The low barrier hydrogen bond in enzymatic catalysis.
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Catalysis↗
Biomedical subjects
J A Gerlt
Publications and source records attributed to J A Gerlt.
Evolution of an enzyme active site: the structure of a new crystal form of muconate lactonizing enzyme compared with mandelate racemase and enolase.
Muconate lactonizing enzyme (MLE), a component of the beta-ketoadipate pathway of Pseudomonas putida, is a member of a family of related enzymes (the "enolase superfamily") that catalyze the abstraction of the alpha-proton of a carboxylic acid in the context of different overall reactions. New untwinned crystal forms of MLE were obtained, one of which diffracts to better than 2.0-A resolution. The packing of the octameric enzyme in this crystal form is unusual, because the asymmetric unit contains three subunits. The structure of MLE presented here contains no bound metal ion, but is very similar to a recently determined Mn2+-bound structure. Thus, absence of the metal ion does not perturb the structure of the active site. The structures of enolase, mandelate racemase, and MLE were superimposed. A comparison of metal ligands suggests that enolase may retain some characteristics of the ancestor of this enzyme family. Comparison of other residues involved in catalysis indicates two unusual patterns of conservation: (i) that the position of catalytic atoms remains constant, although the residues that contain them are located at different points in the protein fold; and (ii) that the positions of catalytic residues in the protein scaffold are conserved, whereas their identities and roles in catalysis vary.
Binding Sites↗
The crystal structure of benzoylformate decarboxylase at 1.6 A resolution: diversity of catalytic residues in thiamin diphosphate-dependent enzymes.
The crystal structure of the thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)-dependent enzyme benzoylformate decarboxylase (BFD), the third enzyme in the mandelate pathway of Pseudomonas putida, has been solved by multiple isomorphous replacement at 1.6 A resolution and refined to an R-factor of 15.0% (free R = 18.6%). The structure of BFD has been compared to that of other ThDP-dependent enzymes, including pyruvate decarboxylase. The overall architecture of BFD resembles that of the other family members, and cofactor- and metal-binding residues are well conserved. Surprisingly, there is no conservation of active-site residues not directly bound to the cofactor. The position of functional groups in the active site may be conserved, however. Three classes of metal ions have been identified in the BFD crystal structure: Ca2+ bound to the cofactor in each subunit, Mg2+ on a 2-fold axis of the tetramer, and Ca2+ at a crystal contact. The structure includes a non-proline cis-peptide bond and an unusually long and regular polyproline type II helix that mediates the main contact between tetramers in the crystal. The high-quality electron-density map allowed the correction of errors totaling more than 10% of the amino acid sequence, which had been predicted from the reported sequence of the mdlC gene. Analysis of the BFD structure suggests that requirements for activation of the cofactor, the nature of the reaction intermediates, and architectural considerations relating to the protein fold have been dominant forces in the evolution of ThDP-dependent enzymes.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Mechanistically diverse enzyme superfamilies: the importance of chemistry in the evolution of catalysis.
The strategy that nature has used to evolve new catalytic activities from pre-existing enzymes (i.e. retention of substrate binding or of catalytic mechanism) has been controversial. Recent work supports a strategy in which a partial reaction, catalyzed by a progenitor, is retained, and the active-site architecture is modified to allow the intermediate generated to be directed to different products.
Amidohydrolases↗
Understanding enzyme superfamilies. Chemistry As the fundamental determinant in the evolution of new catalytic activities.
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Animals↗
Understanding enzymic catalysis: the importance of short, strong hydrogen bonds.
We have proposed previously that short, strong hydrogen bonds exist in enzyme active sites and that they are important in explaining enzymic rate enhancements. Here, we defend this proposal and provide evidence for likely changes of hydrogen bond strengths during enzymic catalysis.
Binding Sites↗
The enolase superfamily: a general strategy for enzyme-catalyzed abstraction of the alpha-protons of carboxylic acids.
