Barriers to protein folding: formation of buried polar interactions is a slow step in acquisition of structure.

In the MYL mutant of the Arc repressor dimer, sets of partially buried salt-bridge and hydrogen-bond interactions mediated by Arg-31, Glu-36, and Arg-40 in each subunit are replaced by hydrophobic interactions between Met-31, Tyr-36, and Leu-40. The MYL refolding/dimerization reaction differs from that of wild type in being 10- to 1250-fold faster, having an earlier transition state, and depending upon viscosity but not ionic strength. Formation of the wild-type salt bridges in a hydrophobic environment clearly imposes a kinetic barrier to folding, which can be lowered by high salt concentrations. The changes in the position of the transition state and viscosity dependence can be explained if denatured monomers interact to form a partially folded dimeric intermediate, which then continues folding to form the native dimer. The second step is postulated to be rate limiting for wild type. Replacing the salt bridge with hydrophobic interactions lowers this barrier for MYL. This makes the first kinetic barrier rate limiting for MYL refolding and creates a downhill free-energy landscape in which most molecules which reach the intermediate state continue to form native dimers.

Toward antibody-directed "abzyme" prodrug therapy, ADAPT: carbamate prodrug activation by a catalytic antibody and its in vitro application to human tumor cell killing.

Antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy, ADEPT, is a recent approach to targeted cancer chemotherapy intended to diminish the nonspecific toxicity associated with many commonly used chemotherapeutic agents. Most ADEPT systems incorporate a bacterial enzyme, and thus their potential is reduced because of the immunogenicity of that component of the conjugate. This limitation can be circumvented by the use of a catalytic antibody, which can be "humanized," in place of the bacterial enzyme catalyst. We have explored the scope of such antibody-directed "abzyme" prodrug therapy, ADAPT, to evaluate the potential for a repeatable targeted cancer chemotherapy. We report the production of a catalytic antibody that can hydrolyze the carbamate prodrug 4-[N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)]aminophenyl-N-[(1S)-(1,3- dicarboxy)propyl]carbamate (1) to generate the corresponding cytotoxic nitrogen mustard (Km = 201 microM, kcat = 1.88 min-1). In vitro studies with this abzyme, EA11-D7, and prodrug 1 lead to a marked reduction in viability of cultured human colonic carcinoma (LoVo) cells relative to appropriate controls. In addition, we have found a good correlation between antibody catalysis as determined by this cytotoxicity assay in vitro and competitive binding studies of candidate abzymes to the truncated transition-state analogue ethyl 4-nitrophenylmethylphosphonate. This cell-kill assay heralds a general approach to direct and rapid screening of antibody libraries for catalysts.

Structure determination of murine mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase V at 2.45-A resolution: implications for catalytic proton transfer and inhibitor design.

The three-dimensional structure of murine mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase V has been determined and refined at 2.45-A resolution (crystallographic R factor = 0.187). Significant structural differences unique to the active site of carbonic anhydrase V are responsible for differences in the mechanism of catalytic proton transfer as compared with other carbonic anhydrase isozymes. In the prototypical isozyme, carbonic anhydrase II, catalytic proton transfer occurs via the shuttle group His-64; carbonic anhydrase V has Tyr-64, which is not an efficient proton shuttle due in part to the bulky adjacent side chain of Phe-65. Based on analysis of the structure of carbonic anhydrase V, we speculate that Tyr-131 may participate in proton transfer due to its proximity to zinc-bound solvent, its solvent accessibility, and its electrostatic environment in the protein structure. Finally, the design of isozyme-specific inhibitors is discussed in view of the complex between carbonic anhydrase V and acetazolamide, a transition-state analogue. Such inhibitors may be physiologically important in the regulation of blood glucose levels.

Negative activation enthalpies in the kinetics of protein folding.

