Alteration of substrate specificity of leucine dehydrogenase by site-directed mutagenesis

The residues L40, A113, V291, and V294, in leucine dehydrogenase (LeuDH), predicted to be involved in recognition of the substrate side chain, have been mutated on the basis of the molecular modeling to mimic the substrate specificities of phenylalanine (PheDH), glutamate (GluDH), and lysine dehydrogenases (LysDH). The A113G and A113G/V291L mutants, imitating the PheDH active site, displayed activities toward -phenylalanine and phenylpyruvate with 1.6 and 7.8% of k_cat values of the wild-type enzyme for the preferred substrates, -leucine and its keto-analog, respectively. Indeed, the residue A113, corresponding to G114 in PheDH, affects the volume of the side-chain binding pocket and has a critical role in discrimination of the bulkiness of the side chain. Another two sets of mutants, substituting L40 and V294 of LeuDH with the corresponding residues predicted in GluDH and LysDH, were also constructed and characterized. Emergence of GluDH and LysDH activities in L40K/V294S and L40D/V294S mutants, respectively, indicates that the two corresponding residues in the active site of amino acid dehydrogenases are important for discrimination of the hydrophobicity/polarity of the aliphatic substrate side chain. All these results demonstrate that the substrate specificities of the amino acid dehydrogenases can be altered by protein engineering. The engineered dehydrogenases are expected to be used for production and detection of natural and non-natural amino acids.     

Probing the determinants of coenzyme specificity in Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus glutamate dehydrogenase by site-directed mutagenesis

Glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.2-4) from Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus has a strong preference for NADH over NADPH as a coenzyme, over 1000-fold in terms of kcat/Km values. Sequence alignments across the wider family of NAD(P)-dependent dehydrogenases might suggest that this preference is mainly due to a negatively charged glutamate at position 243 (E243) in the adenine ribose-binding pocket. We have examined the possibility of altering coenzyme specificity of the Peptostreptococcus enzyme, and, more specifically, the role of residue 243 and neighbouring residues in coenzyme binding, by introducing a range of point mutations. Glutamate dehydrogenases are unusual among dehydrogenases in that NADPH-specific forms usually have aspartate at this position. However, replacement of E243 with aspartate led to only a nine-fold relaxation of the strong discrimination against NADPH. By contrast, replacement with a more positively charged lysine or arginine, as found in NADPH-dependent members of other dehydrogenase families, allows a more than 1000-fold shift toward NADPH, resulting in enzymes equally efficient with NADH or NADPH. Smaller shifts in the same direction were also observed in enzymes where a neighboring tryptophan, W244, was replaced by a smaller alanine (approximately six-fold) or Asp245 was changed to lysine (32-fold). Coenzyme binding studies confirm that the mutations result in the expected major changes in relative affinities for NADH and NADPH, and pH studies indicate that improved affinity for the extra phosphate of NADPH is the predominant reason for the increased catalytic efficiency with this coenzyme. The marked difference between the results of replacing E243 with aspartate and with positive residues implies that the mode of NADPH binding in naturally occurring NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenases differs from that adopted in E243K or E243D and in other dehydrogenases.     

Molecular properties and enhancement of thermostability by random mutagenesis of glutamate dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis

The rocG gene encoding glutamate dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis (Bs-GluDH) was cloned, and expressed at considerable magnitude in Escherichia coli. The recombinant Bs-GluDH was purified to homogeneity and has been determined to have a hexameric structure (M(r) 270 kDa) with strict specificity for 2-oxoglutarate and L-glutamate, requiring NADH and NAD+ as cofactors respectively. The enzyme showed low thermostability with T(m) = 41 degrees C due to dissociation of the hexamer. To improve the thermostability of this enzyme, we performed error-prone PCR, introducing random mutagenesis on cloned GluDH. Two single mutant enzymes, Q144R and E27F, were isolated from the final mutant library. Their T(m) values were 61 degrees C and 49 degrees C respectively. Furthermore, Q144R had a remarkably high k(cat) value (435 s(-1)) for amination reaction at 37 degrees C, 1.3 times higher than that of the wild-type. Thus, Q144R can be used as a template gene to modify the substrate specificity of Bs-GluDH for industrial use.     

