The enzyme mechanism of sialidase from influenza virus has been investigated by kinetic isotope methods, NMR, and a molecular dynamics simulation of the enzyme-substrate complex. Comparison of the reaction rates obtained with the synthetic substrate 4-methylumbelliferyl-N-acetyl-a-~-neuraminic acid and the [3,3-'H]-substituted substrate revealed /!I-deuterium isotope effects for V/Km ranging over 1.09 -1 .I 5 in the pH range 6.0 -9.5, whereas the effects observed for V in this pH range increased from 0.979 to 1.07. In D'O, ODV/Km was slightly increased by 2% and 5% at pD 6.0 and 9.5 respectively, while ODV was unchanged. Solvent isotope effects of 1.74 were obtained for both ODV/Km and ODV at pD 9.5, with ODV/K, decreasing and ODV remaining constant at acidic pD. 'H-NMR experiments confirmed that the initial product of the reaction is the a-anomer of N-acetyl-oneuraminic acid. Molecular dynamics studies identified a water molecule in the crystal structure of the sialidase-N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid complex which is hydrogen-bonded to Asp1 51 and is available to act as a proton donor source in the enzyme reaction. The results of this study lead us to propose a mechanism for the solvent-mediated hydrolysis of substrate by sialidase that requires the formation of an endocyclic sialosyl cation transition-state intermediate.Sialidases catalyse the hydrolysis of terminal sialic acids from a range of glycoprotein, glycolipid and oligosaccharide substrates [I]. A large number of important biological functions are associated with the actions of this class of enzyme, including receptor recognition and masking, antigenic expression, protein degradation and some infectious processes [2]. Although a great deal of structural information has been gathered from crystallographic studies of influenza virus sialidase [3,4] and from sequence studies of bacterial sialidases [5, 61, there is a lack of detailed mechanistic information. Our recent interest in the biochemistry of sialidase from influenza virus [7, 81, has prompted us to undertake a mechanistic study of this enzyme.Isotope effects have been successfully used to show that some glycosidase-catalysed reactions occur with glycosyl cation-like transition states [9-131. However the application of isotope effects to a mechanistic study of sialidase has not been previously reported. The present study reports p-deuterium and solvent isotope effects on the enzyme reaction of sialidase from influenza virus, as well as the pH dependence and mul- V, secondary P-deuterium isotope effect on V.Enzyme. Sialidase (EC 3.2.1.18).tiple isotope effects of these deuterium probes. The enzyme reaction was also investigated by 'H-NMR spectroscopy to determine the stereochemistry around the anomeric centre of the released product, N-acetyl-D-neuraminic acid (NeuSAc). The kinetic results have been related to a molecular dynamics simulation of the sialidase-N-acetylneuraminic-acid complex, enabling us to propose a more detailed mechanism for the action of sialidase from influenza virus.
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