Observations on the pH dependence of the glutaminase activity of a glutamine amidotransferase, carbamylphosphate synthetase.

Glutamine-dependent carbamylphosphate synthetase (Escherichia coli) is composed of a heavy subunit (molecular weight about 130,000) and a light subunit (molecular weight about 42,000), which can be separated with retention of catalytic activities. The separated heavy subunit can catalyze activation of CO(2) by ATP and synthesis of carbamylphosphate from ammonia (but not from glutamine). The only catalytic activity exhibited by the separated light subunit is the ability to hydrolyze glutamine; the separated heavy subunit does not exhibit glutaminase activity. The pH-activity curve of the glutaminase activity of native carbamylphosphate synthetase exhibits maxima at about pH 4.2 and 9.5, while the glutaminase activity of the separated light subunit exhibits only a single optimum at about pH 6.7. When the light and heavy subunits are recombined, the two pH optima characteristic of native enzyme are restored. Glutaminase activities of native enzyme at both pH optima are similarly inhibited by the glutamine analog, L-2-amino-4-oxo-5-chloropentanoic acid, and also by dithiothreitol. Storage of native enzyme at pH 9 abolishes the glutaminase optimum at acid pH, but greatly increases the activity at alkaline pH. Treatment of native enzyme with N-ethylmaleimide increases the glutaminase activity dramatically and converts the pH profile to one that closely resembles that of the isolated light subunit. The data indicate that the same active site is involved in hydrolysis of glutamine at both acid and alkaline values of pH, and that this property of the enzyme depends upon interactions between the heavy and light subunits of native enzyme. The double-optima behavior of native enzyme seems to be related to participation of different catalytic groups of the enzyme which affect the maximum velocity rather than the binding of substrate. The findings offer additional evidence for occurrence of significant interactions between the subunits of carbamylphosphate synthetase, and may have significance in relation to other glutamine amidotransferases, including glutaminases.