The substrate-promoted inactivation of glutamate decarboxylase from hog brain was studied. Inactivation was a slow process that was dependent on the concentration of glutamate. Glutamate-dependent inactivation was not first order but was best described as the sum of two exponential decay processes. At 10 mM glutamate, the half-lives at 30 degrees C were about 6 min for the fast component and 70 min for the slow component. Glutamate-dependent inactivation appeared to be due to the formation of apoenzyme since the rate and extent of inactivation were greatly reduced by the presence of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (the cofactor, pyridoxal-P). Also, inactivated enzyme could be reactivated by adding pyridoxal-P (Meeley and Martin, 1983). Micromolar concentrations of ATP enhanced glutamate-promoted inactivation in the absence of pyridoxal-P. ATP also enhanced inactivation in the presence of 10 microM pyridoxal-P, but somewhat higher concentrations were required for an equal effect. ATP had little or no direct effect on the enzyme in the absence of glutamate. In the absence of pyridoxal-P, Pi reduced the enhancement of inactivation by 10 microM but not by 750 microM ATP. Glutamate-promoted inactivation, its enhancement by ATP, and the opposition to inactivation by pyridoxal-P and Pi appear to be important in the regulation of glutamate decarboxylase.