Flavins, including flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), are fundamental catalytic cofactors that are responsible for the redox functionality of a diverse set of proteins. Alternatively, modified flavin analogues are rarely found in nature as their incorporation typically results in inactivation of flavoproteins, thus leading to the disruption of important cellular pathways. Here, we report that the fungal flavoenzyme formate oxidase (FOX) catalyzes the slow conversion of noncovalently bound FAD to 8-formyl FAD and that this conversion results in a nearly 10-fold increase in formate oxidase activity. Although the presence of an enzyme-bound 8-formyl FMN has been reported previously as a result of site-directed mutagenesis studies of lactate oxidase, FOX is the first reported case of 8-formyl FAD in a wild-type enzyme. Therefore, the formation of the 8-formyl FAD cofactor in formate oxidase was investigated using steady-state kinetics, site-directed mutagenesis, ultraviolet-visible, circular dichroism, and fluorescence spectroscopy, liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry, and computational analysis. Surprisingly, the results from these studies indicate not only that 8-formyl FAD forms spontaneously and results in the active form of FOX but also that its autocatalytic formation is dependent on a nearby arginine residue, R87. Thus, this work describes a new enzyme cofactor and provides insight into the little-understood mechanism of enzyme-mediated 8α-flavin modifications.

Mobile loops located at the active site entrance in enzymes often participate in conformational changes required to shield the reaction from bulk solvent, to control the access of the substrate to the active site, and to position residues for substrate binding and catalysis. In d-arginine dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaDADH), previous crystallographic data suggested that residues 45-47 in the FAD-binding domain and residues 50-56 in the substrate-binding domain in loop L1 could adopt two distinct conformations. In this study, we have used molecular dynamics, kinetics, and fluorescence spectroscopy on the S45A and A46G enzyme variants of PaDADH to investigate the impact of mutations in loop L1 on the catalytic function of the enzyme. Molecular dynamics showed that the mutant enzymes have probabilities of being in open conformations that are higher than that of wild-type PaDADH of loop L1, yielding an increased level of solvent exposure of the active site. In agreement, the flavin fluorescence intensity was ∼2-fold higher in the S45A and A46G enzymes than in wild-type PaDADH, with a 9 nm bathochromic shift of the emission band. In the variant enzymes, the k/K values with d-arginine were ∼13-fold lower than in wild-type PaDADH. Moreover, the pH profiles for the k value with d-arginine showed a hollow, consistent with restricted proton movements in catalysis, and no saturation was achieved with the alternate substrate d-leucine in the reductive half-reaction of the variant enzymes. Taken together, the computational and experimental data are consistent with the dynamics of loop L1 being important for substrate capture and catalysis in PaDADH.

Fully understanding the catalytic mechanism of PPIases has broad implications for drug design, elucidation of the molecular basis of many diseases, protein engineering, and enzyme catalysis in general. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Proline-directed Foldases: Cell Signaling Catalysts and Drug Targets.

Allosteric regulations of the catalytic activity of enzymes in cellular processes remain poorly understood. Here, we advance the understanding of these critical processes by providing insights into the allosteric mechanism of acid-β-glucosidase, an enzyme associated with Gaucher disease. Glycosylation, a post-translational modification of proteins, is essential for in vivo catalytic activity and stability of acid-β-glucosidase. Asparagine 19, a glycosylation site that is located ∼30 Å from the active site, was observed to be glycosylated with either one or two Nacetyl-glucosamines by X-ray crystallography. In addition, N370S and L444P mutations, located ∼18 and 30 Å, respectively, away from the active site, cause type I Gaucher disease that is common among certain demographic groups. Using multiple microsecond-long molecular dynamics simulations, we evaluated the dynamics of the wild-type, glycosylated with one and two N-acetyl-glucosamines at N19 and the N370S and L444P variants of acid-β-glucosidase. Our results suggest that access to the substrate-binding pocket is controlled by the dynamics of loops surrounding the active site and allosterically regulated. Catalytic residues, E235 and E340, are less localized and sample more conformational states upon glycosylation of acid-β-glucosidase when compared to the wild-type and N370S variant. Our findings could help explain the allosteric effects of glycosylation on enzyme mechanisms, other disease-causing mutations in acid-β-glucosidase, and facilitate the design of drugs for the treatment of Gaucher disease.

Structurally conserved water molecules are important for biomolecular stability, flexibility, and function. X-ray crystallographic studies of Pin1 have resolved a number of water molecules around the enzyme, including two highly conserved water molecules within the protein. The functional role of these localized water molecules remains unknown and unexplored. Pin1 catalyzes cis/trans isomerizations of peptidyl prolyl bonds that are preceded by a phosphorylated serine or threonine residue. Pin1 is involved in many subcellular signaling processes and is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of several life threatening diseases. Here, we investigate the significance of these structurally conserved water molecules in the catalytic domain of Pin1 using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, free energy calculations, analysis of X-ray crystal structures, and circular dichroism (CD) experiments. MD simulations and free energy calculations suggest the tighter binding water molecule plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity and stability of a critical hydrogen-bonding network in the active site. The second water molecule is exchangeable with bulk solvent and is found in a distinctive helix-turn-coil motif. Structural bioinformatics analysis of nonredundant X-ray crystallographic protein structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) suggest this motif is present in several other proteins and can act as a water site, akin to the calcium EF hand. CD experiments suggest the isolated motif is in a distorted PII conformation and requires the protein environment to fully form the α-helix-turn-coil motif. This study provides valuable insights into the role of hydration in the structural integrity of Pin1 that can be exploited in protein engineering and drug design.