Coenzyme assay

Guseva, A.R. and M.G. Borikhina Sulfanilamide acetylation as a means of coenzyme assay in higher plants Biokhimia 23 (1958) 272-276. 

The physicochemical properties of the reactants in an eiKyme-catalyzed reaction dictate the options for the assay of enzyme activity. Spectrophotometric assays exploit the abihty of a substrate or product to absorb hght. The reduced coenzymes NADH and NADPH, written as NAD(P)H, absorb hght at a wavelength of 340 run, whereas their oxidized forms NAD(P) do not (Figure 7—9). When NAD(P)+ is reduced, the absorbance at 340 run therefore increases in proportion to—and at a rate determined by—the quantity of NAD(P)H produced. Conversely, for a dehydrogenase that catalyzes the oxidation of NAD(P)H, a decrease in absorbance at 340 run will be observed. In each case, the rate of change in optical density at 340 nm will be proportionate to the quantity of enzyme present. 

Brain ChAT has a KD for choline of approximately 1 mmol/1 and for acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) of approximately 10pmol/l. The activity of the isolated enzyme, assayed in the presence of optimal concentrations of cofactors and substrates, appears far greater than the rate at which choline is converted to ACh in vivo. This suggests that the activity of ChAT is repressed in vivo. Surprisingly, inhibitors of ChAT do not decrease ACh synthesis when used in vivo this may reflect a failure to achieve a sufficient local concentration of inhibitor, but also suggests that this step is not rate-limiting in the synthesis of ACh [18-20]. 

The clinical significance of thiamine and its necessity for pyruvic acid oxidation has been discussed. Recent reports concerning the coenzyme function of thiamine in pentose (H13), tryptophan (D2), and lipoic acid metabolism (R6) have increased our knowledge of thiamine in metabolism and lend added interest to the role of thiamine in clinical problems. This method has also been used to assay thiamine in liver and brain. 

Recently nicotinic acid has been found to lower serum cholesterol in hypercholesteremia, and also in normal persons and rabbits (A3, F2). It was shown that the hypercholesteremia, induced by a 48-hour fast, could be completely corrected by giving the animals large doses of nicotinic acid during the fast. In contrast to nicotinic acid, nicotinamide does not lower the cholesterol level (M10). Several explanations are offered for the action of nicotinic acid (1) it inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis, (2) it interferes with coenzyme A, and (3) it involves a hitherto unknown pharmacologic effect. The renewed clinical interest in nicotinic acid induced us to look for a more specific and sensitive assay for nicotinic acid (B7, M8). 

Numerous methods based on different analytical principles have been offered for the measurement of dehydrogenase reactions. Most reliable and simple are spectrophotometric procedures ( optical test ) founded on the assay of one of the participating coenzymes (or substrates). 

The assay methods reported in the literature vary with respect to the use of methylene blue or another dye, and to the coenzyme used, depending on enzyme source, etc. 

Fluorimetric methods are useful for monitoring reactions involving the nucleotide coenzymes. The natural fluorescence of the reduced forms in the region of 460 nm can be used in kinetic assays. However, this fluorescence is destroyed at pH values below 2.0, whereas any oxidized forms of the coenzymes present are stable. If the pH of the solution is then raised above 10.5 and heated, the oxidized forms are themselves converted to fluorescent derivatives. This latter procedure lends itself to fixed time assays such as is illustrated in Procedure 8.6. 

Very low concentrations of substrates may be assayed by recycling the test substrate for an appreciable but definite period of time and measuring the amount of product formed. The coenzyme NADPH, for instance, may be assayed using the two enzymes glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) ... 

Significant advances have been made in the preparation of discrete macromolecules that include both coenzyme function and a defined polypeptide or protein architecture. Preliminary, but promising, functional studies have been carried out and assay methods developed. While in many cases rather modest effects have been observed, what is significant is that the methodology exists to prepare, characterize, and study defined macromolecular constructs. With new information becoming available on co enzyme-dependent protein catalysts from structural biology and mechanistic enzymology, it should be possible to more fully exploit the remarkable breadth of coenzyme reactivity in tailored synthetic systems. 

Selected entries from Methods in Enzymology [vol, page(s)] Assay, 1, 611 3, 935-938 63, 33 separation by HPLC, 72, 45 extraction from tissues, 13, 439 formation of, 1, 486, 518, 585 5, 466 free energy of hydrolysis, 1, 694 substrate for the following enzymes [acetyl-coenzyme A acyl carrier protein transacylase, 14, 50 acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, 14, 3, 9 acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase, 13, 375 N-acetyltransferase, 17B, 805 aminoacetone... 

Figure 2. Illustration of the importance of the choice of reaction conditions on the determination of initial velocity. Shown are four conditions applied to examine the rate behavior of Escherichia coli NAD+-dependent coenzyme A-linked aldehyde dehydrogenase (Reaction NAD+ + CoA-SH + Acetaldehyde = NADH + Acetyl-S-CoA + H+). All assay mixtures contained enzyme, 0.5 mM NAD+, 8 /jlW CoA-SFI, 16 mM acetaldehyde, and 22.5 mM Tris buffer at pFI 8.1. (a) Time-course observed when enzyme was added to the standard assay (b) time-course observed when enzyme was added to standard assay augmented with 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (c) time-course observed when enzyme was first preincubated for 15 min with 8 /jlW CoA-SH, 16 mM acetaldehyde, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, and 22.5 mM Tris buffer at pH 8.1, and the reaction was initiated by addition of NAD+ (d) time-course observed when enzyme was preincubated with lOmM 2-mercaptoethanol for 15 min andthen addedtostandard assay augmented with 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol. The data are most compatible with the idea that the enzyme has an active-site thiol group that must be reduced to express full catalytic activity during assay.