Although the rates of chemical reactions become faster with increasing temperature, the converse may be observed with protein-folding reactions. The rate constant for folding initially increases with temperature, goes through a maximum, and then decreases. The activation enthalpy is thus highly temperature dependent because of a large change in specific heat (delta Cp). Such a delta Cp term is usually presumed to be a consequence of a large decrease in exposure of hydrophobic surfaces to water as the reaction proceeds from the denatured state to the transition state for folding: the hydrophobic side chains are surrounded by "icebergs" of water that melt with increasing temperature, thus making a large contribution to the Cp of the denatured state and a smaller one to the more compact transition state. The rate could also be affected by temperature-induced changes in the conformational population of the ground state: the heat required for the progressive melting of residual structure in the denatured state will contribute to delta Cp. By examining two proteins with different refolding mechanisms, we are able to find both of these two processes; barley chymotrypsin inhibitor 2, which refolds from a highly unfolded state, fits well to a hydrophobic interaction model with a constant delta Cp of activation, whereas barnase, which refolds from a more structured denatured state, deviates from this ideal behavior.

Submillisecond folding of monomeric lambda repressor.

The folding kinetics of a truncated form of the N-terminal domain of phage lambda repressor [lambda 6-85] has been investigated by using the technique of dynamic NMR. lambda 6-85 has been shown previously to fold in a purely two-state fashion. This allows the determination of folding and unfolding rates from simulation of the exchange-broadened aromatic resonances of Tyr-22. The folding kinetics were determined over a range of 1.35 to 3.14 M urea. The urea dependence of both folding and unfolding rate constants is exponential, suggesting that the rate-determining step is invariant at the urea concentrations studied. The folding and unfolding rates extrapolated to 0 M urea at 37 degrees C are 3600 +/- 400 s-1 and 27 +/- 6 s-1, respectively. The observed lambda 6-85 folding rate constant exceeds that of other fast-folding globular proteins by a factor of 14-54. The urea dependence of the folding and unfolding rate constants suggests that the transition state of the rate-determining step is considerably more exposed to solvent than previously studied protein-folding transition states. The surprising rapidity of lambda 6-85 folding and unfolding may be the consequence of its all-helical secondary structure. These kinetic results clearly demonstrate that all of the fundamental events of protein folding can occur on the submillisecond time scale.

Use of binding energy by an RNA enzyme for catalysis by positioning and substrate destabilization.

A fundamental catalytic principle for protein enzymes in the use of binding interactions away from the site of chemical transformation for catalysis. We have compared the binding and reactivity of a series of oligonucleotide substrates and products of the Tetrahymena ribozyme, which catalyzes a site-specific phosphodiester cleavage reaction: CCCUCUpA+G<-->CCCUCU-OH+GpA. The results suggest that this RNA enzyme, like protein enzymes, can utilize binding interactions to achieve substantial catalysis via entropic fixation and substrate destabilization. The stronger binding of the all-ribose oligonucleotide product compared to an analog with a terminal 3' deoxyribose residue gives an effective concentration of 2200 M for the 3' hydroxyl group, a value approaching those obtained with protein enzymes and suggesting the presence of a structurally well defined active site capable of precise positioning. The stabilization from tertiary binding interactions is 40-fold less for the oligonucleotide substrate than the oligonucleotide product, despite the presence of the reactive phosphoryl group in the substrate. This destabilization is accounted for by a model in which tertiary interactions away from the site of bond cleavage position the electron-deficient 3' bridging phosphoryl oxygen of the oligonucleotide substrate next to an electropositive Mg ion. As the phosphodiester bond breaks and this 3' oxygen atom develops a negative charge in the transition state, the weak interaction of the substrate with Mg2+ becomes strong. These strategies of "substrate destabilization" and "transition state stabilization" provide estimated rate enhancements of approximately 280- and approximately 60-fold, respectively. Analogous substrate destabilization by a metal ion or hydrogen bond donor may be used more generally by RNA and protein enzymes catalyzing reactions of phosphate esters.

Toward an outline of the topography of a realistic protein-folding funnel.

Experimental information on the structure and dynamics of molten globules gives estimates for the energy landscape's characteristics for folding highly helical proteins, when supplemented by a theory of the helix-coil transition in collapsed heteropolymers. A law of corresponding states relating simulations on small lattice models to real proteins possessing many more degrees of freedom results. This correspondence reveals parallels between "minimalist" lattice results and recent experimental results for the degree of native character of the folding transition state and molten globule and also pinpoints the needs of further experiments.

