The vitamin K-dependent microsomal carboxylase converts glutamyl residues in precursor proteins to γ-carboxyglutamyl (Gla) residues in completed proteins. The enzyme activity is present in significant activities in most non-skeletal tissues but has been studied most extensively in rat and bovine liver. Early studies of the enzyme utilized bound precursors of vitamin K-dependent clotting factors as substrates for the enzyme and demonstrated that the enzyme requires the reduced form of vitamin K (vitamin KH2), O2, and CO2. Subsequent investigations have taken advantage of the observation that the enzyme will carboxylate low-molecular-weight peptide substrates with Glu-Glu sequences. Utilizing a substrate such as Phe-Leu-Glu-Glu-Leu, it has been possible to demonstrate that γ-C-H release from the Glu residue of a substrate is independent of CO2 concentration. The formation of vitamin K 2,3-epoxide can also be demonstrated in a crude microsomal system, and it can be shown that the formation of this metabolite can be stimulated by the presence of a peptide substrate of the carboxylase. These observations have led to the general hypothesis that the mechanism of action of the enzyme involves interaction of vitamin KH2 with O2 to form an oxygenated intermediate that can interact with a substrate Glu residue to abstract a γ-hydrogen and in the process he converted to vitamin K epoxide (KO). The current evidence suggests that, either directly or indirectly, removal of the γ-C-H results in the formation of a carbanion at the γ-position of the Glu residue which can interact with CO2 to form Gla. The Glu residue intermediate which is formed can be demonstrated to partition between accepting a proton in the media to reform Glu, or interacting with CO2 to form Gla. Current data do not distinguish between the direct formation of a carbanion coupled to proton removal, or the participation of a reduced intermediate. Recent studies have demonstrated that the enzyme will carry out a partial reaction, the formation of vitamin K epoxide, at a decreased rate in the absence of a Glu site substrate. Epoxide formation under these conditions has the same for O2 as the carboxylation reaction and is inhibited in the same manner as the carboxylation reaction. In the presence of saturating concentrations of a Glu site substrate and C02, the ratio of KO formed, γ-C-H released, and C02 formed is 1:1:1. However, KO formation can be uncoupled from and proceeds at a higher rate than γ-C-H bond cleavage and Gla formation at low Glu site substrate concentrations. At saturating concentrations of CO2, Gla formation is equivalent to γ-C-H bond cleavage, and this unity is not altered by variations in vitamin KH2 or peptide substrate concentrations. Natural compounds with vitamin K activity are 2-Me-l,4-naphthoquinones with a polyprenyl side chain at the 3-position. Studies of vitamin K analogs have demonstrated that a 2-Me group is essential for activity but that the group at the 3-position can vary significantly. Modification of the aromatic ring of the naphthoquinone nucleus by methyl group substitution can result in alterations of either the rate of the carboxylation reaction or the apparent affinity of the enzyme for the vitamin. Studies of a large number of peptide substrates have failed to reveal any unique primary amino acid sequence which is a signal for carboxylation. However, current evidence from a number of sources suggests that a basic amino acid rich "propeptide" region of the intracellular form of the vitamin K-dependent proteins is an essential recognition site for the enzyme. This region of the precursor is lost in subsequent processing, and the manner in which it directs this posttranslational event is not yet clarified. Supported by NIH grant AM-14881.
Serpin-derived Peptide Substrates for Investigating the Substrate Specificity of Human Tissue Kallikreins hK1 and hK2