Pressure effects on catalytic properties and structural stability of human paraoxonase

Abstract

Human paraoxonase (HuPON1) is a candidate as catalytic bioscavenger for pre-treatment and therapy of poisoning by organophosphate compounds. HuPON1 is a hydrophobic protein associated with a partner, the human phosphate binding protein (HPBP) in plasma high density lipoproteins. The relationship between the composition and the size of multimeric states of HuPON1 is not well understood. Moreover the effect of HPBP's presence on enzyme catalytic mechanisms and stability is unclear. We investigated the effect of hydrostatic pressure and temperature on structural stability and activity of different PON1 preparations (hybrid recombinant PON1, natural HuPON1 free of its partner or in the presence of 50% w/w HPBP). We showed that PON1 exists under several multimeric forms and that the binding of HPBP amends the size of the hetero-oligomeric states and exerts a stabilizing effect on the activity of PON1.