The aminopeptidase of Aeromonas proteolytica (AAP) belongs to the group of metallo-hydrolases that require two divalent cations for full activity. Such binuclear metal centers are found in several aminopeptidases, raising the question whether a common mechanism, at least partly, is likely. We have used a quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) approach to investigate the reaction mechanism of AAP. Among several possibilities, one reaction path was found to be clearly the most favorable. Beside the chemical transformation steps, effects of the enzyme environment and the influence of the solvent on the catalytic reaction were included in the study. The results are in good agreement with experimental studies and correspond to a high degree to our previous QM/MM calculations on the reaction mechanism of the related binuclear bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP), which, although related to the AAP, has different Zn(2+)-coordination spheres and a different catalytic residue. The mechanisms of the two enzymes as suggested in the literature differ on the mode of coordination of the nucleophile and the identity of the general base. However, the results of this and our previous work on blLAP allow us to identify a common mechanism for the two enzymes. This mechanism is probably quite general for binuclear zinc enzymes.

We present a quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) study using the AM1 Hamiltonian and a flexible MM part on the mode of action of the bovine lens leucine aminopeptidase (blLAP), a cytosolic exopeptidase that catalyzes the cleavage of the N-terminal amide bond of peptides. The reaction mechanism of this ubiquitous enzyme has not yet been clarified completely, although some suggestions based on crystallographic data have been made. One path of the several possibilities investigated was found to be clearly the most favorable and in good agreement with experimental results. Besides the elucidation of the functional roles of active-site residues, an estimation of the environment effects is given.

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ABSTRACT:The variational method for the calculation of the electronic polarizability of molecules within the NDDO-based semiempirical MO methods MNDO, AM1, and PM3 was parametrized to improve its accuracy. A training set of 156 compounds was used to fit 34 parameters simultaneously for 12 elements using a simplex optimization. The resulting parameters were tested for a test set of 83 molecules and the calculated polarizabilities compared with the experimental data. For AM1, the RMS deviation Ž between experimental and calculated polarizabilities was reduced from 2.99 using the 3˚3 . original variational treatment to 0.70 A for the test set and from 2.81 to 0.40 A for the training set. MNDO and PM3 gave similar improvements.

Phospholipase A2 is a calcium-dependent enzyme involved in inflammatory processes by releasing arachidonic acid from the sn-2 position of phosphatidyl-cholines. The catalyzed reaction is an ester hydrolysis that takes place in two proton transfer steps via an intermediate. Two mechanisms, which differ mainly in the rate-limiting step, have been proposed in the literature. The reaction has been calculated semiempirically (PM3) for a protein fragment containing the active site (156 atoms). To take long-range electrostatic interactions of the protein bulk with the active site into account, a classical-mechanical protein environment has been provided by a rigid point-charge array with associated van der Waals potentials. In this way a model system has been built that simulates the natural situation in an enzyme more realistically than a pure model of the active site. A comparison between the relative energy paths obtained by calculating the reaction in the isolated active site and within the classical mechanical environment shows that the long-range interactions have a strong influence on the mechanism. While the calculations of the smaller system indicate that the first reaction step, the formation of the intermediate, is rate-limiting, the calculations including the protein environment show that the decomposition of the intermediate is probably rate-limiting. The results clearly show that the protein environment cannot be disregarded during quantum-mechanical calculations of enzyme mechanisms.