Abstract
The inhibitor complex produced by the binding of .alpha.-D-glucose 1-phosphate 6-vanadate to the dephospho form of muscle phosphoglucomutase exhibits an unusually small dissociation constant: about 15 fM for the Mg2+ enzyme at pH 7.4, when calculated in terms of the tetraanion. Such tight binding suggests that the enzyme/vanadate/glucose phosphate complex mimics a state that at least approaches the transition state for (PO3-) transfer in the normal enzymic reaction. This hypothesis also is supported by the observation that replacement of Mg2+, the normal metal ion activator, by Li+, a poor activator, substantially reduces the binding constant for the glucose phosphate/vanadate mixed diester. Other indicators that support this hypothesis are described. One is the derived equilibrium constant for replacement of a PO42- group in bound glucose bisphosphate by VO42-: 3 .times. 106 when the replaced group is the phosphate at the (PO3-) transfer site of the Mg2+ enzyme.sbd.in contrast to about 10 for the same replacement (of PO42- by VO42-) in an aqueous solution of a phosphate ester. Another is the greatly decreased rate at which Mg2+ dissociates from the glucose phosphate/vanadate complex of the enzyme, relative to the rate at which it dissociates from the corresponding bisphosphate complex (rate ratio .ltoreq. 3 .times. 10-4), presumably because Mg2+ binds more tightly to the glucose phosphate/vanadate complex than to the corresponding bisphosphate complex. This apparent increase in Mg2+ binding occurs in spite of what appears to be a reduced charge density at the bound vanadate grouping, relative to the bound phosphate grouping, and in spite of the somewhat weaker binding of Mg2+ by dianionic vanadate than by the phosphate dianion. Although a direct assessment of the binding constant for Mg2+ was not possible, the equilibrium constant for Mg2+/Li+ exchange could be evaluated for the complexes of dephospho enzyme with glucose bisphosphate or glucose 1-phosphate 6-vanadate. The results suggest that the glucose phosphate/vanadate complex of the Mg2+ enzyme mimics a state about halfway between the ground state and the transition state for (PO3-) transfer. This estimate also is in accord with the binding of glucose phosphate/vanadate relative to that expected for transition-state binding of glucose bisphosphate. A possible scenario for the (PO3-) transfer catalyzed by the Mg2+ form of phosphoglucomutase is discussed, on the basis of these observations, together with possible reasons why the bound vanadate group appears to mimic an intermediate state for (PO3-) transfer rather than the ground state for phosphate binding.

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