Purification and partial characterization of a methylglyoxal reductase from goat liver

An enzyme which catalyzes the reduction of methylglyoxal to lactaldehyde has been isolated and purified from goat liver to apparent homogeneity. NADH was found to be a better substrate than NADPH for methylglyoxal reduction. Stoichiometrically equivalent amounts of lactaldehyde and NAD are formed from methylglyoxal and NADH. Enzyme activity was located only in the soluble supernatant fractions of liver cells. Of the various carbonyl compounds tested, methylglyoxal was found to be the best substrate. The pH optimum of the enzyme was found to be 6.5, and Km for methylglyoxal was 0.4 mM. The molecular weight of the enzyme was found to be 89000 by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-200 column. Electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel revealed that the enzyme is composed of two subunits. The enzyme is highly sensitive to sulfhydryl group reagents. The inactivation by p-chloromercuribenzoate could be substantially protected by methylglyoxal in combination with NADH, indicating a possible involvement of one or more sulfhydryl group(s) at the active site of the enzyme.