Vitamin K-dependent carboxylase: evidence for a hydroperoxide intermediate in the reaction

Vitamin K is an essential cofactor for a microsomal carboxylase that converts glutamyl residues in endogenous precursor proteins to gamma-carboxyglutamyl residues in completed proteins. The same microsomal preparations convert vitamin K to its 2,3-epoxide, and it has been suggested that these two reactions (carboxylation and epoxidation) are coupled. Glutathione peroxidase, which reduces hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides, inhibits both of these reactions in a prepartion of microsomes solubilized by Triton X-100. Catalase has no effect. In the absence of vitamin K, and in the presence of NADPH, tert-butyl hydroperoxide acts as a weak vitamin K analog. At lower concentrations, tert-butyl hydroperoxide is an apparent competitive inhibitor of vitamin K for both the carboxylase and epoxidase reactions. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that both of these vitamin K-requiring reactions involve a common oxygenated intermediate, and that a hydroperoxide of the vitamin is the species involved.