Structural explanation for allolactose (lac operon inducer) synthesis by lacZ ß-galactosidase and the evolutionary relationship between allolactose synthesis and the lac repressor.

ß-Galactosidase (lacZ) has bifunctional activity. It hydrolyzes lactose to galactose and glucose and catalyzes the intramolecular isomerization of lactose to allolactose, the lac operon inducer. ß-Galactosidase promotes the isomerization by means of an acceptor site that binds glucose after its cleavage from lactose and thus delays its exit from the site. However, because of its relatively low affinity for glucose, details of this site have remained elusive. We present structural data mapping the glucose site based on a substituted enzyme (G794A-ß-galactosidase) that traps allolactose. Various lines of evidence indicate that the glucose of the trapped allolactose is in the acceptor position. The evidence includes structures with Bis-Tris (2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2,2',2″-nitrilotriethanol) and L-ribose in the site and kinetic binding studies with substituted ß-galactosidases. The site is composed of Asn-102, His-418, Lys-517, Ser-796, Glu-797, and Trp-999. Ser-796 and Glu-797 are part of a loop (residues 795-803) that closes over the active site. This loop appears essential for the bifunctional nature of the enzyme because it helps form the glucose binding site. In addition, because the loop is mobile, glucose binding is transient, allowing the release of some glucose. Bioinformatics studies showed that the residues important for interacting with glucose are only conserved in a subset of related enzymes. Thus, intramolecular isomerization is not a universal feature of ß-galactosidases. Genomic analyses indicated that lac repressors were co-selected only within the conserved subset. This shows that the glucose binding site of ß-galactosidase played an important role in lac operon evolution.

Substitution for Asn460 cripples ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) by increasing substrate affinity and decreasing transition state stability.

Substrate initially binds to ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) at a 'shallow' site. It then moves ∼3Å to a 'deep' site and the transition state forms. Asn460 interacts in both sites, forming a water bridge interaction with the O3 hydroxyl of the galactosyl moiety in the shallow site and a direct H-bond with the O2 hydroxyl of the transition state in the deep site. Structural and kinetic studies were done with ß-galactosidases with substitutions for Asn460. The substituted enzymes have enhanced substrate affinity in the shallow site indicating lower E·substrate complex energy levels. They have poor transition state stabilization in the deep site that is manifested by increased energy levels of the E·transition state complexes. These changes in stability result in increased activation energies and lower k(cat) values. Substrate affinity to N460D-ß-galactosidase was enhanced through greater binding enthalpy (stronger H-bonds through the bridging water) while better affinity to N460T-ß-galactosidase occurred because of greater binding entropy. The transition states are less stable with N460S- and N460T-ß-galactosidase because of the weakening or loss of the important bond to the O2 hydroxyl of the transition state. For N460D-ß-galactosidase, the transition state is less stable due to an increased entropy penalty.

Importance of Arg-599 of ß-galactosidase (Escherichia coli) as an anchor for the open conformations of Phe-601 and the active-site loop.

Structural and kinetic data show that Arg-599 of ß-galactosidase plays an important role in anchoring the "open" conformations of both Phe-601 and an active-site loop (residues 794-803). When alanine was substituted for Arg-599, the conformations of Phe-601 and the loop shifted towards the "closed" positions because interactions with the guanidinium side chain were lost. Also, Phe-601, the loop, and Na+, which is ligated by the backbone carbonyl of Phe-601, lost structural order, as indicated by large B-factors. IPTG, a substrate analog, restored the conformations of Phe-601 and the loop of R599A-ß-galactosidase to the open state found with IPTG-complexed native enzyme and partially reinstated order. ᴅ-Galactonolactone, a transition state analog, restored the closed conformations of R599A-ß-galactosidase to those found with ᴅ-galactonolactone-complexed native enzyme and completely re-established the order. Substrates and substrate analogs bound R599A-ß-galactosidase with less affinity because the closed conformation does not allow substrate binding and extra energy is required for Phe-601 and the loop to open. In contrast, transition state analog binding, which occurs best when the loop is closed, was several-fold better. The higher energy level of the enzyme•substrate complex and the lower energy level of the first transition state means that less activation energy is needed to form the first transition state and thus the rate of the first catalytic step (k2) increased substantially. The rate of the second catalytic step (k3) decreased, likely because the covalent form is more stabilized than the second transition state when Phe-601 and the loop are closed. The importance of the guanidinium group of Arg-599 was confirmed by restoration of conformation, order, and activity by guanidinium ions.

Role of Met-542 as a guide for the conformational changes of Phe-601 that occur during the reaction of β-galactosidase (Escherichia coli).

