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Formation of Hydroxamates during Proteolysis by an Enzyme System from Yeast

Abstract

DURING re-investigation of an enzyme system, from yeast previously reported to form ‘activated’ peptides1 extensive proteolysis was noted and enzyme-catalysed hydroxylaminolysis of protein was suspected as the source of hydroxamate formation2. Acyl-enzyme complexes were visualized as intermediates rather than some form of ‘activated’ peptide originally suggested by Cooper et al.1. The main evidence for the latter hypothesis had been the appearance, after paper electrophoresis of the products of the reaction in the absence of hydroxylamine, of a band which gave a positive reaction to the hydroxylamine ferric chloride test. This test, however, may be misleading when conducted on paper3. The formation of hydroxamates from protein substrates by other proteolytic enzymes was also demonstrated2 and is presumably analogous to the well-known transamidation reactions recorded by many authors4–8. Such reactions have only been unequivocally demonstrated using simple substrates but have been invoked to explain the formation of plasteins9,10 and energy-independent incorporation of amino-acids into mitochondrial protein11.

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BRIGGS, D., MILLIN, D. Formation of Hydroxamates during Proteolysis by an Enzyme System from Yeast. Nature 208, 287–288 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/208287a0

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