title: Structure and function of the Bacillus hybrid enzyme GluXyn-1: native-like jellyroll fold preserved after insertion of autonomous globular domain.
abstract: The 1,3-1,4-beta-glucanase from Bacillus macerans (wtGLU) and the 1, 4-beta-xylanase from Bacillus subtilis (wtXYN) are both single-domain jellyroll proteins catalyzing similar enzymatic reactions. In the fusion protein GluXyn-1, the two proteins are joined by insertion of the entire XYN domain into a surface loop of cpMAC-57, a circularly permuted variant of wtGLU. GluXyn-1 was generated by protein engineering methods, produced in Escherichia coli and shown to fold spontaneously and have both enzymatic activities at wild-type level. The crystal structure of GluXyn-1 was determined at 2.1 A resolution and refined to R = 17.7% and R(free) = 22.4%. It shows nearly ideal, native-like folding of both protein domains and a small, but significant hinge bending between the domains. The active sites are independent and accessible explaining the observed enzymatic activity. Because in GluXyn-1 the complete XYN domain is inserted into the compact folding unit of GLU, the wild-type-like activity and tertiary structure of the latter proves that the folding process of GLU does not depend on intramolecular interactions that are short-ranged in the sequence. Insertion fusions of the GluXyn-1 type may prove to be an easy route toward more stable bifunctional proteins in which the two parts are more closely associated than in linear end-to-end protein fusions.
authors.affiliation: Forschungsgruppe Kristallographie, Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, D-13122 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aÿ
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Götz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borriss
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Heinemann
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000201:enzymology*; D043364:Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010957:Plasmids; D017510:Protein Folding; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014995:Xylosidases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D014995:Xylosidases; C028020:licheninase; D043364:Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases