In an effort to design more specific and potent inhibitors of S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase, we investigated the mechanisms by which 5',5',6',6'-tetradehydro-6'-deoxy-6'-halohomoadenosines (X=C1, Br, I) inactivated this enzyme. The 6'-chloro (a) and 6'-bromo (b) acetylenic nucleoside analogues produced partial (50%) loss of enzyme activity with a concomitant (50%) reduction of E-NAD+ to E-NADH. In addition, Ade and halide ions were released from the inhibitors in amounts suggestive of a process involving enzyme catalysis. AdoHcy hydrolase, which was inactivated with compound a, was shown to contain 2 mol of the inhibitor covalently bound to Lys318 of two subunits of the homotetramer. These data suggest that the enzyme-mediated water addition at the 5'position of compound a or b produces an R-halomethyl ketone intermediate, which is then attacked by a proximal nucleophile (i.e., Lys318) to form the enzyme-inhibitor covalent adduct (lethal event); in a parallel pathway (nonlethal event), addition of water at the 6'position produces an acyl halide, which is released into solution and chemically degrades into Ade, halide ion, and sugar-derived products. In contrast, compound c completely inactivated AdoHcy hydrolase by converting 2 equiv of E-NAD+ to E-NADH and causing the release of 2 equiv of E-NAD+ into solution. Four moles of the inhibitor was shown to be tightly bound to the tetrameric enzyme. These data suggest that compound cinactivates AdoHcy hydrolase by a mechanism similar to the acetylenic analogue of Ado described previously by Parry et al. [(1991) Biochemistry 30, 9988-9997].

S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AdoHcy hydrolase) crystallizes from solutions containing the intermediate analogue neplanocin A with the analogue bound in its 3'-keto form at the active sites of all of its four subunits and the four tightly bound cofactors in their reduced (NADH) state. The enzyme is in the closed conformation, which corresponds to the structure in which the catalytic chemistry occurs. Examination of the structure in the light of available, very detailed kinetic studies [Porter, D. J., Boyd, F. L. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 21616-21625. Porter, D. J., Boyd, F. L. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 3205-3213. Porter, D. J. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 66-73] suggests elements of the catalytic strategy of AdoHcy hydrolase for acceleration of the reversible conversion of AdoHcy to adenosine (Ado) and homocysteine (Hcy). The enzyme, each subunit of which possesses a substrate-binding domain that in the absence of substrate is in rapid motion relative to the tetrameric core of the enzyme, first binds substrate and ceases motion. Probably concurrently with oxidation of the substrate to its 3'-keto form, the closed active site is "sealed off" from the environment, as indicated by a large (108-9-fold) reduction in the rate of departure of ligands, a feature that prevents exposure of the labile 3'-keto intermediates to the aqueous environment. Elimination of the 5'-substituent (Hcy in the hydrolytic direction, water in the synthetic direction) generates the central intermediate 4',5'-didehydro-5'-deoxy-3'-ketoadenosine. Abortive 3'-reduction of the central intermediate is prevented by a temporary suspension of all or part of the redox catalytic power of the enzyme during the existence of the central intermediate. The abortive reduction is 104-fold slower than the productive reductions at the ends of the catalytic cycle and has a rate constant similar to those of nonenzymic intramolecular model reactions. The mechanism for suspending the redox catalytic power appears to be a conformationally induced increase in the distance across which hydride transfer must occur between cofactor and substrate, the responsible conformational change again being that which "seals" the active site. The crystal structure reveals a well-defined chain of three water molecules leading from the active site to the subunit surface, which may serve as a relay for proton exchange between solvent and active site in the closed form of the enzyme, permitting maintenance of active-ite functional groups in catalytically suitable protonation states.

The gene encoding S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase in Leishmania donovani was subcloned into an expression vector (pPROK-1) and expressed in Escherichia coli. Recombinant L. donovani AdoHcy hydrolase was then purified from cellfree extracts of E. coli using three chromatographic steps (DEAE-cellulose chromatofocusing, Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration, and Q-Sepharose ion exchange). The purified recombinant L. donovani enzyme exists as a tetramer with a molecular weight of～48 kDa for each subunit. Unlike recombinant human AdoHcy hydrolase, the catalytic activity of the recombinant L. donovani enzyme was shown to be dependent on the concentration of NAD1 in the incubation medium. The dissociation constant (Kd) for NAD1 with the L. donovani enzyme was estimated to be 2.1±0.2μM. The Km values for the natural substrates of theenzyme, AdoHcy, Ado, and Hcy, were determined tobe 21±3, 8±2, and 82±5μM, respectively. Several nucleosides and carbocyclic nucleosides were tested for their inhibitory effects on this parasitic enzyme, and the results suggested that L. donovani AdoHcy hydrolase has structural requirements for binding inhibitors different than those of the human enzyme. Thus, it may be possible to eventually exploit these differences to design speci®c inhibitors of this parasitic enzyme as potential antiparasitic agents.

S-Adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase regulates biomethylation and homocysteine metabolism. It has been proposed to be a copper binding protein playing an important role in copper transport and distribution. In the present work, the kinetics of binding and releasing of copper ions was studied using fluorescence method. The dissociation constant for copper ions with AdoHcy hydrolase was determined by fluorescence quenching titration and activity titration methods using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and glycine as competitive chelators. The experimental results showed that copper ions bind to AdoHcy hydrolase with a Kd of～10-11M. The association rate constant was determined to be 7×10-6 M-1 s-1. The releasing of copper ions from the enzyme was found to be biphasic with a k(1) of 2.8×10-3 s-1 and k(2) of 1.7×10-5 s-1. It is suggested that copper ions do not bind to the substrate binding sites because the addition of adenine substrate did not compete with the binding of copper to AdoHcy hydrolase. Interestingly, it was observed that EDTA could bind to AdoHcy hydrolase with a dissociation constant of K1=8.0×10-5M and result in an increased affinity (Kd=～10-17M) of binding of copper ions to the enzyme.