Bromophenol red as a probe of lysozyme-active site environment: a temperature-jump study.

Abstract

AbstractSpectrophotometric techniques have been employed to study the binding of bromophenol red (BPR) to hen egg white lysozyme and the consequent inhibition of enzyme activity. Experimental evidence is given from the dye binding studies in the presence of hexasaccharide and from the studies on activity that BPR binds at a site outside the proposed cleft region (A–F) in such a way that it inhibits the lytic activity towards cell walls but does not inhibit the activity towards hexasaccharide. These observations are consistent with the kinetics of binding [studied using temperature‐jump (T‐jump)] in the presence of Co++ or chitotriose in large concentrations and the experiments with acetylated lysozyme which suggest that the binding site of BPR is closer to a lysine residue near the cleft. It is suggested that the binding site of BPR could be important in positioning the peptide segment of the cell walls, which are cleaved in the cleft.Evidence for the statement that this binding takes place at least by a two‐step process, in which the bimolecular step is followed by a slower monomolecular step, is given from the observations of two types of 1:1 complexes at 24°C in equilibrium studies and from the concentration dependence of the relaxation observed at 605 nm in the T‐jump experiments. The binding process is examined by analyzing the T‐jump data obtained between 18 and 33°C in the pH range 5.2–9.2 and ionic strength 0.01–01. The ionic strength and pH dependences of the equilibrium constant associated with the bimolecular step k2/k1 and the forward rate constant associated with monomolecular step k3 have been given as evidence for the suggestion that a Coulombic interaction is involved in the first step of binding. However, the final state of binding is hydrophobic in nature. The enthalpy of activation ΔH and the entropy of activation ΔS associated with kf[= k3(k1/k2)] showed compensation behavior with pH variation, with maxima around pH ∼ 7.5 in H2O. This has been interpreted as a maximal disordering of water structure in a region of the enzyme at this pH during the monomolecular step. However, the binding of chitotriose or Co++ in the cleft reduces the ΔH and ΔS associated with the monomolecular step of BPR binding, probably by disordering the structured water during their binding in the cleft. The differences in the kinetic parameters obtained in H2O and in D2O probably arise due to subtle differences in the conformation of the enzyme in the two solvents and apart from isotope effects.The correlation between the pH (or pD) dependence of the “intrinsic activity” towards cell walls and ΔH or ΔS indicates that ordered water structure could be playing a role in controlling the catalytic activity. It is also suggested that this factor is associated with the rate constant k3s of the monomolecular step leading to the formation of the final bound state of the substrate in cell lysis, which is also a factor controlling kcat.