An exploration of the binding site of aldolase using N-(omega-hydroxyalkyl) glycolamidobisphosphoric esters.

N-(omega-Hydroxyalkyl)glycolamidobisphosphoric esters (P-O-CH2-CO-NH-(CH2)n -O-P), which are analogues of the aldolase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-lyase, EC 4.1.2.13) substrate fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, were synthesized and used for probing its active site. These phosphate compounds competitively inhibited aldolase activity. The Ki value was lowest when the maximum distance between the phosphorus atoms of the bisphosphate was brought close to that of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. The inhibitor constants, Ki, were compared to those of alkanediol monoglycolate bisphosphoric esters and alkanediol bisphosphate compounds, which were reported previously by Ogata et al. The values of Ki for the bisphosphate compounds containing an amide group, the amide bisphosphate compounds, were smaller than those for the bisphosphate compounds containing an ester group, the ester bisphosphate compounds, and those for alkanediol bisphosphates were the largest for the same distance between phosphorus atoms in these bisphosphates. The difference spectra of aldolase caused by binding of a saturating concentration of N-(omega-hydroxypropyl)glycolamidobisphosphoric ester resembled that of butanediol monoglycolate bisphosphoric ester. However, the effects of the amide bisphosphate compounds on the absorption spectrum of aldolase were smaller than those of the ester bisphosphate compounds for the same distance between phosphorus atoms in these bisphosphate compounds. These results suggest that the synthesized phosphate compounds bind to aldolase at the active site and the -CO-NH- group of the compounds might be held more tightly than the -CO-O- group by hydrogen bonds, presumably with the amino acid residues in the active site, such as Lys-146 or -229 and Asp-33 or Glu-187. On the other hand, the -CO-O- group might be more effective in changing the environment of the Trp-147 residue in the active site of this enzyme.