Heremans L, Heremans K
Department of Chemistry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 1989 Nov 30;999(2):192-7. doi: 10.1016/0167-4838(89)90217-3.
Conformational changes of alpha-chymotrypsin, induced by pH and pressure, have been studied with Raman spectroscopy. The secondary structure of alpha-chymotrypsin, chymotrypsinogen and DFP-chymotrypsin has been calculated by a singular value analysis of the Raman amide-I band. The changes in secondary structure, with pH and pressure titration of alpha-chymotrypsin, indicate a conformational transition. The salt bridge between Asp-194 and Ile-16 is disrupted, and the enzyme becomes inactive. No changes are observed for chymotrypsinogen. It is concluded that the proenzyme exhibits the same conformation at different pH values as alpha-chymotrypsin at alkaline pH. The results for DFP-chymotrypsin indicate that the active conformation is stabilized by the presence of the DFP inhibitor in the binding site.