Methylmalonate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis: substrate specificity and coenzyme A binding

Methylmalonate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (MSDH) belongs to the CoA-dependent aldehyde dehydrogenase subfamily. It catalyzes the NAD-dependent oxidation of methylmalonate semialdehyde (MMSA) to propionyl-CoA via the acylation and deacylation steps. MSDH is the only member of the aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily that catalyzes a β-decarboxylation process in the deacylation step. Recently, we demonstrated that the β-decarboxylation is rate-limiting and occurs before CoA attack on the thiopropionyl enzyme intermediate. Thus, this prevented determination of the transthioesterification kinetic parameters. Here, we have addressed two key aspects of the mechanism as follows: 1) the molecular basis for recognition of the carboxylate of MMSA; and 2) how CoA binding modulates its reactivity. We substituted two invariant arginines, Arg-124 and Arg-301, by Leu. The second-order rate constant for the acylation step for both mutants was decreased by at least 50-fold, indicating that both arginines are essential for efficient MMSA binding through interactions with the carboxylate group. To gain insight into the transthioesterification, we substituted MMSA with propionaldehyde, as both substrates lead to the same thiopropionyl enzyme intermediate. This allowed us to show the following: 1) the pK(app) of CoA decreases by ～3 units upon binding to MSDH in the deacylation step; and 2) the catalytic efficiency of the transthioesterification is increased by at least 10(4)-fold relative to a chemical model. Moreover, we observed binding of CoA to the acylation complex, supporting a CoA-binding site distinct from that of NAD(H).     

Use of indirect site-directed mutagenesis to alter the substrate specificity of methylamine dehydrogenase.

Methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH) is a tryptophan tryptophylquinone-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the oxidative deamination of primary amines. Native MADH exhibits a strong preference for methylamine over longer carbon chain amines. Residue alphaPhe(55) controls this substrate specificity. When alphaPhe(55) is replaced with Ala, this preference is reversed with alphaF55A MADH preferring long-chain amines with at least seven carbons (Zhu, Z., Sun, D., and Davidson, V. L. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 11184-11186). To further modulate the substrate specificity of MADH, the side-chain of alphaPhe(55) was repositioned by site-directed mutagenesis of residue betaIle(107). This residue makes close contact with alphaPhe(55) and restricts its movement. betaI107V MADH exhibits a strong preference for propylamine, and betaI107N MADH exhibits a preference for 1-aminopentane. Thus, it has been possible to create forms of MADH that exhibit a preference for amines with carbon chain lengths of one, three, five, or seven carbons. The ability to discriminate between amines of different chain length was essentially abolished by an alphaF55I mutation. Molecular modeling studies with the known crystal structure are described that provide an explanation for these results. These results provide an example of a design-based approach to protein engineering in which site-directed mutagenesis on one residue can be used to reposition another residue to specifically alter enzyme specificity.     

Properties of glutamate dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis.

$\text{Bacillus subtilis}$ strain 168 possesses an NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase. The level of this enzyme is influenced by the stage of growth, the source of nitrogen, and a high rate of tryptophan biosynthesis. The enzyme appears to serve an anabolic function and, therefore, must be considered as a possible route for the incorporation of inorganic nitrogen into an organic form.     

Altering substrate specificity of phosphatidylcholine-preferring phospholipase C of Bacillus cereus by random mutagenesis of the headgroup binding site

