Chromium(III)-adenosine triphosphate as a paramagnetic probe to determine intersubstrate distances on pyruvate kinase. Detection of an active enzyme-metal-ATP-metal complex.

The interaction of CrATP, a stable, substitution-inert, paramagnetic tridentate complex of ATP, with muscle pyruvate kinase has been studied by measuring the effects of CrATP on the kinetics of pyruvate enolization and on the longitudinal nuclear magnetic relaxation rate (1/T1) of the protons of water and the protons and carbon atoms of pyruvate to investigate the existence and activity of bimetallic enzyme-M(II)-CrATP complexes and to determine intersubstrate distances on a kinase. The paramagnetic effect of CrATP on 1/T1 of water protons is enhanced upon complexation with the enzyme. Titrations of the enzyme with CrATP yielded characteristic enhancements of 1/T1 for the binary enzyme-CrATP, ternary enzyme-Mg(II)-crATP, and quaternary enzyme-Mg(II)-crATP-pyruvate complexes of 3.5, 1.7, and 1.2 and dissociation constants of CrATP of 400, 200, and 200 muM, respectively. From the frequency dependence of 1/T1, the number of fast exchanging water protons in the coordination spheres of Cr(III) is approximately 6 in CrATP and in both the ternary enzyme-Mg(II)-CrATP complex and the quaternary enzyme-Mg(II)-CrATP-pyruvate complex. The paramagnetic effect of enzyme-bound Mn(II) on 1/T1 of water protons decreases upon the addition of CrATP. Titration of the binary enzyme-Mn(II) complex with CrATP decreases the characteristic enhancement due to Mn(II) from 24 +/- 3 to 6 +/- 1. Titration of the ternary eznyme-Mn(II)-pyruvate complex with CrATP decreases the enhancement from 6 +/- 1 to 0.5 +/- 0.1. The affinity of the enzyme for Mn(II) is increased 2-fold upon binding of CrATP as indicated by decreases in the amplitude of the EPR spectrum of free Mn(II). The dissociation constants of CrATP from the enzyme-Mn(II)-CrATP complex, the enzyme-CrATP-pyruvate complex, and the enzyme-Mn(II)-CrATP-pyruvate complex are all 200 muM. The observed titration behavior, the characteristic enhancement values, the tightening by Mg(II) of the binding of CrATP to the enzyme, and the tightening of the binding of Mn(II) to the enzyme by CrATP establish the existence of enzyme-M(II)-CrATP and enzyme-M(II)-CrATP-pyruvate complexes containing two cations, Mg(II) or Mn(II) and Cr(III), at the active site.