The pH dependence of the thermodynamics of the interaction of 3'-cytidine monophosphate with ribonuclease A.

The apparent free energy (deltaGapp) and enthalpy changes (deltaHB) associated with the interaction of 3'-cytosine monophosphate (3'-CMP) and ribonuclease A (RNase) are reported for the pH range 4--9, T = 25 degrees, mu = 0.05. The pH dependence of deltaGapp and deltaHB has been interpreted in terms of coupled ionization of histidine residues 12, 48, and 119, assuming that only the dianionic form of the inhibitor is bound. The results of this analysis are consistent with the calorimetric and potentiometric titration results for the free enzyme and its 3'-CMP complex reported in the previous paper (M. Flogel and R. L. Biltonen ((1975), Biochemistry, preceding paper in this issue). This analysis allows the calculation of the thermodynamic quantities associated with hypothetical but clearly defined reactions (e.g., the reaction of the dianionic inhibitor with the completely protonated enzyme). It is concluded that the primary thermodynamic driving forces for the reaction are van der Waals interactions between the riboside moiety and the protein fabric and electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged phosphate group of the inhibitor and the positively charged histidine residues at the binding locus. It is also suggested that the binding reaction is weakly coupled (approximately to 0.5 kcal/mol) with a conformational change of the protein associated with protonation of residue 48. These results are consistent with the model originally proposed by G. G. Hammes ((1968), Adv. Protein Chem. 23, 1) and lend additional quantitative detail to the nature of the reaction.