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Metabolism and Enzymology

Inhibition and Ultraviolet-Induced Chemical Modification of UDP-Glucose:(1,3)--Glucan (Callose) Synthase by Chlorpromazine ¹

Mechanism of Chlorpromazine Binding to the Plant Plasma Membrane

Department of Food Science, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0231

UDP-glucose:(1,3)--glucan (callose) synthase (CS) from storage tissue of red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) was strongly inhibited by the phenothiazine drug chlorpromazine (CPZ). In the absence of ultraviolet irradiation, CPZ was a noncompetitive inhibitor with 50% inhibitory concentration values for plasma membrane and solubilized CS of 100 and 90 µm, respectively. Both the Ca²⁺- and Mg²⁺- stimulated components of CS activity were affected. CPZ inhibition was partially alleviated at saturating levels of Ca²⁺, but not Mg²⁺, suggesting that CPZ interferes with the Ca²⁺-binding site of CS. Binding experiments with [¹⁴C]CPZ, however, showed strong non-specific partitioning of CPZ into the plasma membrane, providing evidence that perturbation of the membrane environment is probably the predominant mode of inhibition. Ultraviolet irradiation at 254 nm markedly enhanced CPZ inhibition, with complete activity loss following exposure to 4 µM CPZ for 2 min. Inhibition followed a pseudo-first order mechanism with at least three CPZ binding sites per CS complex. Under these conditions, [³H]CPZ was covalently incorporated into plasma membrane preparations by a free radical mechanism; however, polypeptide labeling profiles showed labeling to be largely nonspecific, with many polypeptides labeled even at [³H]CPZ levels as low as 1 µM, and with boiled membranes. Although CPZ is one of the most potent known inhibitors of CS, its use as a photolabel will require a homogeneous CS complex or establishment of conditions that protect against the interaction of CPZ with specific binding sites located on various polypeptide components of the CS complex.