Structural studies of cinnamoyl-CoA reductase and cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase, key enzymes of monolignol biosynthesis.

The enzymes cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyze the two key reduction reactions in the conversion of cinnamic acid derivatives into monolignol building blocks for lignin polymers in plant cell walls. Here, we describe detailed functional and structural analyses of CCRs from Medicago truncatula and Petunia hybrida and of an atypical CAD (CAD2) from M. truncatula. These enzymes are closely related members of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily. Our structural studies support a reaction mechanism involving a canonical SDR catalytic triad in both CCR and CAD2 and an important role for an auxiliary cysteine unique to CCR. Site-directed mutants of CAD2 (Phe226Ala and Tyr136Phe) that enlarge the phenolic binding site result in a 4- to 10-fold increase in activity with sinapaldehyde, which in comparison to the smaller coumaraldehyde and coniferaldehyde substrates is disfavored by wild-type CAD2. This finding demonstrates the potential exploitation of rationally engineered forms of CCR and CAD2 for the targeted modification of monolignol composition in transgenic plants. Thermal denaturation measurements and structural comparisons of various liganded and unliganded forms of CCR and CAD2 highlight substantial conformational flexibility of these SDR enzymes, which plays an important role in the establishment of catalytically productive complexes of the enzymes with their NADPH and phenolic substrates.

Structural and kinetic basis for substrate selectivity in Populus tremuloides sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase.

We describe the three-dimensional structure of sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD) from Populus tremuloides (aspen), a member of the NADP(H)-dependent dehydrogenase family that catalyzes the last reductive step in the formation of monolignols. The active site topology revealed by the crystal structure substantiates kinetic results indicating that SAD maintains highest specificity for the substrate sinapaldehyde. We also report substantial substrate inhibition kinetics for the SAD-catalyzed reduction of hydroxycinnamaldehydes. Although SAD and classical cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenases (CADs) catalyze the same reaction and share some sequence identity, the active site topology of SAD is strikingly different from that predicted for classical CADs. Kinetic analyses of wild-type SAD and several active site mutants demonstrate the complexity of defining determinants of substrate specificity in these enzymes. These results, along with a phylogenetic analysis, support the inclusion of SAD in a plant alcohol dehydrogenase subfamily that includes cinnamaldehyde and benzaldehyde dehydrogenases. We used the SAD three-dimensional structure to model several of these SAD-like enzymes, and although their active site topologies largely mirror that of SAD, we describe a correlation between substrate specificity and amino acid substitution patterns in their active sites. The SAD structure thus provides a framework for understanding substrate specificity in this family of enzymes and for engineering new enzyme specificities.