Hepatic microsomal epoxide hydrase. Involvement of a histidine at the active site suggests a nucleophilic mechanism

The effects of a wide variety of chemical modification reagents on the activity of purified rat liver microsomal epoxide hydrase have been investigated. Alkylating agents, such as the phenacyl bromides and benzyl bromide are potent inhibitors of epoxide hydrase. 2-Bromo-4'-nitroacetophenone (p-nitrophenacyl bromide) specifically and irreversibly inactivates epoxide hydrase. Pseudo-first order kinetics of inhibition is observed at higher inhibitor/enzyme ratios. The rate of inactivation is controlled by a group on the enzyme with an apparent pKa of 7.6. Inactivation of the enzyme with 14C-labeled 2-bromo-4'-nitroacetophenone leads to the incorporation of approximately 1 mol of radioactive inhibitor/mol of protein. Epoxide hydrase can be protected against this inactivation by the substrate phenanthrene-9,10-oxide. These results are consistent with the interpretation that 2-bromo-4'-nitroacetophenone acts as an active site-directed inhibitor. The site of alkylation by 2-bromo-4'-nitroacetophenone is a histidine residue of epoxide hydrase. The N-alkylated histidine derivative has been identified as 1-(p-nitrophenacyl)-4-histidine. A possible mechanism for the enzymatic hydration catalyzed by epoxide hydrase is discussed which involves a histidine residue of the enzyme serving as a general base catalyst for the nucleophilic addition of water.