The Met-542 residue of ß-galactosidase is important for the enzyme's activity because it acts as a guide for the movement of the benzyl side chain of Phe-601 between two stable positions. This movement occurs in concert with an important conformational change (open vs. closed) of an active site loop (residues 794-803). Phe-601 and Arg-599, which interact with each other via the π electrons of Phe-601 and the guanidium cation of Arg-599, move out of their normal positions and become disordered when Met-542 is replaced by an Ala residue because of the loss of the guide. Since the backbone carbonyl of Phe-601 is a ligand for Na(+), the Na(+) also moves out of its normal position and becomes disordered; the Na(+) binds about 120 times more poorly. In turn, two other Na(+) ligands, Asn-604 and Asp-201, become disordered. A substrate analog (IPTG) restored Arg-599, Phe-601, and Na(+) to their normal open-loop positions, whereas a transition state analog d-galactonolactone) restored them to their normal closed-loop positions. These compounds also restored order to Phe-601, Asn-604, Asp-201, and Na(+). Binding energy was, however, necessary to restore structure and order. The K(s) values of oNPG and pNPG and the competitive K(i) values of substrate analogs were 90-250 times higher than with native enzyme, whereas the competitive K(i) values of transition state analogs were ~3.5-10 times higher. Because of this, the E•S energy level is raised more than the E•transition state energy level and less activation energy is needed for galactosylation. The galactosylation rates (k2) of M542A-ß-galactosidase therefore increase. However, the rate of degalactosylation (k3) decreased because the E•transition state complex is less stable.

Studies of Glu-416 variants of beta-galactosidase (E. coli) show that the active site Mg(2+) is not important for structure and indicate that the main role of Mg (2+) is to mediate optimization of active site chemistry.

Variants of beta-galactosidase with Valine and with Glutamine replacing Glutamate-416 did not have a Mg(2+) bound at the active site even at high Mg(2+) concentrations (200 mM). They had low catalytic activity and the pH profiles were very different from those of the native enzyme. In addition, substrates, substrate analogs, transition state analogs and galactose bound very poorly. However, the orientation and conformation of the Mg(2+) ligands (residues 416, 418, and 461) as well as the B-factors of these three side chains did not change significantly. The structures, conformations and B-factors of other active site residues were also essentially unchanged. These studies show that the active site Mg(2+) is not necessary for structure and is, therefore, mainly important for modulating the chemistry and mediating the interactions between the active site components.

Direct and indirect roles of His-418 in metal binding and in the activity of beta-galactosidase (E. coli).

The active site of ss-galactosidase (E. coli) contains a Mg(2+) ion ligated by Glu-416, His-418 and Glu-461 plus three water molecules. A Na(+) ion binds nearby. To better understand the role of the active site Mg(2+) and its ligands, His-418 was substituted with Asn, Glu and Phe. The Asn-418 and Glu-418 variants could be crystallized and the structures were shown to be very similar to native enzyme. The Glu-418 variant showed increased mobility of some residues in the active site, which explains why the substitutions at the Mg(2+) site also reduce Na(+) binding affinity. The Phe variant had reduced stability, bound Mg(2+) weakly and could not be crystallized. All three variants have low catalytic activity due to large decreases in the degalactosylation rate. Large decreases in substrate binding affinity were also observed but transition state analogs bound as well or better than to native. The results indicate that His-418, together with the Mg(2+), modulate the central role of Glu-461 in binding and as a general acid/base catalyst in the overall catalytic mechanism. Glucose binding as an acceptor was also dramatically decreased, indicating that His-418 is very important for the formation of allolactose (the natural inducer of the lac operon).

Practical considerations when using temperature to obtain rate constants and activation thermodynamics of enzymes with two catalytic steps: native and N460T-beta-galactosidase (E. coli) as examples.

The values of the rate constants and the associated enthalpies and entropies of enzymes with two catalytic steps can be measured by determining the effects of temperature on the k (cat) values. Practical considerations that should be taken into account when doing this are presented. The narrow temperature range available with enzymes and the sensitivity of pH to temperature mean that special attention to detail must be taken and this study highlights the assiduousness needed. The necessity of conversion of apparent k (cat) to true k (cat) values when assays are done with products having pKa values near to the assay pH is shown and the importance of obtaining sufficient data is emphasized. Reasons that non-linear regression should be used to obtain the estimates of rate constants and activation thermodynamic parameters are given. Other precautions and recommendations are also presented. Results obtained by this method for native beta-galactosidase (E. coli) and for a beta-galactosidase in which a Thr was substituted for Asn-460 were analyzed to demonstrate the valuable mechanistic details of enzymes that can be obtained from studies of this type.