Xanthine oxidase substrate activity

Reperfusion of the synovial membrane occurs when exercise is stopped and O2 is subsequently reintroduced to the tissue. O2 is a substrate required for xanthine oxidase activity and O2" is generated. Therefore, repeated cycles of rest-exercise-rest in the inflamed joint may provide a continuous flux of destructive ROM. 

Finally, in the case of inhibitory substrate analogues such as allo-xanthine, strong evidence has recently been presented that these bind to molybdenum in reduced xanthine oxidase (33). If the enzyme is reduced with xanthine, then treated anaerobically with alloxanthine and finally exposed to air, catalytic activity is lost. Though flavin and iron in the final product are in the oxidized state, there are significant spectral differences between it and the native enzyme. These are believed (33) due to reduction of molybdenum from Mo(VI) to Mo(IV) and complexing of... 

Nitric oxide is a physiological substrate for mammalian peroxidases [myeloperoxide (MPO), eosinophil peroxide, and lactoperoxide), which catalytically consume NO in the presence of hydrogen peroxide [60], On the other hand, NO does not affect the activity of xanthine oxidase while peroxynitrite inhibits it [61]. Nitric oxide suppresses the inactivation of CuZnSOD and NO synthase supposedly via the reaction with hydroxyl radicals [62,63]. On the other hand, SOD is able to modulate the nitrosation reactions of nitric oxide [64]. 

Later on, the importance of xanthine oxidase as the producer of reoxygenation injury was questioned at least in the cells with low or no xanthine oxidase activity. Thus, it has been shown that human and rabbit hearts, which possess extremely low xanthine oxidase activity, nonetheless, develop myocardial infractions and ischemia-reperfusion injury [9], However, recent studies supported the importance of the xanthine oxidase-catalyzed oxygen radical generation. It has been showed that xanthine oxidase is partly responsible for reoxygenation injury in bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells [10], human umbilical vein and lymphoblastic leukemia cells [11], and cerebral endothelial cells [12], Zwang et al. [11] concluded that xanthine dehydrogenase may catalyze superoxide formation without conversion to xanthine oxidase using NADH instead of xanthine as a substrate. 

Xanthine oxidase (XO) was the first enzyme studied from the family of enzymes now known as the molybdenum hydroxylases (HiUe 1999). XO, which catalyzes the hydroxylation of xanthine to uric acid is abundant in cow s milk and contains several cofactors, including FAD, two Fe-S centers, and a molybdenum cofactor, all of which are required for activity (Massey and Harris 1997). Purified XO has been shown to use xanthine, hypoxan-thine, and several aldehydes as substrates in the reduction of methylene blue (Booth 1938), used as an electron acceptor. Early studies also noted that cyanide was inhibitory but could only inactivate XO during preincubation, not during the reaction with xanthine (Dixon 1927). The target of cyanide inactivation was identified to be a labile sulfur atom, termed the cyanolyzable sulfur (Wahl and Rajagopalan 1982), which is also required for enzyme activity. 

RGURE 22-47 Allopurinol, an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase. Hypoxanthine is the normal substrate of xanthine oxidase. Only a slight alteration in the structure of hypoxanthine (shaded pink) yields the medically effective enzyme inhibitor allopurinol. At the active site, allopurinol is converted to oxypurinol, a strong competitive inhibitor that remains tightly bound to the reduced form of the enzyme. 

The cofactors of both xanthine and aldehyde oxidases belong to the LMoVI(S)(0) subfamily (see Section IV). However, inactive dioxo forms, LMovi(0)2, of both xanthine and aldehyde oxidase are known. These dioxo forms do not catalyze oxidation of the respective substrates of these enzymes. The Mov/Molv redox potential for the inactive bis(oxido) form of xanthine oxidase differs from the oxido-sulfido form by -30 mV (bovine xanthine oxidase) and -lOOmV (chicken liver xanthine oxidase) [91]. Although the difference is small, given the xanthine/uric acid reduction potential (-360 mV), it is possible that the Mov/MoIV couple (-433 mV) of the chicken-liver xanthine oxidase bis(ox-ido) form impedes the effective oxidation of xanthine for redox reasons alone. However, the bis(oxido) form of bovine xanthine oxidase (with a reduction potential of -386 mV) should be able to oxidize xanthine, since the redox potential, and hence the thermodynamic driving force, is sufficient for activity [91,92,99]. As substrate oxidation does not occur, the chemical differences between the bis(oxido) and oxido-sulfido (Movl) forms must be critical to the dramatic difference in activity (see Section VI.E.l). 

Over the course of study of xanthine oxidase, proposals for the mechanism by which the metal functions have ranged from hydride transfer to oxo transfer to CEPT linked to water activation [226,233-235], The latter proposal is presently favored, given what is known about (1) the source of the oxygen atom incorporated into product, (2) the fate of the substrate C(8)—H bond, (3) the role of the sulfido ligand, and (4) substrate binding. 

The decrease in rate of reaction of xanthine oxidase with the size of purine substrate is also consistent with a size-selective active site pocket and possible metal binding of substrate [242,243], A strongly coupled nitrogen is not observed in the very rapid signal, which is thought to include bound product, so it would appear that the urate is not N bound to the molybdenum center [152-158],... 

Possible Xanthine Oxidase Mechanism. The proposed reaction mechanism, (Figure 27), which must still be regarded as a working hypothesis, entails metal binding of substrate, metal-assisted activation of water, CEPT, and stabilization of the hydrosulfido ligand. 

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