Lactate dehydrogenase isozymes: dissociation and denaturation by dilution.

The tetrameric enzyme lactate dehydrogenase dissociates into its constituent monomeric subunits in a high ion to protein concentration ratio, in certain ionic environments when frozen, and at extreme dilution. Dissociation by dilution involves changes in tertiary conformation which inactivate the enzyme. The dissociation is strongly inhibited by homologous native proteins, but only slightly by denatured or unrelated proteins.