A longstanding proposal in enzymology is that enzymes are electrostatically and geometrically complementary to the transition states of the reactions they catalyze and that this complementarity contributes to catalysis. Experimental evaluation of this contribution, however, has been difficult. We have systematically dissected the potential contribution to catalysis from electrostatic complementarity in ketosteroid isomerase. Phenolates, analogs of the transition state and reaction intermediate, bind and accept two hydrogen bonds in an active site oxyanion hole. The binding of substituted phenolates of constant molecular shape but increasing p K a models the charge accumulation in the oxyanion hole during the enzymatic reaction. As charge localization increases, the NMR chemical shifts of protons involved in oxyanion hole hydrogen bonds increase by 0.50–0.76 ppm/p K a unit, suggesting a bond shortening of ˜0.02 Å/p K a unit. Nevertheless, there is little change in binding affinity across a series of substituted phenolates (ΔΔG = −0.2 kcal/mol/p K a unit). The small effect of increased charge localization on affinity occurs despite the shortening of the hydrogen bonds and a large favorable change in binding enthalpy (ΔΔH = −2.0 kcal/mol/p K a unit). This shallow dependence of binding affinity suggests that electrostatic complementarity in the oxyanion hole makes at most a modest contribution to catalysis of ˜300-fold. We propose that geometrical complementarity between the oxyanion hole hydrogen-bond donors and the transition state oxyanion provides a significant catalytic contribution, and suggest that KSI, like other enzymes, achieves its catalytic prowess through a combination of modest contributions from several mechanisms rather than from a single dominant contribution.

Understanding the electrostatic environment within the idiosyncratic interior of folded proteins and its connection to biomolecular function remains a key challenge in biochemistry and biophysics. Vibrational probes incorporated into proteins on specific residues or ligands are exquisitely sensitive reporters of the local environment and how it is altered by pH changes, mutations, structural perturbations, or variations in bound ligands1 -6. While IR frequency shifts associated with various environments can be considered at a qualitative level (e.g., is the probe buried or on a solvent exposed surface?7 , 8), our goal has been to extract quantitative information on electric fields in proteins1 , 2. Although several studies have suggested a connection between observed vibrational band shifts and local electrostatic fields due to the organized environment around the probe3 , 6, in the absence of an independent experimental test it remains uncertain whether these shifts are due principally to electrostatic effects or are dominated by contributions from specific chemical interactions9, such as hydrogen bonds. We report herein a method for identifying and quantifying departures from an electrostatic mechanism for nitrile vibrational shifts that utilizes the relationship between IR frequency shifts and 13 C NMR chemical shifts and demonstrate its utility in a protein.The vibrational Stark effect (VSE) provides the connection between observed IR frequency shifts, (in cm -1 ), and the difference in the local electrostatic field, (in MV/ cm), experienced by a probe at two different sites in a protein or as a result of a pH change, mutation, or ligand binding1 , 2. The sensitivity of an oscillator to electrostatic field is the Stark tuning rate, [in cm -1 /(MV/cm)], which is obtained by measuring the effect of an applied electric field on the IR spectrum11 -13. The nitrile stretch offers an optimal combination of oscillator strength, frequency, and Stark tuning rate for measurements in biological systems11 -14. In this case, observed frequency shifts, , can be used to obtain information on variations in the projection of the protein electrostatic field on the probe through:(1)

