Aurone synthase is a catechol oxidase with hydroxylase activity and provides insights into the mechanism of plant polyphenol oxidases.

Tyrosinases and catechol oxidases belong to the family of polyphenol oxidases (PPOs). Tyrosinases catalyze theo-hydroxylation and oxidation of phenolic compounds, whereas catechol oxidases were so far defined to lack the hydroxylation activity and catalyze solely the oxidation of o-diphenolic compounds. Aurone synthase from Coreopsis grandiflora (AUS1) is a specialized plant PPO involved in the anabolic pathway of aurones. We present, to our knowledge, the first crystal structures of a latent plant PPO, its mature active and inactive form, caused by a sulfation of a copper binding histidine. Analysis of the latent proenzyme's interface between the shielding C-terminal domain and the main core provides insights into its activation mechanisms. As AUS1 did not accept common tyrosinase substrates (tyrosine and tyramine), the enzyme is classified as a catechol oxidase. However, AUS1 showed hydroxylase activity toward its natural substrate (isoliquiritigenin), revealing that the hydroxylase activity is not correlated with the acceptance of common tyrosinase substrates. Therefore, we propose that the hydroxylase reaction is a general functionality of PPOs. Molecular dynamics simulations of docked substrate-enzyme complexes were performed, and a key residue was identified that influences the plant PPO's acceptance or rejection of tyramine. Based on the evidenced hydroxylase activity and the interactions of specific residues with the substrates during the molecular dynamics simulations, a novel catalytic reaction mechanism for plant PPOs is proposed. The presented results strongly suggest that the physiological role of plant catechol oxidases were previously underestimated, as they might hydroxylate their--so far unknown--natural substrates in vivo.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of latent, active and recombinantly expressed aurone synthase, a polyphenol oxidase, from Coreopsis grandiflora.

Aurone synthase (AUS), a member of a novel group of plant polyphenol oxidases (PPOs), catalyzes the oxidative conversion of chalcones to aurones. Two active cgAUS1 (41.6 kDa) forms that differed in the level of phosphorylation or sulfation as well as the latent precursor form (58.9 kDa) were purified from the petals of Coreopsis grandiflora. The differing active cgAUS1 forms and the latent cgAUS1 as well as recombinantly expressed latent cgAUS1 were crystallized, resulting in six different crystal forms. The active forms crystallized in space groups P2(1)2(1)2(1) and P12(1)1 and diffracted to ∼ 1.65 Šresolution. Co-crystallization of active cgAUS1 with 1,4-resorcinol led to crystals belonging to space group P3(1)21. The crystals of latent cgAUS1 belonged to space group P12(1)1 and diffracted to 2.50 Šresolution. Co-crystallization of recombinantly expressed pro-AUS with the hexatungstotellurate(VI) salt Na6[TeW6O24] within the liquid-liquid phase separation zone significantly improved the quality of the crystals compared with crystals obtained without hexatungstotellurate(VI).

Latent and active aurone synthase from petals of C. grandiflora: a polyphenol oxidase with unique characteristics.

MAIN CONCLUSION: Aurone synthase belongs to the novel group 2 polyphenol oxidases and the presented kinetic characterization suggests a differing aurone biosynthesis in Asteraceae species compared to snapdragon. Aurone synthases (AUS) are polyphenol oxidases (PPO) physiologically involved in the formation of yellow aurone pigments in petals of various Asteraceae species. They catalyze the oxidative conversion of chalcones into aurones. Latent (58.9 kDa) and active (41.6 kDa) aurone synthase from petals of C. grandiflora was purified by a quantitative removal of pigments using aqueous two-phase separation and several subsequent chromatographic steps. The purified enzymes were identified as cgAUS1 (A0A075DN54) and sequence analysis revealed that cgAUS1 is a member of a new group of plant PPOs. Mass determination experiments of intact cgAUS1 gave evidence that the C-terminal domain, usually shielding the active site of latent polyphenol oxidases, is linked to the main core by a disulfide bond. This is a novel and unique structural feature of plant PPOs. Proteolytic activation in vivo leads to active aurone synthase possessing a residual peptide of the C-terminal domain. Kinetic characterization of purified cgAUS1 strongly suggests a specific involvement in 4-deoxyaurone biosynthesis in Coreopsis grandiflora (Asteraceae) that differs in various aspects compared to the 4-hydroxyaurone formation in Antirrhinum majus (Plantaginaceae): cgAUS1 is predicted to be localized in the thylakoid lumen, it possesses exclusively diphenolase activity and the results suggest that aurone formation occurs at the level of chalcone aglycones. The latent enzyme exhibits allosteric activation which changes at a specific product concentration to a constant reaction rate. The presented novel structural and functional properties of aurone synthase provide further insights in the diversity and role of plant PPOs.

