Fungal cobalamin-independent methionine synthase: Insights from the model organism, Neurospora crassa.

Two families of methionine synthases, distinct in catalytic and structural features, have been encountered: MetH, the cobalamin-dependent enzyme and MetE, the cobalamin-independent form. The MetE family is of mechanistic interest due to the chemically challenging nature of the reaction and is a potential target for antifungal therapeutics since the human genome encodes only MetH. Here we report the identification, purification, and crystal structure of MetE from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa (ncMetE). ncMetE was highly thermostable and crystallized readily, making it ideal for study. Crystal structures of native ncMetE in complex with either Zn(2+)or Cd(2+) were solved at resolution limits of 2.10 Å and 1.88 Å, respectively. The monomeric protein contains two domains, each containing a (ßα)8 barrel core, and a long α-helical segment spans the length of the protein, connecting the domains. Zn(2+) bound in the C-terminal domain exhibits tetrahedral coordination with the side chains of His 652, Cys 654, Glu 676 and Cys 737. A Cd(2+) replete structure revealed a supermetalated enzyme and demonstrated the inate flexibility of the metal binding site. An extensive analysis of sequence conservation within the MetE family identified 57 highly conserved residues and 60 additional residues that were conserved in all fungal sequences examined.

An allolactose trapped at the lacZ ß-galactosidase active site with its galactosyl moiety in a (4)H3 conformation provides insights into the formation, conformation, and stabilization of the transition state.

When lactose was incubated with G794A-ß-galactosidase (a variant with a "closed" active site loop that binds transition state analogs well) an allolactose was trapped with its Gal moiety in a (4)H3 conformation, similar to the oxocarbenium ion-like conformation expected of the transition state. The numerous interactions formed between the (4)H3 structure and ß-galactosidase indicate that this structure is representative of the transition state. This conformation is also very similar to that of d-galactono-1,5-lactone, a good transition state analog. Evidence indicates that substrates take up the (4)H3 conformation during migration from the shallow to the deep mode. Steric forces utilizing His418 and other residues are important for positioning the O1 leaving group into a quasi-axial position. An electrostatic interaction between the O5 of the distorted Gal and Tyr503 as well as C-H-π bonds with Trp568 are also significant. Computational studies of the energy of sugar ring distortion show that the ß-galactosidase reaction itinerary is driven by energetic considerations in utilization of a (4)H3 transition state with a novel (4)C1-(4)H3-(4)C1 conformation itinerary. To our knowledge, this is the first X-ray crystallographic structural demonstration that the transition state of a natural substrate of a glycosidase has a (4)H3 conformation.

Elucidating factors important for monovalent cation selectivity in enzymes: E. coli ß-galactosidase as a model.

Many enzymes require a specific monovalent cation (M(+)), that is either Na(+) or K(+), for optimal activity. While high selectivity M(+) sites in transport proteins have been extensively studied, enzyme M(+) binding sites generally have lower selectivity and are less characterized. Here we study the M(+) binding site of the model enzyme E. coli ß-galactosidase, which is about 10 fold selective for Na(+) over K(+). Combining data from X-ray crystallography and computational models, we find the electrostatic environment predominates in defining the Na(+) selectivity. In this lower selectivity site rather subtle influences on the electrostatic environment become significant, including the induced polarization effects of the M(+) on the coordinating ligands and the effect of second coordination shell residues on the charge distribution of the primary ligands. This work expands the knowledge of ion selectivity in proteins to denote novel mechanisms important for the selectivity of M(+) sites in enzymes.

Homology modeling, ligand docking and in silico mutagenesis of neurospora Hsp80 (90): insight into intrinsic ATPase activity.

