Transport of Sulfanilic Acid via Microbial Dipeptide Transport System

Sulfanilic acid (4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid) alone is normally not permeant in bacteria but can be readily delivered via the microbial dipeptide transport system. A dipeptidyl derivative of this compound, L-phenylalanyl-L-2-sulfanilylglycine (PSG), prepared by attachment of its primary amino group to the phenylalanyl $\alpha$-glycine moiety, appeared to have a Km of 0.125 mM and a Vmax of 1.9 nmoles/ml/min ($A_{660}$, 1.0) in Escherichia coli. From competitive spectrophotometric analysis, it was found that the type of amino acids in both of the N- and C-terminals affected the kinetic power of dipeptides. The growth inhibitory effect of PSG was over 7 times more potent than that of the sulfanilic acid against E. coli, suggesting that this potential inhibition was presumably due to the increased hydrophobic nature of the sulfanilyl dipeptide.