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Abstract

Purified gastric (H⁺+K⁺)-transporting ATPase [(H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase] from the parietal cells always contains a certain amount of basal Mg²⁺-dependent ATPase (Mg²⁺-ATPase) activity. lin-Benzo-ATP (the prefix lin refers to the linear disposition of the pyrimidine, benzene and imidazole rings in the 'stretched-out' version of the adenine nucleus), an ATP analogue with a benzene ring formally inserted between the two rings composing the adenosine moiety, is an interesting substrate not only because of its fluorescent behaviour, but also because of its geometric properties. lin-Benzo-ATP was used in the present study to elucidate the possible role of the basal Mg²⁺-ATPase activity in the gastric (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase preparation. With lin-benzo-ATP the enzyme can be phosphorylated such that a conventional phosphoenzyme intermediate is formed. The rate of the phosphorylation reaction, however, is so low that this reaction with subsequent dephosphorylation cannot account for the much higher rate of hydrolysis of lin-benzo-ATP by the enzyme. This apparent kinetic discrepancy indicates that lin-benzo-ATP is not a substrate for the (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase reaction cycle. This idea was further supported by the finding that lin-benzo-ATP was unable to catalyse H⁺ uptake by gastric-mucosa vesicles. The breakdown of lin-benzo-ATP by the (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase preparation must be due to a hydrolytic activity which is not involved in the ion-transporting reaction cycle of the (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase itself. Comparison of the basal Mg²⁺-ATPase activity (with ATP as substrate) with the hydrolytic activity of (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase using lin-benzo-ATP as substrate and the effect of the inhibitors omeprazole and SCH 28080 support the notion that lin-benzo-ATP is not hydrolysed by the (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase, but by the basal Mg²⁺-ATPase, and that the activity of the latter enzyme is not involved in the (H⁺+K⁺)-transporting reaction cycle (according to the Albers-Post formalism) of (H⁺+K⁺)-ATPase.