A dynamic knockout reveals that conformational fluctuations influence the chemical step of enzyme catalysis

Conformational dynamics play a key role in enzyme catalysis. Although protein motions have clear implications for ligand flux, a role for dynamics in the chemical step of enzyme catalysis has not been clearly established. We generated a mutant of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase that abrogates millisecond-time-scale fluctuations in the enzyme active site without perturbing its structural and electrostatic preorganization. This dynamic knockout severely impairs hydride transfer. Thus, we have found a link between conformational fluctuations on the millisecond time scale and the chemical step of an enzymatic reaction, with broad implications for our understanding of enzyme mechanisms and for design of novel protein catalysts.     

The dynamic energy landscape of dihydrofolate reductase catalysis

We used nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation dispersion to characterize higher energy conformational substates of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase. Each intermediate in the catalytic cycle samples low-lying excited states whose conformations resemble the ground-state structures of preceding and following intermediates. Substrate and cofactor exchange occurs through these excited substates. The maximum hydride transfer and steady-state turnover rates are governed by the dynamics of transitions between ground and excited states of the intermediates. Thus, the modulation of the energy landscape by the bound ligands funnels the enzyme through its reaction cycle along a preferred kinetic path.     

Role of the protein moiety of ribonuclease P, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme

The Bacillus subtilis ribonuclease P consists of a protein and an RNA. At high ionic strength the reaction is protein-independent; the RNA alone is capable of cleaving precursor transfer RNA, but the turnover is slow. Kinetic analyses show that high salt concentrations facilitate substrate binding in the absence of the protein, probably by decreasing the repulsion between the polyanionic enzyme and substrate RNAs, and also slow product release and enzyme turnover. It is proposed that the ribonuclease P protein, which is small and basic, provides a local pool of counter-ions that facilitates substrate binding without interfering with rapid product release.     

Enzymatic catalysis and transition-state theory

The application of transition-state theory to enzymatic catalysis provides an approach to understanding enzymatic catalysis in terms of the factors that determine the strength of binding of ligands to proteins. The prediction that the transition state should bind to the enzyme much more tightly than the substrate is supported by the experimental results with stable analogs of transition states. Transition-state analogs have great potential for use in understanding enzymatic catalysis and in inhibiting enzymes. Because of their potency and specificity as enzyme inhibitors, some of them may become very useful chemotherapeutic agents.     

Anatomy of a conformational change: hinged "lid" motion of the triosephosphate isomerase loop

Triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) is used as a model system for the study of how a localized conformational change in a protein structure is produced and related to enzyme reactivity. An 11-residue loop region moves more than 7 angstroms and closes over the active site when substrate binds. The loop acts like a "lid" in that it moves rigidly and is attached by two hinges to the remainder of the protein. The nature of the motion appears to be built into the loop by conserved residues; the hinge regions, in contrast, are not conserved. Results of molecular dynamics calculations confirm the structural analysis and suggest a possible ligand-induced mechanism for loop closure.     

适冷酶及其适冷机制

与同类中温酶相比,适冷酶在较低的温度下具有较高的催化效率,最适反应温度较低,对热较敏感。适冷酶能够在较低的温度下保持较高的催化效率与其松散且更具柔性的蛋白结构相关联。这种蛋白质结构容许利用更少的能量产生具有催化效能的构象变化,它主要依赖于酶分子内氨基酸残基之间相互作用的减弱以及酶和溶剂分子相互作用的增强。适冷酶与溶剂相互作用的提高,会降低其分子内部的紧密度,这可能是适冷酶热敏感性高、抗变能力差的原因之一。     

Correlating structural dynamics and function in single ribozyme molecules

We have studied the correlation between structural dynamics and function of the hairpin ribozyme. The enzyme-substrate complex exists in either docked (active) or undocked (inactive) conformations. Using single-molecule fluorescence methods, we found complex structural dynamics with four docked states of distinct stabilities and a strong memory effect where each molecule rarely switches between different docked states. We also found substrate cleavage to be rate-limited by a combination of conformational transitions and reversible chemistry equilibrium. The complex structural dynamics quantitatively explain the heterogeneous cleavage kinetics common to many catalytic RNAs. The intimate coupling of structural dynamics and function is likely a general phenomenon for RNA.     

