Kinetic and spectroscopic evidence of negative cooperativity in the action of lysine 2,3-aminomutase.

Lysine 2,3-aminomutase (LAM) catalyzes the interconversion of L-lysine and L-ß-lysine, a component of a number of antibiotics. The reaction requires the cofactors S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP), and a [4Fe-4S] cluster. LAM is a founding member of the radical SAM superfamily of enzymes. LAM is highly specific for L-lysine and will not accept most other amino acids as substrates. L-alanine and L-2-aminobutyrate at 0.2 M react as substrates for LAM at, respectively, 5 × 10(-6) and 8 × 10(-5) times the rate with saturating L-lysine. Saturating ethylamine accelerates the L-alanine reaction 70-fold, and saturating methylamine accelerates the L-2-aminobutyrate reaction 47-fold. The primary amines binding at the active site of LAM with L-alanine or L-2-aminobutyrate simulate L-lysine. The steady-state kinetics of the reaction of L-alanine + ethylamine displays negative cooperativity with respect to L-alanine. The second-order rate constant for production of ß-alanine in the reaction of L-alanine and saturating ethylamine is 0.040 M(-1) s(-1), which is 2 × 10(-5) times the value of k(cat)/K(m) for the reaction of L-lysine. When L-lysine is at a concentration 1/16th of K(m), the lysyl-free radical intermediate is hardly detectable by EPR; however, the addition of L-alanine at high concentration (0.2 M) enhances free radical formation, and the addition of ethylamine further enhances radical formation. These facts complement the kinetic observations and support negative cooperativity in the reaction of L-alanine as a substrate for LAM. Present results and independent evidence support negative cooperativity in the reaction of L-lysine as well.

The Radical SAM Superfamily.

The radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) superfamily currently comprises more than 2800 proteins with the amino acid sequence motif CxxxCxxC unaccompanied by a fourth conserved cysteine. The charcteristic three-cysteine motif nucleates a [4Fe-4S] cluster, which binds SAM as a ligand to the unique Fe not ligated to a cysteine residue. The members participate in more than 40 distinct biochemical transformations, and most members have not been biochemically characterized. A handful of the members of this superfamily have been purified and at least partially characterized. Significant mechanistic and structural information is available for lysine 2,3-aminomutase, pyruvate formate-lyase, coproporphyrinogen III oxidase, and MoaA required for molybdopterin biosynthesis. Biochemical information is available for spore photoproduct lyase, anaerobic ribonucleotide reductase activation subunit, lipoyl synthase, and MiaB involved in methylthiolation of isopentenyladenine-37 in tRNA. The radical SAM enzymes biochemically characterized to date have in common the cleavage of the [4Fe-4S](1 +) -SAM complex to [4Fe-4S](2 +)-Met and the 5' -deoxyadenosyl radical, which abstracts a hydrogen atom from the substrate to initiate a radical mechanism.

Glutamate 2,3-aminomutase: a new member of the radical SAM superfamily of enzymes.

A gene eam in Clostridium difficile encodes a protein that is homologous to lysine 2,3-aminomutase (LAM) in many other species but does not have the lysyl-binding residues Asp293 and Asp330 in LAM from Clostridium subterminale SB4. The C. difficile protein has Lys and Asn, respectively, in the sequence positions of the essential Asp residues in LAM. The C. difficile gene has been cloned into an E. coli expression vector, expressed in E. coli, and the protein purified and characterized. The recombinant protein displays excellent activity as a glutamate 2,3-aminomutase and no activity toward l-lysine. The PLP-, iron-, and sulfide-content and ultraviolet/visible spectrum are similar to LAM, and the enzyme requires SAM and dithionite as activators, as does LAM. Freeze-quench EPR experiments in the presence of l-glutamate reveal a glutamate-based free radical in the steady state of the reaction. A number of other bacterial genomes include genes encoding proteins homologous to the glutamate 2,3-aminomutase from C. difficile, and four of these proteins display the activity of glutamate 2,3-aminomutase when produced in E. coli. All of the homologous proteins have the cysteine motif CSMYCRHC corresponding to the motif CxxxCxxC characteristic of radical SAM enzymes. It is concluded that glutamate 2,3-aminomutase from C. difficile is a representative of a family found in a number of bacteria. It is likely that the beta-glutamate found in a few bacterial and archeal species as an osmolyte arises from the action of glutamate 2,3-aminomutase.

Identification of structural and catalytic classes of highly conserved amino acid residues in lysine 2,3-aminomutase.

