Kinetic and equilibrium alpha-secondary tritium isotope effects on reactions catalyzed by dCMP hydroxymethylase from bacteriophage T4

A host dTMP-bound structure of T4 phage dCMP hydroxymethylase mutant using an X-ray free electron laser

The hydroxymethylation of cytosine bases plays a vital role in the phage DNA protection system inside the host Escherichia coli. This modification is known to be catalyzed by the dCMP hydroxymethylase from bacteriophage T4 (T4dCH); structural information on the complexes with the substrate, dCMP and the co-factor, tetrahydrofolate is currently available. However, the detailed mechanism has not been understood clearly owing to a lack of structure in the complex with a reaction intermediate. We have applied the X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) technique to determine a high-resolution structure of a T4dCH D179N active site mutant. The XFEL structure was determined at room temperature and exhibited several unique features in comparison with previously determined structures. Unexpectedly, we observed a bulky electron density at the active site of the mutant that originated from the physiological host (i.e., E. coli). Mass-spectrometric analysis and a cautious interpretation of an electron density map indicated that it was a dTMP molecule. The bound dTMP mimicked the methylene intermediate from dCMP to 5′-hydroxymethy-dCMP, and a critical water molecule for the final hydroxylation was convincingly identified. Therefore, this study provides information that contributes to the understanding of hydroxymethylation.

A cytosine modification mechanism revealed by the structure of a ternary complex of deoxycytidylate hydroxymethylase from bacteriophage T4 with its cofactor and substrate

To protect viral DNA against the host bacterial restriction system, bacterio-phages utilize a special modification system - hydroxymethylation - in which dCMP hydroxymethylase (dCH) converts dCMP to 5-hydroxymethyl-dCMP (5hm-dCMP) using N5,N10-methylenetetrahydrofolate as a cofactor. Despite shared similarity with thymidylate synthase (TS), dCH catalyzes hydroxylation through an exocyclic methylene intermediate during the last step, which is different from the hydride transfer that occurs with TS. In contrast to the extensively studied TS, the hydroxymethylation mechanism of a cytosine base is not well understood due to the lack of a ternary complex structure of dCH in the presence of both its substrate and cofactor. This paper reports the crystal structure of the ternary complex of dCH from bacteriophage T4 (T4dCH) with dCMP and tetrahydrofolate at 1.9 Å resolution. The authors found key residues of T4dCH for accommodating the cofactor without a C-terminal tail, an optimized network of ordered water molecules and a hydrophobic gating mechanism for cofactor regulation. In combination with biochemical data on structure-based mutants, key residues within T4dCH and a substrate water molecule for hydroxymethylation were identified. Based on these results, a complete enzyme mechanism of dCH and signature residues that can identify dCH enzymes within the TS family have been proposed. These findings provide a fundamental basis for understanding the pyrimidine modification system.

Replacement of 2'-Deoxycytidine by 2'-Deoxycytidine Analogues in the E. coli Genome

Several modified bases have been observed in the genomic DNA of bacteriophages, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes that play a role in restriction systems and/or epigenetic regulation. In our efforts to understand the consequences of replacing a large fraction of a canonical nucleoside with a modified nucleoside, we previously replaced around 75% of thymidine (T) with 5'-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxyuridine (5hmU) in the Escherichia coli genome. In this study, we engineered the pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthetic pathway using T4 bacteriophage genes to achieve approximately 63% replacement of 2'-deoxycytidine (dC) with 5-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxycytidine (5hmC) in the E. coli genome and approximately 71% replacement in plasmids. We further engineered the glucose metabolic pathway to transform the 5hmC into glucosyl-5-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxycytidine (5-gmC) and achieved 20% 5-gmC in the genome and 45% 5-gmC in plasmid DNA.

