3 alpha-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.50), purified to homogeneity from rat liver, was strongly inactivated by incubation with a disulfide such as GSSG, L-cystine or L-cystamine, as well as an SH-reagent such as DTNB (5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)), NEM (N-ethylmaleimide) or iodoacetic acid. The inactivation advanced with incubation time. Coenzyme (NADP+) completely protected the enzyme from this inactivation by disulfides, but neither of the substrates (androsterone and benzenedihydrodiol) did. The activity of inactivated enzyme was restored by treatment with thiols such as DTT (dithiothreitol) or GSH. In the GSH/GSSG redox buffer, the enzyme existed in an equilibrium between active (reduced) and inactive (oxidized) forms.

Bovine liver NADP(+)-dependent dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD3) is extremely sensitive to SH reagents such as N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). NEM produced time- and concentration-dependent inactivation of DD3 in a pseudo-first-order reaction manner. This inactivation was prevented by NADP+, 3-acetylpyridine-adenine dinucleotide phosphate, 2',5'-ADP and 2'-AMP but not by substrates, NAD+, nicotinamide mononucleotide or 5'-ADP.DD3 was absorbed by an affinity column of thiopropyl-Sepharose 6B, but enzyme incubated with both NEM and NADP+ was not. Moreover, one [14C]NEM molecule was incorporated into a cysteine of DD3 in the presence, and two cysteines of DD3 in the absence, of NADP+. These results suggested that two cysteine residues were modified per enzyme molecule by NEM, one was protected by NADP+ and the other had no significant function for the enzyme activity. Two radiolabelled peptides (P1 and P2) produced by the digestion with lysyl endopeptidase of [14C]NEM-modified DD3 could be separated by reverse-phase HPLC. P1, which was radiolabelled by [14C]NEM only in the absence of NADP+, showed the following sequence; H2N-Tyr-Lys-Pro-Val-Xaa-Asn-Gln-Val-Glu- NEM.Cys-His-Pro-Tyr-Phe-Asn-Gln-Ser-Lys-COOH (Xaa indicates a possible cysteine residue). This sequence was very similar to that of rat liver 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid/dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (3 alpha-HSD/DD) (residues 184 to 201) and was also highly conserved in the aldo-keto reductase superfamily. The sequence of P2, which had radioactivity in both the absence and presence of NADP+, also contained an NEM-modified cysteine and was similar in sequence to the regions located in loop A of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD. The present study suggests that P1, which may have a cysteine residue corresponding to Cys-193 of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD, functions in the alteration of DD3 activity depending on the modulation of NADP(+)-binding ability through a thiol/disulphide exchange reaction similar to that of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD shown in our previous results; while P2, which may have a cysteine residue corresponding to Cys-145 of rat 3 alpha-HSD/DD, may be located near the surface of the enzyme molecule.

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