Structural and catalytic diversity within the amidohydrolase superfamily

The amidohydrolase superfamily comprises a remarkable set of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of a wide range of substrates bearing amide or ester functional groups at carbon and phosphorus centers. The most salient structural landmark for this family of hydrolytic enzymes is a mononuclear or binuclear metal center embedded within the confines of a (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel structural fold. Seven variations in the identity of the specific amino acids that function as the direct metal ligands have been structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. The metal center in this enzyme superfamily has a dual functionality in the expression of the overall catalytic activity. The scissile bond of the substrate must be activated for bond cleavage, and the hydrolytic water molecule must be deprotonated for nucleophilic attack. In all cases, the nucleophilic water molecule is activated through complexation with a mononuclear or binuclear metal center. In the binuclear metal centers, the carbonyl and phosphoryl groups of the substrates are polarized through Lewis acid catalysis via complexation with the beta-metal ion, while the hydrolytic water molecule is activated for nucleophilic attack by interaction with the alpha-metal ion. In the mononuclear metal centers, the substrate is activated by proton transfer from the active site, and the water is activated by metal ligation and general base catalysis. The substrate diversity is dictated by the conformational restrictions imposed by the eight loops that extend from the ends of the eight beta-strands.     

Structural consequences of the active site substitution Cys181 ==> Ser in metallo-beta-lactamase from Bacteroides fragilis

The metallo-beta-lactamases require divalent cations such as zinc or cadmium for hydrolyzing the amide bond of beta-lactam antibiotics. The crystal structure of the Zn2+ -bound enzyme from Bacteroides fragilis contains a binuclear zinc center in the active site. A hydroxide, coordinated to both zinc atoms, is proposed as the moiety that mounts the nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon atom of the beta-lactam bond of the substrate. It was previously reported that the replacement of the active site Cys181 by a serine residue severely impaired catalysis while atomic absorption measurements indicated that binding of the two zinc ions remained intact. Contradicting data emerge from recent mass spectrometry results, which show that only a single zinc ion binds to the C181S metallo-beta-lactamase. In the current study, the C181S mutant enzyme was examined at the atomic level by determining the crystal structure at 2.6 A resolution. The overall structure of the mutant enzyme is the same as that of the wild-type enzyme. At the mutation site, the side chain of Ser181 occupies the same position as that of the side chain of Cys181 in the wild-type protein. One zinc ion, Zn1, is present in the crystal structure; however, the site of the second zinc ion, Zn2 is unoccupied. A water molecule is associated with Zn1, reminiscent of the hydroxide seen in the structure of the wild-type enzyme but farther from the metal. The position of the water molecule is off the plane of the carboxylate group of Asp103; therefore, the water molecule may be less nucleophilic than a water molecule which is coplanar with the carboxylate group.     

Crystal structures of the cadmium- and mercury-substituted metallo-beta-lactamase from Bacteroides fragilis.

The metallo-beta-lactamases require zinc or cadmium for hydrolyzing beta-lactam antibiotics and are inhibited by mercurial compounds. To data, there are no clinically useful inhibitors of this class of enzymes. The crystal structure of the Zn(2+)-bound enzyme from Bacteroides fragilis contains a binuclear zinc center in the active site. A hydroxide, coordinated to both zinc atoms, is proposed as the moiety that mounts the nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon atom of the beta-lactam ring. To study the metal coordination further, the crystal structures of a Cd(2+)-bound enzyme and of an Hg(2+)-soaked zinc-containing enzyme have been determined at 2.1 A and 2.7 A, respectively. Given the diffraction resolution, the Cd(2+)-bound enzyme exhibits the same active-site architecture as that of the Zn(2+)-bound enzyme, consistent with the fact that both forms are enzymatically active. The 10-fold reduction in activity of the Cd(2+)-bound molecule compared with the Zn(2+)-bound enzyme is attributed to fine differences in the charge distribution due to the difference in the ionic radii of the two metals. In contrast, in the Hg(2+)-bound structure, one of the zinc ions, Zn2, was ejected, and the other zinc ion, Zn1, remained in the same site as in the 2-Zn(2+)-bound structure. Instead of the ejected zinc, a mercury ion binds between Cys 104 and Cys 181, 4.8 A away from Zn1 and 3.9 A away from the site where Zn2 is located in the 2-Zn(2+)-bound molecule. The perturbed binuclear metal cluster explains the inactivation of the enzyme by mercury compounds.     

