Thioester enolate stabilization in the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases: the effect of 5-deaza-flavin substitution.

The redox-inactive thioester analog 3-thia-octanoyl-CoA blocks transfer of a hydride equivalent to the flavin prosthetic group of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase with the accumulation of a stable enolate intermediate not encountered with normal substrates. Substitution of the normal flavin with 5-deaza-FAD would thus be expected to lead to enolate formation with both normal and 3-thia-substrate analogs, because reduction of the 5-deaza-enzyme is thermodynamically highly unfavorable. However, spectrophotometric titrations show that neither ligand forms significant enolate species with the 5-deaza-FAD enzyme. Similarly, the substituted dehydrogenase catalyzes undetectable alpha-proton exchange with octanoyl-CoA and ca. 1% of the corresponding rate with 3-thia-octanoyl-CoA when compared to the native enzyme. This inability to stabilize enolate species is not simply due to impaired binding of CoA-thioester analogs, because binding of a range of ligands is weakened by only 2- to 10-fold with the 5-deaza-enzyme. 4-Thia-trans-2-enoyl-CoA product is polarized normally on binding to the substituted protein, showing that this critical aspect of catalysis is apparently normal. These data, together with studies with CoA-persulfide and acetoacetyl- and p-nitrophenylacetyl-CoA, suggest that 5-deaza-FAD substitution exerts subtle, unanticipated, effects on the reductive half-reaction of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. The involvement of charge-transfer interactions in the acidification of weakly acidic acyl-CoA thioesters is discussed.

4-Hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA: an ionizable probe of the active site of the medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

4-OH-Cinnamoyl-CoA has been synthesized as a probe of the active site in the medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. The protonated form of the free ligand (lambda(max) = 336 nm) yields the corresponding phenolate (lambda(max) = 388 nm) with a pK of 8.9. 4-OH-Cinnamoyl-CoA binds tightly (K(d) = 47 nM, pH 6) to the pig kidney dehydrogenase with a prominent new band at 388 nm, suggesting ionization of the bound ligand. However, this spectrum reflects polarization, not deprotonation, of the neutral form of the ligand. Thus, the 388 nm band is abolished as the pH is raised (not lowered), and analogous spectral and pH behavior is observed with the nonionizable analogue 4-methoxycinnamoyl-CoA. Studies with wild type, E99G, and E376Q mutants of the human medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase showed that these two active site carboxylates strongly suppress ionization of the 4-OH ligand. Binding to the double mutant E99G/E376Q gives an intense new band as the pH is raised (pK = 7.8), with an absorbance maximum at 498 nm resembling the natural 4-OH-cinnamoyl-thioester chromophore of the photoactive yellow protein. Raman difference spectroscopy in water and D(2)O, using the free ligand and wild-type and double-mutant enzyme.ligand complexes, confirms that the 4-OH group of the thioester is ionized only when bound to the double mutant. These data demonstrate the strong electrostatic coupling between ligand and enzyme, and the critical role Glu376 plays in modulating thioester polarization in the medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

Protonic equilibria in the reductive half-reaction of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

Oxidation of thioester substrates in the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase involves alpha-proton abstraction by the catalytic base, Glu376, with transfer of a beta-hydride equivalent to the flavin prosthetic group. Polarization of bound acyl-CoA derivatives by the recombinant human liver enzyme has been studied with 4-thia-trans-2-enoyl-CoA analogues. Polarization is maximal at low pH, with an apparent pK of 9.2 for complexes with the C8 analogue, and progressively lower pK values as the length of the chain increases. This pH effect reflects ionization of the catalytic base, since polarization of a variety of enoyl-CoA analogues by the Glu376Gln mutant is pH independent. Binding of these ligands is accompanied by uptake of about 1 proton with the wild-type enzyme, but only about 0.1 proton with the Glu376Gln mutant. Rapid reaction studies show that proton uptake with the wild-type enzyme occurs at the same rate as polarization of the enoyl-CoA thioester, but is much slower than the initial ligand binding step. Studies with 6-OH-FAD-substituted enzyme show that this isomerization reaction also influences the flavin prosthetic group inducing deprotonation to the green anionic form. The failure of the bound thioether analogue, octyl-SCoA, to elicit pK shifts to flavin and Glu376 shows the importance of the thioester carbonyl oxygen in modulating key properties of the medium-chain enzyme. The role of thioester-mediated desolvation within the active site of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenases is discussed.