Modification of rabbit muscle phosphorylase b by a water-soluble carbodiimide.

Glycogen phosphorylase b from rabbit muscle was rapidly inactivated by incubation with 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinyl-(4)-ethyl)carbodiimide metho-p-toluenesulfonate (CMC) at pH 5.1. The inactivation was pH-dependent and was not restored by treatment with hydroxylamine. The addition of glycine ethyl ester or N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-ethylenediamine (DNP-EDA) markedly increased the rate of inactivation. Of the various amino analogs of glucose tested, only glucosyl amine accelerated the inactivation, although they are all bound to the glucose 1-phosphate site of the enzyme. In the absence of amines, incorporation of about 3 mol of [metho-14C]CMC per protein monomer was observed on complete inactivation. In the presence of DNP-EDA, however, only 2 mol of [metho-14C]CMC and 1 mol of DNP-EDA were incorporated before the activity was completely lost. The treatment of phosphorylase b with CMC did not change the Km values of the enzyme for glucose 1-phosphate and AMP, in spite of the 56% inactivation. It is suggested that, in the phosphorylase-catalyzed reaction, an essential carboxyl group of the enzyme plays a role in the protonation of the glucosidic oxygen of glucose 1-phosphate.