Competitive inhibition of glutamate dehydrogenase reaction

Irrespective of their pyridine nucleotide specificity, all glutamate dehydrogenases share a common chemical mechanism that involves an enzyme bound ‘iminoglutarate’ intermediate. Three compounds, structurally related to this intermediate, were tested for the inhibition of purified NADP-glutamate dehydrogenases from two Aspergilli, as also the bovine liver NAD(P)-glutamate dehydrogenase. 2-Methyleneglutarate, closely resembling iminoglutarate, was a potent competitive inhibitor of the glutamate dehydrogenase reaction. This is the first report of a non-aromatic structure with a better glutamate dehydrogenase inhibitory potency than aryl carboxylic acids such as isophthalate. A suitably located 2-methylene group to mimic the iminium ion could be exploited to design inhibitors of other amino acid dehydrogenases.