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The reaction of native myeloperoxidase (MPO) and its redox intermediate compound I with hydrogen peroxide, ethyl hydroperoxide, peroxyacetic acid, t-butyl hydroperoxide, 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid and cumene hydroperoxide was studied by multi-mixing stopped-flow techniques. Hydroperoxides are decomposed by MPO by two mechanisms. Firstly, the hydroperoxide undergoes a two-electron reduction to its corresponding alcohol and heme iron is oxidized to compound I. At pH 7 and 15 degrees C, the rate constant of the reaction between 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid and ferric MPO was similar to that with hydrogen peroxide (1.8x10(7) M(-1) s(-1) and 1.4x10(7) M(-1) s(-1), respectively). With the exception of t-butyl hydroperoxide, the rates of compound I formation varied between 5.2x10(5) M(-1) s(-1) and 2.7x10(6) M(-1) s(-1). Secondly, compound I can abstract hydrogen from these peroxides, producing peroxyl radicals and compound II. Compound I reduction is shown to be more than two orders of magnitude slower than compound I formation. Again, with 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid this reaction is most effective (6. 6x10(4) M(-1) s(-1) at pH 7 and 15 degrees C). Both reactions are controlled by the same ionizable group (average pK(a) of about 4.0) which has to be in its conjugated base form for reaction.

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is the most abundant protein in neutrophils and plays a central role in microbial killing and inflammatory tissue damage. Because most of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other drugs contain a thiol group, it is necessary to understand how these substrates are oxidized by MPO. We have performed transient kinetic measurements to study the oxidation of 14 aliphatic and aromatic mono- and dithiols by the MPO intermediates, Compound I (k3) and Compound II (k4), using sequential mixing stopped-flow techniques. The one-electron reduction of Compound I by aromatic thiols (e.g. methimidazole, 2-mercaptopurine and 6-mercaptopurine) varied by less than a factor of seven (between 1.39 +/- 0.12 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) and 9.16 +/- 1.63 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1)), whereas reduction by aliphatic thiols was demonstrated to depend on their overall net charge and hydrophobic character and not on the percentage of thiol deprotonation or redox potential. Cysteamine, cysteine methyl ester, cysteine ethyl ester and alpha-lipoic acid showed k3 values comparable to aromatic thiols, whereas a free carboxy group (e.g. cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, glutathione) diminished k3 dramatically. The one-electron reduction of Compound II was far more constrained by the nature of the substrate. Reduction by methimidazole, 2-mercaptopurine and 6-mercaptopurine showed second-order rate constants (k4) of 1.33 +/- 0.08 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1), 5.25 +/- 0.07 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) and 3.03 +/- 0.07 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1). Even at high concentrations cysteine, penicillamine and glutathione could not reduce Compound II, whereas cysteamine (4.27 +/- 0.05 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)), cysteine methyl ester (8.14 +/- 0.08 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)), cysteine ethyl ester (3.76 +/- 0.17 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)) and alpha-lipoic acid (4.78 +/- 0.07 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1)) were demonstrated to reduce Compound II and thus could be expected to be oxidized by MPO without co-substrates.

In the course of oxidation of thiols by peroxidases thiyl radicals are formed which are known to undergo several free-radical conjugative reactions, among others leading to hydrogen peroxide formation. The present paper for the first time presents a comparative transient-state and steady-state investigation of the reaction of 15 aliphatic and aromatic mono- and dithiols with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Both sequential-stopped-flow spectrophotometric investigations of the reaction of HRP intermediates Compound I (k2) and Compound II (k3) with thiols and measurements of the overall thiol oxidation and the simultaneous oxygen consumption in the presence and absence of exogenously added hydrogen peroxide (10 microM) have been performed. With HRP as thiyl radical generator it was shown that three groups of thiols have to be distinguished: (i) Aromatic thiols (e.g. thiophenol, 2-mercaptopurine) were excellent electron donors of both Compounds (k2: 10(4)-10(7) M(-1) s(-1) and k3: 10(3)-10(6) M(-1) s(-1)); however, the overall reaction was shown to depend on addition of hydrogen peroxide, indicating insufficient peroxide regeneration by arylthiyl radicals. (ii) Aliphatic thiols which were extremely bad substrates (k3 < 10 M(-1) s(-1)) for HRP (e.g. homocysteine, glutathione) and/or have a pK(a,SH) > 9.5 (e.g. N-acetylcysteine, alpha-lipoic acid) were also shown to depend on exogenously added H2O2 to maintain the peroxidasic reaction, whereas (iii) with those thiols with rates of k3 between 11 and 1600 M(-1) s(-1) (e.g. cysteine, cysteamine, cysteine methyl ester, cysteine ethyl ester) and/or with a pK(a,SH) < 8 (penicillamine) thiol oxidation was independent of exogenously added hydrogen peroxide, indicating sufficient hydrogen peroxide regeneration.