The comparison of two very different conformations of the same polypeptide chain revealed kinematic details of the catalytic cycle. Moreover, it indicated that there exists an energetic counterweight compensating the substrate binding energy required for specificity. This counterweight prevents the enzyme from dropping into a rate-reducing energy well along the reaction coordinate.

The crystal structure of squalene-hopene cyclase from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius was determined at 2.9 angstrom resolution. The mechanism and sequence of this cyclase are closely related to those of 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclases that catalyze the cyclization step in cholesterol biosynthesis. The structure reveals a membrane protein with membrane-binding characteristics similar to those of prostaglandin-H2 synthase, the only other reported protein of this type. The active site of the enzyme is located in a large central cavity that is of suitable size to bind squalene in its required conformation and that is lined by aromatic residues. The structure supports a mechanism in which the acid starting the reaction by protonating a carbon-carbon double bond is an aspartate that is coupled to a histidine. Numerous surface alpha helices are connected by characteristic QW-motifs (Q is glutamine and W is tryptophan) that tighten the protein structure, possibly for absorbing the reaction energy without structural damage.

No abstract