[Isolation of the hexameric form of purine nucleoside phosphorylase from E. coli. Comparative study of trimeric and hexameric forms of the enzyme].

The presence of two forms (high and low molecular weight ones) of purine nucleoside phosphorylase II (purine nucleoside: orthophosphate ribosyltransferase, EC 2.4.2.1) was demonstrated. The high molecular weight form of the enzyme was purified, and the properties of both forms were compared. The enzyme forms were shown to differ in their quaternary structure (trimeric and hexameric), molecular weight of the native enzyme and its subunits (85,000 and 28,000 for the trimer, 150,000 and 25,000 for the hexamer, respectively) as well as substrate specificity (the trimer is specific for all major purine nucleosides, while the hexamer does not cleave adenine nucleosides). Adenosine is a competitive inhibitor of the hexameric form with respect to deoxyguanosine (Ki = 1.16 X 10(-3) M); the Km value for deoxyguanosine is 9.85 X 10(-5) M. The isoelectric point for the both forms of the enzyme in the presence of 9 M urea is about 5.5. Both forms have a pH optimum of phosphorolytic activity between 6.5 and 7.0.