PLC(Bc) is a 28.5 kDa monomeric enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine to provide a diacylglycerol and the corresponding phosphorylated headgroup. Because single replacements of Glu4, Tyr56, and Phe66 in the headgroup binding pocket led to changes in substrate specificity [Martin et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 3410-3415], a combinatorial library of approximately 6000 maltose binding protein-PLC(Bc) fusion protein mutants containing random permutations of these three residues was generated to identify PLC(Bc) mutants with altered specificity profiles and high catalytic activities. Members of this library were screened for hydrolytic activity toward the water soluble substrates C6PC, C6PE, and C6PS using a novel protocol that was conducted in a 96-well format and featured the in situ cleavage of the fusion protein to release the mutant PLC(Bc)s. Ten mutant enzymes that exhibited significant preferences toward C6PE or C6PS were selected and analyzed by steady-state kinetics to determine their specificity constants, k(cat)/K(M). The C6PS selective clones E4G, E4Q/Y56T/F66Y, and E4K/Y56V exhibited higher specificity constants toward C6PS than wt, whereas Y56T, F66Y, and Y56T/F66Y were C6PE selective and had comparable or higher specificity constants than wt for C6PE. The corresponding wt residues were singly reinserted back into the E4Q/Y56T/F66Y and E4K/Y56V mutants via site-directed mutagenesis, and the E4Q/F66Y mutant thus obtained exhibited a 10-fold higher specificity constant toward C6PS than wt, a value significantly higher than other PLC(Bc) mutants. On the basis of available data, an aromatic residue at position 66 appears important for significant catalytic activity toward all three substrates, especially C6PC and C6PE. The charge of residue 4 also appears to be a determinant of enzyme specificity as a negatively charged residue at this position endows the enzyme with C6PC and C6PE preference, whereas a polar neutral or positively charged residue results in C6PS selectivity. Replacing Tyr56 with Val, Ala, Thr, or Ser greatly reduces activity toward C6PC. Thus, the substrate specificity of PLC(Bc) can be modulated by varying three of the amino acid residues that constitute the headgroup binding pocket, and it is now apparent that this enzyme is not evolutionarily optimized to hydrolyze phospholipids with ethanolamine or serine headgroups.     

Improvement of the catalytic performance of glycerol kinase from Bacillus subtilis by chromosomal site-directed mutagenesis

Biotechnology Letters - Glycerol kinase is the key enzyme in glycerol metabolism, and its catalytic efficiency has an important effect on glycerol utilization. Based on an analysis of the glycerol...     

Changing the substrate specificity of a chitooligosaccharide oxidase from Fusarium graminearum by model-inspired site-directed mutagenesis

Chitooligosaccharide oxidase (ChitO) catalyzes the oxidation of C1 hydroxyl moieties on chitooligosaccharides and in this way displays a different substrate preference as compared to other known oligosaccharide oxidases. ChitO was identified in the genome of Fusarium graminearum and a structural model revealed that one active site residue (Q268) was likely to be involved in the recognition of the N-acetyl moiety on the chitooligosaccharide substrates. The substrate specificity of wild type ChitO and the Q268R mutant were examined and confirmed that Q268 is indeed involved in N-acetyl recognition.     

Alteration of substrate specificity of cholesterol oxidase from Streptomyces sp. by site-directed mutagenesis

Despite the structural similarities between cholesterol oxidase from Streptomyces and that from Brevibacterium, both enzymes exhibit different characteristics, such as catalytic activity, optimum pH and temperature. In attempts to define the molecular basis of differences in catalytic activity or stability, substitutions at six amino acid residues were introduced into cholesterol oxidase using site-directed mutagenesis of its gene. The amino acid substitutions chosen were based on structural comparisons of cholesterol oxidases from Streptomyces and BREVIBACTERIUM: Seven mutant enzymes were constructed with the following amino acid substitutions: L117P, L119A, L119F, V145Q, Q286R, P357N and S379T. All the mutant enzymes exhibited activity with the exception of that with the L117P mutation. The resulting V145Q mutant enzyme has low activities for all substrates examined and the S379T mutant enzyme showed markedly altered substrate specificity compared with the wild-type enzyme. To evaluate the role of V145 and S379 residues in the reaction, mutants with two additional substitutions in V145 and four in S379 were constructed. The mutant enzymes created by the replacement of V145 by Asp and Glu had much lower catalytic efficiency for cholesterol and pregnenolone as substrates than the wild-type enzyme. From previous studies and this study, the V145 residue seems to be important for the stability and substrate binding of the cholesterol oxidase. In contrast, the catalytic efficiencies (k(cat)/K(m)) of the S379T mutant enzyme for cholesterol and pregnenolone were 1.8- and 6.0-fold higher, respectively, than those of the wild-type enzyme. The enhanced catalytic efficiency of the S379T mutant enzyme for pregnenolone was due to a slightly high k(cat) value and a low K(m) value. These findings will provide several ideas for the design of more powerful enzymes that can be applied to clinical determination of serum cholesterol levels and as sterol probes.     

Conversion of a glutamate dehydrogenase into methionine/norleucine dehydrogenase by site-directed mutagenesis.