Solvent-Induced Reversal of Enantioselectivity in the Synthesis of Succinimides by the Addition of Aldehydes to Maleimides Catalysed by Carbamate-Monoprotected 1,2-Diamines

A simple change in the polarity of the solvent allows both enantiomers of substituted succinimides to be obtained in the enantioselective conjugate addition reaction of aldehydes, mainly α,α-disubstituted, to maleimides catalysed by chiral carbamate-monoprotected trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamines. Using a single enantiomer of the organocatalyst, both enantiomers of the resulting Michael adducts are obtained in high yields by simply changing the reaction solvent from aqueous DMF (up to 84 % ee) to chloroform (up to 86 % ee). Theoretical calculations are used to explain this uncommon reversal of the enantioselectivity; two transition state orientations of different polarities are differently favoured in polar or nonpolar solvents.

Design and synthesis of constrained azacyclic pyrrolidine analogues of FTY720 as anticancer agents & metal coordination-controlled and bifunctional catalysis toward tertiary β-Ketols

Cette thèse se compose en deux parties: Première Partie: La conception et la synthèse d’analogues pyrrolidiniques, utilisés comme agents anticancéreux, dérivés du FTY720. FTY720 est actuellement commercialisé comme médicament (GilenyaTM) pour le traitement de la sclérose en plaques rémittente-récurrente. Il agit comme immunosuppresseur en raison de son effet sur les récepteurs de la sphingosine-1-phosphate. A fortes doses, FTY720 présente un effet antinéoplasique. Cependant, à de telles doses, un des effets secondaires observé est la bradycardie dû à l’activation des récepteurs S1P1 et S1P3. Ceci limite son potentiel d’utilisation lors de chimiothérapie. Nos précédentes études ont montré que des analogues pyrrolidiniques dérivés du FTY720 présentaient une activité anticancéreuse mais aucune sur les récepteurs S1P1 et S1P3. Nous avons soumis l’idée qu’une étude relation structure-activité (SARs) pourrait nous conduire à la découverte de nouveaux agents anti tumoraux. Ainsi, deux séries de composés pyrrolidiniques (O-arylmethyl substitué et C-arylmethyl substitué) ont pu être envisagés et synthétisés (Chapitre 1). Ces analogues ont montré d’excellentes activités cytotoxiques contre diverses cellules cancéreuses humaines (prostate, colon, sein, pancréas et leucémie), plus particulièrement les analogues actifs qui ne peuvent pas être phosphorylés par SphK, présentent un plus grand potentiel pour le traitement du cancer sans effet secondaire comme la bradycardie. Les études mécanistiques suggèrent que ces analogues de déclencheurs de régulation négative sur les transporteurs de nutriments induisent une crise bioénergétique en affamant les cellules cancéreuses. Afin d’approfondir nos connaissances sur les récepteurs cibles, nous avons conçu et synthétisé des sondes diazirine basées sur le marquage d’affinité aux photons (méthode PAL: Photo-Affinity Labeling) (Chapitre 2). En s’appuyant sur la méthode PAL, il est possible de récolter des informations sur les récepteurs cibles à travers l’analyse LC/MS/MS de la protéine. Ces tests sont en cours et les résultats sont prometteurs. Deuxième partie: Coordination métallique et catalyse di fonctionnelle de dérivés β-hydroxy cétones tertiaires. Les réactions de Barbier et de Grignard sont des méthodes classiques pour former des liaisons carbone-carbone, et généralement utilisées pour la préparation d’alcools secondaires et tertiaires. En vue d’améliorer la réaction de Grignard avec le 1-iodobutane dans les conditions « one-pot » de Barbier, nous avons obtenu comme produit majoritaire la β-hydroxy cétone provenant de l’auto aldolisation de la 5-hexen-2-one, plutôt que le produit attendu d’addition de l’alcool (Chapitre 3). La formation inattendue de la β-hydroxy cétone a également été observée en utilisant d’autres dérivés méthyl cétone. Étonnement dans la réaction intramoléculaire d’une tricétone, connue pour former la cétone Hajos-Parrish, le produit majoritaire est rarement la β-hydroxy cétone présentant la fonction alcool en position axiale. Intrigué par ces résultats et après l’étude systématique des conditions de réaction, nous avons développé deux nouvelles méthodes à travers la synthèse sélective et catalytique de β-hydroxy cétones spécifiques par cyclisation intramoléculaire avec des rendements élevés (Chapitre 4). La réaction peut être catalysée soit par une base adaptée et du bromure de lithium comme additif en passant par un état de transition coordonné au lithium, ou bien soit à l’aide d’un catalyseur TBD di fonctionnel, via un état de transition médiée par une coordination bidenté au TBD. Les mécanismes proposés ont été corroborés par calcul DFT. Ces réactions catalytiques ont également été appliquées à d’autres substrats comme les tricétones et les dicétones. Bien que les efforts préliminaires afin d’obtenir une enantioselectivité se sont révélés sans succès, la synthèse et la recherche de nouveaux catalyseurs chiraux sont en cours.

