Properties of the pyridoxaldimine form of glutamate semialdehyde aminotransferase (glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase) and analysis of its role as an intermediate in the formation of aminolaevulinate.

Glutamate semialdehyde aminotransferase (glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase; EC 5.4.3.8) was converted into its pyridoxaldimine form by exhaustive replacement of endogenous pyridoxamine phosphate with pyridoxal phosphate. The isomerization of glutamate 1-semialdehyde to 5-aminolaevulinate by this form of the enzyme followed an accelerating time course which indicated that the enzyme initially had no activity but was converted into the active pyridoxamine phosphate form in an exponential process characterized by a rate constant (k) of 0.027 s-1. The pyridoxaldimine form of the enzyme was converted rapidly into the pyridoxamine form by (S)-4-aminohex-5-enoate and much more slowly by 4-aminobutyrate. The steady-state velocity of the enzyme increased in a markedly non-linear fashion with increasing enzyme concentration, indicating that the extent of dissociation of an intermediate in the reaction to free diaminovalerate and the pyridoxaldimine form of the enzyme depends upon the concentration of the enzyme.