Recombinant human glycosylasparaginase catalyzes hydrolysis of L-asparagine.

Glycosylasparaginase is a lysosomal amidase involved in the degradation of glycoproteins. Recombinant human glycosylasparaginase is capable of catalyzing the hydrolysis of the amino acid L-asparagine to L-aspartic acid and ammonia. For the hydrolysis of L-asparagine the Km is 3-4-fold higher and Vmax 1/5 of that for glycoasparagines suggesting that the full catalytic potential of glycosylasparaginase is not used in the hydrolysis of the free amino acid. L-Asparagine competitively inhibits the hydrolysis of aspartylglucosamine indicating that both the amino acid and glycoasparagine are interacting with the same active site of the enzyme. The hydrolytic mechanism of L-asparagine and glycoasparagines will be discussed.