Impact of the physical and chemical environment on the molecular structure of Coprinus cinereus peroxidase.

The structure of the peroxidase from Coprinus cinereus (CiP) has been determined in three different space groups and crystalline environments. Two of these are of the recombinant glycosylated form (rCiP), which crystallized in space groups P2(1)2(1)2(1) and C2. The third crystal form was obtained from a variant of CiP in which the glycosylation sites have been removed (rCiPON). It crystallizes in space group P2(1) with beta approximately 90 degrees; the structure was determined from room-temperature data and low-temperature data obtained from twinned crystals. Two independent molecules of CiP related by non-crystallographic symmetry are contained in the three crystal forms. The packing in the two structures of the glycosylated form of rCiP is closely related, but differs from the packing in the unglycosylated rCiPON. A database search based on small-molecule porphinato iron (III) complexes has been performed and related to observations of the spin states and coordination numbers of the iron ion. The room-temperature structures of CiP and one structure of the almost identical peroxidase from Arthromyces ramosus (ARP) have been used to identify 66 conserved water molecules and to assign a structural role to most of them.

The structure of a mutant enzyme of Coprinus cinereus peroxidase provides an understanding of its increased thermostability.

Seven amino-acid substitutions introduced into the 343 amino-acid-long sequence of Coprinus cinereus peroxidase (CiP) led to a mutant enzyme (TS-rCiP) which is more stable than the native enzyme at higher temperature, pH and hydrogen peroxide concentrations. It is therefore more suitable for industrial applications. A structure determination was conducted on a deglycosylated but still active form of TS-rCiP based on X-ray diffraction data to 2.05 A resolution measured on a crystal cooled to 100 K and refined to R = 0.202 and R(free) = 0.249. The increased stability of the TS-rCiP enzyme can be understood from the structural changes of the TS-rCiP structure revealed by a comparative analysis with other known CiP structures. One of the more significant changes caused by three of the substitutions, I49S, V53A and T121A, is the conversion of a hydrophobic pocket into a hydrophilic pocket with associated changes in the water structure and the hydrogen-bonding interactions. The E239G substitution, which gives rise to increased thermostability at high pH, creates changes in the water structure and in the orientation of a phenylalanine (Phe236) in its vicinity. The three substitutions M166F, M242 and Y242F introduced to increase the oxidative stability do not introduce any structural changes.