title: Evolution of substrate diversity in the superfamily of amino acid dehydrogenases. Prospects for rational chiral synthesis.
abstract: We have analysed the sequence homology between glutamate, leucine and phenylalanine dehydrogenases in the light of the solution of the structure of the glutamate dehydrogenase from Clostridium symbiosum. This analysis indicates that the elements of secondary structure comprising the core of the two domains in glutamate dehydrogenase are conserved in the other two enzymes. There is a striking conservation of the residues responsible for the recognition of the nicotinamide ring of the nucleotide cofactor and the backbone of the amino acid substrates. Furthermore, residues involved in a major conformational rearrangement on amino acid binding are preserved, as are those implicated in the catalytic chemistry. In contrast, the pattern of insertions/deletions between these enzymes is consistent with possible differences in quaternary structure. Differential substrate specificity between these enzymes is achieved by critical substitutions at the base of the binding pocket, which accommodates the side-chain of the amino acid substrate. This provides insights into the mutations necessary to produce new catalysts for the chiral synthesis of novel amino acids.
authors.affiliation: Krebs Institute Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, U.K.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Britton
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Stillman
mesh_terms: D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001407:Bacillus / Q000201:enzymology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002384:Catalysis; D003013:Clostridium / Q000201:enzymology; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D050803:Leucine Dehydrogenase; D008848:Micromonosporaceae / Q000201:enzymology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase; D050803:Leucine Dehydrogenase; C022342:phenylalanine oxidase