Ek. Jaffe et al., 5-CHLORO[1,4-C-13]LEVULINIC ACID MODIFICATION OF MAMMALIAN AND BACTERIAL PORPHOBILINOGEN SYNTHASE SUGGESTS AN ACTIVE-SITE CONTAINING 2 ZN(II), Biochemistry, 33(38), 1994, pp. 11554-11562
5-Chloro[1,4-C-13]levulinic acid ([1,4-C-13]CLA) is an active site-dir
ected inactivator of porphobilinogen synthase (PBGS). PBGS asymmetrica
lly condenses two molecules of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) which are c
alled A-side ALA and P-side ALA in reference to their fates as the ace
tyl and propionyl halves of the product. [1,4-C-13]CLA modifies bovine
PBGS at the A-side ALA binding site. The C-4 chemical shift indicates
an intact keto moiety; the C-1 chemical shift indicates a deprotonate
d carboxyl group. In contrast, [1,4-C-13]CLA modification of Escherich
ia coil PBGS is heterogeneous and occurs preferentially at the P-side
ALA binding site. The C-1 chemical shifts indicate substantially depro
tonated carboxylic acid groups. For one of four observed forms of [1,4
-C-13]CLA-modified E. coli PBGS, an analog of the P-side Schiff base i
s found. Bovine and E. coli PBGS contain two different zincs, Zn-A and
Zn-B. Past results placed Zn-A near A-side ALA. [1,4-C-13]CLA modifie
s E. coli PBGS at Cys119 or Cys129, which is part of a four-cysteine c
luster implicated in binding Zn-B. This result places Zn-B near P-side
ALA. E. coli PBGS binds a third type of divalent metal, Mg-C or Mn-C,
which is found to have no significant effect on the C-13 NMR spectrum
of the [1,4-C-13]CLA-modified protein.