JBC, Vol. 250, Issue 10, 3620-3628, May, 1975
N-Methylglutamate synthetase. Substrate-flavin hydrogen transfer reactions probed with deazaflavin mononucleotide
M. S. Jorns and L. B. Hersh
N-Methylglutamate synthetase, reconstituted from apo-protein with
5-deazaFMN, catalyzes the reversible formation of N-methylglutamate via the
same two-step mechanism previously elucidated for native enzyme (Reactions
1 and 2).(See article).This conclusion is based on the observation that: 1.
Enzyme-bound deazaFMN (gamma-max equals 410, 338, epsilon410 equals 10,400
m-minus 1 cm-minus 1) is reduced by L-glutamate, N-methyl-L-glutamate but
not D-glutamate. At saturating concentrations of L-glutamate Reaction 1
proceeds at 1% of the rate observed with FMN-reconstituted enzyme. 2.
Substrate-reduced deazaFMN enzyme is reoxidized by methylamine or ammonia.
3. A glutaryl enzyme intermediate, isolated by Sephadex G-25
chromatography, contains radioactivity when prepared from [U-14C]glutamate,
[alpha-3H]glutamate, or N-[glutaryl U-14C]methylglutamate; however, this
intermediate is not labeled from N[methyl 14C]methylglutamate. 4. The
amount of radioactivity incorporated into the intermediate is
stoichiometric with the amount of deazaFMN reduced during its formation. 5.
Intermediate prepared with [U-14C]glutamate yields alpha-[14C]ketoglutarate
when denatured with acid and N-[glutaryl-U-14C]methylglutamate when
incubated with methylamine. In the absence of methylamine deazaFMN enzyme
intermediate slowly decays to yield alpha-hydroxyglutarate. 6. The rate of
deazaFMN glutaryl enzyme intermediate formation at a fixed glutamate
concentration is equal to the rate of the over-all reaction while the rate
of intermediate reaction with methylamine is approximately 50 times greater
than the over-all reaction. DeazaFMN enzyme intermediate prepared with
[alpha-3H]-glutamate yields [3H]deazaFMNH2 when denatured with acid or
phenol and N-[3H]methylglutamate when incubated with methylamine. These
results show that the alpha-hydrogen of glutamate is transferred to
deazaFMNH2, presumably at the 5 position, during Reaction 1 and that the
same hydrogen is utilized for the reformation of the alpha C-H bond during
Reaction 2. These results provide the first direct evidence for enzymic
hydrogen transfer from substrate to flavin.