title: Crystal structure and putative mechanism of 3-methylitaconate-delta-isomerase from Eubacterium barkeri.
abstract: 3-Methylitaconate-Delta-isomerase (Mii) participates in the nicotinate fermentation pathway of the anaerobic soil bacterium Eubacterium barkeri (order Clostridiales) by catalyzing the reversible conversion of (R)-3-methylitaconate (2-methylene-3-methylsuccinate) to 2,3-dimethylmaleate. The enzyme is also able to catalyze the isomerization of itaconate (methylenesuccinate) to citraconate (methylmaleate) with ca 10-fold higher K(m) but > 1000-fold lower k(cat). The gene mii from E. barkeri was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The protein produced with a C-terminal Strep-tag exhibited the same specific activity as the wild-type enzyme. The crystal structure of Mii from E. barkeri has been solved at a resolution of 2.70 A. The asymmetric unit of the P2(1)2(1)2(1) unit cell with parameters a = 53.1 A, b = 142.3 A, and c = 228.4 A contains four molecules of Mii. The enzyme belongs to a group of isomerases with a common structural feature, the so-called diaminopimelate epimerase fold. The monomer of 380 amino acid residues has two topologically similar domains exhibiting an alpha/beta-fold. The active site is situated in a cleft between these domains. The four Mii molecules are arranged as a tetramer with 222 symmetry for the N-terminal domains. The C-terminal domains have different relative positions with respect to the N-terminal domains resulting in a closed conformation for molecule A and two distinct open conformations for molecules B and D. The C-terminal domain of molecule C is disordered. The Mii active site contains the putative catalytic residues Lys62 and Cys96, for which mechanistic roles are proposed based on a docking experiment of the Mii substrate complex. The active sites of Mii and the closely related PrpF, most likely a methylaconitate Delta-isomerase, have been compared. The overall architecture including the active-site Lys62, Cys96, His300, and Ser17 (Mii numbering) is similar. This positioning of (R)-3-methylitaconate allows Cys96 (as thiolate) to deprotonate C-3 and (as thiol) to donate a proton to the methylene carbon atom of the resulting allylic carbanion. Interestingly, the active site of isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase type I also contains a cysteine that cooperates with glutamate rather than lysine. It has been proposed that the initial step in this enzyme is a protonation generating a tertiary carbocation intermediate.
authors: Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
authors: Milko
authors: M
authors: Velarde
authors: Sofia
authors: S
authors: Macieira
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Hilberg
authors: Gerd
authors: G
authors: Bröker
authors: Shang-Min
authors: SM
authors: Tu
authors: Bernard T
authors: BT
authors: Golding
authors: Antonio J
authors: AJ
authors: Pierik
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Buckel
authors: Albrecht
authors: A
authors: Messerschmidt
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D019748:Carbon-Carbon Double Bond Isomerases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D005051:Eubacterium / Q000201:enzymology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D019748:Carbon-Carbon Double Bond Isomerases; C061157:3-methylitaconate delta-isomerase