In earlier attempts to shift the substrate specificity of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) in favour of monocarboxylic amino-acid substrates, the active-site residues K89 and S380 were replaced by leucine and valine, respectively, which occupy corresponding positions in leucine dehydrogenase. In the GDH framework, however, the mutation S380V caused a steric clash. To avoid this, S380 has been replaced with alanine instead. The single mutant S380A and the combined double mutant K89L/S380A were satisfactorily overexpressed in soluble form and folded correctly as hexameric enzymes. Both were purified successfully by Remazol Red dye chromatography as routinely used for wild-type GDH. The S380A mutant shows much lower activity than wild-type GDH with glutamate. Activities towards monocarboxylic substrates were only marginally altered, and the pH profile of substrate specificity was not markedly altered. In the double mutant K89L/S380A, activity towards glutamate was undetectable. Activity towards L-methionine, L-norleucine and L-norvaline, however, was measurable at pH 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0, as for wild-type GDH. Ala163 is one of the residues that lines the binding pocket for the side chain of the amino-acid substrate. To explore its importance, the three mutants A163G, K89L/A163G and K89L/S380A/A163G were constructed. All three were abundantly overexpressed and showed chromatographic behaviour identical with that of wild-type GDH. With A163G, glutamate activity was lower at pH 7.0 and 8.0, but by contrast higher at pH 9.0 than with wild-type GDH. Activities towards five aliphatic amino acids were remarkably higher than those for the wild-type enzyme at pH 8.0 and 9.0. In addition, the mutant A163G used L-aspartate and L-leucine as substrates, neither of which gave any detectable activity with wild-type GDH. Compared with wild-type GDH, the A163 mutant showed lower catalytic efficiencies and higher K(m ) values for glutamate/2-oxoglutarate at pH 7.0, but a similar k(cat)/K(m) value and lower K(m) at pH 8.0, and a nearly 22-fold lower S(0.5) (substrate concentration giving half-saturation under conditions where Michaelis-Menten kinetics does not apply) at pH 9.0. Coupling the A163G mutation with the K89L mutation markedly enhanced activity (100-1000-fold) over that of the single mutant K89L towards monocarboxylic amino acids, especially L-norleucine and L-methionine. The triple mutant K89L/S380A/A163G retained a level of activity towards monocarboxylic amino acids similar to that of the double mutant K89L/A163G, but could no longer use glutamate as substrate. In terms of natural amino-acid substrates, the triple mutant represents effective conversion of a glutamate dehydrogenase into a methionine dehydrogenase. Kinetic parameters for the reductive amination reaction are also reported. At pH 7 the triple mutant and K89L/A163G show 5 to 10-fold increased catalytic efficiency, compared with K89L, towards the novel substrates. In the oxidative deamination reaction, it is not possible to estimate k(cat) and K(m) separately, but for reductive amination the additional mutations have no significant effect on k(cat) at pH 7, and the increase in catalytic efficiency is entirely attributable to the measured decrease in K(m). At pH 8 the enhancement of catalytic efficiency with the novel substrates was much more striking (e.g. for norleucine approximately 2000-fold compared with wild-type or the K89L mutant), but it was not established whether this is also exclusively due to more favourable Michaelis constants.     

Probing the specificity of a trypanosomal aromatic alpha-hydroxy acid dehydrogenase by site-directed mutagenesis

The aromatic l-alpha-hydroxy acid dehydrogenase (AHDAH) from Trypanosoma cruzi has over 50% sequence identity with cytosolic malate dehydrogenases (cMDHs), yet it is unable to reduce oxaloacetate. Molecular modeling of the three-dimensional structure of AHADH using the pig cMDH as template directed the construction of several mutants. AHADH shares with MDHs the essential catalytic residues H195 and R171 (using Eventoff's numbering). The AHADH A102R mutant became able to reduce oxaloacetate, while remaining fully active towards aromatic alpha-oxoacids. The Y237G mutant diminished its affinity for all of the natural substrates, whereas the double mutant A102R/Y237G was more active than Y237G and had similar activity with oxaloacetate and with aromatic substrates. The present results reinforce our proposal that AHADH arose by a moderate number of point mutations from a cMDH no longer present in the parasite.     