Molecular structure of dihydroorotase: a paradigm for catalysis through the use of a binuclear metal center

Dihydroorotase plays a key role in pyrimidine biosynthesis by catalyzing the reversible interconversion of carbamoyl aspartate to dihydroorotate. Here we describe the three-dimensional structure of dihydroorotase from Escherichia coli determined and refined to 1.7 A resolution. Each subunit of the homodimeric enzyme folds into a "TIM" barrel motif with eight strands of parallel beta-sheet flanked on the outer surface by alpha-helices. Unexpectedly, each subunit contains a binuclear zinc center with the metal ions separated by approximately 3.6 A. Lys 102, which is carboxylated, serves as a bridging ligand between the two cations. The more buried or alpha-metal ion in subunit I is surrounded by His 16, His 18, Lys 102, Asp 250, and a solvent molecule (most likely a hydroxide ion) in a trigonal bipyramidal arrangement. The beta-metal ion, which is closer to the solvent, is tetrahedrally ligated by Lys 102, His 139, His 177, and the bridging hydroxide. L-Dihydroorotate is observed bound to subunit I, with its carbonyl oxygen, O4, lying 2.9 A from the beta-metal ion. Important interactions for positioning dihydroorotate into the active site include a salt bridge with the guanidinium group of Arg 20 and various additional electrostatic interactions with both protein backbone and side chain atoms. Strikingly, in subunit II, carbamoyl L-aspartate is observed binding near the binuclear metal center with its carboxylate side chain ligating the two metals and thus displacing the bridging hydroxide ion. From the three-dimensional structures of the enzyme-bound substrate and product, it has been possible to propose a unique catalytic mechanism for dihydroorotase. In the direction of dihydroorotate hydrolysis, the bridging hydroxide attacks the re-face of dihydroorotate with general base assistance by Asp 250. The carbonyl group is polarized for nucleophilic attack by the bridging hydroxide through a direct interaction with the beta-metal ion. During the cyclization of carbamoyl aspartate, Asp 250 initiates the reaction by abstracting a proton from N3 of the substrate. The side chain carboxylate of carbamoyl aspartate is polarized through a direct electrostatic interaction with the binuclear metal center. The ensuing tetrahedral intermediate collapses with C-O bond cleavage and expulsion of the hydroxide which then bridges the binuclear metal center.     

The reaction mechanism of paraoxon hydrolysis by phosphotriesterase from combined QM/MM simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations employing combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) potentials have been carried out to investigate the reaction mechanism of the hydrolysis of paraoxon by phosphotriesterase (PTE). We used a dual-level QM/MM approach that synthesizes accurate results from high-level electronic structure calculations with computational efficiency of semiempirical QM/MM potentials for free energy simulations. In particular, the intrinsic (gas-phase) energies of the active site in the QM region are determined by using density functional theory (B3LYP) and second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) and the molecular dynamics free energy simulations are performed by using the mixed AM1:CHARMM potential. The simulation results suggest a revised mechanism for the phosphotriester hydrolysis mechanism by PTE. The reaction free energy profile is mirrored by structural motions of the binuclear metal center in the active site. The two zinc ions occupy a compact conformation with an average zinc-zinc distance of 3.5 +/- 0.1 A in the Michaelis complex, whereas it is elongated to 5.3 +/- 0.3 A at the transition state and product state. The substrate is loosely bound to the more exposed zinc ion (Znbeta2+) at an average distance of 3.8 A +/- 0.3 A. The P=O bond of the substrate paraoxon is activated by adopting a tight coordination to the Znbeta2+, releasing the coordinate to the bridging hydroxide ion and increasing its nucleophilicity. It was also found that a water molecule enters into the binding pocket of the loosely bound binuclear center, originally occupied by the nucleophilic hydroxide ion. We suggest that the proton of this water molecule is taken up by His254 at low pH or released to the solvent at high pH, resulting in a hydroxide ion that pulls the Znbeta2+ ion closer to form the compact configuration and restores the resting state of the enzyme.     

