Inactivation of renal gamma-glutamyl transferase by 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucylglycine, an inactive precursor of affinity-labeling reagent.

In vitro experiments showed that 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucylglycine, a dipeptide analog of L-glutaminylglycine, inactivates gamma-glutamyl transferase bound to renal brush border membrane vesicles but does not inactivate the purified transferase. The rate of inactivation of the membrane-bound enzyme decreased markedly in the presence of dipeptides, such as L-leucylglycine and L-alanylglycine, or in the presence of o-phenanthroline, an inhibitor of renal peptidases. The presence of L-cysteinylglycine S-acetyldextran polymer (Mr 500,000), which does not permeate membranes, protected the membrane-bound transferase from inactivation by 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucyglycine. This and other findings suggest that the norleucylglycine derivative was hydrolyzed by peptidase(s) bound to the outer surface of the brush border membranes and that the 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine thus released acts as an affinity-labeling reagent for the membrane-bound transferase. Similar effects were observed in vivo. Intravenous administration of 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucylglycine to mice resulted in a marked decrease in renal transferase activity. Mice thus pretreated with 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucylglycine, but not an untreated group, excreted significant amounts of S-carbamido[14C]methylglutathione in their urine within 30 min of intravenous administration of this compound. This finding suggests that the renal transferase was involved in the hydrolysis of the glutathione S-conjugate in the glomerular filtrate in vivo and that the administered 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucylglycine underwent hydrolysis peptidase(s)-catalyzed to liberate 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine that reacted with the membrane-bound gamma-glutamyl transferase.