Inactivation of Escherichia coli glutamine synthetase by xanthine oxidase, nicotinate hydroxylase, horseradish peroxidase, or glucose oxidase: effects of ferredoxin, putidaredoxin, and menadione.

Previous studies have shown that several mixed-function oxidation (MFO) systems are capable of catalyzing the inactivation of glutamine synthetase (GS) [R.L. Levine, C. N. Oliver, R. M. Fulks, and E. R. Stadtman (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78, 2120-2124] and a number of the other enzymes [L. Fucci, C. N. Oliver, M. J. Coon, and E. R. Stadtman (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 1521-1525]. It has now been found that in the presence of Fe(III), O2, and an appropriate electron donor (hypoxanthine or NADPH, respectively) glutamine synthetase is also inactivated by either milk xanthine oxidase or Clostridial nicotinate hydroxylase. Inactivation of glutamine synthetase by either of these flavoproteins is greatly stimulated by the presence of electron carrier proteins possessing nonheme-iron-sulfur (NHIS) clusters (i.e., ferredoxin or putidaredoxin) or by the presence of menadione. The inactivation reactions are partially inhibited by free radical scavengers, superoxide dismutase, (SOD), histidine, mannitol, dimethyl sulfoxide, and dimethylthiourea, and are inhibited completely by either Mn(II), EDTA, or catalase. The sensitivity to SOD inhibition is greatly suppressed when the xanthine oxidase system is supplemented with either ferredoxin or redoxin. In the presence of the latter NHIS-proteins (and only when they are present), MFO systems, comprised of either horseradish peroxidase and H2O2 or glucose oxidase, O2, and glucose, can also catalyze the inactivation of GS. The ability of ferredoxin and putidaredoxin to promote oxidation modification of GS by any one of these MFO systems suggests that proteins with NHIS centers may mediate the generation (or stabilization) of highly reactive radical intermediates.