Structure and catalytic mechanism of horseradish peroxidase. Regiospecific meso alkylation of the prosthetic heme group by alkylhydrazines.

Horseradish peroxidase is inactivated in a time-, H2O2-, and concentration-dependent manner by phenylethyl-, ethyl-, and methylhydrazine. The pseudo- first order kinetic constants for these inactivation reactions at pH 7 are: phenylethyl (KI = 115 microM, kinact = 1.5 min-1, partition ratio = 11), ethyl (KI = 145 microM, kinact = 0.08 min-1, partition ratio = 32), and methyl (KI = 3000 microM, kinact = 0.12 min-1, partition ratio = 80). At pH 5, the constants for the phenylethyl reaction change to KI = 1540 microM and kinact = 0.86 min-1. A transient absorbance at approximately 830 nm, suggestive of an isoporphyrin intermediate, is seen during these reactions. The prosthetic heme is converted by each of the three alkylhydrazines into the corresponding delta-meso-alkylated heme. Complete inactivation of the enzymes by methyl-, ethyl-, and phenylethylhydrazine is associated with alkylation of 60-70, 70, and 90%, respectively, of the prosthetic heme groups. The absence of N-alkylation and the high specificity for the delta-meso position, even with agents as small as methylhydrazine, strengthen the proposal that electron abstraction is mediated by the heme edge rather than the ferryl oxygen of horseradish peroxidase.