Lysine 2,3-aminomutase (LAM) from Clostridium subterminale SB4 catalyzes the interconversion of (S)-lysine and (S)-beta-lysine by a radical mechanism involving coenzymatic actions of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a [4Fe-4S] cluster, and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP). The enzyme contains a number of conserved acidic residues and a cysteine- and arginine-rich motif, which binds iron and sulfide in the [4Fe-4S] cluster. The results of activity and iron, sulfide, and PLP analysis of variants resulting from site-specific mutations of the conserved acidic residues and the arginine residues in the iron-sulfide binding motif indicate two classes of conserved residues of each type. Mutation of the conserved residues Arg134, Asp293, and Asp330 abolishes all enzymatic activity. On the basis of the X-ray crystal structure, these residues bind the epsilon-aminium and alpha-carboxylate groups of (S)-lysine. However, among these residues, only Asp293 appears to be important for stabilizing the [4Fe-4S] cluster. Members of a second group of conserved residues appear to stabilize the structure of LAM. Mutations of arginine 130, 135, and 136 and acidic residues Glu86, Asp165, Glu236, and Asp172 dramatically decrease iron and sulfide contents in the purified variants. Mutation of Asp96 significantly decreases iron and sulfide content. Arg130 or Asp172 variants display no detectable activity, whereas variants mutated at the other positions display low to very low activities. Structural roles are assigned to this latter class of conserved amino acids. In particular, a network of hydrogen bonded interactions of Arg130, Glu86, Arg135, and the main chain carbonyl groups of Cys132 and Leu55 appears to stabilize the [4Fe-4S] cluster.

Structure and mechanism of an ADP-glucose phosphorylase from Arabidopsis thaliana.

The X-ray crystal structure of the At5g18200.1 protein has been determined to a nominal resolution of 2.30 A. The structure has a histidine triad (HIT)-like fold containing two distinct HIT-like motifs. The sequence of At5g18200.1 indicates a distant family relationship to the Escherichia coli galactose-1-P uridylyltransferase (GalT): the determined structure of the At5g18200.1 protein confirms this relationship. The At5g18200.1 protein does not demonstrate GalT activity but instead catalyzes adenylyl transfer in the reaction of ADP-glucose with various phosphates. The best acceptor among those evaluated is phosphate itself; thus, the At5g18200.1 enzyme appears to be an ADP-glucose phosphorylase. The enzyme catalyzes the exchange of (14)C between ADP-[(14)C]glucose and glucose-1-P in the absence of phosphate. The steady state kinetics of exchange follows the ping-pong bi-bi kinetic mechanism, with a k(cat) of 4.1 s(-)(1) and K(m) values of 1.4 and 83 microM for ADP-[(14)C]glucose and glucose-1-P, respectively, at pH 8.5 and 25 degrees C. The overall reaction of ADP-glucose with phosphate to produce ADP and glucose-1-P follows ping-pong bi-bi steady state kinetics, with a k(cat) of 2.7 s(-)(1) and K(m) values of 6.9 and 90 microM for ADP-glucose and phosphate, respectively, at pH 8.5 and 25 degrees C. The kinetics are consistent with a double-displacement mechanism that involves a covalent adenylyl-enzyme intermediate. The X-ray crystal structure of this intermediate was determined to 1.83 A resolution and shows the AMP group bonded to His(186). The value of K(eq) in the direction of ADP and glucose-1-P formation is 5.0 at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C in the absence of a divalent metal ion, and it is 40 in the presence of 1 mM MgCl(2).

The x-ray crystal structure of lysine-2,3-aminomutase from Clostridium subterminale.

The x-ray crystal structure of the pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP), S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), and [4Fe-4S]-dependent lysine-2,3-aminomutase (LAM) of Clostridium subterminale has been solved to 2.1-A resolution by single-wavelength anomalous dispersion methods on a L-selenomethionine-substituted complex of LAM with [4Fe-4S]2+, PLP, SAM, and L-alpha-lysine, a very close analog of the active Michaelis complex. The unit cell contains a dimer of hydrogen-bonded, domain-swapped dimers, the subunits of which adopt a fold that contains all three cofactors in a central channel defined by six beta/alpha structural units. Zinc coordination links the domain-swapped dimers. In each subunit, the solvent face of the channel is occluded by an N-terminal helical domain, with the opposite end of the channel packed against the domain-swapped subunit. Hydrogen-bonded ionic contacts hold the external aldimine of PLP and L-alpha-lysine in position for abstraction of the 3-pro-R hydrogen of lysine by C5' of SAM. The structure of the SAM/[4Fe-4S] complex confirms and extends conclusions from spectroscopic studies of LAM and shows selenium in Se-adenosyl-L-selenomethionine poised to ligate the unique iron in the [4Fe-4S] cluster upon electron transfer and radical formation. The chain fold in the central domain is in part analogous to other radical-SAM enzymes.