Crystal structure studies on rubrerythrin: enzymatic activity in relation to the zinc movement

Rubrerythrin (Rr) is a non-heme iron protein isolated from anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria. Rr is a dimeric molecule, each monomer contains a Fe(SCys)(4) center in the C-terminal domain and a binuclear metal center in the N-terminal domain. Rr structures with different protein sources and/or preparation procedures have been studied. Two Rr crystal structures have been solved with significant differences in their binuclear metal centers. The first structure, which was obtained from expressed protein under aerobic conditions, has a diiron-oxo center. The second structure, which was obtained from native protein of Desulfovibrio vulgaris under aerobic conditions, has an Fe-Zn center with the zinc position differing from the corresponding iron position in the former structure by approximately 2 A. The crystal structures of Rr isolated from D. vulgaris (Hildenborough, NCIB 8303), the same as the second structured but prepared under anaerobic conditions, are reported in this paper. The binuclear metal center in these structures is an Fe-Zn center. When the crystal was exposed to air, the zinc atom moved gradually, approximately 2 A, accompanied by the entrance of a water molecule (or hydroxyl group) and changes in the binuclear metal center microenvironment. This finding can explain the differences between the two different structures. The results suggest that the zinc movement may be related to the enzymatic activity of Rr.     

The "open" and "closed" structures of the type-C inorganic pyrophosphatases from Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus gordonii.

Recently, a new class of soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase (type-C PPase) has been described that is not homologous in amino acid sequence or kinetic properties to the well-studied PPases (types A and B) found in many organisms from bacteria to humans and thought to be essential to the cell. Structural studies of the type-C PPases from Streptococcus gordonii and Bacillus subtilis reveal a homodimeric structure, with each polypeptide folding into two domains joined by a flexible hinge. The active site, formed at the interface between the N and C-terminal domains, binds two manganese ions approximately 3.6 A apart in a conformation resembling binuclear metal centres found in other hydrolytic enzymes. An activated water molecule bridging the two metal ions is likely poised for nucleophilic attack of the substrate. Importantly, the S. gordonii and B. subtilis enzymes have crystallised in strikingly different conformations. In both subunits of the S. gordonii crystal structure (1.5 A resolution) the C-terminal domain is positioned such that the active site is occluded, with a sulphate ion bound in the active site. In contrast, in the B. subtilis structure (3.0 A resolution) the C-terminal domain is rotated by about 90 degrees, leaving the active site wide open and accessible for substrate binding.     

Mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by isoaspartyl dipeptidase from Escherichia coli

Isoaspartyl dipeptidase (IAD) is a member of the amidohydrolase superfamily and catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of beta-aspartyl dipeptides. Structural studies of the wild-type enzyme have demonstrated that the active site consists of a binuclear metal center positioned at the C-terminal end of a (beta/alpha)(8)-barrel domain. Steady-state kinetic parameters for the hydrolysis of beta-aspartyl dipeptides were obtained at pH 8.1. The pH-rate profiles for the hydrolysis of beta-Asp-Leu were obtained for the Zn/Zn-, Co/Co-, Ni/Ni-, and Cd/Cd-substituted forms of IAD. Bell-shaped profiles were observed for k(cat) and k(cat)/K(m) as a function of pH for all four metal-substituted forms. The pK(a) of the group that must be unprotonated for catalytic activity varied according to the specific metal ion bound in the active site, whereas the pK(a) of the group that must be protonated for catalytic activity was relatively independent of the specific metal ion present. The identity of the group that must be unprotonated for catalytic activity was consistent with the hydroxide that bridges the two divalent cations of the binuclear metal center. The identity of the group that must be protonated for activity was consistent with the free alpha-amino group of the dipeptide substrate. Kinetic constants were obtained for the mutant enzymes at conserved residues Glu77, Tyr137, Arg169, Arg233, Asp285, and Ser289. The catalytic properties of the wild-type and mutant enzymes, coupled with the X-ray crystal structure of the D285N mutant complexed with beta-Asp-His, are consistent with a chemical reaction mechanism for the hydrolysis of dipeptides that is initiated by the polarization of the amide bond via complexation to the beta-metal ion of the binuclear metal center. Nucleophilic attack by the bridging hydroxide is facilitated by abstraction of its proton by the side chain carboxylate of Asp285. Collapse of the tetrahedral intermediate and cleavage of the carbon-nitrogen bond occur with donation of a proton from the protonated form of Asp285.     

