[Functional role of histidine residues of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase].

The protective effect of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase substrate and its analogs on the enzyme inactivation by diethylpyrocarbonate was studied. The values of true rate constants for diethylpyrocarbonate-induced inactivation and the Kd values for the enzyme complexes with ligands were determined. A comparison of Kd values for a number of ligands suggests that the histidine residue of the enzyme active center interacts with the alpha-keto group of the substrate. A mechanism of this histidine residue involvement in the catalytic act is proposed. According to this mechanism, the imidazole ring of histidine which is responsible for the substrate activation causes a simultaneous formation of a catalytically active form of the coenzyme--thiamine pyrophosphate ilide. It is assumed that the lower (as compared with the enzyme-substrate complexes) values of rate constants of inactivation by diethylpyrocarbonate for alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complexes with succinate, glutarate, and oxaloacetate are due to additional protonation of the histidine residue, eventually resulting in the blocking of the analogs interaction with the coenzyme.