Rat liver guanidinoacetate methyltransferase. Proximity of cysteine residues at positions 15, 90 and 219 as revealed by site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modification.

Cys-90 of rat liver guanidinoacetate methyltransferase is a very reactive residue, and chemical modification of this residue results in a large decrease in activity [Fujioka, Konishi & Takata (1988) Biochemistry 27, 7658-7664]. To understand better the role of Cys-90 in catalysis, this residue was replaced with alanine by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. The mutant is active and has kinetic constants similar to those of wild-type, indicating that Cys-90 is not involved in catalysis and substrate binding. The u.v.-absorption, fluorescence and c.d. spectra are also unchanged. Reaction of the mutant with an equimolar amount of 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) or 2-nitro-5-thiocyanobenzoic acid results in an almost quantitative disulphide cross-linking between Cys-15 and Cys-21). The same treatment effects disulphide bond formation between Cys-15 and Cys-90 in wild type [Fujioka, Konishi & Takata (1988) Biochemistry 27, 7658-7664]. Since the mutant and wild-type enzymes appear to have similar secondary and tertiary structures, these results suggest that Cys-15, Cys-90 and Cys-219 of the methyltransferase occur spatially close together. The mutant cross-linked between Cys-15 and Cys-219 and the wild-type cross-linked between Cys-15 and Cys-90 show very similar spectroscopic properties. Although treatment of the mutant and wild-type enzymes with equimolar concentrations of 5,5'dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) causes a large loss of enzyme activity in each case, kinetic analyses with the modified enzymes suggest that cross-linking of Cys-15 with Cys-90 or Cys-219 does not abolish activity and does not result in a large change in the Michaelis constants. Incubation of the mutant enzyme with excess 2-nitro-5-thiocyanobenzoic acid leads to modification of Cys-207 in addition to Cys-15 and Cys-219. Retention of considerable enzyme activity in the modified enzyme indicates that Cys-207 is also not an essential residue.