Phosphite
dehydrogenase catalyzes the transfer of a hydride from
phosphite to NAD+, producing phosphate and NADH. We have
evaluated the role of hydride tunneling in a thermostable variant
of this enzyme (17X-PTDH) by measuring the temperature dependence
of the primary 2H kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) between
5 and 45 °C. Pre-steady-state kinetic measurements were used
to demonstrate that the hydride transfer is rate-determining across
this temperature range and that the observed KIEs are equal to the
intrinsic isotope effect on the chemical step. The KIEs on the pre-exponential
factor (A
H/A
D) and the activation energy (ΔE
a) were 1.6 ± 0.1 and 0.21 ± 0.05 kcal/mol, respectively,
suggesting that 17X-PTDH facilitates extensive tunneling of both isotopes
via a Marcus-like model. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to evaluate
the role of an active site threonine (Thr104) found on the back face
of the nicotinamide in promoting the close packing of the substrates.
In mutants with reduced steric bulk at this position, values of A
H/A
D and ΔE
a fall within the range describing semiclassical
“over the barrier” reactivity, suggesting that Thr104
acts as a steric backstop to promote tunneling in 17X-PTDH. Whereas
hydrogen tunneling is now a widely appreciated feature of C–H
activating enzymes, these observations with a P–H activating
system are consistent with the proposal that tunneling is likely to
be a common feature on all enzymes that catalyze hydrogen transfers.