Stepwise improvements in catalytic effectiveness: independence and interdependence in combinations of point mutations of a sluggish triosephosphate isomerase

Second-site suppressor changes that improve the catalytic potency of a sluggish mutant of the enzyme triosephosphate isomerase have been examined both individually and in combination. Each of the second-site mutations increases the specific catalytic activity of a triosephosphate isomerase in which the catalytic base, glutamate-165, has been changed to aspartate. These second-site suppressors are G10S, S96P, S96T, E97D, V167D, and G233R. Not one of these changes enhances the value of kcat/Km for the wild-type enzyme, which is consistent with the knowledge that the reaction catalyzed by the wild-type enzyme is already diffusion-controlled. Indeed, two of the changes, S96P and V167D, are catalytically deleterious to the wild-type isomerase. When pairs of second-site suppressors are combined with the primary lesion E165D, six pairs show additive independence while the effects of eight other pairs are less than additive. The sites fall into two clusters: pairs within a cluster always interfere with one another and do not produce additive improvements in catalytic activity, whereas combinations of changes from different clusters tend to be additive in their effects. No combination of second-site suppressor mutations behaves synergistically, though there seems to be no a priori reason to exclude this possibility. Since the catalytic potency of each of the six second-site suppressor mutants can be further improved by the introduction of (at least) one of the other five changes, it is evident that none of the double mutants lies at a local catalytic maximum. In these cases, therefore, the opportunity exists for at least two "steps" of monotonic catalytic improvement along each of six different "paths" in protein space.