Increasing turnover through time in tropical forests

Tree turnover rates were assessed at 40 tropical forest sites. Averaged across inventoried forests, turnover, as measured by tree mortality and recruitment, has increased since the 1950s, with an apparent pantropical acceleration since 1980. Among 22 mature forest sites with two or more inventory periods, forest turnover also increased. The trend in forest dynamics may have profound effects on biological diversity.     

Crystal structure of cobra-venom phospholipase A2 in a complex with a transition-state analogue

The crystal structure of a complex between a phosphonate transition-state analogue and the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from Naja naja atra venom has been solved and refined to a resolution of 2.0 angstroms. The identical stereochemistry of the two complexes that comprise the crystal's asymmetric unit indicates both the manner in which the transition state is stabilized and how the hydrophobic fatty acyl chains of the substrate are accommodated by the enzyme during interfacial catalysis. The critical features that suggest the chemistry of binding and catalysis are the same as those seen in the crystal structure of a similar complex formed with the evolutionarily distant bee-venom PLA2.     

Conformation and activity of chymotrypsin: the pH-dependent, substrate-induced proton uptake

Hydrogen ion uptake by chymotrypsin during reversible binding of specific substrate is shown to be due to an ionizing group of the enzyme with a pK(apparent) approximately 9 in the free enzyme. This pK(apparent) is shifted to higher value in the enzyme-substrate complexes. Previous results indicating an equilibrium, controlled by this ionizing group, between active and inactive conformational forms of chymotrypsin are confirmed.     

Engineering enzyme specificity by "substrate-assisted catalysis"

A novel approach to engineering enzyme specificity is presented in which a catalytic group from an enzyme is first removed by site-directed mutagenesis causing inactivation. Activity is then partially restored by substrates containing the missing catalytic functional group. Replacement of the catalytic His with Ala in the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin gene (the mutant is designated His64Ala) by site-directed mutagenesis reduces the catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) by a factor of a million when assayed with N-succinyl-L-Phe-L-Ala-L-Ala-L-Phe-p-nitroanilide (sFAAF-pNA). Model building studies showed that a His side chain at the P2 position of a substrate bound at the active site of subtilisin could be virtually superimposed on the catalytic His side chain of this serine protease. Accordingly, the His64Ala mutant hydrolyzes a His P2 substrate (sFAHF-pNA) up to 400 times faster than a homologous Ala P2 or Gln P2 substrate (sFAAF-pNA or sFAQF-pNA) at pH 8.0. In contrast, the wild-type enzyme hydrolyzes these three substrates with similar catalytic efficiencies. Additional data from substrate-dependent pH profiles and hydrolysis of large polypeptides indicate that the His64Ala mutant enzyme can recover partially the function of the lost catalytic histidine from a His P2 side chain on the substrate. Such "substrate-assisted catalysis" provides a new basis for engineering enzymes with very narrow and potentially useful substrate specificities. These studies also suggest a possible functional intermediate in the evolution of the catalytic triad of serine proteases.     

How do enzymes work?

The principle of transition-state stabilization asserts that the occurrence of enzymic catalysis is equivalent to saying that an enzyme binds the transition state much more strongly than it binds the ground-state reactants. An outline of the origin and gradual acceptance of this idea is presented, and elementary transition-state theory is reviewed. It is pointed out that a misconception about the theory has led to oversimplification of the accepted expression relating catalysis and binding, and an amended expression is given. Some implications of the transition-state binding principle are then explored. The amended expression suggests that internal molecular dynamics may also play a role in enzymic catalysis. Although such effects probably do not make a major contribution, their magnitude is completely unknown. Two examples of recent advances due to application of the transition-state binding principle are reviewed, one pertaining to the zinc protease mechanism and the other to the generation of catalytic antibodies.     