Type-3 copper proteins: recent advances on polyphenol oxidases.

Recent investigations in the study of plant, fungal, and bacterial type-3 copper proteins are reviewed. Focus is given to three enzymes: catechol oxidases (CO), tyrosinases, and aureusidin synthase. CO were mostly found in plants, however, in 2010 the first fungal CO was published. The first plant-originated tyrosinase was published in 2014, before tyrosinases were only reported in fungi, bacteria, and human. Aureusidin synthase from yellow snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) was first published in 2000, as part of yellow flower coloration pathway. In the last years, many important results on type-3 copper enzymes originated from X-ray crystallographic investigations. In addition, studies on site-directed mutagenesis of amino acids around the active site were performed to identify the regions determining monophenolase and/or diphenolase activity. Although X-ray crystallographic structures of CO and tyrosinases are available, many questions like the response for the activation via proteases, sequence-based or structural-based differences between CO, as well as the physiological roles of many polyphenol oxidases still remain to be addressed.

Latent and active abPPO4 mushroom tyrosinase cocrystallized with hexatungstotellurate(VI) in a single crystal.

Tyrosinases, bifunctional metalloenzymes, catalyze the oxidation of monophenols and o-diphenols to o-quinones, the precursor compounds of the brown-coloured pigment melanin. In eukaryotic organisms, tyrosinases are expressed as latent zymogens that have to be proteolytically cleaved in order to form highly active enzymes. This activation mechanism, known as the tyrosinase maturation process, has scientific and industrial significance with respect to biochemical and technical applications of the enzyme. Here, not only the first crystal structure of the mushroom tyrosinase abPPO4 is presented in its active form (Ser2-Ser383) and in its 21 kDa heavier latent form (Ser2-Thr545), but furthermore the simultaneous presence of both forms within one single-crystal structure is shown. This allows for a simple approach to investigate the transition between these two forms. Isoform abPPO4 was isolated and extensively purified from the natural source (Agaricus bisporus), which contains a total of six polyphenol oxidases (PPOs). The enzyme formed crystals (diffracting to a resolution of 2.76 Å) owing to the employment of the 6-tungstotellurate(VI) salt (Na6[TeW6O24]·22H2O) as a cocrystallization agent. Two of these disc-shaped Anderson-type polyoxoanions [TeW6O24](6-) separate two asymmetric units comprising one crystallographic heterodimer of abPPO4, thus resulting in very interesting crystal packing.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of latent isoform PPO4 mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) tyrosinase.

Tyrosinase exhibits catalytic activity for the ortho-hydroxylation of monophenols to diphenols as well as their subsequent oxidation to quinones. Owing to polymerization of these quinones, brown-coloured high-molecular-weight compounds called melanins are generated. The latent precursor form of polyphenol oxidase 4, one of the six tyrosinase isoforms from Agaricus bisporus, was purified to homogeneity and crystallized. The obtained crystals belonged to space group C121 (two molecules per asymmetric unit) and diffracted to 2.78 Å resolution. The protein only formed crystals under low-salt conditions using the 6-tungstotellurate(VI) salt Na6[TeW6O24] · 22H2O as a co-crystallization agent.