The effect of nitration and D2O on the kinetics of beef heart mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase.

The role of tyrosine in the catalytic mechanism of nucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis by beef heart mitochondrial ATPase is explored. We compare the rates of the ATPase reaction by both nitrated and native F1 at both pH 8 and pH 6. The pH-activity profile of nitrated F1 is compared to the pH-activity profile of the unmodified enzyme. These data indicate that the phenolic group of an active-site tyrosine must be protonated during the hydrolysis reaction. Deuterium oxide is used in the reaction buffer to explore the role of protons in the ATPase reaction. Kinetic constants of the nucleoside triphosphates are obtained at various levels of D2O using both the nitrated and native forms of F1. Several nucleoside diphosphates are used as inhibitors of F1-catalyzed ITP hydrolysis. Dissociation constants of these inhibitors are obtained at both low and high concentrations of D2O for both the nitrated and native F1. We explore the possibility that a tyrosine and an arginine lie in close proximity in the F1 active site by studying the effects of sequential modification of arginine and tyrosine. These results are interpreted in terms of possible ATP hydrolysis mechanisms. Two possible roles for tyrosine in the hydrolysis of nucleoside triphosphates by F1 are suggested.