31P NMR of alkaline phosphatase. Saturation transfer and metal-phosphorus coupling.

The rate constants which characterize the formation and breakdown of the noncovalent (E.P) and covalent (E-P) enzyme-phosphate intermediates on the alkaline phosphatase reaction pathway are known to be sensitive to the nature of the metal ion bound to the enzyme. 31P NMR saturation transfer has been demonstrated to provide a simple and sensitive method for measuring the metal ion dependence of these rates under equilibrium conditions. When the native Zn2+ was replaced by Cd2+, the 31P NMR spectrum at high pH revealed a new resonance at 12.6 ppm which has been assigned to the noncovalent enzyme.phosphate complex. Reconstituting the enzyme with enriched 113Cd2+ caused this unusually downfield-shifted resonance to appear as a doublet due to 113Cd-31P spin coupling (2J31P-O-113Cd = 30 Hz). This result provides the first unequivocal evidence for direct metal-phosphate interaction in alkaline phosphatase.