Fig. 7. Enzyme-coupled assay in which the hydrolase-catalyzed reaction releases acetic acid. The latter is converted by acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) into acetyl-CoA in the presence of (ATP) and coenzyme A (CoA). Citrate synthase (CS) catalyzes the reaction between acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate to give citrate. The oxaloacetate required for this reaction is formed from L-malate and NAD in the presence of L-malate dehydrogenase (l-MDH). Initial rates of acetic acid formation can thus be determined by the increase in adsorption at 340 nm due to the increase in NADH concentration. Use of optically pure (Ry- or (5)-acetates allows the determination of the apparent enantioselectivity i app i81)-...

UV/Vis-spectroscopy is the classical method of analysis of enzyme activity. The principle is the change in absorption behavior of a substrate during the reaction process, for example by modification or Hberation of a chromophoric function. A number of enzymes from different classes can be assayed spectrophoto-metrically using their natural substrates or cofactors. In this way, activity of acetyltransferases can be estimated by measurement of absorption of acetyl coenzyme A at 232 nm [33]. Oxidoreductases which require a cofactor, e.g., NAD/NADH, to carry out the transfer of hydrogen can be characterized by measuring the absorption of this cofactor depending on its oxidation stage [33]. 

To purify a protein, it is essential to have a way of detecting and quantifying that protein in the presence of many other proteins at each stage of the procedure. Often, purification must proceed in the absence of any information about the size and physical properties of the protein or about the fraction of the total protein mass it represents in the extract. For proteins that are enzymes, the amount in a given solution or tissue extract can be measured, or assayed, in terms of the catalytic effect the enzyme produces—that is, the increase in the rate at which its substrate is converted to reaction products when the enzyme is present. For this purpose one must know (1) the overall equation of the reaction catalyzed, (2) an analytical procedure for determining the disappearance of the substrate or the appearance of a reaction product, (3) whether the enzyme requires cofactors such as metal ions or coenzymes, (4) the dependence of the enzyme activity on substrate concentration, (5) the optimum pH, and (6) a temperature zone in which the enzyme is stable and has high activity. Enzymes are usually assayed at their optimum pH and at some convenient temperature within the range... 

Like the nicotinamide coenzymes (Fig. 13-15), the flavin nucleotides undergo a shift in a major absorption band on reduction. Flavoproteins that are fully reduced (two electrons accepted) generally have an absorption maximum near 360 nm. When partially reduced (one electron), they acquire another absorption maximum at about 450 nm when fully oxidized, the flavin has maxima at 370 and 440 nm. The intermediate radical form, reduced by one electron, has absorption maxima at 380, 480, 580, and 625 nm. These changes can be used to assay reactions involving a flavoprotein. 

Barker, H. A., Smyth, R. D., Weissbach, H., Munch-Peterson, A., Toohey, J. I., Ladd, J. N., Volcani, B. E. and Marilyn Wilson, R. 1960A. Assay, purification, and properties of adenylcobamide coenzyme. J. Biol. Chem. 235, 181-190. 

R and S isomers of HDT]acetic acid were synthesized by chemical and enzymatic methods that yield products of known stereochemistry.1819 The two isomers were then distinguished by using the following ingenious enzymatic assays. The acetic acid was first converted to acetyl-coenzyme A (by a reaction of the carboxyl group—and not the methyl—of acetic acid). The acetyl-coenzyme A was then condensed with glyoxylate to form malate in an essentially irreversible reaction catalyzed by malate synthase (equation 8.27). The crucial feature of this reaction is that it is subject to a normal kinetic isotope effect, so that more H than D... 

The dehydrogenases discussed in this section catalyze the oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds. They utilize either NAD+ or NADP+ as coenzymes. The complex of the enzyme and coenzyme is termed the holoenzyme the free enzyme is called the apotnzyme. Some dehydrogenases are specific for just one of the coenzymes a few use both. The reactions are readily reversible, so that carbonyl compounds may be reduced by NADH or NADPH. The rates of reaction in either direction are conveniently measured by the appearance or disappearance of the reduced coenzyme, since it has a characteristic ultraviolet absorbance at 340 nm. The reduced coenzymes also fluoresce when they are excited at 340 nm, which provides an even more sensitive means of assay. 

The various compounds were tested in the routine assay under all of the conditions noted in Table IV liberation of Pi after incubation with large excesses of purified enzyme was not detected. Compounds of groups (2) and (3), containing phosphodiester or internal phosphoanhydride linkages, were additionally tested with human semen phosphomonoesterase after incubation with E. coli pyrophosphatase. No Pi was liberated after this dual incubation, indicating absence of phosphodiesterase or coenzyme-degrading activity in the pyrophosphatase (12). 

The process of assaying for a particular reaction during purification may be complicated in cases requiring cosubstrates, coenzymes, or cofactors. Usually these additional requirements are discovered by the trial-and-error procedure of adding test substances to the reaction mixture and observing whether they accelerate the reaction or lead... 

---