Design and synthesis of constrained azacyclic pyrrolidine analogues of FTY720 as anticancer agents & metal coordination-controlled and bifunctional catalysis toward tertiary β-Ketols

Cette thèse se compose en deux parties: Première Partie: La conception et la synthèse d’analogues pyrrolidiniques, utilisés comme agents anticancéreux, dérivés du FTY720. FTY720 est actuellement commercialisé comme médicament (GilenyaTM) pour le traitement de la sclérose en plaques rémittente-récurrente. Il agit comme immunosuppresseur en raison de son effet sur les récepteurs de la sphingosine-1-phosphate. A fortes doses, FTY720 présente un effet antinéoplasique. Cependant, à de telles doses, un des effets secondaires observé est la bradycardie dû à l’activation des récepteurs S1P1 et S1P3. Ceci limite son potentiel d’utilisation lors de chimiothérapie. Nos précédentes études ont montré que des analogues pyrrolidiniques dérivés du FTY720 présentaient une activité anticancéreuse mais aucune sur les récepteurs S1P1 et S1P3. Nous avons soumis l’idée qu’une étude relation structure-activité (SARs) pourrait nous conduire à la découverte de nouveaux agents anti tumoraux. Ainsi, deux séries de composés pyrrolidiniques (O-arylmethyl substitué et C-arylmethyl substitué) ont pu être envisagés et synthétisés (Chapitre 1). Ces analogues ont montré d’excellentes activités cytotoxiques contre diverses cellules cancéreuses humaines (prostate, colon, sein, pancréas et leucémie), plus particulièrement les analogues actifs qui ne peuvent pas être phosphorylés par SphK, présentent un plus grand potentiel pour le traitement du cancer sans effet secondaire comme la bradycardie. Les études mécanistiques suggèrent que ces analogues de déclencheurs de régulation négative sur les transporteurs de nutriments induisent une crise bioénergétique en affamant les cellules cancéreuses. Afin d’approfondir nos connaissances sur les récepteurs cibles, nous avons conçu et synthétisé des sondes diazirine basées sur le marquage d’affinité aux photons (méthode PAL: Photo-Affinity Labeling) (Chapitre 2). En s’appuyant sur la méthode PAL, il est possible de récolter des informations sur les récepteurs cibles à travers l’analyse LC/MS/MS de la protéine. Ces tests sont en cours et les résultats sont prometteurs. Deuxième partie: Coordination métallique et catalyse di fonctionnelle de dérivés β-hydroxy cétones tertiaires. Les réactions de Barbier et de Grignard sont des méthodes classiques pour former des liaisons carbone-carbone, et généralement utilisées pour la préparation d’alcools secondaires et tertiaires. En vue d’améliorer la réaction de Grignard avec le 1-iodobutane dans les conditions « one-pot » de Barbier, nous avons obtenu comme produit majoritaire la β-hydroxy cétone provenant de l’auto aldolisation de la 5-hexen-2-one, plutôt que le produit attendu d’addition de l’alcool (Chapitre 3). La formation inattendue de la β-hydroxy cétone a également été observée en utilisant d’autres dérivés méthyl cétone. Étonnement dans la réaction intramoléculaire d’une tricétone, connue pour former la cétone Hajos-Parrish, le produit majoritaire est rarement la β-hydroxy cétone présentant la fonction alcool en position axiale. Intrigué par ces résultats et après l’étude systématique des conditions de réaction, nous avons développé deux nouvelles méthodes à travers la synthèse sélective et catalytique de β-hydroxy cétones spécifiques par cyclisation intramoléculaire avec des rendements élevés (Chapitre 4). La réaction peut être catalysée soit par une base adaptée et du bromure de lithium comme additif en passant par un état de transition coordonné au lithium, ou bien soit à l’aide d’un catalyseur TBD di fonctionnel, via un état de transition médiée par une coordination bidenté au TBD. Les mécanismes proposés ont été corroborés par calcul DFT. Ces réactions catalytiques ont également été appliquées à d’autres substrats comme les tricétones et les dicétones. Bien que les efforts préliminaires afin d’obtenir une enantioselectivité se sont révélés sans succès, la synthèse et la recherche de nouveaux catalyseurs chiraux sont en cours.

