Allosteric Properties of Hafnia alvei Aspartase by Nucleotide Effectors

The nucleotide effects of Hafnia alvei aspartase were investigated. Purine nucleosides, such as adenosine and guanosine, increased the aspartase activities; whereas, purine nucleotides, such as AMP, ATP, GTP and IMP, caused little change in the aspartase activities. However, pyrimidine derivatives, such as cytidine and CTP, decreased the aspartase activity. The nucleotide and nucleoside effects by the limited trypsin-treated aspartase were similar to those of a native enzyme. These results indicate that the COOH-terminal region and an allosteric site might be located away from each other. The initial velocity study in the presence of adenosine showed that $K_m$ for aspartate was decreased to one-sixth of that in the absence of adenosine, but $V_{max}$ was unchanged. The significance of the distinct allosteric effect for the enzyme-nucleotide interaction is discussed.