The structure of the abortive nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-pyruvate-lactate dehydrogenase complex as determined by circular dichroism.

Both ternary complexes consisting of lactate dehydrogenase-NAD+ and pyruvate or alpha ketobutyrate were compared, by means of circular dichroism spectra, with the corresponding binary complexes formed between lactate dehydrogenase and both NAD-pyruvate and NAD-alpha ketobutyrate adducts. Strong differences were observed. They disappeared when the ternary complexes were dissociated by addition of urea. This behaviour is explained by assuming the existence, in the abortive ternary complexes of a NAD+ activated transient form having a partial carbonium ion at position 4. Such a structure may account for the abortive and for the evolutive ternary complexes of the dehydrogenases as well as for the chemical synthesis mechanism of adducts.