Desulfovibrio desulfuricans iron hydrogenase: the structure shows unusual coordination to an active site Fe binuclear center.

BACKGROUND: Many microorganisms have the ability to either oxidize molecular hydrogen to generate reducing power or to produce hydrogen in order to remove low-potential electrons. These reactions are catalyzed by two unrelated enzymes: the Ni-Fe hydrogenases and the Fe-only hydrogenases. RESULTS: We report here the structure of the heterodimeric Fe-only hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans - the first for this class of enzymes. With the exception of a ferredoxin-like domain, the structure represents a novel protein fold. The so-called H cluster of the enzyme is composed of a typical [4Fe-4S] cubane bridged to a binuclear active site Fe center containing putative CO and CN ligands and one bridging 1, 3-propanedithiol molecule. The conformation of the subunits can be explained by the evolutionary changes that have transformed monomeric cytoplasmic enzymes into dimeric periplasmic enzymes. Plausible electron- and proton-transfer pathways and a putative channel for the access of hydrogen to the active site have been identified. CONCLUSIONS: The unrelated active sites of Ni-Fe and Fe-only hydrogenases have several common features: coordination of diatomic ligands to an Fe ion; a vacant coordination site on one of the metal ions representing a possible substrate-binding site; a thiolate-bridged binuclear center; and plausible proton- and electron-transfer pathways and substrate channels. The diatomic coordination to Fe ions makes them low spin and favors low redox states, which may be required for catalysis. Complex electron paramagnetic resonance signals typical of Fe-only hydrogenases arise from magnetic interactions between the [4Fe-4S] cluster and the active site binuclear center. The paucity of protein ligands to this center suggests that it was imported from the inorganic world as an already functional unit.     

Structural and mechanistic mapping of a unique fumarate reductase

The 1.8 A resolution crystal structure of the tetraheme flavocytochrome c3, Fcc3, provides the first mechanistic insight into respiratory fumarate reductases or succinate dehydrogenases. The multi-redox center, three-domain protein shows a 40 A long 'molecular wire' allowing rapid conduction of electrons through a new type of cytochrome domain onto the active site flavin, driving the reduction of fumarate to succinate. In this structure a malate-like molecule is trapped in the enzyme active site. The interactions between this molecule and the enzyme suggest a clear mechanism for fumarate reduction in which the substrate is polarized and twisted, facilitating hydride transfer from the reduced flavin and subsequent proton transfer. The enzyme active site in the oxidized form is completely buried at the interface between the flavin-binding and the clamp domains. Movement of the cytochrome and clamp domains is postulated to allow release of the product.     

A molecular dynamics study of water chain formation in the proton-conducting K channel of cytochrome c oxidase

The formation of water chains in cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is studied by molecular dynamics (MD). Focus is on water chains in the K channel that can supply a proton to the binuclear center (the heme a3 Fe/CuB region), the site of O2 reduction. By assessing the presence of chains of any length on a short time scale (0.1 ps), a view of the kinds of chains and their persistence is obtained. Chains from the entry of the channel on the inner membrane to Thr359 (Rhodobacter sphaeroides numbering) are often present but are blocked at that point until a rotation of the Thr359 side chain occurs, permitting formation of chains from Thr359 towards the binuclear center. No continuous hydrogen-bonded water chains are found connecting Thr359 and the binuclear center. Instead, waters hydrogen bond from Thr359 to the hydroxyl of the heme a3 farnesyl and then continue to the binuclear center via Tyr288, which has been identified as a source of a proton for O2 reduction. Three hydrogen-bonded waters are found to be present in the binuclear center after a sufficiently long simulation time. One is ligated to the CuB and could be associated with a water (or hydroxyl) identified in the crystal structure as the fourth ligand of CuB. The water hydrogen-bonded to the hydroxyl of Tyr288 is extremely persistent and well positioned to participate in O2 reduction. The third water is located where O2 is often suggested to reside in mechanistic studies of O2 reduction.     

