Thermostability of yeast hexokinase and yeast glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

Kinetic study of the mechanism of the temperature-induced loss of the catalytic activity by yeast hexokinase (HK) and yeast glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDG) has shown the dissociative nature of the processes. In the temperature range 40-47 degrees C, they are satisfactorily described in terms of consecutive reactions in which steps of irreversible denaturation of the monomeric units follow the reversible dissociation of inactive oligomeric forms into the active units, resulting in an increase in catalytic activity. The experimental data have been analyzed in the framework of the dissociative mechanism, and a semiquantitative method has been developed for calculating the individual rate constants.