Thermodynamic and kinetic basis of interfacial activation: resolution of binding and allosteric effects on pancreatic phospholipase A2 at zwitterionic interfaces.

A general kinetic model for catalysis by interfacial enzymes is developed. It couples the Michaelis-Menten catalytic turnover cycle at the interface with that in the aqueous phase through the distribution equilibria between the interface and the surrounding aqueous phase. Analysis under two limiting conditions fully describes the steady-state kinetics of hydrolysis and resolves the allosteric effects from apparent modes of interfacial activation in terms of the primary rate and equilibrium parameters for pig pancreatic phospholipase A2 (PLA2). One limit is observed in dispersions of anionic phospholipid vesicles, in which intervesicle exchange of enzyme, substrate, and hydrolysis products is absent and reaction occurs only on vesicles containing enzyme. A complete analysis at this highly processive limit, called kinetics in the scooting mode, has been published [Berg et al. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 7283]. Here is reported the analysis in the other limit, PLA2-catalyzed hydrolysis of zwitterionic micelles of short-chain phosphatidylcholines, at which substrate and products are in rapid exchange. Hydrolysis occurs either in bulk aqueous solution with phospholipid monomers or at the micellar interface. Above the critical micelle concentration (cmc), the hydrolysis rate shows a hyperbolic dependence on the bulk substrate concentration present as micelles. This dependence, characterized by the fitting parameters KMapp and VMapp, is analyzed in terms of the primary rate and equilibrium constants. The kinetic analysis is based on the assumption that the microscopic steady-state condition is satisfied because substrate replenishment in the micro-environment of the enzyme is fast relative to the catalytic turnover time. Added NaCl and anionic interface increase the hydrolysis rate in zwitterionic micelles dramatically. The overall interfacial rate enhancement is attributed to three factors: (a) promotion of PLA2 binding by net anionic charge of the interface, (b) enhancement of substrate affinity of PLA2 at the interface (Ks* allostery), and (c) stimulation of the rate-limiting chemical step (kcat* allostery).