Engineering water to act as an active site acid catalyst in a soluble fumarate reductase

The ability of an arginine residue to function as the active site acid catalyst in the fumarate reductase family of enzymes is now well-established. Recently, a dual role for the arginine during fumarate reduction has been proposed [Mowat, C. G., Moysey, R., Miles, C. S., Leys, D., Doherty, M. K., Taylor, P., Walkinshaw, M. D., Reid, G. A., and Chapman, S. K. (2001) Biochemistry 40, 12292-12298] in which it acts both as a Lewis acid in transition-state stabilization and as a Br?nsted acid in proton delivery. This proposal has led to the prediction that, if appropriately positioned, a water molecule would be capable of functioning as the active site Br?nsted acid. In this paper, we describe the construction and kinetic and crystallographic analysis of the Q363F single mutant and Q363F/R402A double mutant forms of flavocytochrome c(3), the soluble fumarate reductase from Shewanella frigidimarina. Although replacement of the active site acid, Arg402, with alanine has been shown to eliminate fumarate reductase activity, this phenomenon is partially reversed by the additional substitution of Gln363 with phenylalanine. This Gln --> Phe substitution in the inactive R402A mutant enzyme was designed to "push" a water molecule close enough to the substrate C3 atom to allow it to act as a Br?nsted acid. The 2.0 A resolution crystal structure of the Q363F/R402A mutant enzyme does indeed reveal the introduction of a water molecule at the correct position in the active site to allow it to act as the catalytic proton donor. The 1.8 A resolution crystal structure of the Q363F mutant enzyme shows a water molecule similarly positioned, which can account for its measured fumarate reductase activity. However, in this mutant enzyme Michaelis complex formation is impaired due to significant and unpredicted structural changes at the active site.     

Crystal structure of the "cab"-type beta class carbonic anhydrase from the archaeon Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum

The structure of the "cab"-type beta class carbonic anhydrase from the archaeon Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (Cab) has been determined to 2.1-A resolution using the multiwavelength anomalous diffraction phasing technique. Cab exists as a dimer with a subunit fold similar to that observed in "plant"-type beta class carbonic anhydrases. The active site zinc is coordinated by protein ligands Cys(32), His(87), and Cys(90), with the tetrahedral coordination completed by a water molecule. The major difference between plant- and cab-type beta class carbonic anhydrases is in the organization of the hydrophobic pocket. The structure reveals a Hepes buffer molecule bound 8 A away from the active site zinc, which suggests a possible proton transfer pathway from the active site to the solvent.     

Acetate C-C bond formation and decomposition in the anaerobic world: the structure of a central enzyme and its key active-site metal cluster

The structure of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-coenzyme A synthase (CODH/ACS), a central enzyme in the anaerobic metabolism of acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), has been solved to a resolution of 2.2A. The active-site metal cluster responsible for catalyzing acetyl C-C bond synthesis and cleavage, designated the A center, was identified as an Fe(4)S(4) iron sulfur cluster with one of its cysteine thiolates acting as a bridge to an adjacent binuclear metal site. Nickel was found at one position in the binuclear site and the other metal was indicated to be copper - a surprising result, implying a previously unrecognized role for copper. Details of the A center provided new insight into the unusual organometallic mechanism of acetyl C-C bond formation and cleavage, with substantial conformational changes indicated for binding of the large methylcorrinoid protein substrate, and a unique intramolecular channel acting to contain carbon monoxide within the protein and transfer it to the site needed for acetyl-CoA synthesis.     

