Inhibition of Inosine-5'-monophosphate Dehydrogenase from Bacillus anthracis: Mechanism Revealed by Pre-Steady-State Kinetics

Biochemistry. 2016 Sep 20;55(37):5279-88. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.6b00265. Epub 2016 Sep 2.

Abstract

Inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) catalyzes the conversion of inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) to xanthosine 5'-monophosphate (XMP). The enzyme is an emerging target for antimicrobial therapy. The small molecule inhibitor A110 has been identified as a potent and selective inhibitor of IMPDHs from a variety of pathogenic microorganisms. A recent X-ray crystallographic study reported that the inhibitor binds to the NAD(+) cofactor site and forms a ternary complex with IMP. Here we report a pre-steady-state stopped-flow kinetic investigation of IMPDH from Bacillus anthracis designed to assess the kinetic significance of the crystallographic results. Stopped-flow kinetic experiments defined nine microscopic rate constants and two equilibrium constants that characterize both the catalytic cycle and details of the inhibition mechanism. In combination with steady-state initial rate studies, the results show that the inhibitor binds with high affinity (Kd ≈ 50 nM) predominantly to the covalent intermediate on the reaction pathway. Only a weak binding interaction (Kd ≈ 1 μM) is observed between the inhibitor and E·IMP. Thus, the E·IMP·A110 ternary complex, observed by X-ray crystallography, is largely kinetically irrelevant.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Bacillus anthracis / enzymology*
  • IMP Dehydrogenase / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Kinetics
  • Models, Molecular

Substances

  • IMP Dehydrogenase