The rate and extent of hydrogen/deuterium (H/D)
exchange into purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) was
monitored by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
(ESI-MS) to probe protein conformational and dynamic changes
induced by a substrate analogue, products, and a transition
state analogue. The genetic deficiency of PNP in humans
is associated with severe T-cell immunodeficiency, while
B-cell immunity remains functional. Inhibitors of PNP have
been proposed for treatment of T-cell leukemia, to suppress
the graft-vs.-host response, or to counter type IV autoimmune
diseases without destroying humoral immunity. Calf spleen
PNP is a homotrimer of polypeptide chains with 284 amino
residues, molecular weight 31,541. Immucillin-H inhibits
PNP with a Kd of 23 pM when only one
of the three catalytic sites is occupied. Deuterium exchange
occurs at 167 slow-exchange sites in 2 h when no catalytic
site ligands are present. The substrate analogue and product
prevented H/D exchange at 10 of the sites. Immucillin-H
protected 32 protons from exchange at full saturation.
When one of the three subunits of the homotrimer is filled
with immucillin-H, and 27 protons are protected from exchange
in all three subunits. Deuterium incorporation in peptides
from residues 132–152 decreased in all complexes
of PNP. The rate and/or extent of deuterium incorporation
in peptides from residues 29–49, 50–70, 81–98,
and 112–124 decreased only in the complex with the
transition state analogue. The peptide-specific H/D exchange
demonstrates that (1) the enzyme is most compact in the
complex with immucillin-H, and (2) filling a single catalytic
site of the trimer reduces H/D exchange in the same peptides
in adjacent subunits. The peptides most highly influenced
by the inhibitor surround the catalytic site, providing
evidence for reduced protein dynamic motion caused by the
transition state analogue.