The rates of inhibition of mouse acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7) by paraoxon, haloxon, DDVP and enantiomers of neutral alkyl methylphosphonyl thioates and cationic alkyl methylphosphonyl thiocholines were measured in the presence and absence of AChE peripheral site inhibitors: gallamine, d-tubocurarine, propidium, atropine and derivatives of coumarin. All ligands, except the coumarins, at submillimolar concentrations enhanced the rates of inhibition by neutral organophosphates, whereas inhibition rates by cationic organophosphates were decreased. When peripheral site ligand concentrations extended to millimolar concentrations the extent of the enhancement decreased, creating a well-shaped activation profile. Analysis of inhibition by DDVP revealed that peripheral site inhibitors increase the second-order reaction rates by increasing maximal rates of phosphorylation. These observations suggest that peripheral site ligands are capable of allosterically affecting the conformation of residues in the choline binding site of AChE, thus optimizing the position of the leaving group of uncharged organophosphates during the inhibition reaction.
        
Title: Conformational plasticity of butyrylcholinesterase as revealed by high pressure experiments Masson P, Balny C Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 1041:223, 1990 : PubMed
The ligand binding and kinetic behaviour of butyrylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8, acylcholine acylhydrolase) from human plasma was studied at 35 degrees C under high hydrostatic pressure. The binding of phenyltrimethylammonium was studied by affinity electrophoresis at various pressures ranging from 10(-3) to 2 kbar. The kinetics of enzyme carbamylation with N-methyl(7-dimethylcarbamoxy)quinolinium iodide was studied in single-turnover conditions up to 1.2 kbar using a high-pressure stopped-flow fluorimeter. Experiments were carried out in different media: 1 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) with water, water containing 0.1 M lithium chloride and deuterium oxide as solvents. The volume changes (delta V and delta V++) associated with each process were determined from the pressure-dependence of the binding and kinetic constants. Kinetic data show that the binding of substrate to the enzyme leads to a pressure-sensitive enzyme conformational state which cannot accomplish the catalytic act. The pressure-induced inhibitory effect is highly cooperative; it depends on both the nature (charged or neutral) and the concentration of the substrate. Also, large solvent effects indicate that enzyme sensitivity to pressure depends on the solvent structure. This findings suggests that the substrate-dependent pressure effect is modulated by the solvation state of the enzyme.
        
Title: Effects of high pressure on the single-turnover kinetics of the carbamylation of cholinesterase Masson P, Balny C Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 954:208, 1988 : PubMed
Pressure, as a perturbing variable, is one of the most powerful tools to investigate the thermodynamic parameters of chemical reactions and to study the mechanism of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The effect of elevated hydrostatic pressure (up to 0.8 kbar) on the reaction of butyrylcholinesterase with N-methyl-(7-dimethylcarbamoxy)quinolinium was determined under single-turnover conditions at 35 degrees C. The rate of carbamylation was monitored as the accumulation of the fluorescent ion, N-methyl-7-hydroxyquinolinium, in a high-pressure stopped-flow apparatus designed for the assay of fluorescence. Elevated pressure favored formation of the enzyme-substrate complex but inhibited carbamylation of the enzyme. Because a single reaction step was recorded, it was possible to interpret the data obtained under high pressure in the form of Michaelis-Menten equations. From the pressure dependence of the dissociation constant for the enzyme-substrate complex and the rate constant for carbamylation, maximal volume changes accompanying these events were determined. The value for the binding process, delta Vb = -129 ml.mol-1, is too large to be related only to volumetric changes in the active center. Substrate-induced conformational change and change of water structure appear to be the dominant contributions to the overall volume change associated with substrate binding. The large positive activation volume measured (delta V not equal to = 119 ml.mol-1) may also reflect extended structural and hydration changes. At pressures greater than 0.4 kbar, an additional pressure effect, dependent on substrate concentration, occurred in a narrow pressure interval. This effect may have resulted from a substrate-induced pressure-sensitive enzyme conformational state.
        
3 lessTitle: Peripheral site ligands accelerate inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by neutral organophosphates Radic Z, Taylor P Ref: J Appl Toxicol, 21 Suppl 1:S13, 2001 : PubMed
The rates of inhibition of mouse acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.1.7) by paraoxon, haloxon, DDVP and enantiomers of neutral alkyl methylphosphonyl thioates and cationic alkyl methylphosphonyl thiocholines were measured in the presence and absence of AChE peripheral site inhibitors: gallamine, d-tubocurarine, propidium, atropine and derivatives of coumarin. All ligands, except the coumarins, at submillimolar concentrations enhanced the rates of inhibition by neutral organophosphates, whereas inhibition rates by cationic organophosphates were decreased. When peripheral site ligand concentrations extended to millimolar concentrations the extent of the enhancement decreased, creating a well-shaped activation profile. Analysis of inhibition by DDVP revealed that peripheral site inhibitors increase the second-order reaction rates by increasing maximal rates of phosphorylation. These observations suggest that peripheral site ligands are capable of allosterically affecting the conformation of residues in the choline binding site of AChE, thus optimizing the position of the leaving group of uncharged organophosphates during the inhibition reaction.
        
