Conformational plasticity surrounding the active site of NADH oxidase from Thermus thermophilus

Biotechnological applications of enzymes can involve the use of these molecules under nonphysiological conditions. Thus, it is of interest to understand how environmental variables affect protein structure and dynamics and how this ultimately modulates enzyme function. NADH oxidase (NOX) from Thermus thermophilus exemplifies how enzyme activity can be tuned by reaction conditions, such as temperature, cofactor substitution, and the addition of cosolutes. This enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of reduced NAD(P)H to NAD(P)⁺ with the concurrent reduction of O₂ to H₂O₂, with relevance to biosensing applications. It is thermophilic, with an optimum temperature of approximately 65°C and sevenfold lower activity at 25°C. Moderate concentrations (≈1M) of urea and other chaotropes increase NOX activity by up to a factor of 2.5 at room temperature. Furthermore, it is a flavoprotein that accepts either FMN or the much larger FAD as cofactor. We have used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) titration and ¹⁵N spin relaxation experiments together with isothermal titration calorimetry to study how NOX structure and dynamics are affected by changes in temperature, the addition of urea and the substitution of the FMN cofactor with FAD. The majority of signals from NOX are quite insensitive to changes in temperature, cosolute addition, and cofactor substitution. However, a small cluster of residues surrounding the active site shows significant changes. These residues are implicated in coupling changes in the solution conditions of the enzyme to changes in catalytic activity.