The flavin-dependent amine oxidase superfamily contains
various l-amino acid oxidases (LAAOs) bearing different substrate
specificities
and enzymatic properties. LAAOs catalyze the oxidation of the α-amino
group of l-amino acids (L-AAs) to produce imino acids and
H2O2. In this study, an ancestral l-Lys α-oxidase (AncLLysO2) was designed utilizing genome-mined
sequences from the Caulobacter species. The AncLLysO2
exhibited high specificity toward l-Lys; the k
cat/K
m values toward l-Lys were one and two orders larger than those of l-Arg
and l-ornithine, respectively. Liquid chromatography–high
resolution mass spectrometry analysis indicated that AncLLysO2 released
imino acid immediately from the active site after completion of oxidation
of the α-amino group. Crystal structures of the ligand-free, l-Lys- and l-Arg-bound forms of AncLLysO2 were determined
at 1.4–1.6 Å resolution, indicating that the active site
of AncLLysO2 kept an open state during the reaction and more likely
to release products. The structures also indicated the substrate recognition
mechanism of AncLLysO2; ε-amino, α-amino, and carboxyl
groups of l-Lys formed interactions with Q357, A551, and
R77, respectively. Biochemical and molecular dynamics simulation analysis
of AncLLysO2 indicated that active site residues that indirectly interact
with the substrate are also important to exhibit high activity; for
example, the aromatic group of Y219 is important to ensure that the l-Lys substrate is placed in the correct position to allow the
reaction to proceed efficiently. Taken together, we propose the reaction
mechanism of AncLLysO2.