Title: Interaction of tetrahydroaminoacridine with acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase Berman HA, Leonard K Ref: Molecular Pharmacology, 41:412, 1992 : PubMed
This paper examines inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuchE) by tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA), an acridine analog under consideration for palliative treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. THA causes linear mixed inhibition of AchE hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine, a cationic substrate (KI = 3.8 x 10(-9) M), and linear competitive inhibition of AchE hydrolysis of 7-acetoxy-4-methylcoumarin, an uncharged substrate (KI = 6.8 x 10(-9) M), and N-methyl-7-dimethylcarbamoxyquinolinium, a cationic carbamate (KI = 1.5 x 10(-8) M). Propidium association with AchE in the presence of saturating concentrations of THA is characterized by a dissociation constant of 7.7 +/- 0.7 x 10(-6) M, a value within 2-fold of the dissociation constant in the absence of THA. Association of THA with AchE is, therefore, not mutually exclusive with association of propidium at the peripheral anionic site. Moreover, THA causes dissociation of decidium complexes with AchE at concentrations compatible with a dissociation constant of 7.0 +/- 0.4 x 10(-9) M. Similar relationships were observed for THA inhibition of BuchE hydrolysis of butyrylthiocholine (KI = 2.5 x 10(-8) M) and dissociation of decidium complexes with BuchE (KD = 1.9 +/- 0.1 x 10(-8) M). These kinetic and equilibrium data uniformly indicate that THA associates with AchE and BuchE with high affinity and that the subsequent inhibition comes about through ligand association at the active center rather than at a peripheral site. The noncompetitive component of inhibition reflects association of THA with the acyl-enzyme intermediate, with subsequent effects on the rate of deacylation.
        
Title: Conformational plasticity of butyrylcholinesterase as revealed by high pressure experiments Masson P, Balny C Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 1041:223, 1990 : PubMed
The ligand binding and kinetic behaviour of butyrylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8, acylcholine acylhydrolase) from human plasma was studied at 35 degrees C under high hydrostatic pressure. The binding of phenyltrimethylammonium was studied by affinity electrophoresis at various pressures ranging from 10(-3) to 2 kbar. The kinetics of enzyme carbamylation with N-methyl(7-dimethylcarbamoxy)quinolinium iodide was studied in single-turnover conditions up to 1.2 kbar using a high-pressure stopped-flow fluorimeter. Experiments were carried out in different media: 1 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8) with water, water containing 0.1 M lithium chloride and deuterium oxide as solvents. The volume changes (delta V and delta V++) associated with each process were determined from the pressure-dependence of the binding and kinetic constants. Kinetic data show that the binding of substrate to the enzyme leads to a pressure-sensitive enzyme conformational state which cannot accomplish the catalytic act. The pressure-induced inhibitory effect is highly cooperative; it depends on both the nature (charged or neutral) and the concentration of the substrate. Also, large solvent effects indicate that enzyme sensitivity to pressure depends on the solvent structure. This findings suggests that the substrate-dependent pressure effect is modulated by the solvation state of the enzyme.
        
