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Cellobiohydrolases directly convert crystalline cellulose into cellobiose and are of biotechnological interest to achieve efficient biomass utilization. As a result, much research in the field has focused on identifying cellobiohydrolases that are very fast. Cellobiohydrolase A from the bacterium Cellulomonas fimi (CfCel6B) and cellobiohydrolase II from the fungus Trichoderma reesei (TrCel6A) have similar catalytic domains (CDs) and show similar hydrolytic activity. However, TrCel6A and CfCel6B have different cellulose-binding domains (CBDs) and linkers: TrCel6A has a glycosylated peptide linker, whereas CfCel6B's linker consists of three fibronectin type 3 domains. We previously found that TrCel6A's linker plays an important role in increasing the binding rate constant to crystalline cellulose. However, it was not clear whether CfCel6B's linker has similar function. Here we analyze kinetic parameters of CfCel6B using single-molecule fluorescence imaging to compare CfCel6B and TrCel6A. We find that CBD is important for initial binding of CfCel6B, but the contribution of the linker to the binding rate constant or to the dissociation rate constant is minor. The crystal structure of the CfCel6B CD showed longer loops at the entrance and exit of the substrate-binding tunnel compared with TrCel6A CD, which results in higher processivity. Furthermore, CfCel6B CD showed not only fast surface diffusion but also slow processive movement, which is not observed in TrCel6A CD. Combined with the results of a phylogenetic tree analysis, we propose that bacterial cellobiohydrolases are designed to degrade crystalline cellulose using high-affinity CBD and high-processivity CD., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest—The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article., (© 2020 Nakamura et al.)

Chitin degradation is important for biomass conversion and has potential applications for agriculture, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical industry. Chitinase A from the Gram-negative bacterium Serratia marcescens ( Sm ChiA) is a processive enzyme that hydrolyzes crystalline chitin as it moves linearly along the substrate surface. In a previous study, the catalytic activity of Sm ChiA against crystalline chitin was found to increase after the tryptophan substitution of two phenylalanine residues (F232W and F396W), located at the entrance and exit of the substrate binding cleft of the catalytic domain, respectively. However, the mechanism underlying this high catalytic activity remains elusive. In this study, single-molecule fluorescence imaging and high-speed atomic force microscopy were applied to understand the mechanism of this high-catalytic-activity mutant. A reaction scheme including processive catalysis was used to reproduce the properties of Sm ChiA WT and F232W/F396W, in which all of the kinetic parameters were experimentally determined. High activity of F232W/F396W mutant was caused by a high processivity and a low dissociation rate constant after productive binding. The turnover numbers for both WT and F232W/F396W, determined by the biochemical analysis, were well-replicated using the kinetic parameters obtained from single-molecule imaging analysis, indicating the validity of the reaction scheme. Furthermore, alignment of amino acid sequences of 258 Sm ChiA-like proteins revealed that tryptophan, not phenylalanine, is the predominant amino acid at the corresponding positions (Phe-232 and Phe-396 for Sm ChiA). Our study will be helpful for understanding the kinetic mechanisms and further improvement of crystalline chitin hydrolytic activity of Sm ChiA mutants., (© 2020 Visootsat et al.)

The ATP-dependent bacterial protein disaggregation machine, ClpB belonging to the AAA+ superfamily, refolds toxic protein aggregates into the native state in cooperation with the cognate Hsp70 partner. The ring-shaped hexamers of ClpB unfold and thread its protein substrate through the central pore. However, their function-related structural dynamics has remained elusive. Here we directly visualize ClpB using high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) to gain a mechanistic insight into its disaggregation function. The HS-AFM movies demonstrate massive conformational changes of the hexameric ring during ATP hydrolysis, from a round ring to a spiral and even to a pair of twisted half-spirals. HS-AFM observations of Walker-motif mutants unveil crucial roles of ATP binding and hydrolysis in the oligomer formation and structural dynamics. Furthermore, repressed and hyperactive mutations result in significantly different oligomeric forms. These results provide a comprehensive view for the ATP-driven oligomeric-state transitions that enable ClpB to disentangle protein aggregates.

Serratia marcescens chitinase A is a linear molecular motor that hydrolyses crystalline chitin in a processive manner. Here, we quantitatively determined the rate constants of elementary reaction steps, including binding (k on ), translational movement (k tr ), and dissociation (k off ) with single-molecule fluorescence imaging. The k on for a single chitin microfibril was 2.1 × 10 9 M -1 μm -1 s -1 . The k off showed two components, k (3.2 s -1 , 78%) and k (0.38 s -1 , 22%), corresponding to bindings to different crystal surfaces. From the k on , k, k and ratio of fast and slow dissociations, dissociation constants for low and high affinity sites were estimated as 2.0 × 10 -9 M μm and 8.1 × 10 -10 M μm, respectively. The k tr was 52.5 nm s -1 , and processivity was estimated as 60.4. The apparent inconsistency between high turnover (52.5 s -1 ) calculated from k tr and biochemically determined low k cat (2.6 s -1 ) is explained by a low ratio (4.8%) of productive enzymes on the chitin surface (52.5 s -1 × 0.048 = 2.5 s -1 ). Our results highlight the importance of single-molecule analysis in understanding the mechanism of enzymes acting on a solid-liquid interface.

