Determination of steady-state kinetic parameters for a xylanase-catalyzed hydrolysis of neutral underivatized xylooligosaccharides by mass spectrometry

Quantifying Carbohydrate-Active Enzyme Activity with Glycoprotein Substrates Using Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry and Center-of-Mass Monitoring

Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) play critical roles in diverse physiological and pathophysiological processes and are important for a wide range of biotechnology applications. Kinetic measurements offer insight into the activity and substrate specificity of CAZymes, information that is of fundamental interest and supports diverse applications. However, robust and versatile kinetic assays for monitoring the kinetics of intact glycoprotein and glycolipid substrates are lacking. Here, we introduce a simple but quantitative electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) method for measuring the kinetics of CAZyme reactions involving glycoprotein substrates. The assay, referred to as center-of-mass (CoM) monitoring (CoMMon), relies on continuous (real-time) monitoring of the CoM of an ensemble of glycoprotein substrates and their corresponding CAZyme products. Notably, there is no requirement for calibration curves, internal standards, labeling, or mass spectrum deconvolution. To demonstrate the reliability of CoMMon, we applied the method to the neuraminidase-catalyzed cleavage of N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) residues from a series of glycoproteins of varying molecular weights and degrees of glycosylation. Reaction progress curves and initial rates determined with CoMMon are in good agreement (initial rates within ≤5%) with results obtained, simultaneously, using an isotopically labeled Neu5Ac internal standard, which enabled the time-dependent concentration of released Neu5Ac to be precisely measured. To illustrate the applicability of CoMMon to glycosyltransferase reactions, the assay was used to measure the kinetics of sialylation of a series of asialo-glycoproteins by a human sialyltransferase. Finally, we show how combining CoMMon and the competitive universal proxy receptor assay enables the relative reactivity of glycoprotein substrates to be quantitatively established.

The mechanism by which a distinguishing arabinofuranosidase can cope with internal di-substitutions in arabinoxylans

BACKGROUND

Arabinoxylan is an abundant polysaccharide in industrially relevant biomasses such as sugarcane, corn stover and grasses. However, the arabinofuranosyl di-substitutions that decorate the xylan backbone are recalcitrant to most known arabinofuranosidases (Abfs).

RESULTS

In this work, we identified a novel GH51 Abf (XacAbf51) that forms trimers in solution and can cope efficiently with both mono- and di-substitutions at terminal or internal xylopyranosyl units of arabinoxylan. Using mass spectrometry, the kinetic parameters of the hydrolysis of 33-α-l-arabinofuranosyl-xylotetraose and 23,33-di-α-l-arabinofuranosyl-xylotetraose by XacAbf51 were determined, demonstrating the capacity of this enzyme to cleave arabinofuranosyl linkages of internal mono- and di-substituted xylopyranosyl units. Complementation studies of fungal enzyme cocktails with XacAbf51 revealed an increase of up to 20% in the release of reducing sugars from pretreated sugarcane bagasse, showing the biotechnological potential of a generalist GH51 in biomass saccharification. To elucidate the structural basis for the recognition of internal di-substitutions, the crystal structure of XacAbf51 was determined unveiling the existence of a pocket strategically arranged near to the - 1 subsite that can accommodate a second arabinofuranosyl decoration, a feature not described for any other GH51 Abf structurally characterized so far.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, this study reports the first kinetic characterization of internal di-substitution release by a GH51 Abf, provides the structural basis for this activity and reveals a promising candidate for industrial processes involving plant cell wall depolymerization.

X-ray crystallographic studies of family 11 xylanase Michaelis and product complexes: implications for the catalytic mechanism

Xylanases catalyze the hydrolysis of plant hemicellulose xylan into oligosaccharides by cleaving the main-chain glycosidic linkages connecting xylose subunits. To study ligand binding and to understand how the pH constrains the activity of the enzyme, variants of the Trichoderma reesei xylanase were designed to either abolish its activity (E177Q) or to change its pH optimum (N44H). An E177Q-xylohexaose complex structure was obtained at 1.15 Å resolution which represents a pseudo-Michaelis complex and confirmed the conformational movement of the thumb region owing to ligand binding. Co-crystallization of N44H with xylohexaose resulted in a hydrolyzed xylotriose bound in the active site. Co-crystallization of the wild-type enzyme with xylopentaose trapped an aglycone xylotriose and a transglycosylated glycone product. Replacing amino acids near Glu177 decreased the xylanase activity but increased the relative activity at alkaline pH. The substrate distortion in the E177Q-xylohexaose structure expands the possible conformational itinerary of this xylose ring during the enzyme-catalyzed xylan-hydrolysis reaction.