Schiff bases pyridoxal phosphate catalysis

Lactobacillus delbrueckii. In 1953, Rodwell suggested that the histidine decarboxylase of Lactobacillus 30a was not dependent upon pyridoxal phosphate (11). Rodwell based his suggestion upon the fact that the organism lost its ability to decarboxylate ornithine but retained high histidine decarboxylase activity when grown in media deficient in pyridoxine. It was not until 1965 that E. E. Snell and coworkers (12) isolated the enzyme and showed that it was, indeed, free of pyridoxal phosphate. Further advances in characterization of the enzyme were made by Riley and Snell (13) and Recsei and Snell (14) who demonstrated the existence of a pyruvoyl residue and the participation of the pyruvoyl residue in histidine catalysis by forming a Schiff base intermediate in a manner similar to pyridoxal phosphate dependent enzymes. Recent studies by Hackert et al. (15) established the subunit structure of the enzyme which is similar to the subunit structure of a pyruvoyl decarboxylase of a Micrococcus species (16). 

Nucleophilic catalysis is a specific example of covalent catalysis the substrate is transiently modified by formation of a covalent bond with the catalyst to give a reactive intermediate. There are also many examples of electrophilic catalysis by covalent modification. It will be seen later that in the reactions of pyridoxal phosphate, Schiff base formation, and thiamine pyrophosphate, electrons are stabilized by delocalization. 

Effective concentration 65-72 entropy and 68-72 in general-acid-base catalysis 66 in nucleophilic catalysis 66 Elastase 26-30, 40 acylenzyme 27, 40 binding energies of subsites 356, 357 binding site 26-30 kinetic constants for peptide hydrolysis 357 specificity 27 Electrophiles 276 Electrophilic catalysis 61 metal ions 74-77 pyridoxal phosphate 79-82 Schiff bases 77-82 thiamine pyrophosphate 82-84 Electrostatic catalysis 61, 73, 74,498 Electrostatic effects on enzyme-substrate association rates 159-161... 

Unlike other pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes, in which it is the carbonyl group that is essential for catalysis, the internal Schiff base between pyridoxal phosphate and lysine in glycogen phosphorylase can be reduced with sodium borohydride without affecting catalytic activity. Thus, while pyridoxal phosphate is essential for phosphorylase activity, it does not act by the same kind of mechanism as in amino acid metabolism. 

Aminotransferases utilize a coenzyme - pyridoxal phosphate - which is derived from vitamin B6. The functional part of pyridoxal phosphate (see here) is an aldehyde functional group attached to a pyridine ring. Catalysis involves a Schiff base intermediate (see here). 

Fig. 8.13 Reactive sites of pyridoxal phosphate. The functional group of pyridoxal phosphate is a reactive aldehyde (shown in blue) that forms a covalent intermediate with amino groups of amino acids (a Schiff base). The positively charged pyridine ring is a strong electron-withdrawing group that can pull electrons into it (electrophilic catalysis).

Like homogeneous catalysis, the removal of a-hydrogen of the amino acid fragment by OH ions, the local concentration of which is apparently high in the polymer phase, is probably the rate-determining step of heterogeneous racemization. Under similar conditions, the rate of a-amino acid racemization decreases in the sequence Ala = Ser>Phe>Nva>Lys>Val, and correlates with the rate of substrate racemization in the presence of Schiff bases and transamination of amino acids by pyridoxal phosphate. 

Schiff base formation between pyridoxal phosphate and amino acids are the basis for most enzymatic transformations of amino acids including transamination, decarboxylation, and racemization. Schiff bases formed between amino acids and pyridoxal phosphate or other heteroaromatic or aromatic aldehydes are, however, not only transformed enzymatically, but can, without enzymatic catalysis, undergo a large number of reactions, although at lower rate and/or higher temperatures than those for the corresponding enzymatic reactions. The enzymatic reactions require metal ions as cofactors and in analogy the nonenzymatic reaction are also catalyzed by metal ions, most effectively by cupric ions. 

A lysine residue is involved in enzyme catalysis in a number of lyase enzymes and in enzymes in which pyridoxal phosphate is the cosubstrate. An intermediary Schiff base product is formed between an e-amino group of the enzyme and the substrate or pyridoxal phosphate (cf. 2.3.2.3). The reaction site is then identified by reduction of the Schiff base with NaBH4. 

Describe the roles of pyridoxal 5a-phosphate, general acid-base catalysis, Schiff-baseformation and the carbonium ion intermediate in the mechanism of action of glycogen phosphorylase. 

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