The histidine residue in the active centre of ribonuclease: I. A specific reaction with bromoacetic acid

E. A. Barnard*, W. D. Stein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Bromoacetic acid reacts readily with ribonuclease to form an inactive derivative in which, at pH 7, one carboxymethyl group has been introduced per molecule of enzyme. The sole residue in the enzyme so substituted is shown to be one of the four histidines in the molecule. The rate of reaction of this histidine with bromoacetic acid is far greater than that of free histidine, the residue in the enzyme being, therefore, activated. The reaction with bromoacetic acid is slowed down greatly in the presence of cytidylic acid, a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme, suggesting that the histidine residue concerned is situated in the active centre of the enzyme.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)339-349
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Molecular Biology
Volume1
Issue number4-5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1959
Externally publishedYes

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