We have discovered a superfamily of enzymes related by their ability to catalyze the abstraction of the alpha-proton of a carboxylic acid to form an enolic intermediate. Although each reaction catalyzed by these enzymes is initiated by this common step, their overall reactions (including racemization, beta-elimination of water, beta-elimination of ammonia, and cycloisomerization) as well as the stereochemical consequences (syn vs anti) of the beta-elimination reactions are diverse. Analysis of sequence and structural similarities among these proteins suggests that all of their chemical reactions are mediated by a common active site architecture modified through evolution to allow the enolic intermediates to partition to different products in their respective active sites via different overall mechanisms. All of these enzymes retain the ability to catalyze the thermodynamically difficult step of proton abstraction. These homologous proteins, designated the "enolase superfamily", include enolase as well as more metabolically specialized enzymes: mandelate racemase, galactonate dehydratase, glucarate dehydratase, muconate-lactonizing enzymes, N-acylamino acid racemase, beta-methylaspartate ammonia-lyase, and o-succinylbenzoate synthase. Comparative analysis of structure-function relationships within the superfamily suggests that carboxyphosphonoenolpyruvate synthase, another member of the superfamily, does not catalyze the reaction proposed in the literature but catalyzes an enolase-like reaction instead. The established and deduced structure-function relationships in the superfamily allow the prediction that other apparent members of the family for which no catalytic functions have yet been assigned will also perform chemistry involving abstraction of the alpha-protons of carboxylic acids.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by mandelate racemase: structure and mechanistic properties of the D270N mutant.
On the basis of the available high-resolution structures of mandelate racemase (MR) from Pseudomonas putida [Landro, J.A., Gerlt, J.A., Kozarich, J.W., Koo, C.W., Shah, V.J., Kenyon, G.L., Neidhart, D.J., Fujita, J., & Petsko, G.A. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 635-643], Lys 166 and His 297 are positioned appropriately to participate in catalysis as acid/base catalysts, with Lys 166 participating as the (S)-specific acid/base catalyst and His 297 participating as the (R)-specific acid/base catalyst. The dependence of kcat on pH for the racemization of both (R)- and (S)-mandelates suggests that the pKaS of the conjugate acids of Lys 166 and His 297 are both approximately 6.4 [Landro, J.A., Kallarakal, A.T., Ransom, S.C., Gerlt, J.A., Kozarich, J.W., Neidhart, D.J., Kenyon, G.L. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 9274-9281; Kallarakal, A.T., Mitra, B., Kozarich, J.W., Gerlt, J.A., Clifton, J.R., Petsko, G.A., & Kenyon, G.L. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 2788-2797]. Both acid/base catalysts are in close proximity to and approximately equidistant to the epsilon-ammonium group of Lys 164 and the essential Mg2+. The positive electrostatic potential provided by these cationic groups might be expected to increase the acidities of the cationic conjugate acids of the acid/base catalysts, thereby explaining the depressed pKa of Lys 166 but not the "normal" pKa of His 297. Asp 270 is hydrogen bonded of N delta of His 297 and, therefore, may allow the pKa of His 297 to be normal. In this paper we report the structural and mechanistic properties of the mutant in which Asp 270 is replaced with asparagine (D270N). The structure of D270N with (S)-atrolactate bound in the active site reveals no geometric alterations in the active site when compared to the structure of wild-type MR complexed with (S)-atrolactate, with the exception that the side chain of His 297 is tilted and displaced approximately 0.5 A away from Asn 270 and toward the (S)-atrolactate. The kcatS for both (R)- and (S)-mandelates are reduced approximately 10(4)-fold. In accord with the proposal that Asp 270 influences the pKa of His 297, in the (R)- to (S)-direction no ascending limb is detected in the dependence of kcat of pH; instead, kcat decreases from a low pH plateau as described by a pKa of 10. In the (S)- to (R)-direction the dependence of kcat of pH is a bell-shaped curve that is described by pKaS of 6.4 and 10. In analogy to the previously reported properties of the H297N mutant [Landro, J.A., Kallarakal, A.T., Ransom, S.C., Gerlt, J.A., Kozarich, J.W., Neidhart, D.J., & Kenyon, G.L. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 9274-9281], D270N catalyzes both the facile exchange of the alpha-proton of (S)- but not (R)-mandelate with solvent and the stereospecific elimination of bromide ion from (S)-p-(bromomethyl)mandalate. These observations suggest that His 297 and Asp 270 function as a catalytic dyad, with Asp 270 being at least partially responsible for the normal pKa of His 297 in wild-type MR.
