Investigating effect of mutation on structure and function of G6PD enzyme: a comparative molecular dynamics simulation study.

Several natural mutants of the human G6PD enzyme exist and have been reported. Because the enzymatic activities of many mutants are different from that of the wildtype, the genetic polymorphism of G6PD plays an important role in the synthesis of nucleic acids via ribulose-5-phosphate and formation of reduced NADP in response to oxidative stress. G6PD mutations leading to its deficiency result in the neonatal jaundice and acute hemolytic anemia in human. Herein, we demonstrate the molecular dynamics simulations of the wildtype G6PD and its three mutants to monitor the effect of mutations on dynamics and stability of the protein. These mutants are Chatham (A335T), Nashville (R393H), Alhambra (V394L), among which R393H and V394L lie closer to binding site of structural NADP+. MD analysis including RMSD, RMSF and protein secondary structure revealed that decrease in the stability of mutants is key factor for loss of their activity. The results demonstrated that mutations in the G6PD sequence resulted in altered structural stability and hence functional changes in enzymes. Also, the binding site, of structural NADP+, which is far away from the catalytic site plays an important role in protein stability and folding. Mutation at this site causes changes in structural stability and hence functional deviations in enzyme structure reflecting the importance of structural NADP+ binding site. The calculation of binding free energy by post processing end state method of Molecular Mechanics Poisson Boltzmann SurfaceArea (MM-PBSA) has inferred that ligand binding in wildtype is favorable as compared to mutants which represent destabilised protein structure due to mutation that in turn may hinder the normal physiological function. Exploring individual components of free energy revealed that the van der Waals energy component representing non-polar/hydrophobic energy contribution act as a dominant factor in case of ligand binding. Our study also provides an insight in identifying the key inhibitory site in G6PD and its mutants which can be exploited to use them as a target for developing new inhibitors in rational drug design.

The hydrolysis of 6-phosphogluconolactone in the second step of pentose phosphate pathway occurs via a two-water mechanism.

Hydrolysis reaction marks the basis of life yet the mechanism of this crucial biochemical reaction is not completely understood. We recently reported the mechanisms of hydrolysis of nucleoside triphosphate and phosphate monoester. These two reactions hydrolyze P-O-P and P-O-C linkages, respectively. Here, we present the mechanism of hydrolysis of δ-6-phosphogluconolactone, which is an important precursor in the second step of the pentose phosphate pathway. Its hydrolysis requires the cleavage of C-O-C linkage and its mechanism is hitherto unknown. We report three mechanisms of hydrolysis of δ-6-phosphogluconolactone based on density functional computations. In the energetically most favorable mechanism, two water molecules participate in the hydrolysis reaction and the mechanism is sequential, i.e., activation of the attacking water molecule (OH bond breaking) precedes that of the cleavage of the CO bond of the C-O-C linkage. The rate-limiting energy barrier of this mechanism is comparable to the reported experimental free energy barrier. This mechanism has similarities with the mechanism of triphosphate hydrolysis and that of hydrolytic cleavage of DNA in EcoRV enzyme. This two-water sequential hydrolysis mechanism could be the unified mechanism required for the hydrolysis of other hydrolysable species in living cells.

Effect of protonation on the mechanism of phosphate monoester hydrolysis and comparison with the hydrolysis of nucleoside triphosphate in biomolecular motors.

Hydrolysis of phosphate groups is a crucial reaction in living cells. It involves the breaking of two strong bonds, i.e. the OaH bond of the attacking water molecule, and the POl bond of the substrate (Oa and Ol stand for attacking and leaving oxygen atoms). Mechanism of the hydrolysis reaction can proceed either by a concurrent or a sequential mechanism. In the concurrent mechanism, the breaking of OaH and POl bonds occurs simultaneously, whereas in the sequential mechanism, the OaH and POl bonds break at different stages of the reaction. To understand how protonation affects the mechanism of hydrolysis of phosphate monoester, we have studied the mechanism of hydrolysis of protonated and deprotonated phosphate monoester at M06-2X/6-311+G**//M06-2X/6-31+G*+ZPE level of theory (where ZPE stands for zero point energy). Our calculations show that in both protonated and deprotonated cases, the breaking of the water OaH bond occurs before the breaking of the POl bond. Because the two events are not separated by a stable intermediate, the mechanism can be categorized as semi-concurrent. The overall energy barrier is 41kcalmol-1 in the unprotonated case. Most (5/6th) of this is due to the initial breaking of the water OaH bond. This component is lowered from 34 to 25kcalmol-1 by adding one proton to the phosphate. The rest of the overall energy barrier comes from the subsequent breaking of the POl bond and is not sensitive to protonation. This is consistent with previous findings about the effect of triphosphate protonation on the hydrolysis, where the equivalent protonation (on the γ-phosphate) was seen to lower the barrier of breaking the water OaH bond and to have little effect on the POl bond breaking. Hydrolysis pathways of phosphate monoester with initial breaking of the POl bond could not be found here. This is because the leaving group in phosphate monoester cannot be protonated, unlike in triphosphate hydrolysis, where protonation of the ß- and γ-phosphates had been shown to promote a mechanism where the POl bond breaks before the OaH bond does. We also point out that the charge shift due to POl bond breaking during sequential ATP hydrolysis in bio-molecular motors onsets the week unbinding of hydrolysis product that finally leads to the product release during power stroke.