L-Glutamine:D-fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (glucosamine synthetase) has been purified to homogeneity from Escherichia coli. A subunit molecular weight of 70,800 was estimated by gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. Pure glucosamine synthetase did not exhibit detectable NH3-dependent activity and did not catalyze the reverse reaction, as reported for more impure preparations [Gosh, S., Blumenthal, H. J., Davidson, E., & Roseman, S. (1960) J. Biol. Chem. 235, 1265]. The enzyme has a Km of 2 mM for fructose 6-phosphate, a Km of 0.4 mM for glutamine, and a turnover number of 1140 min-1. The amino-terminal sequence confirmed the identification of residues 2-26 of the translated E. coli glmS sequence [Walker, J. E., Gay, J., Saraste, M., & Eberle, N. (1984) Biochem. J. 224, 799]. Methionine-1 is therefore removed by processing in vivo, leaving cysteine as the NH2-terminal residue. The enzyme was inactivated by the glutamine analogue 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) and by iodoacetamide. Glucosamine synthetase exhibited half-of-the-sites reactivity when incubated with DON in the absence of fructose 6-phosphate. In its presence, inactivation with [6-14C]DON was accompanied by incorporation of 1 equiv of inhibitor per enzyme subunit. From this behavior, a dimeric structure was tentatively assigned to the native enzyme. The site of reaction with DON was the NH2-terminal cysteine residue as shown by Edman degradation.

N3-(4-Methoxyfumaroyl)-L-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (FMDP; 1, R = OMe), a member of a new class of glutamine analogues, has been investigated as an inhibitor of pure Escherichia coli glucosamine synthetase. Product and dead-end inhibition studies indicate an ordered association to the enzyme with the sugar molecule binding prior to substrate or inhibitor. The inactivation exhibits pseudo-first-order kinetics, is irreversible, and occurs faster in the presence of fructose 6-phosphate, a behavior previously reported [Chmara, H., Andruszkiewicz, R., & Borowski, E. (1986) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 870,357] for the partially purified enzyme from Salmonella typhimurium. The ratio kinact/Kirr of 5500 makes compound 1 (R = OMe) one of the most efficient inhibitors of glucosamine synthetase to date. Inhibition occurs with partial covalent incorporation of L-FMDP into glucosamine synthetase. In the presence of fructose 6-phosphate, enzyme inactivation with [2-3H]-DL-FMDP is associated with the incorporation of 0.75 equiv of inhibitor and with the modification of 0.78 thiol residue per enzyme subunit. This result is the first evidence for covalent entrapment of the entire inhibitor molecule following FMDP-mediated glucosamine synthetase inactivation. Preliminary inactivation with 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine, known to alkylate selectively the NH2-terminal cysteine residue, completely prevents radioactivity incorporation. Therefore, this inhibitor is postulated to covalently modify glucosamine synthetase through direct addition of the thiol nucleophile from the terminal cysteine residue to the Michael acceptor 1, so acting as an affinity label rather than a mechanism-based inhibitor.