Understanding the electrostatic forces and features within highly heterogeneous, anisotropic, and chemically complex enzyme active sites and their connection to biological catalysis remains a longstanding challenge, in part due to the paucity of incisive experimental probes of electrostatic properties within proteins. To quantitatively assess the landscape of electrostatic fields at discrete locations and orientations within an enzyme active site, we have incorporated site-specific thiocyanate vibrational probes into multiple positions within bacterial ketosteroid isomerase. A battery of X-ray crystallographic, vibrational Stark spectroscopy, and NMR studies revealed electrostatic field heterogeneity of 8 MV∕cm between active site probe locations and widely differing sensitivities of discrete probes to common electrostatic perturbations from mutation, ligand binding, and pH changes. Electrostatic calculations based on active site ionization states assigned by literature precedent and computational pK a prediction were unable to quantitatively account for the observed vibrational band shifts. However, electrostatic models of the D40N mutant gave qualitative agreement with the observed vibrational effects when an unusual ionization of an active site tyrosine with a pK a near 7 was included. UV-absorbance and 13 C NMR experiments confirmed the presence of a tyrosinate in the active site, in agreement with electrostatic models. This work provides the most direct measure of the heterogeneous and anisotropic nature of the electrostatic environment within an enzyme active site, and these measurements provide incisive benchmarks for further developing accurate computational models and a foundation for future tests of electrostatics in enzymatic catalysis. E xtensive structural studies of enzymes have revealed that biological catalysis occurs within sequestered active site crevices that solvate reacting substrates with an anisotropic and chemically complex constellation of charged, polar, and hydrophobic groups. But beyond visualization of the chemical composition and architecture of active sites permitted by the rich library of available protein structures, our understanding of the electrostatic nature and properties of this highly heterogeneous environment and its role in molecular recognition and catalysis is largely based on simulations. Computations using three-dimensional structures routinely provide electrostatic potentials, as in Fig. 1A. These potentials have been used to identify and characterize protein-protein and protein-ligand binding sites, and interaction energies derived from these calculations have suggested key contributions from the electrostatic environment to enzymatic rate enhancement and specificity (1-5). However, even the most sophisticated computational methods have multiple approximations and limitations (6-8) and, most importantly, have not been rigorously evaluated through cycles of nontrivial computational predictions and experimental tests. Incisive and quantitative experimental measures o...

Hydrogen bonds play major roles in biological structure and function. Nonetheless, hydrogen-bonded protons are not typically observed by X-ray crystallography, and most structural studies provide limited insight into the conformational plasticity of individual hydrogen bonds or the dynamical coupling present within hydrogen bond networks. We report the NMR detection of the hydrogen-bonded protons donated by Tyr-42 and Glu-46 to the chromophore oxygen in the active site of the bacterial photoreceptor, photoactive yellow protein (PYP). We have used the NMR resonances for these hydrogen bonds to probe their conformational properties and ability to rearrange in response to nearby electronic perturbation. The detection of geometric isotope effects transmitted between the Tyr-42 and Glu-46 hydrogen bonds provides strong evidence for robust coupling of their equilibrium conformations. Incorporation of a modified chromophore containing an electron-withdrawing cyano group to delocalize negative charge from the chromophore oxygen, analogous to the electronic rearrangement detected upon photon absorption, results in a lengthening of the Tyr-42 and Glu-46 hydrogen bonds and an attenuated hydrogen bond coupling. The results herein elucidate fundamental properties of hydrogen bonds within the complex environment of a protein interior. Furthermore, the robust conformational coupling and plasticity of hydrogen bonds observed in the PYP active site may facilitate the larger-scale dynamical coupling and signal transduction inherent to the biological function that PYP has evolved to carry out and may provide a model for other coupled dynamic systems.charge delocalization ͉ hydrogen bond coupling ͉ protein structure ͉ signal transduction

