MECHANISM OF INHIBITION OF HORSERADISH PEROXIDASE-CATALYZED IODIDE OXIDATION BY EDTA

EDTA inhibits horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalysed iodide oxidation in a concentration and pH-dependent manner. It is more effective at pH 6 than at lower pH values. A plot of log K-1app. values as a function of pH yields a sigmoidal curve from which a pK(a) value of 5.4 can be calculated for an ionizable group on the catalytically active HRP for EDTA inhibition. Among the structural analogues of EDTA, tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) is 80% as effective as EDTA, whereas the EDTA-Zn2+ chelate and EGTA are ineffective. Kinetic studies indicate that EDTA competitively inhibits iodide oxidation. Spectral studies show that EDTA can quickly reduce compound I to compound II, but reduction of preformed compound II to the native enzyme is relatively slow, as demonstrated by the time-dependent spectral shift from 417 nm to 402 nm through an isosbestic point at 408 nm. Under steady-state conditions, in a reaction mixture containing HRP, EDTA and H2O2, the enzyme remains in the compound-II form, with absorption maxima at 417, 527 and 556 nm. Direct evidence for one-electron oxidation of EDTA by HRP intermediates is provided by the appearance of an e.s.r. signal of a 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (spin trap)-EDTA radical adduct [a(N) (hyperfine splitting constant) = 1.5 mT] in e.s.r. studies. The signal intensity, however, decreases in the presence of iodide. The K-D of the HRP-EDTA complex obtained from optical difference spectroscopy increases with an increase in iodide concentration, and the double-reciprocal plot for EDTA binding indicates that EDTA and iodide compete for the same binding site for oxidation. We suggest that EDTA inhibits iodide oxidation by acting as an electron donor.