Oxidation of mixed-valence CoIII/FeII complexes reversed at high pH: A kinetico-mechanistic study of water oxidation

The outer-sphere oxidation of Fell in the mixed-valence complex trans-[(LCoNCFeII)-Co-14S-N-III(CN)(6)](-), being L-14S an N3S2 macrocylic donor set on the cobalt(III) center, has been studied. The comparison with the known processes of N-5 macrocycle complexes has been carried out in view of the important differences occurring on the redox potential of the cobalt center. The results indicate that the outer-sphere oxidation reactions with S2O82- and [Co(ox)(3)](3-) involve a great amount of solvent-assisted hydrogen bonding that, as a consequence from the change from two amines to sulfur donors, are more restricted. This is shown by the more positive values found for DeltaS(double dagger) and DeltaV(double dagger). The X-ray structure of the oxidized complex has been determined, and it is clearly indicative of the above-mentioned solvent-assisted hydrogen bonding between nitrogen and cyanide donors on the cobalt and iron centers, respectively. trans-[(LCoNCFeIII)-Co-14S-N-III(CN)(6)], as well as the analogous N-5 systems trans-[(LCoNCFeIII)-Co-14-N-III(CN)(6)], trans-[(LCoNCFeIII)-Co-15-N-III-(CN)(6)], and cis-[(LCoNCFeIII)-Co-n-N-III(CN)(6)], Oxidize water to hydrogen peroxide at pH > 10 with a rather simple stoichiometry, i.e., [(LCoNCFeIII)-Co-n-N-III(CN)(5)] + OH- - [(LCoNCFeII)-Co-n-N-III(CN)(5)](-) + 1/2H(2)O(2). In this way, the reversibility of the iron oxidation process is achieved. The determination of kinetic and thermal and pressure activation parameters for this water to hydrogen peroxide oxidation leads to the kinetic determination of a cyanide based OH- adduct of the complex. A second-order dependence on the base concentration is associated with deprotonation of this adduct to produce the final inner-sphere reduction process. The activation enthalpies are found to be extremely low (15 to 35 kJ mol(-1)) and responsible for the very fast reaction observed. The values of DeltaS(double dagger) and DeltaV(double dagger) (-76 to -113 J K-1 mol(-1) and -5.5 to -8.9 cm(3) mol(-1), respectively) indicate a highly organized but not very compressed transition state in agreement with the inner-sphere one-electron transfer from O2- to Fe-III.

Photodissociation of benzene under collision-free conditions: An ab initio/Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus study

The ab initio/Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) approach has been applied to investigate the photodissociation mechanism of benzene at various wavelengths upon absorption of one or two UV photons followed by internal conversion into the ground electronic state. Reaction pathways leading to various decomposition products have been mapped out at the G2M level and then the RRKM and microcanonical variational transition state theories have been applied to compute rate constants for individual reaction steps. Relative product yields (branching ratios) for C6H5+H, C6H4+H-2, C4H4+C2H2, C4H2+C2H4, C3H3+C3H3, C5H3+CH3, and C4H3+C2H3 have been calculated subsequently using both numerical integration of kinetic master equations and the steady-state approach. The results show that upon absorption of a 248 nm photon dissociation is too slow to be observable in molecular beam experiments. In photodissociation at 193 nm, the dominant dissociation channel is H atom elimination (99.6%) and the minor reaction channel is H-2 elimination, with the branching ratio of only 0.4%. The calculated lifetime of benzene at 193 nm is about 11 mus, in excellent agreement with the experimental value of 10 mus. At 157 nm, the H loss remains the dominant channel but its branching ratio decreases to 97.5%, while that for H-2 elimination increases to 2.1%. The other channels leading to C3H3+C3H3, C5H3+CH3, C4H4+C2H2, and C4H3+C2H3 play insignificant role but might be observed. For photodissociation upon absorption of two UV photons occurring through the neutral hot benzene mechanism excluding dissociative ionization, we predict that the C6H5+H channel should be less dominant, while the contribution of C6H4+H-2 and the C3H3+C3H3, CH3+C5H3, and C4H3+C2H3 radical channels should significantly increase. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Countering cooperative effects in protease inhibitors using constrained b-strand-mimicking templates in focused combinatorial libraries

