An Endogenous Proteinacious Inhibitor for S-Adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent Transmethylation Reactions; Identification of S-Adenosylhomocysteine as an Integral Part

A proteinacious inhibitor with a molecular weight of 1,600 Da which inhibits S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent transmethylation reactions was purified from porcine liver to homogeneity by procedures including boiling, Sephadex G-25 column chromatography and repeated HPLC. Employing both Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Fast Atom Bombardment-Mass (FAB-Mass) spectroscopy, S-adenosylhomocysteine was conclusively identified as an integral part of the inhibitor. The purified S-adenosylhomocysteine was competitive with S-adenosyl-L-methionine with Ki value of $6.3{\times}10^{-6}$ M towards protein methylase II.