韶关淮山多酚氧化酶酶学特性研究

采用分光光度法研究了韶关本地淮山多酚氧化酶的活性,分析了pH值、温度和抑制剂对淮山多酚氧化酶活性的影响。结果表明,淮山多酚氧化酶的最适pH值为6.0,最适温度为40℃;NaCl、柠檬酸、L-抗坏血酸对多酚氧化酶均有抑制作用。     

亚硝化单胞菌is79a3 Sec途径分泌系统及底物蛋白分析

[目的]分析亚硝化单胞菌is79a3 Sec途径分泌装置及底物蛋白。[方法]从NCBI中选取亚硝化单胞菌is79a3菌株基因组注释的蛋白质氨基酸序列,采用Blast程序搜寻基因组中编码Sec途径分泌装置的蛋白,同时采用Signal P 4.0、Lipo P、TMHMM 2.0软件分析该菌株基因组中Sec途径的底物蛋白,同时采用COG功能数据库进行功能分析。[结果]通过分析发现亚硝化单胞菌is79a3菌株编码Sec途径分泌装置有关的蛋白15个,包含Sec途径分泌系统中12个转运蛋白编码基因,1个信号肽识别蛋白编码基因和2个信号肽酶蛋白编码基因;Sec途径底物蛋白分析结果显示366个含有Sec途径Spase I类肽酶识别的信号肽,36个蛋白只含有Spase II类肽酶识别的信号肽。402个Sec途径底物蛋白功能分析结果显示:有272个蛋白功能不清楚,130个蛋白有具体的功能注释。[结论]亚硝化单胞菌is79a3 Sec途径分泌装置完整,该菌株Sec途径底物蛋白大多数没有功能注释和功能未知,在有功能注释的蛋白中,主要参与细胞壁/细胞膜的生物合成、蛋白质翻译后修饰/蛋白更替、无机离子转运代谢、能源产生与转换。     

反胶束体系中的酶催化反应

反胶束是新的酶催化反应的介质工程,酶在反胶束体系中的性质与在水溶液中相比有较大区别。综述了含酶反胶束体系的制备、反胶束体系中影响酶催化化学反应的因素,以及在反胶束体系中酶的活性及动力学特性,介绍了反胶束体系下酶催化反应的优点及应用,并展望了其发展前景。     

Crystal structure of the catalytic subunit of cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase

The crystal structure of the catalytic subunit of cyclic adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase complexed with a 20-amino acid substrate analog inhibitor has been solved and partially refined at 2.7 A resolution to an R factor of 0.212. The magnesium adenosine triphosphate (MgATP) binding site was located by difference Fourier synthesis. The enzyme structure is bilobal with a deep cleft between the lobes. The cleft is filled by MgATP and a portion of the inhibitor peptide. The smaller lobe, consisting mostly of amino-terminal sequence, is associated with nucleotide binding, and its largely antiparallel beta sheet architecture constitutes an unusual nucleotide binding motif. The larger lobe is dominated by helical structure with a single beta sheet at the domain interface. This lobe is primarily involved in peptide binding and catalysis. Residues 40 through 280 constitute a conserved catalytic core that is shared by more than 100 protein kinases. Most of the invariant amino acids in this conserved catalytic core are clustered at the sites of nucleotide binding and catalysis.     

Structural basis for prereceptor modulation of plant hormones by GH3 proteins

Acyl acid amido synthetases of the GH3 family act as critical prereceptor modulators of plant hormone action; however, the molecular basis for their hormone selectivity is unclear. Here, we report the crystal structures of benzoate-specific Arabidopsis thaliana AtGH3.12/PBS3 and jasmonic acid-specific AtGH3.11/JAR1. These structures, combined with biochemical analysis, define features for the conjugation of amino acids to diverse acyl acid substrates and highlight the importance of conformational changes in the carboxyl-terminal domain for catalysis. We also identify residues forming the acyl acid binding site across the GH3 family and residues critical for amino acid recognition. Our results demonstrate how a highly adaptable three-dimensional scaffold is used for the evolution of promiscuous activity across an enzyme family for modulation of plant signaling molecules.     

Structures of free and inhibited human secretory phospholipase A2 from inflammatory exudate

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) participates in a wide range of cellular processes including inflammation and transmembrane signaling. A human nonpancreatic secretory PLA2 (hnps-PLA2) has been identified that is found in high concentrations in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in the plasma of patients with septic shock. This enzyme is secreted from certain cell types in response to the proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor or interleukin-1. The crystal structures of the calcium-bound form of this enzyme have been determined at physiological pH both in the presence [2.1 angstrom (A) resolution] and absence (2.2 A resolution) of a transition-state analogue. Although the critical features that suggest the chemistry of catalysis are identical to those inferred from the crystal structures of other extracellular PLA2s, the shape of the hydrophobic channel of hnps-PLA2 is uniquely modulated by substrate binding.