title: Anatomy of a simple acyl intermediate in enzyme catalysis: combined biophysical and modeling studies on ornithine acetyl transferase.
abstract: Acyl-enzyme complexes are intermediates in reactions catalyzed by many hydrolases and related enzymes which employ nucleophilic catalysis. However, most of the reported structural data on acyl-enzyme complexes has been acquired under noncatalytic conditions. Recent IR analyses have indicated that some acyl-enzyme complexes may be more flexible than most crystallographic analyses have implied. OAT2 is a member of the N-terminal nucleophile (Ntn) hydrolase enzyme superfamily and catalyzes the reversible transfer of an acetyl group between the alpha-amino groups of ornithine and glutamate in a mechanism proposed to involve an acyl-enzyme complex. We have carried out biophysical analyses on ornithine acetyl transferase (OAT2), both in solution and in the crystalline state. Mass spectrometric studies identified Thr-181 as the residue acetylated during OAT2 catalysis; (13)C NMR analyses implied the presence of an acyl-enzyme complex in solution. Crystallization of OAT2 in the presence of N-alpha-acetyl-L-glutamate led to a structure in which Thr-181 was acetylated; the carbonyl oxygen of the acyl-enzyme complex was located in an oxyanion hole and positioned to hydrogen bond with the backbone amide NH of Gly-112 and the alcohol of Thr-111. While the crystallographic analyses revealed only one structure, IR spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of two distinct acyl-enzyme complex structures with carbonyl stretching frequencies at 1691 and 1701 cm(-1). Modeling studies implied two possible acyl-enzyme complex structures, one of which correlates with that observed in the crystal structure and with the 1691 cm(-1) IR absorption. The second acyl-enzyme complex structure, which has only a single oxyanion hole hydrogen bond, is proposed to give rise to the 1701 cm(-1) IR absorption. The two acyl-enzyme complex structures can interconvert by movement of the Thr-111 side-chain alcohol hydrogen away from the oxyanion hole to hydrogen bond with the backbone carbonyl of the acylated residue, Thr-181. Overall, the results reveal that acyl-enzyme complex structures may be more dynamic than previously thought and support the use of a comprehensive biophysical and modeling approach in studying such intermediates.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.
authors.forename: Aman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Clifton
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bagonis
authors.forename: Nadia J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Kershaw
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Domene
authors.forename: Timothy D W
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Claridge
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wharton
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schofield
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000215:Acylation; D002384:Catalysis; D002918:Chymotrypsin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D005971:Glutamates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D010666:Phenylpropionates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared
chemical_list: D005971:Glutamates; D010666:Phenylpropionates; C019521:phenylpropiolic acid; D000123:Acetyltransferases; C020646:glutamate acetyltransferase; D002918:Chymotrypsin; C117608:alpha-chymotrypsin; C016195:N-acetylglutamic acid