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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 283, Issue 13, 8384-8394, March 28, 2008

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Pulse-Chase Studies of the Synthesis of Acetyl-CoA by Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase/Acetyl-CoA Synthase

EVIDENCE FOR A RANDOM MECHANISM OF METHYL AND CARBONYL ADDITION^*

From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0664

Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase catalyzes acetyl-CoA synthesis from CO, CoA, and a methylated corrinoid iron-sulfur protein, which acts as a methyl donor. This reaction is the last step in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway of anaerobic carbon fixation. The binding sequence for the three substrates has been debated for over a decade. Different binding orders imply different mechanisms (i.e. paramagnetic versus diamagnetic mechanisms). Ambiguity arises because CO and CoA can each undergo isotopic exchange with acetyl-CoA, suggesting that either of these two substrates could be the last to bind to the acetyl-CoA synthase active site. Furthermore, carbonylation, CoA binding, and methyl transfer can all occur in the absence of the other two substrates. Here, we report pulse-chase studies, which unambiguously establish the order in which the three substrates bind. Although a CoA pulse is substantially diluted by excess CoA in the chase, isotope recovery of a pulse of labeled CO or methyl group is unaffected by the presence of excess unlabeled CO or methyl group in the chase. These results demonstrate that CoA is the last substrate to bind and that CO and the methyl group bind randomly as the first substrate in acetyl-CoA synthesis. Up to 100% of the methyl groups and CoA and up to 60–70% of the CO employed in the pulse phase can be trapped in the product acetyl-CoA.

Received for publication, November 19, 2007 , and in revised form, January 17, 2008.

^* The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental "Experimental Procedures."

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, 1150 W. Medical Center Dr., 5301 MSRB III, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0606. Tel.: 734-615-4621; Fax: 734-763-4581; E-mail: sragsdal{at}umich.edu.

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