Faculty Bibliography

The extracellular adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate phosphodiesterase (3',5'-cyclic-nucleotide 5'-nucleotidohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.17) produced by Dictyostelium discoideum has two kinetic forms. The free enzyme has a Km of approximately 10 microM. The second form is the result of a complex formed with a heat-stable inhibitor and has a Km in the millimolar range. Treating the enzyme-inhibitor complex with dithiothreitol stimulated enzyme activity 20- to 100-fold and changed in Km from millimolar to micromolar. Dithiothreitol inactivated the inhibitor. Reconstituting purified enzyme with excess inhibitor returned the Km to the millimolar range. Under conditions known to inhibit the production of extracellular inhibitor or in mutants that lack it, extracellular phosphodiesterase activity was already high and could not be increased by dithiothreitol. The phosphodiesterase and inhibitor sedimented at 6 S and 3 S, respectively; the enzyme-inhibitor complex sedimented at 6.7 S