Evidence for an unusual catalysis of protonation/deprotonation by a reduced flavin mononucleotide cofactor is presented for type-2 isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI-2), which catalyzes isomerization of the two fundamental building blocks of isoprenoid biosynthesis, isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate. The covalent adducts formed between irreversible mechanismbased inhibitors, 3-methylene-4-penten-1-yl diphosphate or 3-oxiranyl-3-buten-1-yl diphosphate, and the flavin cofactor were investigated by X-ray crystallography and UV-visible spectroscopy. Both the crystal structures of IDI-2 binding the flavin-inhibitor adduct and the UV-visible spectra of the adducts indicate that the covalent bond is formed at C4a of flavin rather than at N5, which had been proposed previously. In addition, the high-resolution crystal structures of IDI-2-substrate complexes and the kinetic studies of new mutants confirmed that only the flavin cofactor can catalyze protonation of the substrates and suggest that N5 of flavin is most likely to be involved in proton transfer. These data provide support for a mechanism where the reduced flavin cofactor acts as a general acid/base catalyst and helps stabilize the carbocationic intermediate formed by protonation.enzyme structure | mechanism of action I sopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI) catalyzes the interconversion between isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) (1). IDI activity is essential in those organisms that synthesize isoprenoid compounds from mevalonic acid and, although not essential, is found in those that synthesize isoprenoid metabolites from methylerythritol phosphate. Two convergently evolved forms of IDI, which share no sequence or structural homology, are known. Type-1 IDI (IDI-1) is found in eukarya and some bacteria, whereas type-2 IDI (IDI-2) occurs in archaea and other bacteria. There is no apparent correlation between the occurrence of the IDI isoforms and the use of mevalonate or methylerythritol phosphate in isoprenoid biosynthesis.IDI-1 catalyzes isomerization between IPP and DMAPP by a protonation-deprotonation reaction through a 3°carbocationic intermediate (1). The mechanism of the reaction and identification of essential active cysteine and glutamate residues were confirmed by inhibition studies using active-site-directed irreversible inhibitors (2-5). In contrast, IDI-2 is a flavoprotein that requires reduced FMN for activity (6, 7). UV-visible spectroscopic studies indicate that the anionic flavin in IDI-2 · FMN red − is protonated upon substrate binding to give a catalytically competent IDI-2 · FMN red · IPP complex (8). Recent studies indicated that the mechanism for the IDI-2 is similar to the protonation-deprotonation sequence used by IDI-1. These include measurement of deuterium kinetic isotopic effects in D 2 O or with (R)-[2-2 H]-IPP (9), linear free energy studies with seven-and eight-substituted FMN analogues (10), and studies with alkyne and allene analogues of IPP and DMAPP (11). In contrast, at...

Isopentenyl diphosphate dimethylallyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI) is a key enzyme in the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway and is required for all organisms that synthesize isoprenoid metabolites from mevalonate. Type 1 IDI (IDI-1) is a metalloprotein and is found in eukaryotes, while the type-2 isoform (IDI-2) is a flavoenzyme found in bacteria and completely absent from human. IDI-2 from the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae was recombinantly expressed in E. coli. Steady state kinetic studies of the enzyme indicated that FMNH2 (KM= 0.3 μM) bound before isopentenyl diphosphate (KM= 40 μM) in an ordered binding mechanism. An X-ray crystal structure at 1.4 Å resolution was obtained for the holo-enzyme, in the closed conformation with reduced flavin cofactor and two sulfate ions in the active site. These results helped to further approach the enzymatic mechanism of IDI-2 and, thus, open new possibilities for the rational design of antibacterial compounds against closely sequence and structure related pathogens such as E. faecalis or S. aureus.

Type 2 isopentenyl diphosphate:dimethylallyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI-2) converts isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) to dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), the two fundamental building blocks of isoprenoid molecules. IDI-2 is found in many species of bacteria and is a potential antibacterial target since this isoform is non-homologous to the type 1 enzyme in Homo sapiens. IDI-2 requires a reduced flavin mononucleotide to form the catalytically active ternary complex, IDI-2·FMNH2·IPP. For IDI-2 from the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, the flavin can be treated kinetically as a dissociable cosubstrate in incubations with IPP and excess NADH. Under these conditions, the enzyme follows a modified sequential ordered mechanism where FMN adds before IPP. Interestingly, the enzyme shows sigmoidal behavior when incubated with IPP and NADH with varied concentrations of FMN in aerobic conditions. In contrast, sigmoidal behavior is not seen in incubations under anaerobic conditions where FMN is reduced to FMNH2 before the reaction is initiated by addition of IPP. Stopped-flow experiments revealed that FMN, whether bound to IDI-2 or without enzyme in solution, is slowly reduced in a pseudo-first-order reaction upon addition of excess NADH (k(red)(FMN) = 5.7 × 10(-3) s(-1) and k(red)(IDI-2·FMN) = 2.8 × 10(-3) s(-1)), while reduction of the flavin is rapid upon addition of NADH to a mixture of IDI-2·FMN, and IPP (k(red)(IDI-2·FMN·IPP) = 8.9 s(-1)). Similar experiments with dithionite as the reductant gave k(red)(FMN) = 221 s(-1) and k(red)(IDI-2·FMN) = 411 s(-1). Dithionite reduction of FMN in the IDI-2·FMN and IPP mixture was biphasic with k(red)(IDI-2·FMN·IPP (fast)) = 326 s(-1) and k(red)(IDI-2·FMN·IPP (slow)) = 6.9 s(-1) The pseudo-first-order rate constant for the slow component was similar to those for NADH reduction of the flavin in the IDI-2·FMN and IPP mixture and may reflect a rate-limiting conformational change in the enzyme.

Type-2 isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI-2) is a key flavoprotein involved in the biosynthesis of isoprenoids. Since fully reduced flavin mononucleotide (FMNH2) is needed for activity, it was decided to crystallize the enzyme under anaerobic conditions in order to understand how this reduced cofactor binds within the active site and interacts with the substrate isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP). In this study, the protein was expressed and purified under aerobic conditions and then reduced and crystallized under anaerobic conditions. Crystals grown by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method and then soaked with IPP diffracted to 2.1 Å resolution and belonged to the hexagonal space group P6322, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 133.3, c = 172.9 Å.