The oxidation of the reduced flavin in choline oxidase was investigated with pH, solvent viscosity, and kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) in steady-state kinetics and time-resolved absorbance spectroscopy of the oxidative half-reaction in a stopped-flow spectrophotometer. Both the effects of isotopic substitution on the KIEs and the multiple KIEs suggest a mechanism for flavin oxidation in which the H atom from the reduced flavin and a H(+) from the solvent or a solvent exchangeable site are transferred in the same kinetic step. Stopped-flow kinetic data demonstrate flavin oxidation without stabilization of flavin-derived species. Solvent viscosity effects establish an isomerization of the reduced enzyme. These results allow us to rule out mechanisms for flavin oxidation in which C4a-peroxy and -hydroperoxy flavin intermediates accumulate to detectable levels in the reaction of flavin oxidation catalyzed by choline oxidase. A mechanism of flavin oxidation that directly results in the formation of oxidized flavin and hydrogen peroxide without stabilization of reaction intermediates is consistent with the data presented.

The flavin-mediated enzymatic oxidation of a CN bond in amino acids can occur through hydride transfer, carbanion, or polar nucleophilic mechanisms. Previous results with D-arginine dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaDADH) using multiple deuterium kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) and computational studies established preferred binding of the substrate protonated on the α-amino group, with cleavages of the NH and CH bonds occurring in asynchronous fashion, consistent with the three possible mechanisms. The hydroxyl groups of Y53 and Y249 are ≤4 Å from the imino and carboxylate groups of the reaction product iminoarginine, suggesting participation in binding and catalysis. In this study, we have investigated the reductive half-reactions of the Y53F and Y249F variants of PaDADH using substrate and solvent deuterium KIEs, solvent viscosity and pH effects, and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical computational approaches to gain insights into the catalytic roles of the tyrosines and evaluate whether their mutations affect the transition state for substrate oxidation. Both Y53F and Y249F enzymes oxidized D-arginine with steady-state kinetic parameters similar to those of the wild-type enzyme. Rate constants for flavin reduction (k(red)) with D-leucine, a slow substrate amenable to rapid kinetics, were 3-fold smaller than the wild-type value with similar pKa values for an unprotonated group of ∼10.0. Similar pKa values were observed for (app)Kd in the variant and wild-type enzymes. However, cleavage of the substrate NH and CH bonds in the enzyme variants occurred in synchronous fashion, as suggested by multiple deuterium KIEs on k(red). These data can be reconciled with a hydride transfer mechanism, but not with carbanion and polar nucleophilic mechanisms.

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Proteins are inherently dynamic, and proper enzyme function relies on conformational flexibility. In this study, we demonstrated how an active site residue changes an enzyme’s reactivity by modulating fluctuations between conformational states. Replacement of tyrosine 249 (Y249) with phenylalanine in the active site of the flavin-dependent d-arginine dehydrogenase yielded an enzyme with both an active yellow FAD (Y249F-y) and an inactive chemically modified green FAD, identified as 6-OH-FAD (Y249F-g) through various spectroscopic techniques. Structural investigation of Y249F-g and Y249F-y variants by comparison to the wild-type enzyme showed no differences in the overall protein structure and fold. A closer observation of the active site of the Y249F-y enzyme revealed an alternative conformation for some active site residues and the flavin cofactor. Molecular dynamics simulations probed the alternate conformations observed in the Y249F-y enzyme structure and showed that the enzyme variant with FAD samples a metastable conformational state, not available to the wild-type enzyme. Hybrid quantum/molecular mechanical calculations identified differences in flavin electronics between the wild type and the alternate conformation of the Y249F-y enzyme. The computational studies further indicated that the alternate conformation in the Y249F-y enzyme is responsible for the higher spin density at the C6 atom of flavin, which is consistent with the formation of 6-OH-FAD in the variant enzyme. The observations in this study are consistent with an alternate conformational space that results in fine-tuning the microenvironment around a versatile cofactor playing a critical role in enzyme function.