Activation of Pyrococcus furiosus alkaline phosphatase by divalent metal ions

Treatment of a hyperthermophilic enzyme, alkaline phosphatase from Pyrococcus furiosus (PfuAP), with EDTA completely deactivated PfuAP, indicating that the presence of one or more divalent metal ions is essential for its catalytic activity. Subsequent addition of various divalent metal ions to the apoprotein recovered the enzymatic activity and, in particular, the addition of Co(II) resulted in an over 50-fold increase in activity compared with PfuAP before EDTA treatment. Intriguingly, PfuAP with Co(II) exhibited weaker stability toward heat treatment, suggesting that Co2+ destabilizes the tertiary structure of PfuAP at high temperature.