The role of cysteine in the alteration of bovine liver dihydrodiol dehydrogenase 3 activity.

Bovine liver NADP(+)-dependent dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD3) is extremely sensitive to SH reagents such as N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). NEM produced time- and concentration-dependent inactivation of DD3 in a pseudo-first-order reaction manner. This inactivation was prevented by NADP+, 3-acetylpyridine-adenine dinucleotide phosphate, 2',5'-ADP and 2'-AMP but not by substrates, NAD+, nicotinamide mononucleotide or 5'-ADP.DD3 was absorbed by an affinity column of thiopropyl-Sepharose 6B, but enzyme incubated with both NEM and NADP+ was not. Moreover, one [14C]NEM molecule was incorporated into a cysteine of DD3 in the presence, and two cysteines of DD3 in the absence, of NADP+. These results suggested that two cysteine residues were modified per enzyme molecule by NEM, one was protected by NADP+ and the other had no significant function for the enzyme activity. Two radiolabelled peptides (P1 and P2) produced by the digestion with lysyl endopeptidase of [14C]NEM-modified DD3 could be separated by reverse-phase HPLC. P1, which was radiolabelled by [14C]NEM only in the absence of NADP+, showed the following sequence; H2N-Tyr-Lys-Pro-Val-Xaa-Asn-Gln-Val-Glu- NEM.Cys-His-Pro-Tyr-Phe-Asn-Gln-Ser-Lys-COOH (Xaa indicates a possible cysteine residue). This sequence was very similar to that of rat liver 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid/dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (3 alpha-HSD/DD) (residues 184 to 201) and was also highly conserved in the aldo-keto reductase superfamily. The sequence of P2, which had radioactivity in both the absence and presence of NADP+, also contained an NEM-modified cysteine and was similar in sequence to the regions located in loop A of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD. The present study suggests that P1, which may have a cysteine residue corresponding to Cys-193 of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD, functions in the alteration of DD3 activity depending on the modulation of NADP(+)-binding ability through a thiol/disulphide exchange reaction similar to that of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD shown in our previous results; while P2, which may have a cysteine residue corresponding to Cys-145 of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD, may be located near the surface of the enzyme molecule.