Oxidative modification of glutamine synthetase. I. Inactivation is due to loss of one histidine residue.

Intracellular proteolytic degradation of glutamine synthetase occurs in two distinct steps in Escherichia coli (Levine, R. L., Oliver, C. N., Fulks, R. M., and Stadtman, E. R. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 2120-2124). In the first step, a mixed function oxidation modifies the glutamine synthetase. The modified enzyme, which is catalytically inactive, becomes susceptible to proteolytic attack. In the second step, a protease specific for the modified enzyme catalyzes the actual proteolytic degradation. The oxidatively modified glutamine synthetase was studied to determine the chemical differences between it and the native enzyme. Only a single alteration was found; one of sixteen histidine residues/subunit was altered by the oxidative modification. The modification introduced a carbonyl group into the protein, permitting isolation of a stable dinitrophenylhydrazone. No other differences were detected between the native and modified proteins. Specifically, the cysteine, methionine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan contents were not altered. A number of other prokaryotic and eukaryotic enzymes are also susceptible to oxidative modification. This covalent modification may be important in intracellular proteolysis, in mammalian host defense systems, in prevention of autolysis, in aging processes, and in oxygen toxicity.