Title: Effects of high pressure on the single-turnover kinetics of the carbamylation of cholinesterase Masson P, Balny C Ref: Biochimica & Biophysica Acta, 954:208, 1988 : PubMed
Pressure, as a perturbing variable, is one of the most powerful tools to investigate the thermodynamic parameters of chemical reactions and to study the mechanism of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The effect of elevated hydrostatic pressure (up to 0.8 kbar) on the reaction of butyrylcholinesterase with N-methyl-(7-dimethylcarbamoxy)quinolinium was determined under single-turnover conditions at 35 degrees C. The rate of carbamylation was monitored as the accumulation of the fluorescent ion, N-methyl-7-hydroxyquinolinium, in a high-pressure stopped-flow apparatus designed for the assay of fluorescence. Elevated pressure favored formation of the enzyme-substrate complex but inhibited carbamylation of the enzyme. Because a single reaction step was recorded, it was possible to interpret the data obtained under high pressure in the form of Michaelis-Menten equations. From the pressure dependence of the dissociation constant for the enzyme-substrate complex and the rate constant for carbamylation, maximal volume changes accompanying these events were determined. The value for the binding process, delta Vb = -129 ml.mol-1, is too large to be related only to volumetric changes in the active center. Substrate-induced conformational change and change of water structure appear to be the dominant contributions to the overall volume change associated with substrate binding. The large positive activation volume measured (delta V not equal to = 119 ml.mol-1) may also reflect extended structural and hydration changes. At pressures greater than 0.4 kbar, an additional pressure effect, dependent on substrate concentration, occurred in a narrow pressure interval. This effect may have resulted from a substrate-induced pressure-sensitive enzyme conformational state.
The synthesis of decidium and hexidium diiodides, their spectroscopic properties, and association with acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo californica are described and compared with those for propidium. Decidium, hexidium, and propidium, bisquaternary analogs of the fluorescent phenanthridinium ligand ethidium, contain 10, 6, and 3 methylene carbons, respectively, interposed between the exocyclic and endocyclic quaternary nitrogens. The three ligands exhibit linear competitive inhibition of enzyme carbamylation by N-methyl-7-dimethylcarbamoxyquinolinium. Dissociation constants for decidium, hexidium, and propidium are found by direct fluorescence titration to be 2.1 +/- 0.2 X 10(-8), 5.8 +/- 1.4 X 10(-7), and 3.7 +/- 0.4 X 10(-6) M, values in close accord with the inhibition constants obtained from kinetic analyses. Association of the three ligands is characterized by a stoichiometry of one fluorescent ligand per 80-kDa molecular weight subunit and occurs with respective 6.5-, 4.5-, and 3-fold increases in both quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime. Decidium and hexidium, in marked contrast with propidium, are dissociated by ligands selective for the active center and undergo pronounced reduction in affinity upon modification of the active center with pyrenebutyl methylphosphonofluoridate. Whereas the kinetics reveal no clear distinctions in inhibitory action of the three ligands, the fluorescence studies indicate that the alkyltrimethylammonium moiety of decidium and hexidium occludes the active center; propidium, in contrast, associates solely with the peripheral anionic site and does not occlude the active center. The temperature dependence of binding indicates that decidium association engenders a substantial increase (+55 eu) in entropy. The data indicate that the active center and peripheral anionic sites are separated by a crevice which can accommodate the hydrocarbon portion of extended n-alkyl cationic ligands, thereby affording entropic stabilization of complex formation. This stabilization is realized, however, only when the anionic subsite of the active center is not occluded, enabling electrostatic interaction between cationic ligand and the anionic active center.
        
Title: Interaction of fluorescence probes with acetylcholinesterase. The site and specificity of propidium binding Taylor P, Lappi S Ref: Biochemistry, 14:1989, 1975 : PubMed
A bis-quaternary fluorescence probe, propidium diiodide, has been found to exhibit a tenfold enhancement of fluorescence when bound to acetylcholinesterase from Torpedo california. The complex is characterized by a high affinity, KD = 3.0 times 10-7 M, and 1:1 stoichiometry with the 82,000 molecular weight subunit of acetylcholinesterase. A wide variety of other quaternary ammonium ligands such as decamethonium, gallamine, d-tubocurarine, tetraethylammonium, and tetramethylammonium will completely dissociate propidium from the enzyme as will monovalent and divalent inorganic cations. The competitive dissociation does not show cooperative behavior or a distinct, requirement for occupation of multiple sites of different affinity to produce displacement. While a directly competitive relationship can be illustrated macroscopically, the various quaternary ligands show a different susceptibility toward inorganic cation displacement. The affinity of propidium relative to gallamine increases with ionic strength. This finding indicates that there is not complete equivalence in the negative subsites to which quaternary groups bind. Although edrophoniumwill also displace propidium from the enzyme, the dissociation constant obtained from this competitive relationship is 3.5 orders of magnitude greater than the constants obtained for inhibition of catalysis. By competitive displacement titrations it is shown that the primary binding site of edrophonium is distinct from that of propidium and a ternary complex with the two ligands can form on each subunit. In contrast to edrophonium, the binding of propidium is unaffected by methanesulfonylation of the active center serine and is uncompetitive with the carbamylating substrate, N-methyl-7-dimethylcarbamoxyquinolinium. Thus, it appears that propidium associates with a peripheral anionic center on the enzyme. Although propidium and edrophonium associate at separate sites on acetylcholinesterase, bis-quaternary ligands where the quaternary nitrogens are separated by 14 A displace both ligands from the enzyme with equal effectiveness.