Mechanism of flavin reduction and oxidation in the redox-sensing quinone reductase Lot6p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Quinone reductases are flavin-containing enzymes that have been implicated in protecting organisms from redox stress and, more recently, as redox switches controlling the action of the proteasome. The reactions of the catalytic cycle of the dimeric quinone reductase Lot6p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied in anaerobic stopped-flow experiments at 4 °C. Both NADH and NADPH reacted similarly, reducing the FMN prosthetic group rapidly at saturation but binding with very low affinity. The enzyme stereospecifically transferred the proS-hydride of NADPH with an isotope effect of 3.6, indicating that hydride transfer, and not an enzyme conformational change, is rate-determining in the reductive half-reaction. No intermediates such as charge-transfer complexes were detected. In the oxidative half-reaction, reduced enzyme reacted in a single phase with the six quinone substrates tested. The observed rate constants increased linearly with quinone concentration up to the limits allowed by solubility, indicat...