Structural and functional consequences of subunit interactions in glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase

A variety of species of GPDH undergo acylation at two of the four active cystein sites per mole of tetrameric enzyme. This reaction requires tightly bound NAD+, a situation restricted to two of the four NAD sites per tetramer. S leads to N acyl transfer from cysteins to lysine in the diacyl enzyme yields an inactive enzyme. The thiol ester bond of acyl enzyme is activated by NAD+ and NADH for the group transfer and reduction reactions, respectively. In furyl acryloyl-GPDH this activation is accompanied by large acyl-spectral shifts, a "blue shift" with NADH and a "red shift" with NAD+. The group transfer reaction as well as spectral shifts show biphasic kinetics. The amplitude of the fast phase of NAD+-induced spectral change in apo-enzyme is equal to that of the fast phase in phosphorolysis (or arsenolysis) at low [NAD+]. The kinetic pattern of spectral shifts by NAD+ and NADH are complementary; the amplitude of the fast phase in one is equal to that of the slow phase in the other. It has been proposed that the acyl enzyme exists in two conformational states. The relative proportion of these states varies with the extent of covalent (acyl group) or non-covalent (NAD+ or NADH) ligation in a manner consistent with the allosteric model of Monod, Wyman and Changeux. These conclusions apply equally to the true substrate acyl enzyme. With 1,3-diphosphoglycerate, a tetra-acylated enzyme is obtained. Two of these four acyl groups react very much faster than the remaining two. A comparison of their specific rates with the steady state turnover numbers indicates that only the less reactive two acyl groups govern the turnover number of the enzyme.