Base Sequence↗
3'- and 5'-strand cleavage reactions catalyzed by the Fpg protein from Escherichia coli occur via successive beta- and delta-elimination mechanisms, respectively.
The Fpg protein from Escherichia coli is a multifunctional protein that excises damaged purine bases from DNA to generate aldehydic abasic sites and then catalyzes the successive cleavage of the phosphodiester bonds first on the 3'-side and then on the 5'-side of the abasic site to generate 5'- and 3'-phosphate ends, respectively, thereby excising the deoxyribose residue. The mechanisms of the 3'- and 5'-strand cleavage reactions have been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The 3'-strand cleavage reaction is a beta-elimination reaction in which the 2'-hydrogen is abstracted and the 3'-phosphate is eliminated. The 5'-strand cleavage reaction is a delta-elimination reaction in which the 4'-hydrogen is abstracted and the 5'-phosphate is eliminated. Two types of experiments were performed to establish the occurrence of the sequential elimination reactions. First, when the reaction was performed in H2(18)O, 31P NMR demonstrated that neither phosphate group contained 18O. Second, the five-carbon product derived from the deoxyribose residue was stabilized by reduction with NaBH4 and characterized by GC-MS. The mass spectrum of the reduced product was identical to that of authentic 4-oxo-2-pentenal, the tautomerized product of successive beta- and delta-elimination reactions.
Base Sequence↗
Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by acetoacetate decarboxylase. Importance of lysine 116 in determining the pKa of active-site lysine 115.
Acetoacetate decarboxylase from Clostridium acetobutylicum (AAD) catalyzes the decarboxylation of acetoacetate via a Schiff base intermediate [Hamilton, G. A., & Westheimer, F. H. (1959) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 81, 6332; Fridovich, I., & Westheimer F. H. (1962) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 84, 3208]. The pKa of the active-site lysine (Lys 115) is 6.0, 4.5 pKa units less than the pKa of lysine in solution [Kokesh, F. C., & Westheimer, F. H. (1971) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 93, 7270; Frey, P. A., Kokesh, F. C., & Westheimer, F. H. (1971) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 93, 7266; Schmidt, D. E., Jr., & Westheimer, F. H. (1971) Biochemistry 10, 1249]. Westheimer and co-workers hypothesized that the pKa of Lys 115 is decreased by its spatial proximity to the epsilon-ammonium group of Lys 116. We have investigated this proposal by studying site-directed mutants of Lys 115 and Lys 116. Two substitutions for Lys 115 (K115C and K115Q) were both catalytically inactive at pH 5.95, the pH optimum of wild type AAD, demonstrating the importance of this residue in catalysis. Activity could be restored to K115C by aminoethylation with 2-bromoethyl-ammonium bromide (2-BEAB). Substitutions for Lys 116 (K116C, K116N, and K116R) had reduced but significant activities at pH 5.95. The effects of Lys 116 on the pKa of Lys 115 in the mutant AADs were evaluated following imine formation with 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde and reduction with NaBH4. Whereas the pKa of Lys 115 in K116R is similar to that observed for wild type AAD, the pKaS of Lys 115 in K116C and K116N were elevated to > 9.2. Alkylation of Cys 116 in K116C with 2-BEAB resulted in both significant activation and restoration of the pKa of Lys 115 to 5.9. These data support Westheimer's hypothesis that the pKa of the Schiff base-forming Lys 115 is decreased by its spatial proximity to the epsilon-ammonium group of Lys 116.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by mandelate racemase: importance of electrophilic catalysis by glutamic acid 317.