A purple acid phosphatase from sweet potato contains an antiferromagnetically coupled binuclear Fe-Mn center

A purple acid phosphatase from sweet potato is the first reported example of a protein containing an enzymatically active binuclear Fe-Mn center. Multifield saturation magnetization data over a temperature range of 2 to 200 K indicates that this center is strongly antiferromagnetically coupled. Metal ion analysis shows an excess of iron over manganese. Low temperature EPR spectra reveal only resonances characteristic of high spin Fe(III) centers (Fe(III)-apo and Fe(III)-Zn(II)) and adventitious Cu(II) centers. There were no resonances from either Mn(II) or binuclear Fe-Mn centers. Together with a comparison of spectral properties and sequence homologies between known purple acid phosphatases, the enzymatic and spectroscopic data strongly indicate the presence of catalytic Fe(III)-Mn(II) centers in the active site of the sweet potato enzyme. Because of the strong antiferromagnetism it is likely that the metal ions in the sweet potato enzyme are linked via a mu-oxo bridge, in contrast to other known purple acid phosphatases in which a mu-hydroxo bridge is present. Differences in metal ion composition and bridging may affect substrate specificities leading to the biological function of different purple acid phosphatases.     

Chemical rescue of the post-translationally carboxylated lysine mutant of allantoinase and dihydroorotase by metal ions and short-chain carboxylic acids

Bacterial allantoinase (ALLase) and dihydroorotase (DHOase) are members of the cyclic amidohydrolase family. ALLase and DHOase possess similar binuclear metal centers in the active site in which two metals are bridged by a post-translationally carboxylated lysine. In this study, we determined the effects of carboxylated lysine and metal binding on the activities of ALLase and DHOase. Although DHOase is a metalloenzyme, purified DHOase showed high activity without additional metal supplementation in a reaction mixture or bacterial culture. However, unlike DHOase, ALLase had no activity unless some specific metal ions were added to the reaction mixture or culture. Substituting the metal binding sites H59, H61, K146, H186, H242, or D315 with alanine completely abolished the activity of ALLase. However, the K146C, K146D and K146E mutants of ALLase were still active with about 1–6 % activity of the wild-type enzyme. These ALLase K146 mutants were found to have 1.4–1.7 mol metal per mole enzyme subunit, which may indicate that they still contained the binuclear metal center in the active site. The activity of the K146A mutant of the ALLase and the K103A mutant of DHOase can be chemically rescued by short-chain carboxylic acids, such as acetic, propionic, and butyric acids, but not by ethanol, propan-1-ol, and imidazole, in the presence of Co²⁺ or Mn²⁺ ions. However, the activity was still ~10-fold less than that of wild-type ALLase. Overall, these results indicated that the 20 natural basic amino acid residues were not sufficiently able to play the role of lysine. Accordingly, we proposed that during evolution, the post-translational modification of carboxylated lysine in the cyclic amidohydrolase family was selected for promoting binuclear metal center self-assembly and increasing the nucleophilicity of the hydroxide at the active site for enzyme catalysis. This kind of chemical rescue combined with site-directed mutagenesis may also be used to identify a binuclear metal center in the active site for other metalloenzymes.     

Crystal structure of the cytochrome P-450CAM active site mutant Thr252Ala.

The crystal structure of a cytochrome P-450CAM site-directed mutant in which the active site Thr252 has been replaced with an Ala (Thr252Ala) has been refined to an R factor of 0.18 at 2.2 A. According to sequence alignments (Nelson & Strobel, 1989), Thr252 is highly conserved among P-450 enzymes. The crystallographic structure of ferrous camphor- and carbon monoxide-bound P-450CAM (Raag & Poulos, 1989b) suggests that Thr252 is a key active site residue, forming part of the dioxygen-binding site. Mutation of the active site threonine to alanine produces an enzyme in which substrate hydroxylation is uncoupled from electron transfer. Specifically, hydrogen peroxide and "excess" water are produced instead of the product, 5-exo-hydroxycamphor. The X-ray structure has revealed that a local distortion in the distal helix between Gly248 and Thr252 becomes even more severe in the Thr252Ala mutant. Furthermore, a solvent molecule not present in the native enzyme is positioned in the dioxygen-binding region of the mutant enzyme active site. In this location, the solvent molecule could sterically interfere with and destabilize dioxygen binding. In addition, the active site solvent molecule is connected, via a network of hydrogen bonds, with an internal solvent channel which links distal helix residues to a buried Glu side chain. Thus, solvent protons appear to be much more accessible to dioxygen in the mutant than in the wild-type enzyme, a factor which may promote hydrogen peroxide and/or water production instead of substrate hydroxylation. On the basis of crystallographic and mutagenesis data, a proton delivery pathway involving residues Lys178/Arg186, Asp251, and Thr252 is proposed for wild-type P-450CAM. Coordinates of structures discussed in this paper have been submitted to the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank (Bernstein et al., 1977).     

