Insights into the Enhancement of the Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Degradation by FAST-PETase from Computational Modeling.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most abundant polyester plastic, widely used in textiles and packaging, but, unfortunately, it is also one of the most discarded plastics after one use. In the last years, the enzymatic biodegradation of PET has sparked great interest owing to the discovery and subsequent mutation of PETase-like enzymes, able to depolymerize PET. FAST-PETase is one of the best enzymes hitherto proposed to efficiently degrade PET, although the origin of its efficiency is not completely clear. To understand the molecular origin of its enhanced catalytic activity, we have carried out a thorough computational study of PET degradation by the FAST-PETase action by employing classical and hybrid (QM/MM) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Our findings show that the rate-limiting reaction step for FAST-PETase corresponds to the acylation stage with an estimated free energy barrier of 12.1 kcal mol-1, which is significantly smaller than that calculated for PETase (16.5 kcal mol-1) and, therefore, supports the enhanced catalytic activity of FAST-PETase. The origin of this enhancement is mainly attributed to the N233K mutation, which, although sited relatively far from the active site, induces a chain folding where the Asp206 of the catalytic triad is located, impeding that this residue sets effective H-bonds with its neighboring residues. This effect makes Asp206 hold a more basic character compared to the wild-type PETase and boosts the interaction with the protonated His237 of the catalytic triad in the transition state of acylation, with the consequent decrease of the catalytic barrier and acceleration of the PET degradation reaction.

Mechanistic study of the biosynthesis of R-phenylacetylcarbinol by acetohydroxyacid synthase enzyme using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations.

The biosynthesis of R-phenylacetylcarbinol (R-PAC) by the acetohydroxy acid synthase, (AHAS) is addressed by molecular dynamics simulations (MD), hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), and QM/MM free energy calculations. The results show the reaction starts with the nucleophilic attack of the C2α atom of the HEThDP intermediate on the Cß atom of the carbonyl group of benzaldehyde substrate via the formation of a transition state (TS1) with the HEThDP intermediate under 4'-aminopyrimidium (APH+) form. The calculated activation free energy for this step is 17.4 kcal mol-1 at 27 °C. From this point, the reaction continues with the abstraction of Hß atom of the HEThDP intermediate by the Oß atom of benzaldehyde to form the intermediate I. The reaction is completed with the cleavage of the bond C2α-C2 to form the product R-PAC and to regenerate the ylide intermediate under the APH+ form, allowing in this way to reinitiate to the catalytic cycle once more. The calculated activation barrier for this last step is 15.9 kcal mol-1 at 27 °C.

Mechanistic study of the biosynthesis of R-phenylcarbinol by acetohydroxyacid synthase enzyme using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations.

The biosynthesis of R-phenylacetylcarbinol (R-PAC) by the acetohydroxy acid synthase, (AHAS) is addressed by molecular dynamics simulations (MD), hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), and QM/MM free energy calculations. The results show the reaction starts with the nucleophilic attack of the C2α atom of the HEThDP intermediate on the Cß atom of the carbonyl group of benzaldehyde substrate via the formation of a transition state (TS1) with the HEThDP intermediate under 4'-aminopyrimidium (APH+) form. The calculated activation free energy for this step is 17.4kcal mol-1 at 27 °C. From this point, the reaction continues with the abstraction of Hß atom of the HEThDP intermediate by the Oß atom of benzaldehyde to form the intermediate I. The reaction is completed with the cleavage of the bond C2α-C2 to form the product R-PAC and to regenerate the ylide intermediate under the APH+ form, allowing in this way to reinitiate to the catalytic cycle once more. The calculated activation barrier for this last step is 15.9kcal mol-1 at 27 °C.

Linking electrostatic effects and protein motions in enzymatic catalysis. A theoretical analysis of catechol o-methyltransferase.

The role of protein motions in enzymatic catalysis is the subject of a hot scientific debate. We here propose the use of an explicit solvent coordinate to analyze the impact of environmental motions during the reaction process. The example analyzed here is the reaction catalyzed by catechol O-methyltransferase, a methyl transfer reaction from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to the nucleophilic oxygen atom of catecholate. This reaction proceeds from a charged reactant to a neutral product, and then a large electrostatic coupling with the environment could be expected. By means of a two-dimensional free energy surface, we show that a large fraction of the environmental motions needed to attain the transition state happens during the first stages of the reaction because most of the environmental motions are slower than changes in the substrate. The incorporation of the solvent coordinate in the definition of the transition state improves the transmission coefficient and the committor histogram in solution, while the changes are much less significant in the enzyme. The equilibrium solvation approach seems then to work better in the enzyme than in aqueous solution because the enzyme provides a preorganized environment where the reaction takes place.

Increased dynamic effects in a catalytically compromised variant of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase.

Isotopic substitution ((15)N, (13)C, (2)H) of a catalytically compromised variant of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase, EcDHFR-N23PP/S148A, has been used to investigate the effect of these mutations on catalysis. The reduction of the rate constant of the chemical step in the EcDHFR-N23PP/S148A catalyzed reaction is essentially a consequence of an increase of the quasi-classical free energy barrier and to a minor extent of an increased number of recrossing trajectories on the transition state dividing surface. Since the variant enzyme is less well set up to catalyze the reaction, a higher degree of active site reorganization is needed to reach the TS. Although millisecond active site motions are lost in the variant, there is greater flexibility on the femtosecond time scale. The "dynamic knockout" EcDHFR-N23PP/S148A is therefore a "dynamic knock-in" at the level of the chemical step, and the increased dynamic coupling to the chemical coordinate is in fact detrimental to catalysis. This finding is most likely applicable not just to hydrogen transfer in EcDHFR but also to other enzymatic systems.

Studying the role of protein dynamics in an SN2 enzyme reaction using free-energy surfaces and solvent coordinates.

Conformational changes are known to be able to drive an enzyme through its catalytic cycle, allowing, for example, substrate binding or product release. However, the influence of protein motions on the chemical step is a controversial issue. One proposal is that the simple equilibrium fluctuations incorporated into transition-state theory are insufficient to account for the catalytic effect of enzymes and that protein motions should be treated dynamically. Here, we propose the use of free-energy surfaces, obtained as a function of both a chemical coordinate and an environmental coordinate, as an efficient way to elucidate the role of protein structure and motions during the reaction. We show that the structure of the protein provides an adequate environment for the progress of the reaction, although a certain degree of flexibility is needed to attain the full catalytic effect. However, these motions do not introduce significant dynamical corrections to the rate constant and can be described as equilibrium fluctuations.