V-ATPases are rotary molecular motors that generally function as proton pumps. We recently solved the crystal structures of the V1 moiety of Enterococcus hirae V-ATPase (EhV1) and proposed a model for its rotation mechanism. Here, we characterized the rotary dynamics of EhV1 using single-molecule analysis employing a load-free probe. EhV1 rotated in a counterclockwise direction, exhibiting two distinct rotational states, namely clear and unclear, suggesting unstable interactions between the rotor and stator. The clear state was analyzed in detail to obtain kinetic parameters. The rotation rates obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with a maximal rotation rate (Vmax) of 107 revolutions/s and a Michaelis constant (Km) of 154 μM at 26 °C. At all ATP concentrations tested, EhV1 showed only three pauses separated by 120°/turn, and no substeps were resolved, as was the case with Thermus thermophilus V1-ATPase (TtV1). At 10 μM ATP (<>Km), the distribution of the durations of the catalytic pause was reproduced by a consecutive reaction with two time constants of 2.6 and 0.5 ms. These kinetic parameters were similar to those of TtV1. Our results identify the common properties of rotary catalysis of V1-ATPases that are distinct from those of F1-ATPases and will further our understanding of the general mechanisms of rotary molecular motors.

F(1)-ATPase (F(1)) is an ATP-driven rotary motor wherein the γ subunit rotates against the surrounding α(3)β(3) stator ring. The 3 catalytic sites of F(1) reside on the interface of the α and β subunits of the α(3)β(3) ring. While the catalytic residues predominantly reside on the β subunit, the α subunit has 1 catalytically critical arginine, termed the arginine finger, with stereogeometric similarities with the arginine finger of G-protein-activating proteins. However, the principal role of the arginine finger of F(1) remains controversial. We studied the role of the arginine finger by analyzing the rotation of a mutant F(1) with a lysine substitution of the arginine finger. The mutant showed a 350-fold longer catalytic pause than the wild-type; this pause was further lengthened by the slowly hydrolyzed ATP analog ATPγS. On the other hand, the mutant F(1) showed highly unidirectional rotation with a coupling ratio of 3 ATPs/turn, the same as wild-type, suggesting that cooperative torque generation by the 3 β subunits was not impaired. The hybrid F(1) carrying a single copy of the α mutant revealed that the reaction step slowed by the mutation occurs at +200° from the binding angle of the mutant subunit. Thus, the principal role of the arginine finger is not to mediate cooperativity among the catalytic sites, but to enhance the rate of the ATP cleavage by stabilizing the transition state of ATP hydrolysis. Lysine substitution also caused frequent pauses because of severe ADP inhibition, and a slight decrease in ATP-binding rate.

F(1)-ATPase is a rotary molecular motor in which the gamma-subunit rotates against the alpha(3)beta(3) cylinder. The unitary gamma-rotation is a 120 degrees step comprising 80 and 40 degrees substeps, each of these initiated by ATP binding and ADP release and by ATP hydrolysis and inorganic phosphate release, respectively. In our previous study on gamma-rotation at low temperatures, a highly temperature-sensitive (TS) reaction step of F(1)-ATPase from thermophilic Bacillus PS3 was found below 9 degrees C as an intervening pause before the 80 degrees substep at the same angle for ATP binding and ADP release. However, it remains unclear as to which reaction step the TS reaction corresponds. In this study, we found that the mutant F(1)(beta E190D) from thermophilic Bacillus PS3 showed a clear pause of the TS reaction below 18 degrees C. In an attempt to identify the catalytic state of the TS reaction, the rotation of the hybrid F(1), carrying a single copy of beta E190D, was observed at 18 degrees C. The hybrid F(1) showed a pause of the TS reaction at the same angle as for the ATP binding of the incorporated beta E190D, although kinetic analysis revealed that the TS reaction is not the ATP binding step. These findings suggest that the TS reaction is a structural rearrangement of beta before or after ATP binding.

F(1)-ATPase is a rotary molecular motor driven by ATP hydrolysis that rotates the gamma-subunit against the alpha(3)beta(3) ring. The crystal structures of F(1), which provide the structural basis for the catalysis mechanism, have shown essentially 1 stable conformational state. In contrast, single-molecule studies have revealed that F(1) has 2 stable conformational states: ATP-binding dwell state and catalytic dwell state. Although structural and single-molecule studies are crucial for the understanding of the molecular mechanism of F(1), it remains unclear as to which catalytic state the crystal structure represents. To address this issue, we introduced cysteine residues at betaE391 and gammaR84 of F(1) from thermophilic Bacillus PS3. In the crystal structures of the mitochondrial F(1), the corresponding residues in the ADP-bound beta (beta(DP)) and gamma were in direct contact. The betaE190D mutation was additionally introduced into the beta to slow ATP hydrolysis. By incorporating a single copy of the mutant beta-subunit, the chimera F(1), alpha(3)beta(2)beta(E190D/E391C)gamma(R84C), was prepared. In single-molecule rotation assay, chimera F(1) showed a catalytic dwell pause in every turn because of the slowed ATP hydrolysis of beta(E190D/E391C). When the mutant beta and gamma were cross-linked through a disulfide bond between betaE391C and gammaR84C, F(1) paused the rotation at the catalytic dwell angle of beta(E190D/E391C), indicating that the crystal structure represents the catalytic dwell state and that beta(DP) is the catalytically active form. The former point was again confirmed in experiments where F(1) rotation was inhibited by adenosine-5'-(beta,gamma-imino)-triphosphate and/or azide, the most commonly used inhibitors for the crystallization of F(1).

The crystal structure of subunit F of vacuole-type ATPase/synthase (prokaryotic V-ATPase) was determined to of 2.2 A resolution. The subunit reveals unexpected structural similarity to the response regulator proteins that include the Escherichia coli chemotaxis response regulator CheY. The structure was successfully placed into the low-resolution EM structure of the prokaryotic holo-V-ATPase at a location indicated by the results of crosslinking experiments. The crystal structure, together with the single-molecule analysis using fluorescence resonance energy transfer, showed that the subunit F exhibits two conformations, a 'retracted' form in the absence and an 'extended' form in the presence of ATP. Our results postulated that the subunit F is a regulatory subunit in the V-ATPase.