Acetylation of prostaglandin synthetase by aspirin. Purification and properties of the acetylated protein from sheep vesicular gland.

We previously presented evidence that aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) inhibits prostaglandin synthetase by acetylating and active site of the enzyme. In the current work, we have labeled the enzyme from an aceton-pentane powder of sheep vesicular gland using [acetyl-3H]aspirin and purified the [3H]acetyl-protein to near homogeneity. The final preparation contains protein of a single molecular weight (85 000) and an amino-terminal sequence of Asp-Ala-Gly-Arg-Ala. The [3H]acetyl-protein contained 0.5 mol of acetyl residues per mol of protein based on amino acid composition but only a single sequence was found.