Guanylate cyclase from bovine lung. Evidence that enzyme activation by phenylhydrazine is mediated by iron-phenyl hemoprotein complexes.

The mechanism of activation of soluble guanylate cyclase purified from bovine lung by phenylhydrazine is reported. Heme-deficient and heme-containing forms of guanylate cyclase were studied. Heme-deficient enzyme was activated 10-fold by NO but was not activated by phenylhydrazine. Catalase or methemoglobin enabled phenylhydrazine to activate guanylate cyclase 10-fold and enhanced activation by NO to over 100-fold. Heme-containing enzyme was activated only 3-fold by phenylhydrazine but over 100-fold by NO. Added hemoproteins enhanced enzyme activation by phenylhydrazine to 12-fold without enhancing activation by NO. Reducing or anaerobic conditions inhibited, whereas oxidants enhanced enzyme activation by phenylhydrazine plus catalase, and KCN had no effect. In contrast, enzyme activation by NO and NaN3 was inhibited by oxidants or KCN. NaN3 required native catalase, whereas phenylhydrazine also utilized heat-denatured catalase for enzyme activation. Thus, the mechanism of guanylate cyclase activation by phenylhydrazine differed from that by NO or NaN3. Guanylate cyclase activation by phenylhydrazine resulted from an O2-dependent reaction between phenylhydrazine and hemoproteins to generate stable iron-phenyl hemoprotein complexes. These complexes activated guanylate cyclase in the absence of O2, but lost activity after acidification, basification, or heating. Gel filtration of prereacted mixtures of [U-14C]phenylhydrazine plus hemoproteins resulted in co-chromatography of radioactivity, protein, and guanylate cyclase stimulating activity, and yielded a phenyl-hemoprotein binding stoichiometry of four under specified conditions (one phenyl/heme). [14C]Phenyl bound to heme-containing but not heme-deficient guanylate cyclase and binding correlated with enzyme activation. Moreover, reactions between enzyme and iron-[14C] phenyl hemoprotein complexes resulted in the exchange or transfer of iron-phenyl heme to guanylate cyclase and this correlated with enzyme activation.