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Vincent L Vilker

Publications and source records attributed to Vincent L Vilker.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Extrinsic factors potassium chloride and glycerol induce thermostability in recombinant anthranilate synthase from Archaeoglobus fulgidus.

Thermostable anthranilate synthase from the marine sulfate-reducing hyperthermophile Archaeoglobus fulgidus has been expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized. The functional enzyme is an alpha2beta2 heterotetrameric complex of molecular mass 150+/-15 kDa. It is composed of two TrpE (50 kDa) and two TrpG (18 kDa) subunits. The extrinsic factors glycerol (25%) and potassium chloride (2 M) stabilized the recombinant enzyme against thermal inactivation. In the presence of these extrinsic factors, the enzyme was highly thermostable, exhibiting a half-life of thermal inactivation of about 1 h at 85 degrees C. The kinetic constants for the enzyme under these conditions were: Km (chorismate) 84 microM, Km (glutamine) 7.0 mM, kcat 0.25 s(-1), and pH optimum 8.0. The enzyme was competitively, though non-cooperatively, inhibited by tryptophan.

Anthranilate Synthase↗

Temperature-induced structural changes in putidaredoxin: a circular dichroism and UV-VIS absorption study.

Putidaredoxin (Pdx) is an 11,400-Da iron-sulfur protein that sequentially transfers two electrons to the cytochrome P450cam during the enzymatic cycle of the stereospecific camphor hydroxylation. We report two transitions in the Pdx UV-VIS absorption and circular dichroism (CD) temperature dependencies, occurring at 16.3+/-0.5 degrees C and 28.4+/-0.5 degrees C. The 16.3 degrees C transition is attributed to the disruption of the hydrogen bonding of the active center bridging sulfur atom with cysteine 45 and alanine 46. The transition at 28.4 degrees C occurs exclusively in the Pdx(ox) at very nearly the same temperature as the earlier reported biphasicity in the redox potential. The formal potential temperature slope constancy reflects the relative stability of the concentration ratio of both oxidation states. The lower temperature transition affects both Pdx(red) and Pdx(ox) to a comparable extent, and their concentration ratio remains constant. In contrast, the 28.4 degrees C transition preferentially destabilizes Pdx(ox) thereby accelerating the formal potential negative shift and lower redox reaction entropy. There is evidence to suggest that disrupting hydrogen bonding of the iron ligating cysteines 45, 39 with residues threonine 47, serine 44, glycine 41, and serine 42 causes the 28.4 degrees C transition. The sensitivity of the UV-VIS absorption and CD spectroscopy to subtle structural protein backbone transitions is demonstrated.

Alanine↗

Structure of C73G putidaredoxin from Pseudomonas putida.

The structure of the C73G mutant of putidaredoxin (Pdx), the Fe(2)S(2) ferredoxin that supplies electrons to cytochrome CYP101 (p450cam) for camphor oxidation, is reported at 1.9 A resolution in a C2 crystal form. The structure was solved by single-wavelength iron anomalous diffraction, which yielded electron density above the 2sigma level for over 97% of the non-H atoms in the protein. The final structure with R = 0.19 and R(free) = 0.21 has been deposited in the Protein Data Bank with accession code 1r7s. The C2 crystal contains three Pdx molecules in the asymmetric unit, giving three independent models of the protein that are very similar (r.m.s.d. < 0.3 A for the 106 C(alpha) atoms). The unusually high solvent fraction of 80% results in comparatively few crystal-packing artifacts. The structure is briefly compared with the recently reported crystal structures of the C73S and C73S/C85S mutants. In general, the eight independent molecules in the three crystal structures (three in C73G, three in C73S and two in C73S/C85S) are much more similar to each other than to the previously reported NMR structure of wild-type Pdx in solution. The present findings show a unanimous structure in some regions crucial for electron-transfer interactions, including the cluster-binding loop 39-48 and the cytochrome-interaction region of Asp38 and Trp106. In addition, the Cys45 amide group donates a hydrogen bond to cluster sulfur S1, with Ala46 adopting an Lalpha conformation, in all three molecules in the crystal.

Binding Sites↗

Structural alterations of the heme environment of cytochrome P450cam and the Y96F mutant as deduced by resonance Raman spectroscopy.

Resonance Raman spectroscopy at 2.5cm(-1) resolution was used to probe differences in wild-type and Y96F mutant P450cam (CYP101), both with and without bound camphor or styrene substrates. In the substrate-free state, the spin state equilibrium is shifted from 6-coordinate low spin (6CLS) toward more 5-coordinate high spin (5CHS) when tyrosine-96 in the substrate pocket is replaced by phenylalanine. About 25% of substrate-free Y96F mutant is 5CHS as opposed to 8% for substrate-free wild-type P450cam. Spin equilibrium constants calculated from Raman intensities indicate that the driving force for electron transfer from putidaredoxin, the natural redox partner of P450cam, is significantly smaller on styrene binding than for camphor binding. Spectral differences suggest that there is a tilt in camphor toward the pyrrole III ring on Y96F mutation. This finding is consistent with the altered product distribution found for camphor hydroxylation by the Y96F mutant relative to the single enantiomer produced by the wild-type enzyme.

Biochemical Phenomena↗

Effect of oxygen on the dehalogenation of 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane by cytochrome P450cam (CYP101).

Cytochromes P450 are known to exhibit diverse catalytic functions against a large number of hydrocarbon substrates. The determinants of specific activity(ies) that operate on specific substrates have not been widely explored. Earlier, we showed that dehalogenation of 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) by P450cam (CYP101) monooxygenase exhibits oxygen- and substrate-dependent product distributions and reaction rates (1). Bromochloroacetone was the major conversion product when incubation media were saturated with oxygen, whereas allyl chloride was the sole product accounting for virtually all of the DBCP converted in the absence of oxygen. In an effort to develop a quantitative understanding of the effect of oxygen on product distribution and reaction rate, we have identified first generation products and measured reaction rates at four oxygen levels ranging from 0.01% to 100% saturation. In addition to bromochloroacetone and allyl chloride, a number of bromochloropropene isomers were identified in the presence of oxygen and are thought to be formed by an elimination mechanism. These products accounted for greater than 97 mol % of the reacted DBCP, which was run to high conversion (60-100 mol % DBCP converted). These measurements suggest that P450cam acts on the DBCP substrate through hydroxylation to produce 1-bromo-3-chloroacetone, through reduction to produce allyl chloride, and through elimination to produce bromochloropropene, with oxygen concentration determining the extent of each activity. A global data fitting kinetic model that describes the time-varying concentrations of substrate and products was developed to quantify the controlling level of oxygen on these multiple activities. The parameters of the model were compared with independent measurements and data from the literature.

Camphor 5-Monooxygenase↗