Crystal Structure of d-Ornithine/d-Lysine Decarboxylase, a Stereoinverting Decarboxylase: Implications for Substrate Specificity and Stereospecificity of Fold III Decarboxylases.

A newly discovered Fold III pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent decarboxylase, d-ornithine/lysine decarboxylase (DOKDC), catalyzes decarboxylation of d-lysine and d-ornithine with inversion of stereochemistry. The X-ray crystal structure of DOKDC has been determined to 1.72 Å. DOKDC has a low level of sequence identity (<30%) with meso-diaminopimelate decarboxylase (DAPDC) and l-lysine/ornithine decarboxylase (LODC), but its three-dimensional structure is very similar. The distal binding site of DAPDC contains a conserved arginine that forms an ion pair with the l-carboxylate end of DAP. In both LODC and DOKDC, this distal site is modified by replacement of the arginine with aspartate, changing the substrate specificity. l-Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and LODC have a conserved phenylalanine on the re-face of the PLP complex that has been found to play a key role in the decarboxylation mechanism. We have found that both DAPDC and DOKDC have tyrosine instead of phenylalanine at this position, which precludes the binding of l-amino acids. Because the PLP-binding lysine in ODC, LODC, DAPDC, and DOKDC is located on the re-face of the PLP, we propose that this is the acid group responsible for protonation of the product, thus resulting in the observed retention of configuration for decarboxylation of l-amino acids and inversion for decarboxylation of d-amino acids. The reactions of DAPDC and DOKDC are likely accelerated by positive electrostatics on the re-face by the lysine ε-ammonium ion and on the si-face by closure of the lid over the active site, resulting in desolvation and destabilization of the d-amino acid carboxylate.

STM2360 encodes a d-ornithine/d-lysine decarboxylase in Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium.

STM2360 is a gene located in a small operon of undetermined function in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2. The amino acid sequence of STM2360 shows significant similarity (∼30% identity) to diaminopimelate decarboxylase (DapDC), a Fold III pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzyme involved in l-lysine biosynthesis. We have found that the protein coded by STM2360 has a previously undocumented catalytic activity, d-ornithine/d-lysine decarboxylase (DOKDC). The reaction products, cadaverine and putrescine, respectively, were identified by NMR and mass spectrometry. The substrate specificity of DOKDC is d-Lysine > d-Ornithine. This is the first pyridoxal-5'-phosphate dependent decarboxylase identified to act on d-amino acids. STM2358, located in the same operon, has ornithine racemase activity. This suggests that the physiological substrate of the decarboxylase and the operon is ornithine. Homologs of STM2360 with high sequence identity (>80%) are found in other common enterobacteria, including species of Klebsiella, Citrobacter, Vibrio and Hafnia, as well as Clostridium in the Firmicutes, and Pseudomonas.