PubMed · 12152057
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P G Schultz, R A Lerner. 2002-08-01. Completing the circle.. https://doi.org/10.1038/418485a
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The structure of L-rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase has been established at 1.35 A resolution in a crystal form that was obtained by a surface mutation and has one subunit of the C(4)-symmetric tetramer in the asymmetric unit. It confirms an earlier 2.7 A resolution structure which was determined in a complicated crystal form with 20 subunits per asymmetric unit. The chain fold and the active center are similar to those of L-fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase and L-ribulose-5-phosphate 4-epimerase. The active center similarity is supported by a structural comparison of all three enzymes and by the binding mode of the inhibitor phosphoglycolohydroxamate at the site of the product dihydroxyacetone phosphate for the two aldolases. The sensitivity of the catalytic rate to several mutations and a comparison with the established mechanism of the related aldolase give rise to a putative catalytic mechanism. This mechanism involves the same binding mode of the second product L-lactaldehyde in both aldolases, except for a 180 degrees flip of the aldehyde group distinguishing between the two epimers rhamnulose and fuculose. The N-terminal domain exhibits a correlated anisotropic mobility that channels the isotropic Brownian motion into a directed movement of the catalytic base and the substrate phosphate on the N-domain toward the zinc ion and the lactaldehyde on the C-terminal domain. We suggest that this movement supports the catalysis mechanically.
3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonate-8-phosphate (KDO8P) synthase, catalyzes the aldol-type condensation between phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and D-arabinose-5-phosphate (A5P) to produce the unusual 8-carbon sugar KDO8P, and inorganic phosphate. A 15.5-kb segment containing the kdsA gene from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex pyrophilus was cloned from a genomic library and sequenced. The native kdsA gene lacks a typical ribosome binding site, but contains a conserved U,A-rich sequence upstream to the start codon. The purified kdsA gene product catalyzes the formation of KDO8P from its natural substrates, PEP and A5P, as determined by (1)H NMR analysis. KDO8P synthase showed maximum activity at 80 degrees C and pH 5.5-6.0 at 10-min reaction assay. At temperatures of 70, 80, and 90 degrees C, the enzyme exhibited half-lives of 8.0, 2.25, and 0.5 h, respectively. The kinetic constants at 60 degrees C were K(m)(A5P)=70 microM, K(m)(PEP)=290 microM, and k(cat)=4 s(-1). The isolated enzyme contained 0.19 and 0.26 mol iron and zinc, respectively, per mole of enzyme subunit. Treatment with metal chelators eliminated enzyme activity, and by the addition of several divalent metal ions, the activity was restored and even exceeded the original activity. These results indicate that A. pyrophilus KDO8P synthase is a metal-dependent enzyme. A C11A mutant of KDO8P synthase from A. pyrophulis retained less than 1% of the wild-type activity and was shown to be incapable of metal binding.
Insights into the early molecular events involving protein-ligand/substrate interactions such as protein signaling and enzyme catalysis can be obtained by examining these processes on a very short, millisecond time scale. We have used time-resolved electrospray mass spectrometry to delineate the catalytic mechanism of a key enzyme in bacterial lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, 3-deoxy-d-manno-2-octulosonate-8-phosphate synthase (KDO8PS). Direct real-time monitoring of the catalytic reaction under single enzyme turnover conditions reveals a novel hemiketal phosphate intermediate bound to the enzyme in a noncovalent complex that establishes the reaction pathway. This study illustrates the successful application of mass spectrometry to reveal transient biochemical processes and opens a new time domain that can provide detailed structural information of short-lived protein-ligand complexes.