Synthesis of the photoaffinity probe 3-(p-azidobenzyl)-4-hydroxycoumarin and identification of the dicoumarol binding site in rat liver NAD(P)H:quinone reductase (EC 1.6.99.2).

A photoaffinity analog of 4-hydroxycoumarin containing an azidobenzyl group at the 3-position and, if desired, carbon-14 or tritium radionuclides has been synthesized and characterized. This compound, 3-(p-azidobenzyl)-4-hydroxycoumarin, serves as an effective competitive inhibitor of the dicoumarol-sensitive NAD(P)H:quinone reductase (EC 1.6.99.2; DT-diaphorase) from rat liver, having an apparent inhibition constant of 6.6 x 10(-8) M, a value comparable to that observed for dicoumarol (1.7 x 10(-9) M), significantly lower than for Warfarin (3.5 x 10(-5) M) and well within the range required of an effective photoaffinity reagent. Irradiation of the reductase with ultraviolet light in the presence of the photoprobe resulted in the covalent labeling of up to 10% of the protein. Greater than 99% of the covalent incorporation is precluded by the addition of 15 microM dicoumarol, consistent with the specific labeling of the 4-hydroxycoumarin binding site of this enzyme by this photoaffinity reagent. Further evidence of a high degree of specificity is provided by the isolation and sequence analysis of the peptides covalently modified by this reagent. A single region within the protein was found to be labeled, with threonine 127 and tyrosine 128 being the only amino acid residues that were observed to be modified. These results, for the first time, define a portion of the 4-hydroxycoumarin binding site within a protein that has a well established sensitivity to this type of anticoagulant and, because dicoumarol serves as a competitive inhibitor for pyridine nucleotides in this enzyme, may also define a portion of this unusual pyridine nucleotide binding site. In addition, these results suggest that this reagent may be effective as a highly specific photoaffinity probe in the identification of other proteins that are similarly inhibited by 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives, such as the microsomal enzymes associated with the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation system.