A major problem in de novo design of enzyme inhibitors is the unpredictability of the induced fit, with the shape of both ligand and enzyme changing cooperatively and unpredictably in response to subtle structural changes within a ligand. We have investigated the possibility of dampening the induced fit by using a constrained template as a replacement for adjoining segments of a ligand. The template preorganizes the ligand structure, thereby organizing the local enzyme environment. To test this approach, we used templates consisting of constrained cyclic tripeptides, formed through side chain to main chain linkages, as structural mimics of the protease-bound extended beta-strand conformation of three adjoining amino acid residues at the N- or C-terminal sides of the scissile bond of substrates. The macrocyclic templates were derivatized to a range of 30 structurally diverse molecules via focused combinatorial variation of nonpeptidic appendages incorporating a hydroxyethylamine transition-state isostere. Most compounds in the library were potent inhibitors of the test protease (HIV-1 protease). Comparison of crystal structures for five protease-inhibitor complexes containing an N-terminal macrocycle and three protease-inhibitor complexes containing a C-terminal macrocycle establishes that the macrocycles fix their surrounding enzyme environment, thereby permitting independent variation of acyclic inhibitor components with only local disturbances to the protease. In this way, the location in the protease of various acyclic fragments on either side of the macrocyclic template can be accurately predicted. This type of templating strategy minimizes the problem of induced fit, reducing unpredictable cooperative effects in one inhibitor region caused by changes to adjacent enzyme-inhibitor interactions. This idea might be exploited in template-based approaches to inhibitors of other proteases, where a beta-strand mimetic is also required for recognition, and also other protein-binding ligands where different templates may be more appropriate.

Imidoylketene-alpha-oxoketenimine and alpha-oxoketene-alpha-oxoketene rearrangements. 1,3-Shifts of substituted phenyl groups

1,3-Phenyl shifts interconvert imidoylketenes 1 and alpha-oxoketenimines 2 and, likewise, alpha-oxoketenes 3 automerize by this 1,3-shift. These rearrangements usually take place in the gas phase under conditions of. ash vacuum thermolysis. Energy profiles calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) and B3LYP/6311 + G(3df,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) levels demonstrate that electron donating substituents ( D) in the migrating phenyl group and electron withdrawing ones ( W) in the non-migrating phenyl group, can stabilise the transition states TS1 and TS2 to the extent that activation barriers of ca. 100 kJ mol(-1) or less are obtained; i.e. enough to make these reactions potentially observable in solution at ordinary temperatures. The calculated transition state energies Delta G(TS1) show an excellent correlation with the Hammett constants sigma(p)(W) and sigma(p) +(D).

Cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylate is a slow-, tight-binding inhibitor of rice ketol-acid reductoisomerase

Ketol-acid reductoisomerase (EC 1.1.1.86) catalyses the second reaction in the biosynthesis of the branched-chain amino acids. The reaction catalyzed consists of two stages, the first of which is an alkyl migration from one carbon atom to its neighbour. The likely transition state is therefore a cyclopropane derivative, and cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylate(CPD) has been reported to inhibit the Escherichia coli enzyme. In addition, this compound causes the accumulation of the substrate of ketol-acid reductoisomerase in plants. Here, we investigate the inhibition of the purified rice enzyme. The cDNA was cloned, and the recombinant protein was expressed in E. coli, purified and characterized kinetically. The purified enzyme is strongly inhibited by cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylate, with an inhibition constant of 90 nM. The inhibition is time-dependent and this is due to the low rate constants for formation (2.63 X 10(5) M-1 min(-1)) and dissociation (2.37 x 10(-2) min(-1)) of the enzyme-inhibitor complex. Other cyclopropane derivatives are much weaker inhibitors while dimethylmalonate is moderately effective. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.