Engineering of papain: selective alteration of substrate specificity by site-directed mutagenesis

The S2 subsite specificity of the plant protease papain has been altered to resemble that of mammalian cathepsin B by site-directed mutagenesis. On the basis of amino acid sequence alignments for papain and cathepsin B, a double mutant (Val133Ala/Ser205Glu) was produced where Val133 and Ser205 are replaced by Ala and Glu, respectively, as well as a triple mutant (Val133Ala/Val157Gly/Ser205Glu), where Val157 is also replaced by Gly. Three synthetic substrates were used for the kinetic characterization of the mutants, as well as wild-type papain and cathepsin B: CBZ-Phe-Arg-MCA, CBZ-Arg-Arg-MCA, and CBZ-Cit-Arg-MCA. The ratio of kcat/KM obtained by using CBZ-Phe-Arg-MCA as substrate over that obtained with CBZ-Arg-Arg-MCA is 8.0 for the Val133Ala/Ser205Glu variant, while the equivalent values for wild-type papain and cathepsin B are 904 and 3.6, respectively. This change in specificity has been achieved by replacing only two amino acids out of a total of 212 in papain and with little loss in overall enzyme activity. However, further replacement of Val157 by Gly as in Val133Ala/Val157Gly/Ser205Glu causes an important decrease in activity, although the enzyme still displays a cathepsin B like substrate specificity. In addition, the pH dependence of activity for the Val133Ala/Ser205Glu variant compares well with that of cathepsin B. In particular, the activity toward CBZ-Arg-Arg-MCA is modulated by a group with a pKa of 5.51, a behavior that is also encountered in the case of cathepsin B but is absent with papain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Yeast methionine aminopeptidase I. Alteration of substrate specificity by site-directed mutagenesis

In eukaryotes, two isozymes (I and II) of methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP) catalyze the removal of the initiator methionine if the penultimate residue has a small radius of gyration (glycine, alanine, serine, threonine, proline, valine, and cysteine). Using site-directed mutagenesis, recombinant yeast MetAP I derivatives that are able to cleave N-terminal methionine from substrates that have larger penultimate residues have been expressed. A Met to Ala change at 329 (Met206 in Escherichia coli enzyme) produces an average catalytic efficiency 1.5-fold higher than the native enzyme on normal substrates and cleaves substrates containing penultimate asparagine, glutamine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, and phenylalanine. Interestingly, the native enzyme also has significant activity with the asparagine peptide not previously identified as a substrate. Mutation of Gln356 (Gln233 in E. coli MetAP) to alanine results in a catalytic efficiency about one-third that of native with normal substrates but which can cleave methionine from substrates with penultimate histidine, asparagine, glutamine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan. Mutation of Ser195 to alanine had no effect on substrate specificity. None of the altered enzymes produced cleaved substrates with a fully charged residue (lysine, arginine, aspartic acid, or glutamic acid) or tyrosine in the penultimate position.     

Identification of omega-aminotransferase from Caulobacter crescentus and site-directed mutagenesis to broaden substrate specificity

A putative aminotransferase gene, cc3143 (aptA), from Caulobacter crescentus was screened by bioinformatical tools and overexpressed in E. coli, and the substrate specificity of the aminotransferase was investigated. AptA showed high activity for short-chain beta-amino acids. It showed the highest activity for 3-amino-n-butyric acid. It showed higher activity toward aromatic amines than aliphatic amines. The 3D model of the aminotransferase was constructed by homology modeling using a dialkylglycine decarboxylase PDB ID: 1DGE) as a template. Then, the aminotransferase was rationally redesigned to increase the activity for 3-amino- 3-phenylpropionic acid. The mutants N285A and V227G increased the relative activity for 3-amino-3-phenylpropionic acid to 3-amino-n-butyric acid by 11-fold and 3-fold, respectively, over that of wild type.     

Change of the donor substrate specificity of Clostridium difficile toxin B by site-directed mutagenesis

The large cytotoxins of Clostridia species glycosylate and thereby inactivate small GTPases of the Rho family. Clostridium difficile toxins A and B and Clostridium sordellii lethal toxin use UDP-glucose as the donor for glucosylation of Rho/Ras GTPases. In contrast, alpha-toxin from Clostridium novyi N-acetylglucosaminylates Rho GTPases by using UDP-N-acetylglucosamine as a donor substrate. Based on the crystal structure of C. difficile toxin B, we studied the sugar donor specificity of the toxins by site-directed mutagenesis. The changing of Ile-383 and Gln-385 in toxin B to serine and alanine, respectively, largely increased the acceptance of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine as a sugar donor for modification of RhoA. The K(m) value was reduced from 960 to 26 mum for the double mutant. Accordingly, the potential of the double mutant of toxin B to hydrolyze UDP-N-acetylglucosamine was higher than that for UDP-glucose. The changing of Ile-383 and Gln-385 in the lethal toxin of C. sordellii allowed modification of Ras in the presence of UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine and reduced the acceptance of UDP-glucose as a donor for glycosylation. Vice versa, the changing of the equivalent residues in C. novyi alpha-toxin from Ser-385 and Ala-387 to isoleucine and glutamine, respectively, reversed the donor specificity of the toxin from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine to UDP-glucose. These data demonstrate that two amino acid residues are crucial for the co-substrate specificity of clostridial glycosylating toxins.     

