PH modulation of transient state kinetics of enzymes

Abstract

The pre-steady-state kinetics of plant cell wall acid phosphatase has been investigated at different pH values. The approach of the steady stale lasts about 1 or 2 s and may be fitted with two exponential terms. For certain pH values the approach to the steady state exhibits damped oscillations. Plotting the sum and the product of the two time constants of these exponentials as a function of substrate concentration yields two straight lines. From the slopes and intercepts of these lines one may determine the values of rate and ionization constants involved in the reaction scheme. The results obtained are consistent with the view that the binding of the substrate to the enzyme does not induce a 'slow' conformation change of the enzyme. The enzyme reacts with its substrate while being mostly in its ionized form. Release of p-nitrophenol is also favoured by this ionized form of the enzyme. However, the hydrolysis of the phosphoryl-enzyme complex mostly occurs from the protonated form of the enzyme. The ionization constants of the free enzyme and of the various enzyme-ligand complexes are very similar.