Essential roles of alkylammonium and alkylguanidinium ions in trypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of acetylglycine esters: enhancement of catalytic efficiency analyzed by the use of "inverse substrates".

An "inverse substrate" for trypsin, p-amidinophenyl acetylglycinate, has been synthesized and applied to mechanistic studies of tryptic hydrolysis. The compound reacts to form the intermediate acetylglycyl trypsin in a very specific manner, analogous to the reactions of p-amidinophenyl alkanoates with trypsin to give alkanoyl trypsins (Tanizawa, K., Kasaba, Y., & Kanaoka, Y. (1977) J. Am. Chem Soc. 99, 4485). The effects of alkylammonium and alkylguanidinium ions on tryptic hydrolysis of this "inverse substrate" have been investigated, and all alkylamines and alkylguanidines tested behaved as activators. n-Propylamine, n-propylguanidine, and n-butylguanidine, which have been reported to inhibit tryptic hydrolysis of ethyl or p-nitrophenyl acetylglycinate, were activators with p-amidinophenyl acetylglycinate. The activating properties of these amines and guanidines were demonstrated for the first time by making use of the specific characteristics of this inverse substrate. Tryptic mechanisms proposed in the literature are discussed in the light of these observations.