[Effect of insulin and steroid hormones on the conformation and activity of enzyme proteins]

An immediate effect of hormones (insulin, oxytocin, glucocorticoids and sex hormones) on the conformation and activity of enzymatically active proteins (hexokinase, glutamate dehydrogenase) was studied. Hormone-enzyme complex of insulin-hexokinase was shown to be formed. This process was accompanied by dissociation of the enzyme into two dimers without a loss of the catalytic activity but with disappearance of the property to be inhibited by glucocorticoids. The effect of insulin on the hexokinase activity was postulated to occur due to reaction of thiol-disulphide exchange between disulphide group of insulin and free sulfhydryl group of hexokinase. The inhibitory effect of sex hormones on the glutamate dehydrogenase activity was shown to be determined by their association with the enzymatically active protein. This phenomenon did not occur under conditions of stabilization of the quaternary structure of the enzyme. If the guanidine groups of glutamate dehydrogenase were blocked the inhibitory effect of sex hormones was found to decrease. These data demonstrate the importance of the guanidine groups in binding of sex hormones.