Substrate distortion in catalysis by lysozyme. Interaction of lysozyme with oligosaccharides containing N-acetylxylosamine

Mechanism and stereoelectronic effects in the lysozyme reaction

Lysozyme occupies a special place in the history of enzymology as the first enzyme to have its three-dimensional crystal structure elucidated by Phillips and co-workers in 1965. The crystallography, and much biochemical work, revealed three factors likely to be important for the mechanism of action: catalysis by the carboxyl group of Glu-35, catalysis by the ionized carboxyl group of Asp-52, and the conformation of the bound polysaccharide substrate. The work of the last 20 years has defined likely roles for the catalytic groups, but discussion of the conformational question came to a head only very recently with the suggestion that the fundamental stereoelectronic requirements of the glycoside-cleavage reaction might be decisive. Recent work on all three interlinked factors are reviewed.

Oxindolealanine-62 lysozyme: equilibrium, calorimetric, and kinetic studies of the reaction with N-acetylglucosamine oligosaccharides

Oxindolealanine-62 lysozyme, formed by reaction with N-bromosuccinimide and purified by using affinity chromatography, was examined in its binding of homologous oligosaccharides of N-acetylglucosamine and in its catalysis of hydrolysis and of transglycosylation of the hexasaccharide of N-acetylglucosamine. Equilibrium binding constants were determined by changes in absorbance or fluorescence associated with ligand binding. Enthalpies of binding were measured calorimetrically. The pattern of variation of delta Go and delta Ho of binding with ligand chain length and pH was different for oxindolealanine-62 lysozyme compared with native lysozyme. These results indicate that the interactions of the ABC region of the active site with substrates are substantially altered by Trp-62 oxidation, more than expected for loss only of the Trp-62 interactions. The partitioning of the glycosyl enzyme intermediate between reaction with a saccharide acceptor (transglycosylation) and reaction with water is unaffected by oxidation of Trp-62. Similarly, the pattern of cleavage of the hexasaccharide, predominantly to tetra- and disaccharide, is unaffected by oxidation of Trp-62. The 2000-fold slower rate of catalytic reaction (relative to free enzyme and substrate) apparently reflects a sterically hindered fit of the substrate into the active site of the modified enzyme and not a special catalytic importance of Trp-62. The geometry of the transition state for oligosaccharide hydrolysis is inferred to be the same for native and oxidized enzymes.

Enzymatic catalysis and transition-state theory

The application of transition-state theory to enzymatic catalysis provides an approach to understanding enzymatic catalysis in terms of the factors that determine the strength of binding of ligands to proteins. The prediction that the transition state should bind to the enzyme much more tightly than the substrate is supported by the experimental results with stable analogs of transition states. Transition-state analogs have great potential for use in understanding enzymatic catalysis and in inhibiting enzymes. Because of their potency and specificity as enzyme inhibitors, some of them may become very useful chemotherapeutic agents.