Kinetics in the pre-steady state of the formation of cystines in ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase: evidence for an asymmetric complex.

Two folded polypeptides, designated R1 and R2, respectively, combine in an as yet undefined stoichiometry to form ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase (ribonucleotide reductase) from Escherichia coli. Two pairs of cysteines in each R1 protomer have been implicated in the enzymatic mechanism. One pair, cysteines 225 and 462, is located in the active site of the enzyme and forms a cystine concomitant with the reduction of the ribonucleotide. The other pair, cysteines 754 and 759, is located near the carboxy terminus and is thought to reduce the cystine in the active site by disulfide interchange; either thioredoxin or glutaredoxin is then thought to reduce the cystine that results. Rapid quenching and site-directed immunochemistry have been used to follow the formation of the cystine in the active site and the peripheral cystine simultaneously during the pre-steady state. Prereduced R1 dimer of ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase, in the presence of ATP and CDP, was mixed with R2 dimer in an apparatus for quench flow. The reaction was quenched with a solution of acetic acid and N-ethylmaleimide, the protein was then precipitated with trichloroacetic acid, and the precipitate was separated into two portions. The percent of the cystine in the active site in one of the portions was determined as described previously [Erickson, H. K. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 9241-9250]. A similar method was employed to determine the percent of the peripheral cystine in the other portion of the precipitate. It was found that while the formation of both of these cystines was initiated by the addition of R2 dimer, presumably as products of the reduction of CDP, the peripheral cystine appeared to form more rapidly and in a higher yield than the cystine in the active site. These results demonstrate that the formation of the cystine between cysteines 754 and 759 of ribonucleotide reductase from E. coli is kinetically competent. A mechanism consistent with the prior formation of the cystine between cysteine 225 and cystene 462 as well as the kinetics for the formation of each cystine with time is presented. Because twice as much of the peripheral cystine than cystine in the active site had formed during the pre-steady state, it follows that the enzymatically competent complex between R1 dimers and R2 dimers cannot be symmetric.