Monoclonal antibodies against rat brain hexokinase. Utilization in epitope mapping studies and establishment of structure-function relationships.

The effects of seven monoclonal antibodies on various functions of rat brain hexokinase (ATP:D-hexose-6-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.1) have been assessed. Specifically, effects on catalytic properties (Km values for substrates, glucose and ATP X Mg2+; Ki for inhibition by glucose 6-phosphate), binding to the outer mitochondrial membrane, and glucose 6-phosphate-induced solubilization of mitochondrially bound hexokinase were examined. Epitope mapping studies with the native enzyme provided information about the relative spatial distribution of the epitopes on the surface of the native molecule. Binding of nucleotides (ATP or ATP X Mg2+) was shown to perturb the epitopes recognized by two of these antibodies. Neither nucleotides nor other ligands (glucose, glucose 6-phosphate, Pi) had detectable effect on epitopes recognized by the other five antibodies. Peptide mapping techniques in conjunction with immunoblotting permitted assignment of the epitopes recognized by several of the antibodies to specific segments within the overall primary structure. These results, together with previous work relating to the organization of structural domains within the molecule, permitted development of a three-dimensional model which provides a useful representation of major structural and immunological features of the enzyme, and depicts the association of those features with specific functions.