Structure of diethyl phosphate bound to the binuclear metal center of phosphotriesterase

The bacterial phosphotriesterase (PTE) from Pseudomonas diminuta catalyzes the hydrolysis of organophosphate esters at rates close to the diffusion limit. X-ray diffraction studies have shown that a binuclear metal center is positioned in the active site of PTE and that this complex is responsible for the activation of the nucleophilic water from solvent. In this paper, the three-dimensional structure of PTE was determined in the presence of the hydrolysis product, diethyl phosphate (DEP), and a product analogue, cacodylate. In the structure of the PTE-diethyl phosphate complex, the DEP product is found symmetrically bridging the two divalent cations. The DEP displaces the hydroxide from solvent that normally bridges the two divalent cations in structures determined in the presence or absence of substrate analogues. One of the phosphoryl oxygen atoms in the PTE-DEP complex is 2.0 A from the alpha-metal ion, while the other oxygen is 2.2 A from the beta-metal ion. The two metal ions are separated by a distance of 4.0 A. A similar structure is observed in the presence of cacodylate. Analogous complexes have previously been observed for the product complexes of isoaspartyl dipeptidase, d-aminoacylase, and dihydroorotase from the amidohydrolase superfamily of enzymes. The experimentally determined structure of the PTE-diethyl phosphate product complex is inconsistent with a recent proposal based upon quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical simulations which postulated the formation of an asymmetrical product complex bound exclusively to the beta-metal ion with a metal-metal separation of 5.3 A. This structure is also inconsistent with a chemical mechanism for substrate hydrolysis that utilizes the bridging hydroxide as a base to abstract a proton from a water molecule loosely associated with the alpha-metal ion. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support a reaction mechanism that utilizes the bridging hydroxide as the direct nucleophile in the hydrolysis of organophosphate esters by PTE.     

Mechanism for the hydrolysis of organophosphates by the bacterial phosphotriesterase

Phosphotriesterase (PTE) from Pseudomonas diminuta is a zinc metalloenzyme that hydrolyzes a variety of organophosphorus compounds. The kinetic parameters of Zn/Zn PTE, Cd/Cd PTE, and a mixed-metal Zn/Cd hybrid PTE were obtained with a variety of substrates to determine the role of each metal ion in binding and catalysis. pH-rate profiles for the hydrolysis of diethyl p-nitrophenyl phosphate (I) and diethyl p-chlorophenyl phosphate (II) demonstrated that the ionization of a single group in the pH range of 5-10 was critical for substrate turnover. The pK(a) values determined from the kinetic assays were dependent on the identity of the metal ion that occupied the alpha site within the binuclear metal center. These results suggest that the hydrolytic nucleophile is activated as a hydroxide via the ionization of a water molecule attached to the alpha-metal ion. The kinetic constants for the hydrolysis of II and diethyl p-chlorophenyl thiophosphate (IV) were determined for the metal substituted forms of PTE. The kinetic constants for IV were greater than those for II. The inverse thio effect is consistent with the polarization of the phosphoryl oxygen/sulfur bond via a direct ligation to the metal center. The rate enhancement is greater when Cd(2+) occupies the beta-metal-ion position. A series of alanine and asparagine mutations were used to characterize the catalytic roles of Asp233, His254, and Asp301. Mutations to either Asp233 or His254 resulted in an enhanced rate of hydrolysis for the sluggish substrate, diethyl p-chlorophenyl phosphate, and a decrease in the kinetic constants for paraoxon (I). These results are consistent with the existence of a proton relay from Asp301 to His254 to Asp233 that is used to ferry protons away from the active site with substrates that do not require activation of the leaving group phenol. A mechanism for the hydrolysis of organophosphates by the bacterial PTE has been proposed.