Mechanism of aging of mipafox-inhibited butyrylcholinesterase.

Elucidating mechanisms of aging of esterases inhibited by organophosphorus (OP) compounds is important for understanding toxicity and developing biomarkers of exposure to these agents. Aging has classically been thought to involve net loss of a single side group from the OP moiety of phosphylated esterases, rendering the enzyme refractory to reactivation. However, recent evidence has shown that acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and the catalytic domain of human neuropathy target esterase (NEST) undergo aging by alternative mechanisms following their inhibition with N,N'-diisopropylphosphorodiamidofluoridate (mipafox, MIP). This study was performed to determine whether MIP-inhibited butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) ages conventionally, by net loss of a single side group, or by an alternate route, e.g., reversible deprotonation or displacement of both isopropylamine groups, as recently observed for MIP-inhibited NEST and AChE, respectively. Diisopropylphosphorofluoridate (DFP), the phosphate analogue of the phosphoroamidate MIP, was used for comparison. Kinetic values for MIP against BChE were as follows: ki = (1.28 +/- 0.053) x 10(6) M-1 min-1; k3 = 0.004,15 +/- 0.000,27 min-1; k4 = 0.008,49 +/- 0.000,99 min-1. Kinetic values for DFP against BChE were as follows: ki = (1.83 +/- 0.18) x 10(6) M-1 min-1; k3 = 0.004,88 +/- 0.000,24 min-1; k4 = 0.0121 +/- 0.0028 min-1. Mass spectrometric studies revealed a mass shift of 123.4 +/- 0.7 Da for the active-site peptide peak of aged DFP-inhibited BChE, corresponding to a monoisopropylphosphate adduct. Similarly, the analogous mass shift for aged MIP-inhibited BChE was 122.4 +/- 0.7 Da, corresponding to a monoisopropylphosphoroamido adduct. Therefore, we conclude that the MIP-BChE conjugate ages by loss of a single isopropylamine group, in contrast to MIP-inhibited AChE or NEST.