Transfer of Pro-R Hydrogen from NADH to Dihydroxyacetonephosphate by sn-Glycerol-1-phosphate Dehydrogenase from the Archaeon Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus

Abstract

  sn-Glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase is responsible for the formation of the sn-glycerol-1-phosphate backbone of archaeal lipids. [4-³H]NADH that had ³H at the R side was produced from [4-³H]NAD and glucose with glucose dehydrogenase (a pro-S type enzyme). The ³H of this [4-³H]NADH was transferred to dihydroxyacetonephosphate during the sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase reaction. On the contrary, in a similar reaction using alcohol dehydrogenase (a pro-R type enzyme), ³H was not incorporated into glycerophosphate. These results confirmed a prediction of the tertiary structure of sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase by homology modeling.