ formation of monoperoxysulfate, a strong oxidant, as an active intermediate in the damaging effect.We have recently reported on the identification of a unique Ni(II) binding site on hemoglobin that, in the presence of monoperoxysulfate, produces N-terminal oxidative deamination, as well as intramolecular cross-linking, both specific to the -globins (15). In the present study, we have employed small model peptides in order to verify the structural assignment of oxidative deamination, as well as to identify the minimal sequence requirements for reaction susceptibility. Additionally, we have tested a system that substitutes sulfite (SO 3 2Ϫ ) and oxygen (O 2 ) for potassium peroxymonosulfate (oxone). 1 Our findings show clearly that histidine at position 2 is a fundamental requirement for Ni(II)-catalyzed oxidative Ntermina...