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Carbon-13 and deuterium isotope effects on oxalacetate decarboxylation by pyruvate carboxylase

Journal Article · · Biochemistry; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/bi00373a012· OSTI ID:6863304

Deuterium and /sup 13/C isotope effects for the enzymic decarboxylation of oxalacetate showed that both deuterium- and /sup 13/C-sensitive steps in the reaction are partially rate limiting. A normal alpha-secondary effect of 1.2 per deuterium was calculated for the reaction in which pyruvate-d3 was the substrate, suggesting that the enolate of pyruvate was an intermediate in the reaction. The large normal alpha-secondary deuterium isotope effect of 1.7 when oxalacetate-d2 was the substrate suggests that the motions of the secondary hydrogens are coupled to that of the primary hydrogen during the protonation of the enolate of pyruvate. The reduction in the magnitude of the /sup 13/C isotope effect for the oxamate-dependent decarboxylation of oxalacetate from 1.0238 to 1.0155 when the reaction was performed in D/sub 2/O (primary deuterum isotope effect = 2.1) clearly indicates that the transfer of the proton and carboxyl group between biotin and pyruvate does not occur via a single concerted reaction. Mechanisms in which biotin is activated to react with CO/sub 2/ (prior to transfer of the proton on N-1) by bond formation between the sulfur and the ureido carbon, or in which the sequence of events is decarboxylation of oxalacetate, proton transfer from biotin to enolpyruvate, and carboxylation of enolbiotin, predict that the /sup 13/C isotope effect in D/sub 2/O should be substantially lower than the observed value. A stepwise mechanism that does fit the data is one in which a proton is removed from biotin by a sulfhydryl group on the enzyme prior to carboxyl transfer, as long as the sulfhydryl group has an abnormally low pK.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
OSTI ID:
6863304
Journal Information:
Biochemistry; (United States), Journal Name: Biochemistry; (United States) Vol. 25; ISSN BICHA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English