Inhibition of C-terminal O-Methyltransferase by a Rat Liver Cytosolic Peptide

The activity of SD-framesylcysteine O-methyltransferase was assayed by incubating the enzyrne with a synthetic in vitro substrate, [N-acetyl-S-trans, trns-famesyl-L-cysteine (AFC)], together with S-adenosyl-L-[emthyl-$_{14}$C)ester(AFCME)], was then analyzed either directly on HPLC or by converting the AFC[$methyl^{14}C$]ME to [$methyl^{14}C$] aclcohol by basehydrolysis. Employing these two analytical methods, it was established that a peptide purifed from rat liver cytosol fraction [Int. J. Biochem., 25, 1157 919930] strongly inhibited the above enzyme activity with $IC_{50}\; of\; 7.1\times 10^{-8}$ M. Also, the S-famesylcysteine O-methyltransferase from several human colon cancer cells was equally inhibited by the peptide.