The
enzymatic mechanism of 3-phosphoglycerate to 3-phosphohydroxypyruvate
oxidation, which forms the first step of the main conserved de novo serine synthesis pathway, has been revisited recently
in certain microorganisms. While this step is classically considered
to be catalyzed by an NAD-dependent dehydrogenase (e.g., PHGDH in
mammals), evidence has shown that in Pseudomonas, Escherichia coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the PHGDH homologues act as transhydrogenases. As such, they use
α-ketoglutarate, rather than NAD+, as the final electron
acceptor, thereby producing D-2-hydroxyglutarate in addition to 3-phosphohydroxypyruvate
during 3-phosphoglycerate oxidation. Here, we provide a detailed biochemical
and sequence–structure relationship characterization of the
yeast PHGDH homologues, encoded by the paralogous SER3 and SER33 genes, in comparison to the human and
other PHGDH enzymes. Using in vitro assays with purified
recombinant enzymes as well as in vivo growth phenotyping
and metabolome analyses of yeast strains engineered to depend on either
Ser3, Ser33, or human PHGDH for serine synthesis, we confirmed that
both yeast enzymes act as transhydrogenases, while the human enzyme
is a dehydrogenase. In addition, we show that the yeast paralogs differ
from the human enzyme in their sensitivity to inhibition by serine
as well as hydrated NADH derivatives. Importantly, our in
vivo data support the idea that a 3PGA transhydrogenase instead
of dehydrogenase activity confers a growth advantage under conditions
where the NAD+:NADH ratio is low. The results will help
to elucidate why different species evolved different reaction mechanisms
to carry out a widely conserved metabolic step in central carbon metabolism.