Metadynamics Simulations of Enantioselective Acylation Give Insights into the Catalytic Mechanism of Burkholderia cepacia Lipase

The Q41R mutation in the HCV-protease enhances the reactivity towards MAVS by suppressing non-reactive pathways

Recent experimental findings pointed out a new mutation in the HCV protease, Q41R, responsible for a significant enhancement of the enzyme's reactivity towards the mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS). The Q41R mutation is located rather far from the active site, and its involvement in the overall reaction mechanism is thus unclear. We used classical molecular dynamics and QM/MM to study the acylation reaction of HCV NS3/4A protease variants bound to MAVS and the NS4A/4B substrate and uncovered the indirect mechanism by which the Q41R mutation plays a critical role in the efficient cleavage of the substrate. Our simulations reveal that there are two major conformations of the MAVS H1'(p) residue for the wild type protease and only one conformation for the Q41R mutant. The conformational space of H1'(p) is restricted by the Q41R mutation due to a π-π stacking between H1'(p) and R41 as well as a strong hydrogen bond between the backbone of H57 and the side chain of R41. Further QM/MM calculations indicate that the complex with the conformation ruled out by the Q41R substitution is a non-reactive species due to its higher free energy barrier for the acylation reaction. Based on our calculations, we propose a kinetic mechanism that explains experimental data showing an increase of apparent rate constants for MAVS cleavage in Q41R mutants. Our model predicts that the non-reactive conformation of the enzyme-substrate complex modulates reaction kinetics like an uncompetitive inhibitor.

Study on Lipase-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Olive Oil at Oil-Water Interface

Olive oil was selected as the oil substrate and hydrolyzed by Candida sp. 99–125 lipase. The hydrolysis rate of olive oil was used as an indicator. Based on the single factor experiment, the effects of dosage of Candida sp. 99–125 lipase, reacting temperature, pH value and water-oil ratio were investigated. Box-Behnken center combination and response surface methodology were utilized to optimize the hydrolysis rate. The results showed that the significant differences of each single factor on lipase hydrolysis of olive oil on the oil-water interface were different. pH value is the first significance factor, and the significance of water oil ratio on lipase hydrolysis of olive oil is second only to pH value. Finally, the mechanism of Candida sp. 99–125 lipase hydrolyzing olive oil at the oil-water interface was discussed.