JBC, Vol. 253, Issue 14, 4966-4970, Jul, 1978
Effect of sodium chloride on changing the rate-limiting step in the human placental choline acetyltransferase reaction
L. B. Hersh, L. A. Barker and B. Rush
The kinetic constants, Km and Vmax, for the choline acetyltransferase
reaction were determined for choline and eight choline analogs under
conditions of high (0.3 M) and low (approximately 0.01 M) sodium chloride.
At high sodium chloride, the maximal velocities of the different substrates
varied over 27-fold, while at low sodium chloride, less than a 5-fold
variation was observed. Dead-end inhibition studies using
acetylaminocholine as the inhibitor showed that under conditions of high
sodium chloride, inhibition changes from noncompetitive to competitive as
the reactivity of the substrate decreases. Under conditions of low sodium
chloride, acetylaminocholine inhibition is nonlinear and noncompetitive
with respect to all substrates tested. These results suggest that increased
ionic strength increases the rate of coenzyme A dissociation from the
enzyme. The rate-determining step of the reaction can be ternary complex
interconversion, coenzyme A release, or both, depending on the ionic
strength and the substrate employed.