The mass spectrometric development of an enzymatic assay resulting in enzymatic activity, its reaction pathway and its dissociation constant are described for the first time within a single experiment. The method combines the performance of a mass spectrometry-compatible enzyme assay with the direct detection of specific enzyme complexes using hen egg white lysozyme as a model. The continuous liquid-flow technique applied, when hyphenated with electrospray ionization (ESI)-time-of-flight (ToF)-mass spectrometry (MS), permitted the simultaneous detection of several substances involved in product screening as well as the direct observation of dissociation constants. Dissociation constants for the product inhibitor N, N', N''-triacetylchitotriose were calculated using a Scatchard plot (12 x 10(-6) M) and the law of mass action (18-24 x 10(-6) M), and these are in good agreement with constants obtained in earlier mass spectrometric (6-18 x 10(-6) M) or spectroscopic (6-8 x 10(-6) M) studies. Finally, the enzymatic hydrolysis of glycosidic substrate was monitored by ESI-ToF-MS in the presence of various inhibitors, thus leading to decreased activities in terms of their enzyme affinities. The associated inhibitor-enzyme complexes could be detected for up to lower micromolar K( d ) values.
The chitosanase from Streptomyces sp. N174 (CsnN174) catalyzes the hydrolysis of b-1,4-glycosidic links in chitosan, a water-soluble derivative of chitin composed of d-glucosamine (GlcN) with a variable but minor proportion of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) [1]. Research on the enzymatic hydrolysis of chitosan is driven by the fact that this polymer has numerous potential applications and that its properties often depend on its molecular mass [2]. CsnN174 belongs to family 46 of the glycoside hydrolases (GH46), endohydrolase-type enzymes acting via an inverting mechanism [3,4]. GH46 enzymes belong to the GH-I clan [5] together with lysozymes from family GH24 (the most studied being the lysozyme from T4 phage). Enzymes from these two families share the same catalytic mechanism and are folded similarly, with two globular The chitosanase from Streptomyces sp. N174 (CsnN174) is an inverting glycoside hydrolase belonging to family 46. Previous studies identified Asp40 as the general base residue. Mutation of Asp40 into glycine revealed an unexpectedly high residual activity. D40G mutation did not affect the stereochemical mechanism of catalysis or the mode of interaction with substrate. To explain the D40G residual activity, putative accessory catalytic residues were examined. Mutation of Glu36 was highly deleterious in a D40G background. Possibly, the D40G mutation reconfigured the catalytic center in a way that allowed Glu36 to be positioned favorably to perform catalysis. Thr45 was also found to be essential. Thr45 is thought to orientate the nucleophilic water molecule in a position to attack the glycosidic link. The finding that expression of heterologous CsnN174 in Escherichia coli protects cells against the antimicrobial effect of chitosan, allowed the selection of active chitosanase variants after saturation mutagenesis. Thr45 could be replaced only by serine, indicating the importance of the hydroxyl group. The newly identified accessory catalytic residues, Glu36 and Thr45 are located on a three-strand b sheet highly conserved in GH19, 22, 23, 24 and 46, all members of the 'lysozyme superfamily'. Structural comparisons reveal that each family has its catalytic residues located among a small number of critical positions in this b sheet. The position of Glu36 in CsnN174 is equivalent to general base residue in GH19 chitinases, whereas Thr45 is located similarly to the catalytic residue Asp52 of GH22 lysozyme. These examples reinforce the evolutionary link among these five GH families.Abbreviations (GlcN) n , b-D-glucosamine oligosaccharide with n monomer units; CsnN174, chitosanase from Streptomyces sp. N174; GH, glycoside hydrolase family; GlcN, D-glucosamine; GlcNAc, N-acetylglucosamine.
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