Catalytic mechanism of the tryptophan synthase alpha(2)beta(2) complex. Effects of pH, isotopic substitution, and allosteric ligands

Protein stability and dynamics influenced by ligands in extremophilic complexes - a molecular dynamics investigation

In this study, we explore the structural and dynamic adaptations of the Tryptophan synthase α-subunit in a ligand bound state in psychrophilic, mesophilic and hyperthermophilic organisms at different temperatures by MD simulations. We quantify the global and local fluctuations in the 40 ns time scale by analyzing the root mean square deviation/fluctuations. The distinct behavior of the active site and loop 6 is observed with the elevation of temperature. Protein stability relies more on electrostatic interactions, and these interactions might be responsible for the stability of varying temperature evolved proteins. The paper also focuses on the effect of temperature on protein dynamics and stability governed by the distinct behavior of the ligand associated with its retention, binding and dissociation over the course of time. The integration of principle component analysis and a free energy landscape was useful in identifying the conformational space accessible to ligand bound homologues and how the presence of the ligand alters the conformational and dynamic properties of the protein.

The enzymology of cystathionine biosynthesis: strategies for the control of substrate and reaction specificity

The ability of enzymes to catalyze specific reactions, while excluding others, is central to cellular metabolism. Control of reaction specificity is of particular importance for enzymes that employ catalytically versatile cofactors, of which pyridoxal 5'-phosphate is a prime example. Cystathionine gamma-synthase and cystathionine beta-synthase are the first enzymes in the transsulfuration and reverse transsulfuration pathways, respectively. Each of them occupies branch-point positions in amino acid metabolism and as such are subject to transcriptional and post-translational regulation. Both enzymes catalyze the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent formation of l-cystathionine; however, their substrate and reaction specificities are distinct. The mechanisms whereby these enzymes control the chemistry of the cofactor are the subject of this review.

pH dependence of tryptophan synthase catalytic mechanism: I. The first stage, the beta-elimination reaction

The pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent beta-subunit of the tryptophan synthase alpha(2)beta(2) complex catalyzes the condensation of L-serine with indole to form L-tryptophan. The first stage of the reaction is a beta-elimination that involves a very fast interconversion of the internal aldimine in a highly fluorescent L-serine external aldimine that decays, via the alpha-carbon proton removal and beta-hydroxyl group release, to the alpha-aminoacrylate Schiff base. This reaction is influenced by protons, monovalent cations, and alpha-subunit ligands that modulate the distribution between open and closed conformations. In order to identify the ionizable residues that might assist catalysis, we have investigated the pH dependence of the rate of the external aldimine decay by rapid scanning UV-visible absorption and single wavelength fluorescence stopped flow. In the pH range 6-9, the reaction was found to be biphasic with the first phase (rate constants k(1)) accounting for more than 70% of the signal change. In the absence of monovalent cations or in the presence of sodium and potassium ions, the pH dependence of k(1) exhibits a bell shaped profile characterized by a pK(a1) of about 6 and a pK(a2) of about 9, whereas in the presence of cesium ions, the pH dependence exhibits a saturation profile characterized by a single pK(a) of 9. The presence of the allosteric effector indole acetylglycine increases the rate of reaction without altering the pH profile and pK(a) values. By combining structural information for the internal aldimine, the external aldimine, and the alpha-aminoacrylate with kinetic data on the wild type enzyme and beta-active site mutants, we have tentatively assigned pK(a1) to betaAsp-305 and pK(a2) to betaLys-87. The loss of pK(a1) in the presence of cesium ions might be due to a shift to lower values, caused by the selective stabilization of a closed form of the beta-subunit.

Identification of a novel one-carbon metabolism regulon in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Glycine specifically induces genes encoding subunits of the glycine decarboxylase complex (GCV1, GCV2, and GCV3), and this is mediated by a fall in cytoplasmic levels of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate caused by inhibition of cytoplasmic serine hydroxymethyltransferase. Here it is shown that this control system extends to genes for other enzymes of one-carbon metabolism and de novo purine biosynthesis. Northern analysis of the response to glycine demonstrated that the induction of the GCV genes and the induction of other amino acid metabolism genes are temporally distinct. The genome-wide response to glycine revealed that several other genes are rapidly co-induced with the GCV genes, including SHM2, which encodes cytoplasmic serine hydroxymethyltransferase. These results were refined by examining transcript levels in an shm2Delta strain (in which cytoplasmic 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate levels are reduced) and a met13Delta strain, which lacks the main methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase activity of yeast and is effectively blocked at consumption of 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate for methionine synthesis. Glycine addition also caused a substantial transient disturbance to metabolism, including a sequence of changes in induction of amino acid biosynthesis and respiratory chain genes. Analysis of the glycine response in the shm2Delta strain demonstrated that apart from the one-carbon regulon, most of these transient responses were not contingent on a disturbance to one-carbon metabolism. The one-carbon response is distinct from the Bas1p purine biosynthesis regulon and thus represents the first example of transcriptional regulation in response to activated one-carbon status.

Structure and function of the tryptophan synthase alpha(2)beta(2) complex. Roles of beta subunit histidine 86

To probe the structural and functional roles of active-site residues in the tryptophan synthase alpha(2)beta(2) complex from Salmonella typhimurium, we have determined the effects of mutation of His(86) in the beta subunit. His(86) is located adjacent to beta subunit Lys(87), which forms an internal aldimine with the pyridoxal phosphate and catalyzes the abstraction of the alpha-proton of L-serine. The replacement of His(86) by leucine (H86L) weakened pyridoxal phosphate binding approximately 20-fold and abolished the circular dichroism signals of the bound coenzyme and of a reaction intermediate. Correlation of these results with previous crystal structures indicates that beta-His(86) plays a structural role in binding pyridoxal phosphate and in stabilizing the correct orientation of pyridoxal phosphate in the active site of the beta subunit. The H86L mutation also altered the pH profiles of absorbance and fluorescence signals and shifted the pH optimum for the synthesis of L-tryptophan from pH 7.5 to 8.8. We propose that the interaction of His(86) with the phosphate of pyridoxal phosphate and with Lys(87) lowers the pK(a) of Lys(87) in the wild-type alpha(2)beta(2) complex and thereby facilitates catalysis by Lys(87) in the physiological pH range.