The development of SS'-polymethylenebis(methanethiosulphonates) as reversible cross-linking reagents for thiol groups and their use to form stable catalytically active cross-linked dimers within glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

The synthesis of a series of SS'-polymethylenebis(methanethiosulphonates) including the pentane, hexane, octane, decane and dodecane derivatives is described. These derivatives were synthesized by condensation between dibromoalkanes and potassium methanethiosulphonate in refluxing methanol and this seems an especially versatile reaction for the synthesis of asymmetric thiosulphonate derivatives. The synthesis of SS'-[1,8-3H4]-octamethylenebis(methanethiosulphonate) was also perfomed. Cross-linking was demonstrated in the four enzymes lactate dehydrogenase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. For all four enzymes cross-linking was efficiently reversed by reducing conditions in denaturing solvents. The reaction with glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase was unique in that only the cross-linked dimer was produced in significant amounts (greater than 90% of total products as dimer). This reaction was followed in detail with radioactive cross-linking reagent. Inhibition of enzyme activity was extremely fast and showed an asymmetric distribution of enzyme activity on subunits. Thus complete modification of only one subunit resulted in up to 75% inhibition of enzyme activity. Reaction of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase with 1.25 mol of SS'-octamethylenebis(methanethiosulphonate) per mol of enzyme subunit produced two species of protein. The first species was obtained in 20% yield and was only partially re-activated on mild reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol. The second species was isolated in 66% yield and was completely re-activated on mild reduction. Before reduction there was 4 mol of inhibitor per tetramer for the latter species, and more than 95% of the enzyme was present as a dimer on non-reducing electrophoresis. After mild reduction 2 mol of inhibitor was still bound per tetramer, the enzyme was now catalytically active and the dimer was still the major structure on non-reducing electrophoresis. Thus mild reduction of SS'-octamethylenebis(methanethiosulphonate-treated glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase enabled the production of active enzyme in which there is a stable cross-link across one of the molecular axes of the tetrameric enzyme. This cross-link was only reversed if reduction was performed when the enzyme was denatured. The molecular weight of cross-linked and re-activated cross-linked glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase was established as 144000 (tetramer) by sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation. These observations are interpreted in terms of the molecular structure of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.