Regulation of glutamate dehydrogenase in Bacillus subtilis.

The activity of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase in Bacillus subtilis was influenced by the carbon source, but not the nitrogen source, in the growth medium. The highest specific activity for this enzyme was found when B. subtilis was grown in a minimal or rich medium that contained glutamate as the carbon source. It is proposed that glutamate dehydrogenase serves a catabolic function in the metabolism of glutamate, is induced by glutamate, and is subject to catabolite repression.     

Altering the substrate specificity of polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase 1 derived from Pseudomonas putida GPo1 by localized semirandom mutagenesis

The substrate specificity of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase 1 (PhaC1(Pp), class II) from Pseudomonas putida GPo1 (formerly known as Pseudomonas oleovorans GPo1) was successfully altered by localized semirandom mutagenesis. The enzyme evolution system introduces multiple point mutations, designed on the basis of the conserved regions of the PHA synthase family, by using PCR-based gene fragmentation with degenerate primers and a reassembly PCR. According to the opaqueness of the colony, indicating the accumulation of large amounts of PHA granules in the cells, 13 PHA-accumulating candidates were screened from a mutant library, with Pseudomonas putida GPp104 PHA- as the host. The in vivo substrate specificity of five candidates, L1-6, D7-47, PS-A2, PS-C2, and PS-E1, was evaluated by the heterologous expression in Ralstonia eutropha PHB(-)4 supplemented with octanoate. Notably, the amount of 3-hydroxybutyrate (short-chain-length [SCL] 3-hydroxyalkanoate [3-HA] unit) was drastically increased in recombinants that expressed evolved mutant enzymes L1-6, PS-A2, PS-C2, and PS-E1 (up to 60, 36, 50, and 49 mol%, respectively), relative to the amount in the wild type (12 mol%). Evolved enzyme PS-E1, in which 14 amino acids had been changed and which was heterologously expressed in R. eutropha PHB(-)4, not only exhibited broad substrate specificity (49 mol% SCL 3-HA and 51 mol% medium-chain-length [MCL] 3-HA) but also conferred the highest PHA production (45% dry weight) among the candidates. The 3-HA and MCL 3-HA units of the PHA produced by R. eutropha PHB(-)4/pPS-E1 were randomly copolymerized in a single polymer chain, as analytically confirmed by acetone fractionation and the 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum.     

Computational design of glutamate dehydrogenase in Bacillus subtilis natto

Bacillus subtilis natto is widely used in industry to produce natto, a traditional and popular Japanese soybean food. However, during its secondary fermentation, high amounts of ammonia are released to give a negative influence on the flavor of natto. Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) is a key enzyme for the ammonia produced and released, because it catalyzes the oxidative deamination of glutamate to alpha-ketoglutarate using NAD⁺ or NADP⁺ as co-factor during carbon and nitrogen metabolism processes. To solve this problem, we employed multiple computational methods model and re-design GDH from Bacillus subtilis natto. Firstly, a structure model of GDH with cofactor NADP⁺ was constructed by threading and ab initio modeling. Then the substrate glutamate were flexibly docked into the structure model to form the substrate-binding mode. According to the structural analysis of the substrate-binding mode, Lys80, Lys116, Arg196, Thr200, and Ser351 in the active site were found could form a significant hydrogen bonding network with the substrate, which was thought to play a crucial role in the substrate recognition and position. Thus, these residues were then mutated into other amino acids, and the substrate binding affinities for each mutant were calculated. Finally, three single mutants (K80A, K116Q, and S351A) were found to have significant decrease in the substrate binding affinities, which was further supported by our biochemical experiments.