The Hsp90 family of proteins is an important component of the cellular response to elevated temperatures, environmental or physiological stress and nuclear receptor signalling. The primary object of this work is the 80-kDa heat shock protein, a member of the Hsp90 family, from the model filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, (henceforth referred to as Hsp80Nc). In contrast to more extensively characterized members of the same family, (e.g. Hsp82Sc of Saccharomyces cerevisiae) it exhibits a higher intrinsic ATPase activity and the ability to form hetero-oligomeric complexes with Hsp70 in the absence of co-chaperones or other ancillary factors. As unabridged experimentally derived structures of Hsp80Nc or Hsp82Sc are not available; we developed homology-based models for both of them. A structural analysis and comparison of these models was undertaken to better understand the nature of dimerization-induced changes in secondary structure and patterns of residue interaction. Our studies yielded some interesting and novel insights into the synergistic and mutually reinforcing nature of interactions between major domains of the two chains in their dimeric forms. We also evaluated the effect of residue substitutions in the 'lid' region of Hsp80Nc and Hsp82Sc on the calculated ligand-binding energy of ATP (and ADP) to their respective N-terminal domains. Our studies suggest that the higher intrinsic ATPase activity of Hsp80Nc may be attributable to differences in the residue sequences between the lid region of these two proteins.

Structural explanation for allolactose (lac operon inducer) synthesis by lacZ ß-galactosidase and the evolutionary relationship between allolactose synthesis and the lac repressor.

ß-Galactosidase (lacZ) has bifunctional activity. It hydrolyzes lactose to galactose and glucose and catalyzes the intramolecular isomerization of lactose to allolactose, the lac operon inducer. ß-Galactosidase promotes the isomerization by means of an acceptor site that binds glucose after its cleavage from lactose and thus delays its exit from the site. However, because of its relatively low affinity for glucose, details of this site have remained elusive. We present structural data mapping the glucose site based on a substituted enzyme (G794A-ß-galactosidase) that traps allolactose. Various lines of evidence indicate that the glucose of the trapped allolactose is in the acceptor position. The evidence includes structures with Bis-Tris (2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2,2',2″-nitrilotriethanol) and L-ribose in the site and kinetic binding studies with substituted ß-galactosidases. The site is composed of Asn-102, His-418, Lys-517, Ser-796, Glu-797, and Trp-999. Ser-796 and Glu-797 are part of a loop (residues 795-803) that closes over the active site. This loop appears essential for the bifunctional nature of the enzyme because it helps form the glucose binding site. In addition, because the loop is mobile, glucose binding is transient, allowing the release of some glucose. Bioinformatics studies showed that the residues important for interacting with glucose are only conserved in a subset of related enzymes. Thus, intramolecular isomerization is not a universal feature of ß-galactosidases. Genomic analyses indicated that lac repressors were co-selected only within the conserved subset. This shows that the glucose binding site of ß-galactosidase played an important role in lac operon evolution.

Tetrameric structure of the GlfT2 galactofuranosyltransferase reveals a scaffold for the assembly of mycobacterial Arabinogalactan.

Biosynthesis of the mycobacterial cell wall relies on the activities of many enzymes, including several glycosyltransferases (GTs). The polymerizing galactofuranosyltransferase GlfT2 (Rv3808c) synthesizes the bulk of the galactan portion of the mycolyl-arabinogalactan complex, which is the largest component of the mycobacterial cell wall. We used x-ray crystallography to determine the 2.45-Å resolution crystal structure of GlfT2, revealing an unprecedented multidomain structure in which an N-terminal ß-barrel domain and two primarily α-helical C-terminal domains flank a central GT-A domain. The kidney-shaped protomers assemble into a C(4)-symmetric homotetramer with an open central core and a surface containing exposed hydrophobic and positively charged residues likely involved with membrane binding. The structure of a 3.1-Å resolution complex of GlfT2 with UDP reveals a distinctive mode of nucleotide recognition. In addition, models for the binding of UDP-galactofuranose and acceptor substrates in combination with site-directed mutagenesis and kinetic studies suggest a mechanism that explains the unique ability of GlfT2 to generate alternating ß-(1→5) and ß-(1→6) glycosidic linkages using a single active site. The topology imposed by docking a tetrameric assembly onto a membrane bilayer also provides novel insights into aspects of processivity and chain length regulation in this and possibly other polymerizing GTs.

Substitution for Asn460 cripples ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) by increasing substrate affinity and decreasing transition state stability.

