Tryptophan hydroxylase from mouse mastocytoma P-815. Reversible activation by ethylenediaminetetraacetate

Tryptophan hydroxylase from mouse mastocytoma P-815 is activated by ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA). The activation proceeds in a pH-, temperature-, and time-dependent manner and leads to a 30-fold higher activity at maximum. The optimal EDTA concentration is 10 microns. The activation requires solely EDTA with desalted crude enzyme solution in the absence of any cellular metabolites. There are no indications that the activation is due to proteolysis, modification of protein-bound sulfhydryl groups or other covalent modifications such as phosphorylation and methylation. In the presence of appropriate stabilizing agents, the activated state is maintained after the removal of EDTA by gel-filtration. The activation is reversible under conditions in which bound metal(s) is dissociated from the complex with EDTA. These results imply that the role of EDTA is metal chelation. A model is proposed in which the enzyme has at least two interconvertible states, the activated state and ground state, corresponding to the free and metal-bound forms, respectively. The metal is probably derived from the cell. The assay method for tryptophan hydroxylase utilized a rapid and sensitive (5 pmol/injection) determination of 5-hydroxytryptophan by high performance liquid chromatography.