Search

The ability of Drosophila alcohol dehydrogenase (D-ADH) to catalyze the oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids has been re-examined. Prior studies are shown to have been compromised by a nonenzymic reaction between the aldehydic substrates and amine-containing buffers, e.g., glycine or Tris, and an amine-catalyzed addition of aldehyde to NAD+. These reactions interfere with spectrophotometric assays for monitoring aldehyde oxidation and obscure the nature and scope of D-ADH-catalyzed aldehyde oxidation, particularly at physiological pH. Use of nonreactive buffers, such as pyrophosphate or phosphate, and 1H NMR spectroscopy to monitor all the components of the reaction mixture reveals the facile dismutation of aldehydes into equimolar quantities of the corresponding acids and alcohols at both neutral and high pH. At high pH, dismutation is accompanied by a small burst of NADH production to a steady-state concentration ( < 10 microM) that represents a partitioning between NADH dissociation and aldehyde reduction. The increase in A340 is therefore not a direct measure of the aldehyde oxidation reaction, and the resulting kinetic values cannot be compared to those for alcohol dehydrogenation. The present results for D-ADH, combined with data from the literature, establish that aldehyde oxidation, manifest as dismutation, is a widespread property of alcohol dehydrogenases with potential physiological importance in alcohol metabolism and aldehyde detoxification.

The oxidation of aldehydes by horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HL-ADH) is more complex than previously recognized. At low enzyme concentrations and/or high aldehyde concentrations, a pronounced lag in the assay progress curve is observed when the reaction is monitored for NADH production at 340 nm. When the progress of the reaction is followed by 1H NMR spectroscopy, rapid dismutation of the aldehyde substrate into the corresponding acid and alcohol is observed during the lag phase. Steady-state production of NADH commences only after aldehyde concentrations drop below 5% of their initial value; thereafter, NADH production occurs with continuous adjustment of the equilibrium between aldehyde, alcohol, NADH, and NAD+. The steady-state NADH production exhibits normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics and is in accord with earlier studies using much higher enzyme concentrations where no lag phase was reported. These results establish that the ability of HL-ADH to oxidize aldehydes is much greater than previously thought. The relationship between aldehyde dismutase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities of HL-ADH is discussed.

A lag phase in the spectrophotometric assay progress curve of aldehyde oxidation by HL-ADH was observed and characterised. The aldehyde oxidation and aldehyde dismutation reactions were shown to be related, and a mechanism to explain net aldehyde oxidation was proposed. The spectrophotometric assay was shown to be unsuitable for measurement of kinetic parameters for aldehyde oxidation by HL-ADH, and kinetic constants previously determined were shown to be in error. Existing data on the aldehyde dismutation reaction are insufficient to discount a role for HL-ADH in aldehyde transformation in vivo.

The synthesis and characterization of a new pyridine coenzyme analogue containing a nicotinamide arabinonucleotide moiety are reported. The redox potentials are -339 mV for beta-oxidized nicotinamide arabinoside adenine dinucleotide and -319 mV for alpha-oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and the lambda max is 346 and 338 nm for beta- and alpha-reduced nicotinamide arabinoside adenine dinucleotides (araNADH), respectively. Anomerization of the reduced analogues leads to a 5:1 ratio of alpha-araNADH to beta-araNADH at 90 degrees C. These results establish that the relative configuration of the 2'-hydroxyl to the base is the primary determinant for the configuration-dependent changes in lambda max, the redox potential of the pyridine nucleotides, and the preferred anomeric configuration of the reduced coenzymes. Comparison of the 1H and 31P NMR spectral data of the analogues with those for the ribo coenzymes is reported and the conformational analysis discussed. The coenzyme properties of the arabino analogues have been evaluated with yeast and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenases. Both the alpha- and beta-anomers are found to serve as coenzymes, and the stereochemistry of hydride transfer is identical for both anomers.