Elucidation of the bicarbonate binding site and insights into the carboxylation mechanism of (N(5))-carboxyaminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthase (PurK) from Bacillus anthracis

Catalytic and structural properties of ATP-dependent caprolactamase from Pseudomonas jessenii

Caprolactamase is the first enzyme in the caprolactam degradation pathway of Pseudomonas jessenii. It is composed of two subunits (CapA and CapB) and sequence-related to other ATP-dependent enzymes involved in lactam hydrolysis, like 5-oxoprolinases and hydantoinases. Low sequence similarity also exists with ATP-dependent acetone- and acetophenone carboxylases. The caprolactamase was produced in Escherichia coli, isolated by His-tag affinity chromatography, and subjected to functional and structural studies. Activity toward caprolactam required ATP and was dependent on the presence of bicarbonate in the assay buffer. The hydrolysis product was identified as 6-aminocaproic acid. Quantum mechanical modeling indicated that the hydrolysis of caprolactam was highly disfavored (ΔG0 '= 23 kJ/mol), which explained the ATP dependence. A crystal structure showed that the enzyme exists as an (αβ)2 tetramer and revealed an ATP-binding site in CapA and a Zn-coordinating site in CapB. Mutations in the ATP-binding site of CapA (D11A and D295A) significantly reduced product formation. Mutants with substitutions in the metal binding site of CapB (D41A, H99A, D101A, and H124A) were inactive and less thermostable than the wild-type enzyme. These residues proved to be essential for activity and on basis of the experimental findings we propose possible mechanisms for ATP-dependent lactam hydrolysis.

Identification of Bacillus anthracis PurE inhibitors with antimicrobial activity

N(5)-carboxy-amino-imidazole ribonucleotide (N(5)-CAIR) mutase (PurE), a bacterial enzyme in the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway, has been suggested to be a target for antimicrobial agent development. We have optimized a thermal shift method for high-throughput screening of compounds binding to Bacillus anthracis PurE. We used a low ionic strength buffer condition to accentuate the thermal shift stabilization induced by compound binding to Bacillus anthracis PurE. The compounds identified were then subjected to computational docking to the active site to further select compounds likely to be inhibitors. A UV-based enzymatic activity assay was then used to select inhibitory compounds. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were subsequently obtained for the inhibitory compounds against Bacillus anthracis (ΔANR strain), Escherichia coli (BW25113 strain, wild-type and ΔTolC), Francisella tularensis, Staphylococcus aureus (both methicillin susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains) and Yersinia pestis. Several compounds exhibited excellent (0.05-0.15μg/mL) MIC values against Bacillus anthracis. A common core structure was identified for the compounds exhibiting low MIC values. The difference in concentrations for inhibition and MIC suggest that another enzyme(s) is also targeted by the compounds that we identified.