In the high-resolution X-ray structure of mandelate racemase (MR) with the competitive inhibitor (S)-atrolactate bound in the active site [Landro, J. A., Gerlt, J. A., Kozarich, J. W., Koo, C. W., Shah, V. J., Kenyon, G. L., Neidhart, D. J., Fujita, J., & Petsko, G. A. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 635-643], the carboxylic acid group of Glu 317 is hydrogen-bonded to the carboxylate group of the bound inhibitor. This geometry suggests that the carboxylic acid functional group of Glu 317 participates as a general acid catalyst in the concerted general acid-general base catalyzed formation of a stabilized enolic tautomer of mandelic acid as a reaction intermediate. To test this hypothesis, the E317Q mutant of MR was constructed and subjected to high-resolution X-ray structural analysis in the presence of (S)-atrolactate. No conformational alterations were observed to accompany the E317Q substitution at 2.1 A resolution. The values for kcat were reduced 4.5 x 10(3)-fold for (R)-mandelate and 2.9 x 10(4)-fold for (S)-mandelate; the values for kcat/Km were reduced 3 x 10(4)-fold. The substrate and solvent deuterium isotope effects measured for both wild-type MR and the E317Q mutant are not multiplicative when deuteriated substrate is studied in D2O, which suggests that the reactions catalyzed by both enzymes are stepwise and involve the formation of stabilized enolic intermediates. In contrast to wild-type MR, E317Q does not catalyze detectable elimination of bromide ion from either enantiomer of p-(bromomethyl)mandelate. However, E317Q is irreversibly inactivated by racemic alpha-phenylglycidate at a rate comparable to that measured for wild-type MR. Taken together, these mechanistic properties confirm the importance of Glu 317 as a general acid catalyst in the reaction catalyzed by wild-type MR. The kcat for wild-type MR and the reduction in kcat observed for E317O are discussed in terms of the analysis recently described by Gerlt and Gassman for understanding the rates and mechanisms of enzyme-catalyzed proton abstraction reactions from carbon acids [Gerlt, J. A., & Gassman, P. G. (1993) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115, 11552-11568; Gerlt, J. A., & Gassman, P. G. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 11943-11952].
Base Sequence↗
Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by mandelate racemase: structure and mechanistic properties of the K166R mutant.
On the basis of the available high-resolution structures of mandelate racemase (MR) from Pseudomonas putida [Landro, J. A., Gerlt, J. A., Kozarich, J. W., Koo, C. W., Shah, V. J., Kenyon, G. L., Neidhart, D. J., Fujita, J., & Petsko, G. A. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 635-643], Lys 166 and His 297 are positioned appropriately to participate in catalysis as acid/base catalysts that either abstract the alpha-proton from the enantiomers of mandelate to form an enolic intermediate or protonate the enolic intermediate to form the enantiomers of mandelate, with Lys 166 participating as the (S)-specific acid/base catalyst and His 297 participating as the (R)-specific acid/base catalyst. In this paper we report the structural and mechanistic properties of the mutant in which Lys 166 has been replaced with arginine (K166R). The structure of K166R has been determined at 1.85 A resolution with the substrate (S)-mandelate bound in the active site. The structure of this complex reveals no geometric alterations in the active site, with the exception that the longer side chain of Arg 166 is necessarily displaced upward from the position occupied by Lys 166 by steric interactions with the bound substrate. In contrast to the H297N mutant of MR [Landro, J. A., Kallarakal, A. T., Ransom, S. C., Gerlt, J. A., Kozarich, J. W., Neidhart, D. J., & Kenyon, G. L. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 9275-9281], the K166R exhibits low levels of racemase activity [kcat is reduced 5 x 10(3)-fold in the (R)- to (S)-direction and 1 x 10(3)-fold in the (S)- to (R)-direction]. The substrate and solvent deuterium isotope effects support a reaction coordinate for the K166R-catalyzed reaction in which the transition state for interconversion of bound (S)-mandelate and the stabilized enolic intermediate is higher in energy that the transition state for interconversion of bound (R)-mandelate and the stabilized enolic intermediate. The solvent deuterium isotope effect when (S)-mandelate is substrate (2.2 +/- 0.3) supports the proposal that the formation of the enolic intermediate involves partial transfer of a solvent-derived proton from Glu 317 to the substrate as the alpha-proton is abstracted [Mitra, B., Kallarakal, A. T., Kozarich, J. W., Gerlt, J. A., Clifton, J. G., Petsko, G. A., & Kenyon, G. L. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 2777-2787].(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Base Sequence↗
A functionally diverse enzyme superfamily that abstracts the alpha protons of carboxylic acids.
