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The key active site residues K185, Y139, D217, D241, D245, and N102 of Thermus thermophilus 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (Tt-IPMDH) have been replaced, one by one, with Ala. A drastic decrease in the kcat value (0.06% compared to that of the wild-type enzyme) has been observed for the K185A and D241A mutants. Similarly, the catalytic interactions (Km values) of these two mutants with the substrate IPM are weakened by more than 1 order of magnitude. The other mutants retained some (1-13%) of the catalytic activity of the wild-type enzyme and do not exhibit appreciable changes in the substrate Km values. The pH dependence of the wild-type enzyme activity (pK = 7.4) is shifted toward higher values for mutants K185A and D241A (pK values of 8.4 and 8.5, respectively). For the other mutants, smaller changes have been observed. Consequently, K185 and D241 may constitute a proton relay system that can assist in the abstraction of a proton from the OH group of IPM during catalysis. Molecular dynamics simulations provide strong support for the neutral character of K185 in the resting state of the enzyme, which implies that K185 abstracts the proton from the substrate and D241 assists the process via electrostatic interactions with K185. Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations revealed a significant increase in the activation energy of the hydride transfer of the redox step for both D217A and D241A mutants. Crystal structure analysis of the molecular contacts of the investigated residues in the enzyme-substrate complex revealed their additional importance (in particular that of K185, D217, and D241) in stabilizing the domain-closed active conformation. In accordance with this, small-angle X-ray scattering measurements indicated the complete absence of domain closure in the cases of D217A and D241A mutants, while only partial domain closure could be detected for the other mutants. This suggests that the same residues that are important for catalysis are also essential for inducing domain closure.

The three-dimensional structure of the enzyme 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase from the bacterium Thermus thermophilus in complex with Mn2+, its substrate isopropylmalate and its co-factor product NADH at 2.0 A resolution features a fully closed conformation of the enzyme. Upon closure of the two domains, the substrate and the co-factor are brought into precise relative orientation and close proximity, with a distance between the C2 atom of the substrate and the C4N atom of the pyridine ring of the co-factor of approximately 3.0 A. The structure further shows binding of a K+ ion close to the active site, and provides an explanation for its known activating effect. Hence, this structure is an excellent mimic for the enzymatically competent complex. Using high-level QM/MM calculations, it may be demonstrated that, in the observed arrangement of the reactants, transfer of a hydride from the C2 atom of 3-isopropylmalate to the C4N atom of the pyridine ring of NAD+ is easily possible, with an activation energy of approximately 15 kcal·mol−1. The activation energy increases by approximately 4–6 kcal·mol−1 when the K+ ion is omitted from the calculations. In the most plausible scenario, prior to hydride transfer the e-amino group of Lys185 acts as a general base in the reaction, aiding the deprotonation reaction of 3-isopropylmalate prior to hydride transfer by employing a low-barrier proton shuttle mechanism involving a water molecule. Database Structural data have been submitted to the Protein Data Bank under accession number 4F7I.

Dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) catalyzes the glutathione (GSH)-dependent reduction of dehydroascorbate and plays a direct role in regenerating ascorbic acid, an essential plant antioxidant vital for defense against oxidative stress. DHAR enzymes bear close structural homology to the glutathione transferase (GST) superfamily of enzymes and contain the same active site motif, but most GSTs do not exhibit DHAR activity. The presence of a cysteine at the active site is essential for the catalytic functioning of DHAR, as mutation of this cysteine abolishes the activity. Here we present the crystal structure of DHAR2 from Arabidopsis thaliana with GSH bound to the catalytic cysteine. This structure reveals localized conformational differences around the active site which distinguishes the GSH-bound DHAR2 structure from that of DHAR1. We also unraveled the enzymatic step in which DHAR releases oxidized glutathione (GSSG). To consolidate our structural and kinetic findings, we investigated potential conformational flexibility in DHAR2 by normal mode analysis and found that subdomain mobility could be linked to GSH binding or GSSG release.

Peroxiredoxins catalyze the reduction of peroxides, a process of vital importance to survive oxidative stress. A nucleophilic cysteine, also known as the peroxidatic cysteine, is responsible for this catalytic process. We used the Mycobacterium tuberculosis alkyl hydroperoxide reductase E (MtAhpE) as a model to investigate the effect of the chemical environment on the specificity of the reaction. Using an integrative structural (R116A – PDB 4XIH; F37H – PDB 5C04), kinetic and computational approach, we explain the mutational effects of key residues in its environment. This study shows that the active site residues are specifically oriented to create an environment which selectively favours a reaction with peroxides.