Ornithine cyclodeaminase: structure, mechanism of action, and implications for the mu-crystallin family.

Ornithine cyclodeaminase catalyzes the conversion of L-ornithine to L-proline by an NAD(+)-dependent hydride transfer reaction that culminates in ammonia elimination. Phylogenetic comparisons of amino acid sequences revealed that the enzyme belongs to the mu-crystallin protein family whose three-dimensional fold has not been reported. Here we describe the crystal structure of ornithine cyclodeaminase in complex with NADH, refined to 1.80 A resolution. The enzyme consists of a homodimeric fold whose subunits comprise two functional regions: (i) a novel substrate-binding domain whose antiparallel beta-strands form a 14-stranded barrel at the oligomeric interface and (ii) a canonical Rossmann fold that interacts with a single dinucleotide positioned for re hydride transfer. The adenosyl moiety of the cofactor resides in a solvent-exposed crevice on the protein surface and makes contact with a "domain-swapped"-like coil-helix module originating from the dyad-related molecule. Diffraction data were also collected to 1.60 A resolution on crystals grown in the presence of l-ornithine. The structure revealed that the substrate carboxyl group interacts with the side chains of Arg45, Lys69, and Arg112. In addition, the ammonia leaving group hydrogen bonds to the side chain of Asp228 and the site of hydride transfer is 3.8 A from C4 of the nicotinamide. The absence of an appropriately positioned water suggested that a previously proposed mechanism that calls for hydrolytic elimination of the imino intermediate must be reconsidered. A more parsimonious description of the chemical mechanism is proposed and discussed in relation to the structure and function of mu-crystallins.

Crystallization and X-ray diffraction analysis of ornithine cyclodeaminase from Pseudomonas putida.

Ornithine cyclodeaminase (OCD) is a member of the micro-crystallin protein family, the biological activity of which is the conversion of L-ornithine to L-proline and ammonia. In order to elucidate the functional groups of this enzyme that are involved in catalysis, the crystallization of OCD from Pseudomonas putida was undertaken. Using microbatch-under-oil screening at the high-throughput crystallization laboratory (HTC) at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute Inc. (HWI Buffalo, NY, USA), numerous crystallization conditions were rapidly identified. Several conditions could be reproduced on a larger scale as vapor-diffusion experiments in-house. The best diffraction-quality crystals were obtained from solutions of 40%(v/v) 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol buffered at pH 6.0 with 0.1 M MES and diffracted X-rays to 1.68 A resolution. Crystals belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 70.0, b = 78.3, c = 119.4 A. The V(M) was 2.1 A(3) Da(-1), corresponding to 42% solvent, which is consistent with two 38.5 kDa molecules per asymmetric unit. The structure determination is under way using experimental phasing methods.

Adenosyl coenzyme and pH dependence of the [4Fe-4S]2+/1+ transition in lysine 2,3-aminomutase.

5'-[N-[(3S)-3-Amino-carboxypropyl]-N-methylamino]-5(')-deoxyadenosine (azaSAM), an analog of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), was used to study the cofactor-dependent reduction of the [4Fe-4S](2+) center in lysine 2,3-aminomutase to the +1 oxidation state. azaSAM has a tertiary nitrogen in place of the sulfonium center of SAM. The analog binds to lysine 2,3-aminomutase with K(d)s of 1.4+/-0.3 microM at pH 8.0 and 2.2+/-0.6 microM at pH 6.5. Reduction of the [4Fe-4S](2+) center in the presence of this analog gives a 10K [4Fe-4S](1+) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal similar to that seen with SAM or S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH). The pH dependence of cofactor-induced reduction was examined to determine whether ionization of the tertiary nitrogen (pK(a)=7.08) might affect reduction of the [4Fe-4S](2+) center. The results show similar behavior in azaSAM and SAH, demonstrating that ionization of the aza group in azaSAM does not account for pH dependence in cofactor-dependent reduction of the [4Fe-4S](2+) center. The signal shape of the low-temperature EPR signal for the [4Fe-4S](1+) center in the SAM-induced reduction displayed a pH dependence that was not observed in the azaSAM- or SAH-induced spectra. Unique features of the signal are at a maximum at the pH activity optimum of pH 8 and are diminished as the pH is lowered or raised. These features are also absent in the spectra at all pHs examined when reduction is induced by azaSAM or SAH.