Mandelate racemase and muconate lactonizing enzyme are structurally homologous but catalyze different reactions, each initiated by proton abstraction from carbon. The structural similarity to mandelate racemase of a previously unidentified gene product was used to deduce its function as a galactonate dehydratase. In this enzyme superfamily that has evolved to catalyze proton abstraction from carbon, three variations of homologous active site architectures are now represented: lysine and histidine bases in the active site of mandelate racemase, only a lysine base in the active site of muconate lactonizing enzyme, and only a histidine base in the active site of galactonate dehydratase. This discovery supports the hypothesis that new enzymatic activities evolve by recruitment of a protein catalyzing the same type of chemical reaction.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
The role of lysine 166 in the mechanism of mandelate racemase from Pseudomonas putida: mechanistic and crystallographic evidence for stereospecific alkylation by (R)-alpha-phenylglycidate.
The mechanism of irreversible inactivation of mandelate racemase (MR) from Pseudomonas putida by alpha-phenylglycidate (alpha PGA) has been investigated stereochemically and crystallographically. The (R) and (S) enantiomers of alpha PGA were synthesized in high enantiomeric excess (81% ee and 83% ee, respectively) using Sharpless epoxidation chemistry. (R)-alpha PGA was determined to be a stereospecific and stoichiometric irreversible inactivator of MR. (S)-alpha PGA does not inactivate MR and appears to bind noncovalently to the active site of MR with less affinity than that of (R)-alpha PGA. The X-ray crystal structure (2.0-A resolution) of MR inactivated by (R)-alpha PGA revealed the presence of a covalent adduct formed by nucleophilic attack of the epsilon-amino group of Lys 166 on the distal carbon on the epoxide ring of (R)-alpha PGA. The proximity of the alpha-proton of (S)-mandelate to Lys 166 [configurationally equivalent to (R)-alpha PGA] was corroborated by the crystal structure (2.1-A resolution) of MR complexed with the substrate analog/competitive inhibitor, (S)-atrolactate [(S)-alpha-methylmandelate]. These results support the proposal that Lys 166 is the polyvalent acid/base responsible for proton transfers on the (S) face of mandelate. In addition, the high-resolution structures also provide insight into the probable interactions of mandelate with the essential Mg2+ and functional groups in the active site.
Alkylation↗
A novel structural basis for membrane association of a protein: construction of a chimeric soluble mutant of (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas putida.