Substrate initially binds to ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) at a 'shallow' site. It then moves ∼3Å to a 'deep' site and the transition state forms. Asn460 interacts in both sites, forming a water bridge interaction with the O3 hydroxyl of the galactosyl moiety in the shallow site and a direct H-bond with the O2 hydroxyl of the transition state in the deep site. Structural and kinetic studies were done with ß-galactosidases with substitutions for Asn460. The substituted enzymes have enhanced substrate affinity in the shallow site indicating lower E·substrate complex energy levels. They have poor transition state stabilization in the deep site that is manifested by increased energy levels of the E·transition state complexes. These changes in stability result in increased activation energies and lower k(cat) values. Substrate affinity to N460D-ß-galactosidase was enhanced through greater binding enthalpy (stronger H-bonds through the bridging water) while better affinity to N460T-ß-galactosidase occurred because of greater binding entropy. The transition states are less stable with N460S- and N460T-ß-galactosidase because of the weakening or loss of the important bond to the O2 hydroxyl of the transition state. For N460D-ß-galactosidase, the transition state is less stable due to an increased entropy penalty.

Ser-796 of ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) plays a key role in maintaining a balance between the opened and closed conformations of the catalytically important active site loop.

A loop (residues 794-803) at the active site of ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) opens and closes during catalysis. The α and ß carbons of Ser-796 form a hydrophobic connection to Phe-601 when the loop is closed while a connection via two H-bonds with the Ser hydroxyl occurs with the loop open. ß-Galactosidases with substitutions for Ser-796 were investigated. Replacement by Ala strongly stabilizes the closed conformation because of greater hydrophobicity and loss of H-bonding ability while replacement with Thr stabilizes the open form through hydrophobic interactions with its methyl group. Upon substitution with Asp much of the defined loop structure is lost. The different open-closed equilibria cause differences in the stabilities of the enzyme·substrate and enzyme·transition state complexes and of the covalent intermediate that affect the activation thermodynamics. With Ala, large changes of both the galactosylation (k(2)) and degalactosylation (k(3)) rates occur. With Thr and Asp, the k(2) and k(3) were not changed as much but large ΔH(‡) and TΔS(‡) changes showed that the substitutions caused mechanistic changes. Overall, the hydrophobic and H-bonding properties of Ser-796 result in interactions strong enough to stabilize the open or closed conformations of the loop but weak enough to allow loop movement during the reaction.

Importance of Arg-599 of ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) as an anchor for the open conformations of Phe-601 and the active-site loop.

Structural and kinetic data show that Arg-599 of ß-galactosidase plays an important role in anchoring the "open" conformations of both Phe-601 and an active-site loop (residues 794-803). When alanine was substituted for Arg-599, the conformations of Phe-601 and the loop shifted towards the "closed" positions because interactions with the guanidinium side chain were lost. Also, Phe-601, the loop, and Na+, which is ligated by the backbone carbonyl of Phe-601, lost structural order, as indicated by large B-factors. IPTG, a substrate analog, restored the conformations of Phe-601 and the loop of R599A-ß-galactosidase to the open state found with IPTG-complexed native enzyme and partially reinstated order. ᴅ-Galactonolactone, a transition state analog, restored the closed conformations of R599A-ß-galactosidase to those found with ᴅ-galactonolactone-complexed native enzyme and completely re-established the order. Substrates and substrate analogs bound R599A-ß-galactosidase with less affinity because the closed conformation does not allow substrate binding and extra energy is required for Phe-601 and the loop to open. In contrast, transition state analog binding, which occurs best when the loop is closed, was several-fold better. The higher energy level of the enzyme•substrate complex and the lower energy level of the first transition state means that less activation energy is needed to form the first transition state and thus the rate of the first catalytic step (k2) increased substantially. The rate of the second catalytic step (k3) decreased, likely because the covalent form is more stabilized than the second transition state when Phe-601 and the loop are closed. The importance of the guanidinium group of Arg-599 was confirmed by restoration of conformation, order, and activity by guanidinium ions.