Affinity labeling of bovine adrenal 3.beta.-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/steroid isomerase by 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine

Incubation of bovine adrenal 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/steroid isomerase with 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl]adenosine (5'-FSBA) results in the inactivation of the 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme activity following pseudo-first-order kinetics. A double-reciprocal plot of 1/kobs versus 1/[5'-FSBA] yields a straight line with a positive y intercept, indicative of reversible binding of the inhibitor prior to an irreversible inactivation reaction. The dissociation constant (Kd) for the initial reversible enzyme-inhibitor complex is estimated at 0.533 mM, with k2 = 0.22 min-1. The irreversible inactivation could be prevented by the presence of NAD+ during the incubation, indicating that 5'-FSBA inactivates the 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity by reacting at the NAD+ binding site. Although the enzyme was inactivated by incubation with 5'-FSBA, no incorporation of the inhibitor was found in labeling studies using 5'-[p-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyl] [14C]adenosine. However, the inactivation of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity caused by incubation with 5'-FSBA could be completely reversed by the addition of dithiothreitol. This indicates the presence of at least two cysteine residues at or in the vicinity of the NAD+ binding site, which may form a disulfide bond catalyzed by the presence of 5'-FSBA. The intramolecular cysteine disulfide bridge was found between the cysteine residues in the peptides 274EWGFCLDSR282 and 18IICLLVEEK26, by comparing the [14C]iodoacetic acid labeling before and after recovering the enzyme activity upon the addition of dithiothreitol.