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The catalytic importance of enzyme active-site interactions is frequently assessed by mutating specific residues and measuring the resulting rate reductions. This approach has been used in bacterial ketosteroid isomerase to probe the energetic importance of active-site hydrogen bonds donated to the dienolate reaction intermediate. The conservative Tyr16Phe mutation impairs catalysis by 10 5 -fold, far larger than the effects of hydrogen bond mutations in other enzymes. However, the less-conservative Tyr16Ser mutation, which also perturbs the Tyr16 hydrogen bond, results in a lesssevere 10 2 -fold rate reduction. To understand the paradoxical effects of these mutations and clarify the energetic importance of the Tyr16 hydrogen bond, we have determined the 1.6-Å resolution x-ray structure of the intermediate analogue, equilenin, bound to the Tyr16Ser mutant and measured the rate effects of mutating Tyr16 to Ser, Thr, Ala, and Gly. The nearly identical 200-fold rate reductions of these mutations, together with the 6.4-Å distance observed between the Ser16 hydroxyl and equilenin oxygens in the x-ray structure, strongly suggest that the more moderate rate effect of this mutant is not due to maintenance of a hydrogen bond from Ser at position 16. These results, additional spectroscopic observations, and prior structural studies suggest that the Tyr16Phe mutation results in unfavorable interactions with the dienolate intermediate beyond loss of a hydrogen bond, thereby exaggerating the apparent energetic benefit of the Tyr16 hydrogen bond relative to the solution reaction. These results underscore the complex energetics of hydrogen bonding interactions and sitedirected mutagenesis experiments.active-site environment | enzymatic catalysis | protein cavities | site-directed mutagenesis O ur knowledge of enzyme function has been greatly advanced by a combination of structure determination and sitedirected mutagenesis. These approaches have yielded detailed models of active-site architectures and identified the key catalytic groups positioned near bound substrates whose mutation results in large rate reductions. From this knowledge and an understanding of basic properties of chemical reactivity, detailed reaction mechanisms have been elucidated for numerous enzymes (1). Nevertheless, incisive understanding of the energetic contributions of physical interactions within active sites to the extraordinary 10 10 -10 20 -fold rate enhancements of enzymes remains a central challenge of biochemistry and a key hurdle in rational enzyme design (2-6).Site-directed mutagenesis has been used extensively in bacterial ketosteroid isomerase from Pseudomonas putida (pKSI) and Commamonas testosteroni (tKSI) to probe the catalytic importance of active-site hydrogen bonds. KSI catalyzes a reversible double-bond isomerization within steroid substrates that proceeds via a dienolate intermediate stabilized by hydrogen bonds donated by Tyr16 (pKSI numbering) and protonated Asp103 within an active-site oxyanion hole (Fig. 1A). The conservative Tyr...

Enzymes are classically proposed to accelerate reactions by binding substrates within active site environments that are structurally preorganized to optimize binding interactions with reaction transition states rather than ground states. This is a remarkably formidable task considering the limited 0.1 -1 Å scale of most substrate rearrangements. The flexibility of active site functional groups along the coordinate of substrate rearrangement, the distance scale on which enzymes can distinguish structural rearrangement, and the energetic significance of discrimination on that scale remain open questions that are fundamental to a basic physical understanding of enzyme active sites and catalysis. We bring together high resolution X-ray crystallography, 1 H and 19 F NMR spectroscopy, quantum mechanical calculations, and transition state analog binding measurements to test the distance scale on which non-covalent forces can constrain side chain and ligand relaxation or translation along a specific coordinate and the energetic consequences of such geometric constraints within the active site of bacterial ketosteroid isomerase (KSI). Our results strongly suggest that packing and binding interactions within the KSI active site can constrain local side chain reorientation and prevent hydrogen bond shortening by 0.1 Å or less. Further, this constraint has substantial energetic effects on ligand binding and stabilization of negative charge within the oxyanion hole. These results provide evidence that subtle geometric effects, indistinguishable in most X-ray crystallographic structures, can have significant energetic consequences and highlight the importance of using synergistic experimental approaches to dissect enzyme function.

For over a century, heme metabolism has been recognized to play a central role during intraerythrocytic infection by Plasmodium parasites, the causative agent of malaria. Parasites liberate vast quantities of potentially cytotoxic heme as a by-product of hemoglobin catabolism within the digestive vacuole, where heme is predominantly sequestered as inert crystalline hemozoin. Plasmodium spp. also utilize heme as a metabolic cofactor. Despite access to abundant host-derived heme, parasites paradoxically maintain a biosynthetic pathway. This pathway has been assumed to produce the heme incorporated into mitochondrial cytochromes that support electron transport. In this review, we assess our current understanding of the love-hate relationship between Plasmodium parasites and heme, we discuss recent studies that clarify several long-standing riddles about heme production and utilization by parasites, and we consider remaining challenges and opportunities for understanding and targeting heme metabolism within parasites.