Purification and partial characterization of 3-hydroxyisobutyryl-coenzyme A hydrolase of rat liver.

An unusual feature of valine catabolism is a reaction in which an intermediate of its catabolic pathway, (S)-3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA, is hydrolyzed to give the free acid and CoA-SH. The enzyme responsible for this reaction, 3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA hydrolase (EC 3.1.2.4), was purified 7200-fold from rat liver in this study. The purified enzyme consists of a single polypeptide with an M(r) of 36,000 in the native and denatured forms. The hydrolase is highly specific for (S)-3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA and 3-hydroxypropionyl-CoA (Km, 6 and 25 microM, respectively) with optimal activity around pH 8. The turnover rate of the enzyme for (S)-3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA is 270 s-1, which is high relative to other enzymes of the valine pathway. Likewise, activity of the enzyme expressed on a wet weight basis is also very high in the major tissues of the rat. These findings suggest that rapid destruction of (S)-3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA produced during valine catabolism is physiologically important. We propose that the need for a mechanism to protect cells against the toxic effects of methacrylyl-CoA, which is maintained in equilibrium with (S)-3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA by crotonase, explains why valine catabolism involves this enzyme and why its tissue activity is so high.