A model reaction assesses contribution of H-tunneling and coupled motions to enzyme catalysis

To assess the contribution of physical features to enzyme catalysis, the enzymatic reaction has to be compared to a relevant uncatalyzed reaction. While such comparisons have been conducted for some hydrolytic and radical reactions, it is most challenging for biological hydride transfer and redox reactions in general. Here, the same experimental tools used to study the H-tunneling and coupled motions for enzymatic hydride transfer between two carbons were used in the study of an uncatalyzed model reaction. The enzymatic oxidations of benzyl alcohol and its substituted analogues mediated by alcohol dehydrogenases were compared to the oxidations by 9-phenylxanthylium cation (PhXn(+)). The PhXn(+) serves as an NAD(+) model, while the solvent, acetonitrile, models the protein environment. Experimental comparisons included linear free energy relations with Hammett reaction constant (ρ) of zero versus -2.7; temperature-independent versus temperature-dependent primary KIEs; deflated secondary KIEs with deuteride transfer (i.e., primary-secondary coupled motion) versus no coupling between secondary KIEs and H- or D-transfer; and large versus small secondary KIEs for the enzymatic versus uncatalyzed alcohol oxidation. Some of the differences may come from differences in the order of microscopic steps between the catalyzed versus uncatalyzed reactions. However, several of these comparative experiments indicate that in contrast to the uncatalyzed reaction the transition state of the enzymatic reaction is better reorganized for H-tunneling and its H-donor is better rehybridized prior to the C-H→C transfer. These findings suggest an important role for these physical features in enzyme catalysis.

Nonperfect synchronization of reaction center rehybridization in the transition state of the hydride transfer catalyzed by dihydrofolate reductase

It has been suggested that the magnitudes of secondary kinetic isotope effects (2 degrees KIEs) of enzyme-catalyzed reactions are an indicator of the extent of reaction-center rehybridization at the transition state. A 2 degrees KIE value close to the corresponding secondary equilibrium isotope effects (2 degrees EIE) is conventionally interpreted as indicating a late transition state that resembles the final product. The reliability of using this criterion to infer the structure of the transition state is examined by carrying out a theoretical investigation of the hybridization states of the hydride donor and acceptor in the Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase (ecDHFR)-catalyzed reaction for which a 2 degrees KIE close to the 2 degrees EIE was reported. Our results show that the donor carbon at the hydride transfer transition state resembles the reactant state more than the product state, whereas the acceptor carbon is more productlike, which is a symptom of transition state imbalance. The conclusion that the isotopically substituted carbon is reactant-like disagrees with the conclusion that would have been derived from the criterion of 2 degrees KIEs and 2 degrees EIEs, but the breakdown of the correlation with the equilibrium isotope effect can be explained by considering the effect of tunneling.

Electrostatic guidance of catalysis by a conserved glutamic acid in Escherichia coli dTMP synthase and bacteriophage T4 dCMP hydroxymethylase

Thymidylate synthase (TS) and dCMP hydroxymethylase (CH) are homologous enzymes which catalyze the alkylation of C5 of pyrimidine nucleotides. One of the first catalytic steps is isomerization of the alkyl donor, methylenetetrahydrofolate, from its N5,N10 bridged form to the N5 iminium ion upon enzyme binding. Glu58 in TS has been postulated [Matthews et al. (1990) J. Mol. Biol. 214, 937-948] to be involved in this isomerization and the deprotonation of C5 of the nucleotide. Substitution by Asp or Gln of Glu58 in Escherichia coli TS, or of the corresponding Glu60 in CH from phage T4, decreases the activity of either enzyme. Alkylation is slowed much more than deprotonation, indicating uncoupling of steps which are tightly coupled for the wild-type enzymes. The data support minor roles for Glu58/60 in nucleotide binding and in isomerization of methylenetetrahydrofolate, but no major roles in nucleotide deprotonation, product dissociation, or hydration catalyzed by CH. The primary role of Glu58/60 is to accelerate bond cleavage between N5 of tetrahydrofolate and the methylene being transferred. The influence of Glu58/60 on the rate of bond cleavage is proposed to arise from electrostatic destabilization due to the proximity of the glutamyl carboxylate, of the anionic species formed when C5 of the nucleotide is deprotonated. The proposal explains the uncoupling of deprotonation and alkylation with the Glu58/60 variants and the reduced kinetic isotope effect on hydride transfer for TS(Glu58Gln). The inability of 5-deazatetrahydrofolate to stimulate enzyme-catalyzed tritium exchange from [5-(3H)]nucleotides into solvent suggests that N5 of tetrahydrofolate is the base which deprotonates the nucleotide.