ω-Transaminases are valuable tools in biocatalysis due to their stereospecificity and their broad substrate range. In the present study, the reaction mechanism of Chromobacterium violaceum ω-transaminase is investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. A large active site model is designed based on the recent X-ray crystal structure. The detailed energy profile for the half-transamination of (S)-1-phenylethylamine to acetophenone is calculated and the involved transition states and intermediates are characterized. The model suggests that the amino substrate forms an external aldimine with the coenzyme pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP), through geminal diamine intermediates. The external aldimine is then deprotonated in the rate-determining step, forming a planar quinonoid intermediate. A ketimine is then formed, after which a hemiaminal is produced by the addition of water. Subsequently, the ketone product is obtained together with pyridoxamine-5'-phosphate (PMP). In the studied half-transamination reaction the ketone product is kinetically favored. The mechanism presented here will be valuable to enhance rational and semi-rational design of engineered enzyme variants in the development of ω-transaminase chemistry.

The reaction mechanism of cytosine deaminase from Escherichia coli is studied using density functional theory. This zinc-dependent enzyme catalyzes the deamination of cytosine to form uracil and ammonia. The calculations give a detailed description of the catalytic mechanism and establish the role of important active-site residues. It is shown that Glu217 is essential for the initial deprotonation of the metal-bound water nucleophile and the subsequent protonation of the substrate. It is also demonstrated that His246 is unlikely to function as a proton shuttle in the nucleophile activation step, as previously proposed. The steps that follow are nucleophilic attack by the metal-bound hydroxide, protonation of the leaving group assisted by Asp313, and C-N bond cleavage. The calculated overall barrier is in good agreement with the experimental findings. Finally, the calculations reproduce the experimentally determined inverse solvent deuterium isotope effect, which further corroborates the suggested reaction mechanism.

We present and evaluate a new and potentially efficient route for enzyme-mediated Diels-Alder reactions, utilizing general acid-base catalysis. The viability of employing the active site of ketosteroid isomerase is demonstrated.

ω-Transaminases are attractive biocatalysts for the production of chiral amines. These enzymes usually have a broad substrate range. Their substrates include hydrophobic amines as well as amino acids, a feature referred to as dual-substrate recognition. In the present study, the reaction mechanism for the half-transamination of l-alanine to pyruvate in (S)-selective Chromobacterium violaceum ω-transaminase is investigated using density functional theory calculations. The role of a flexible arginine residue, Arg416, in the dual-substrate recognition is investigated by employing two active-site models, one including this residue and one lacking it. The results of this study are compared to those of the mechanism of the conversion of (S)-1-phenylethylamine to acetophenone. The calculations suggest that the deaminations of amino acids and hydrophobic amines follow essentially the same mechanism, but the energetics of the reactions differ significantly. It is shown that the amine is kinetically favored in the half-transamination of l-alanine/pyruvate, whereas the ketone is kinetically favored in the half-transamination of (S)-1-phenylethylamine/acetophenone. The calculations further support the proposal that the arginine residue facilitates the dual-substrate recognition by functioning as an arginine switch, where the side chain is positioned inside or outside of the active site depending on the substrate. Arg416 participates in the binding of l-alanine by forming a salt bridge to the carboxylate moiety, whereas the conversion of (S)-1-phenylethylamine is feasible in the absence of Arg416, which here represents the case in which the side chain of Arg416 is positioned outside of the active site.