The (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase (MDH) from Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 12633) is the only membrane-associated member of a homologous family of FMN-dependent, alpha-hydroxy acid dehydrogenases/oxidases that includes the structurally characterized glycolate oxidase from spinach (GOX). We have correlated the membrane association of MDH to a polypeptide segment in the interior of the primary sequence. This has been accomplished by construction of a chimeric enzyme in which the putative membrane-binding segment in MDH has been deleted and replaced with the corresponding segment from the soluble GOX. The resulting chimera, MDH-GOX, is soluble and retains partial catalytic activity (approximately 1%) using (S)-mandelate as substrate. In contrast, the activities of both the membrane-associated wild-type MDH and the soluble MDH-GOX are nearly the same when (S)-phenyllactate is used as substrate. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a membrane-associated protein in which an internal polypeptide segment anchors the protein to the membrane.
Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
Understanding the rates of certain enzyme-catalyzed reactions: proton abstraction from carbon acids, acyl-transfer reactions, and displacement reactions of phosphodiesters.
The structural factors responsible for the rapid rates (kcats) of enzyme-catalyzed reactions are not well understood. In this paper, we outline an analysis that we believe can provide a quantitative understanding of the kcats of three types of reactions: abstraction of the alpha-protons from carbon acids, acyl-transfer reactions, and displacement reactions of phosphodiesters. We propose that these reactions proceed via the formation of intermediates in which negative charge develops on the carbonyl or phosphoryl oxygens. Our analysis is based on Marcus formalism that separates the activation energy barrier for conversion of bound substrate to the intermediate, delta G++, into contributions from a thermodynamic barrier, delta G zero, and an intrinsic kinetic barrier, delta G++int. We propose that one (or more) general acid catalyst positioned adjacent to the carbonyl or phosphoryl oxygens of the substrate is primarily responsible for reducing both delta G zero and delta G++int from the values that characterize nonenzymatic reactions. The proton donors (1) stabilize the intermediates via the formation of short, strong hydrogen bonds (the pKas of the protonated intermediates and the general acid catalysts are matched), thereby reducing delta G zero, and (2) stabilize the transition states for formation of the intermediates by negating the developing charge on the oxygens without the requirement for significant structural reorganization, thereby reducing delta G++int. The possible reductions in delta G zero and delta G++int are sufficient to understand the rapid kcats of these reactions.
Acylation↗
Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by staphylococcal nuclease: identification of the rate-determining step.
The hydrolysis of single-stranded DNA catalyzed by wild-type staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) and two mutants has been studied as a function of both pH and solvent viscosity. The kcat for wild-type SNase increases with pH; the slope of the plot of log kcat vs pH = 0.45 +/- 0.01. The dependence of kcat/Km on pH for wild-type SNase is biphasic with a break at pH approximately 8: for pH < or = 8, the plot of log kcat vs pH is linear with a slope = 1.20 +/- 0.06; for pH > or = 8, the slope = 0.00 +/- 0.04. The dependencies of both kcat and kcat/Km on solvent viscosity are also pH-dependent: below pH 7.3, both kinetic parameters are independent of solvent viscosity; above pH 7.3, both are inversely proportional to solvent viscosity. Thus, at pH 9.5, where SNase is routinely assayed, the rate-determining steps for both kcat and kcat/Km are external steps (product dissociation for kcat and substrate binding for kcat/Km) and not an internal step (e.g., hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond). We have also studied the E43D mutant in which the putative active-site general basic catalyst Glu-43 is replaced with Asp. From pH 7.5 to pH 9.5, both log kcat and log (kcat/Km) are directly proportional to pH (slopes = 1.01 +/- 0.03 and 0.95 +/- 0.04, respectively) and independent of solvent viscosity. At pH 9.5, the rate-determining step is an internal step.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Base Sequence↗
On the origin of enzymatic species.
The diversity of enzyme catalytic function is remarkable, particularly when one considers that ancestral life forms must have started with a much smaller ensemble of proteins. In this article, we discuss the evolution of the mandelate pathway in pseudomonads as an example of how catalytic diversity may have evolved. We suggest that existing enzymes that catalyse the chemistry needed to accomplish a transformation were recruited, followed by the evolution of specific binding.
Binding Sites↗