Hexokinase specific inhibitor

The substrate specificities of both mammalian and yeast hexo-kinases have been extensively studied (76,77). Nevertheless, work in this area continues both in the search for isoenzyme specific inhibitors and in increasingly detailed investigations of the catalytic mechanism. Recently potential transition state analogs PI-(adenosine-5 )-P3-glucose-6 triphosphate (Ap -glucose) and P1-(adenosine-5 )-P4-glucose-6 triphosphate (Ap.-giucose) were tested as inhibitors of four hexokinase isoenzymes. However, they were found to exhibit less affinity for the enzyme than either of the natural substrates alone (78). 

Exploration of Bulk Tolerance at ATP Sites. Non-covalent type inhibitors have also been used to study bulk tolerance around the ATP binding sites. In this vein Hampton and co-workers have both synthesized and tested as inhibitors a large number of adenine nucleotide analogs (Figure 2f) to probe the bulk tolerance at a number of positions on the parent compound (28-31) These compounds have been used to study systematically the isoenzyme selectivity of adenylate kinases, hexokinases, thymidine kinases and pyruvate kinases with respect to bulk tolerance at many sites on the ATP molecule. Some of the most isoenzyme specific results were obtained with pyruvate kinase isoenzymes K,L and M using ADP derivatives. Here 3 -0Me-ADP was found to inhibit pyruvate kinase preferentially with a ratio of inhibitory potency of 7.6 6.0 1.0 for the K,M and L isoenzymes, respectively. Another compound, 8-NHEt-ADP, was selective for the M isoenzyme, giving a ratio of 7.1 1.2 1.0 for the M, K and L forms, respectively. 

The use of X-ray techniques to elucidate the three-dimensional structure of enzymes shows that many of them possess a characteristic concave cleft at the active site. Concavities of this type have been observed, for example, in the case of lysozyme [8, 9] trypsin [10], yeast hexokinase [11], liver alcohol dehydrogenase [12] and citrate synthase [13]. It is thus reasonable to assume that the interaction between an enzyme and its substrate, inhibitor or cofactor usually occurs not in bulk water but rather in a shielded proteic cleft whose specific microenvironment is induced by the amino acid residues forming the cleft. Hydrophobicity, electrostatics, solvation and a relatively low dielectric constant prevailing within the cleft no doubt play a decisive role in determining the nature and rate of the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme. 

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