Inactivation of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase by modification of cysteine residue 174 with diazonium-1H-tetrazole.

Abstract

Diazonium-1H-tetrazole was tested as a potential active-site-directed reagent for amino acid residues involved in catalysis by alcohol dehydrogenase. In a novel reaction with a protein, diazonium-1H-tetrazole inactivated the enzyme selectively, and almost stoichiometrically, but reacting with the sulfur of a cysteine residue, Cys-174. As a model compound, the tetrazole adduct of free cysteine was prepared. Elementary and spectral analyses of the adduct were consistent with the structure 5-tetrazoleazo-S-cysteine. The adduct absorbs light with a maximun at 316 nm, and is destroyed by irradiation at this wavelength. The inactivated enzyme still bound NADH as determined by difference spectroscopy, but did not enhance the fluorescence of the bound NADH as did native enzyme. X-ray crystallographic studies of free enzyme have shown that Cys-174 coordinates the zinc at the active site (Eklund, H., Nordström, B., Zeppezauer, E., Söderlund, G., Ohlsson, I., Boiwe, T., and Brändén, C-I. (1974), FEBS Lett. 44, 200-204). The modified enzyme is probably inactive because the large, negatively charged tetrazole ring interferes sterically or electrostatically with the binding of substrates or with hydride transfer.