In many established methods, identification of hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) is primarily based on pairwise comparison of distances between atoms. These methods often give rise to systematic errors when sulfur is involved. A more accurate method is the non-covalent interaction index, which determines the strength of the H-bonds based on the associated electron density and its gradient. We applied the NCI index on the active site of a single-cysteine peroxiredoxin. We found a different sulfur hydrogen-bonding network to that typically found by established methods and we propose a more accurate equation for determining sulfur H-bonds based on geometrical criteria. This new algorithm will be implemented in the next release of the widely-used CHARMM program (version 41b) and will be particularly useful for analyzing water molecule-mediated H-bonds involving different atom types. Furthermore, based on the identification of the weakest sulfur-water H-bond, the location of hydrogen peroxide for the nucleophilic attack by the cysteine sulfur can be predicted. In general, current methods to determine H-bonds will need to be reevaluated, thereby leading to better understanding of the catalytic mechanisms in which sulfur chemistry is involved.

Acylaminoacyl peptidase from Aeropyrum pernix is a homodimer that belongs to the prolyl oligopeptidase family. The monomer subunit is composed of one hydrolase and one propeller domain. Previous crystal structure determinations revealed that the propeller domain obstructed the access of substrate to the active site of both subunits. Here we investigated the structure and the kinetics of two mutant enzymes in which the aspartic acid of the catalytic triad was changed to alanine or asparagine. Using different substrates, we have determined the pH dependence of specificity rate constants, the rate-limiting step of catalysis, and the binding of substrates and inhibitors. The catalysis considerably depended both on the kind of mutation and on the nature of the substrate. The results were interpreted in terms of alterations in the position of the catalytic histidine side chain as demonstrated with crystal structure determination of the native and two mutant structures (D524N and D524A). Unexpectedly, in the homodimeric structures, only one subunit displayed the closed form of the enzyme. The other subunit exhibited an open gate to the catalytic site, thus revealing the structural basis that controls the oligopeptidase activity. The open form of the native enzyme displayed the catalytic triad in a distorted, inactive state. The mutations affected the closed, active form of the enzyme, disrupting its catalytic triad. We concluded that the two forms are at equilibrium and the substrates bind by the conformational selection mechanism.

C1r is a modular serine protease which is the autoactivating component of the C1 complex of the classical pathway of the complement system. We have determined the first crystal structure of the entire active catalytic region of human C1r. This fragment contains the C-terminal serine protease (SP) domain and the preceding two complement control protein (CCP) modules. The activated CCP1–CCP2–SP fragment makes up a dimer in a head-to-tail fashion similarly to the previously characterized zymogen. The present structure shows an increased number of stabilizing interactions. Moreover, in the crystal lattice there is an enzyme–product relationship between the C1r molecules of neighboring dimers. This enzyme–product complex exhibits the crucial S1–P1 salt bridge between Asp631 and Arg446 residues, and intermolecular interaction between the CCP2 module and the SP domain. Based on these novel structural information we propose a new split-and-reassembly model for the autoactivation of the C1r. This model is consistent with experimental results that have not been explained adequately by previous models. It allows autoactivation of C1r without large-scale, directed movement of C1q arms. The model is concordant with the stability of the C1 complex during activation of the next complement components.

It is widely accepted that the catalytic activity of serine proteases depends primarily on the Asp-His-Ser catalytic triad and other residues within the vicinity of this motif. Some of these residues form the oxyanion binding site that stabilizes the tetrahedral intermediate by hydrogen bonding to the negatively charged oxyanion. In acylaminoacyl peptidase from the thermophile Aeropyrum pernix, the main chain NH group of Gly369 is one of the hydrogen bond donors forming the oxyanion binding site. The side chain of His367, a conserved residue in acylaminoacyl peptidases across all species, fastens the loop holding Gly369. Determination of the crystal structure of the H367A mutant revealed that this loop, including Gly369, moves away considerably, accounting for the observed three orders of magnitude decrease in the specificity rate constant. For the wild-type enzyme ln(k(cat)/K(m)) vs. 1/T deviates from linearity indicating greater rate enhancement with increasing temperature for the dissociation of the enzyme-substrate complex compared with its decomposition to product. In contrast, the H367A variant provided a linear Arrhenius plot, and its reaction was associated with unfavourable entropy of activation. These results show that a residue relatively distant from the active site can significantly affect the catalytic activity of acylaminoacyl peptidase without changing the overall structure of the enzyme.