Yeasts, which have been a component of the human diet for at least 7000 years, possess an elaborate cell wall α-mannan. The influence of yeast mannan on the ecology of the human microbiota is unknown. Here we show that yeast α-mannan is a viable food source for Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt), a dominant member of the microbiota. Detailed biochemical analysis and targeted gene disruption studies support a model whereby limited cleavage of α-mannan on the surface generates large oligosaccharides that are subsequently depolymerized to mannose by the action of periplasmic enzymes. Co-culturing studies showed that metabolism of yeast mannan by Bt presents a ‘selfish’ model for the catabolism of this recalcitrant polysaccharide. This report shows how a cohort of highly successful members of the microbiota has evolved to consume sterically-restricted yeast glycans, an adaptation that may reflect the incorporation of eukaryotic microorganisms into the human diet.

N-linked glycans play key roles in protein folding, stability, and function. Biosynthetic modification of N-linked glycans, within the endoplasmic reticulum, features sequential trimming and readornment steps. One unusual enzyme, endo-α-mannosidase, cleaves mannoside linkages internally within an N-linked glycan chain, short circuiting the classical N-glycan biosynthetic pathway. Here, using two bacterial orthologs, we present the first structural and mechanistic dissection of endo-α-mannosidase. Structures solved at resolutions 1.7–2.1 Å reveal a ( β / α ) 8 barrel fold in which the catalytic center is present in a long substrate-binding groove, consistent with cleavage within the N-glycan chain. Enzymatic cleavage of authentic Glc 1/3 Man 9 GlcNAc 2 yields Glc 1/3 -Man. Using the bespoke substrate α-Glc-1,3-α-Man fluoride, the enzyme was shown to act with retention of anomeric configuration. Complexes with the established endo-α-mannosidase inhibitor α-Glc-1,3-deoxymannonojirimycin and a newly developed inhibitor, α-Glc-1,3-isofagomine, and with the reducing-end product α-1,2-mannobiose structurally define the -2 to +2 subsites of the enzyme. These structural and mechanistic data provide a foundation upon which to develop new enzyme inhibitors targeting the hijacking of N-glycan synthesis in viral disease and cancer.

Glycoside hydrolase family 99 (GH99) was created to categorize sequence-related glycosidases possessing endo-α-mannosidase activity: the cleavage of mannosidic linkages within eukaryotic N-glycan precursors (Glc1-3 Man9 GlcNAc2 ), releasing mono-, di- and triglucosylated-mannose (Glc1-3 -1,3-Man). GH99 family members have recently been implicated in the ability of Bacteroides spp., present within the gut microbiota, to metabolize fungal cell wall α-mannans, releasing α-1,3-mannobiose by hydrolysing αMan-1,3-αMan→1,2-αMan-1,2-αMan sequences within branches off the main α-1,6-mannan backbone. We report the development of a series of substrates and inhibitors, which we use to kinetically and structurally characterise this novel endo-α-1,2-mannanase activity of bacterial GH99 enzymes from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and xylanisolvens. These data reveal an approximate 5 kJ mol(-1) preference for mannose-configured substrates in the -2 subsite (relative to glucose), which inspired the development of a new inhibitor, α-mannopyranosyl-1,3-isofagomine (ManIFG), the most potent (bacterial) GH99 inhibitor reported to date. X-ray structures of ManIFG or a substrate in complex with wild-type or inactive mutants, respectively, of B. xylanisolvens GH99 reveal the structural basis for binding to D-mannose- rather than D-glucose-configured substrates.

Retaining glycoside hydrolases cleave their substrates through stereochemical retention at the anomeric position. Typically, this involves two-step mechanisms using either an enzymatic nucleophile via a covalent glycosyl enzyme intermediate or neighboring-group participation by a substrate-borne 2-acetamido neighboring group via an oxazoline intermediate; no enzymatic mechanism with participation of the sugar 2-hydroxyl has been reported. Here, we detail structural, computational, and kinetic evidence for neighboring-group participation by a mannose 2hydroxyl in glycoside hydrolase family 99 endo-α-1,2-mannanases. We present a series of crystallographic snapshots of key species along the reaction coordinate: a Michaelis complex with a tetrasaccharide substrate; complexes with intermediate mimics, a sugar-shaped cyclitol β-1,2-aziridine and β-1,2-epoxide; and a product complex. The 1,2-epoxide intermediate mimic displayed hydrolytic and transfer reactivity analogous to that expected for the 1,2-anhydro sugar intermediate supporting its catalytic equivalence. Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics modeling of the reaction coordinate predicted a reaction pathway through a 1,2-anhydro sugar via a transition state in an unusual flattened, envelope (E 3 ) conformation. Kinetic isotope effects (k cat /K M ) for anomeric-2 H and anomeric-13 C support an oxocarbenium ion-like transition state, and that for C2-18 O (1.052 ± 0.006) directly implicates nucleophilic participation by the C2-hydroxyl. Collectively, these data substantiate this unprecedented and long-imagined enzymatic mechanism.

α-Mannosidases and α-mannanases have attracted attention for the insight they provide into nucleophilic substitution at the hindered anomeric center of α-mannosides, and the potential of mannosidase inhibitors as cellular probes and therapeutic agents. We report the conformational itinerary of the family GH76 α-mannanases studied through structural analysis of the Michaelis complex and synthesis and evaluation of novel aza/imino sugar inhibitors. A Michaelis complex in an (O) S2 conformation, coupled with distortion of an azasugar in an inhibitor complex to a high energy B2,5 conformation are rationalized through ab initio QM/MM metadynamics that show how the enzyme surface restricts the conformational landscape of the substrate, rendering the B2,5 conformation the most energetically stable on-enzyme. We conclude that GH76 enzymes perform catalysis using an itinerary that passes through (O) S2 and B2,5 (≠) conformations, information that should inspire the development of new antifungal agents.