Structural and mechanistic studies of the orf12 gene product from the clavulanic acid biosynthesis pathway.

Structural and biochemical studies of the orf12 gene product (ORF12) from the clavulanic acid (CA) biosynthesis gene cluster are described. Sequence and crystallographic analyses reveal two domains: a C-terminal penicillin-binding protein (PBP)/ß-lactamase-type fold with highest structural similarity to the class A ß-lactamases fused to an N-terminal domain with a fold similar to steroid isomerases and polyketide cyclases. The C-terminal domain of ORF12 did not show ß-lactamase or PBP activity for the substrates tested, but did show low-level esterase activity towards 3'-O-acetyl cephalosporins and a thioester substrate. Mutagenesis studies imply that Ser173, which is present in a conserved SXXK motif, acts as a nucleophile in catalysis, consistent with studies of related esterases, ß-lactamases and D-Ala carboxypeptidases. Structures of wild-type ORF12 and of catalytic residue variants were obtained in complex with and in the absence of clavulanic acid. The role of ORF12 in clavulanic acid biosynthesis is unknown, but it may be involved in the epimerization of (3S,5S)-clavaminic acid to (3R,5R)-clavulanic acid.

Substrate-induced inactivation of the Escherichia coli AmiD N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase highlights a new strategy to inhibit this class of enzyme.

In the eubacterial cell, the peptidoglycan is perpetually hydrolyzed throughout the cell cycle by different enzymes such as lytic transglycosylases, endopeptidases, and amidases. In Escherichia coli, four N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidases, AmiA, -B, -C, and -D, are present in the periplasm. AmiA, -B, and -C are soluble enzymes, whereas AmiD is a lipoprotein anchored in the outer membrane. To determine more precisely the specificity and the kinetic parameters of AmiD, we overproduced and purified the native His-tagged AmiD in the presence of detergent and a soluble truncated form of this enzyme by removing its signal peptide and the cysteine residue responsible for its lipidic anchorage. AmiD is a zinc metalloenzyme and is inactivated by a metal chelator such as EDTA. Native His-tagged and truncated AmiD hydrolyzes peptidoglycan fragments that have at least three amino acids in their peptide chains, and the presence of an anhydro function on the N-acetylmuramic acid is not essential for its activity. The soluble truncated AmiD exhibits a biphasic kinetic time course that can be explained by the inactivation of the enzyme by the substrate. This behavior highlights a new strategy to inhibit this class of enzymes.

Insights into cephamycin biosynthesis: the crystal structure of CmcI from Streptomyces clavuligerus.

Cephamycin C-producing microorganisms use two enzymes to convert cephalosporins to their 7alpha-methoxy derivatives. Here we report the X-ray structure of one of these enzymes, CmcI, from Streptomyces clavuligerus. The polypeptide chain of the enzyme folds into a C-terminal Rossmann domain and a smaller N-terminal domain, and the molecule packs as a hexamer in the crystal. The Rossmann domain binds S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) and the demethylated product, S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine, in a fashion similar to the common binding mode of this cofactor in SAM-dependent methyltransferases. There is a magnesium-binding site in the vicinity of the SAM site with a bound magnesium ion ligated by residues Asp160, Glu186 and Asp187. The expected cephalosporin binding site near the magnesium ion is occupied by polyethyleneglycol (PEG) from the crystallisation medium. The geometry of the SAM and the magnesium binding sites is similar to that found in cathechol O-methyltransferase. The results suggest CmcI is a methyltransferase, and its most likely function is to catalyse the transfer of a methyl group from SAM to the 7alpha-hydroxy cephalosporin in the second catalytic reaction of cephamycin formation. Based on the docking of the putative substrate, 7alpha-hydroxy-O-carbamoyldeacetylcephalosporin C, to the structure of the ternary CmcI-Mg2+-SAM complex, we propose a model for substrate binding and catalysis. In this model, the 7-hydroxy group of the beta-lactam ring ligates the Mg2+ with its alpha-side facing the methyl group of SAM at a distance that would allow methylation of the hydroxyl-group.

Mutational analysis of the catalytic centre of the Citrobacter freundii AmpD N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase.

Citrobacter freundii AmpD is an intracellular 1,6-anhydro-N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase involved in both peptidoglycan recycling and beta-lactamase induction. AmpD exhibits a strict specificity for 1,6-anhydromuropeptides and requires zinc for enzymic activity. The AmpD three-dimensional structure exhibits a fold similar to that of another Zn2+ N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase, the T7 lysozyme, and these two enzymes define a new family of Zn-amidases which can be related to the eukaryotic PGRP (peptidoglycan-recognition protein) domains. In an attempt to assign the different zinc ligands and to probe the catalytic mechanism of AmpD amidase, molecular modelling based on the NMR structure and site-directed mutagenesis were performed. Mutation of the two residues presumed to act as zinc ligands into alanine (H34A and D164A) yielded inactive proteins which had also lost their ability to bind zinc. By contrast, the active H154N mutant retained the capacity to bind the metal ion. Three other residues which could be involved in the AmpD catalytic mechanism have been mutated (Y63F, E116A, K162H and K162Q). The E116A mutant was inactive, but on the basis of the molecular modelling this residue is not directly involved in the catalytic mechanism, but rather in the binding of the zinc by contributing to the correct orientation of His-34. The K162H and K162Q mutants retained very low activity (0.7 and 0.2% of the wild-type activity respectively), whereas the Y63F mutant showed 16% of the wild-type activity. These three latter mutants exhibited a good affinity for Zn ions and the substituted residues are probably involved in the binding of the substrate. We also describe a new method for generating the N-acetylglucosaminyl-1,6-anhydro-N-acetylmuramyl-tripeptide AmpD substrate from purified peptidoglycan by the combined action of two hydrolytic enzymes.

NMR structure of Citrobacter freundii AmpD, comparison with bacteriophage T7 lysozyme and homology with PGRP domains.

AmpD is a bacterial amidase involved in the recycling of cell-wall fragments in Gram-negative bacteria. Inactivation of AmpD leads to derepression of beta-lactamase expression, presenting a major pathway for the acquisition of constitutive antibiotic resistance. Here, we report the NMR structure of AmpD from Citrobacter freundii (PDB accession code 1J3G). A deep substrate-binding pocket explains the observed specificity for low molecular mass substrates. The fold is related to that of bacteriophage T7 lysozyme. Both proteins bind zinc at a conserved site and require zinc for amidase activity, although the enzymatic mechanism seems to differ in detail. The structure-based sequence alignment identifies conserved features that are also conserved in the eukaryotic peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP) domains, including the zinc-coordination site in several of them. PGRP domains thus belong to the same fold family and, where zinc-binding residues are conserved, may have amidase activity. This hypothesis is supported by the observation that human serum N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase seems to be identical with a soluble form of human PGRP-L.