From sequence and structure of sulfotransferases and dihydropyrimidinases to an understanding of their mechanisms of action and function

Genomic insights into the biosynthesis and physiology of the cyanobacterial neurotoxin 3-N-methyl-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (BMAA)

Cyanobacteria are an ancient clade of photosynthetic prokaryotes, present in many habitats throughout the world, including water resources. They can present health hazards to humans and animals due to the production of a wide range of toxins (cyanotoxins), including the diaminoacid neurotoxin, 3-N-methyl-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (β-N-methylaminoalanine, BMAA). Knowledge of the biosynthetic pathway for BMAA, and its role in cyanobacteria, is lacking. Present evidence suggests that BMAA is derived by 3-N methylation of 2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (2,3-DAP) and, although the latter has never been reported in cyanobacteria, there are multiple pathways to its biosynthesis known in other bacteria and in plants. Here, we used bioinformatics analyses to investigate hypotheses concerning 2,3-DAP and BMAA biosynthesis in cyanobacteria. We assessed the potential presence or absence of each enzyme in candidate biosynthetic routes known in Albizia julibrissin, Lathyrus sativus seedlings, Streptomyces, Clostridium, Staphylococcus aureus, Pantoea agglomerans, and Paenibacillus larvae, in 130 cyanobacterial genomes using sequence alignment, profile hidden Markov models, substrate specificity/active site identification and the reconstruction of gene phylogenies. Most enzymes involved in pathways leading to 2,3-DAP in other species were not found in the cyanobacteria analysed. Nevertheless, two species appear to have the genes sbnA and sbnB, responsible for forming the 2,3-DAP constituent in staphyloferrin B, a siderophore from Staphylococcus aureus. It is currently undetermined whether these species are also capable of biosynthesising BMAA. It is possible that, in some cyanobacteria, the formation of 2,3-DAP and/or BMAA is associated with environmental iron-scavenging. The pam gene cluster, responsible for the biosynthesis of the BMAA-containing peptide, paenilamicin, so far appears to be restricted to Paenibacillus larvae. It was not detected in any of the cyanobacterial genomes analysed, nor was it found in 93 other Paenibacillus genomes or in the genomes of two BMAA-producing diatom species. We hypothesise that the presence, in some cyanobacterial species, of the enzymes 2,3-diaminopropionate ammonia-lyase (DAPAL) and reactive intermediate deaminase A (RidA) may explain the failure to detect 2,3-DAP in analytical studies. Overall, the taxonomic distribution of 2,3-DAP and BMAA in cyanobacteria is unclear; there may be multiple and additional routes, and roles, for the biosynthesis of 2,3-DAP and BMAA in these organisms.

Insight into enzyme-catalyzed aziridine formation mechanism in ficellomycin biosynthesis

Ficellomycin is an aziridine-containing antibiotic, produced by Streptomyces ficellus. Based on the newly identified ficellomycin gene cluster and the assigned functions of its genes, a possible pathway for aziridine ring formation in ficellomycin was proposed, which is a complex process involving at least 3 enzymatic steps. To obtain support for the proposed mechanism, the targeted genes encoding sulfate adenylyltransferase, adenylsulfate kinase, and a putative sulfotransferase were respectively disrupted and the subsequent analysis of their fermentation products revealed that all the three genes were involved in aziridine formation. To further confirm the mechanism, the key gene encoding a putative sulfotransferase was over expressed in Escherichia coli Rosseta (DE3). Enzyme assays indicated that the expressed sulfotransferase could specifically transfer a sulfo group from 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) onto the hydroxyl group of (R)-(-)-2-pyrrolidinemethanol. This introduces a good leaving group in the form of the sulfated hydroxyl moiety, which is then converted into an aziridine ring through an intramolecular nucleophilic attack by the adjacent secondary amine. The sulfation/intramolecular cyclization reaction sequence maybe a general strategy for aziridine biosynthesis in microorganisms. Discovery of this mechanism revealed an enzyme-catalyzed route for the synthesis of aziridine-containing reagents and provided an important insight into the functional diversity of sulfotransferases.

Structure, catalytic mechanism, posttranslational lysine carbamylation, and inhibition of dihydropyrimidinases

Dihydropyrimidinase catalyzes the reversible hydrolytic ring opening of dihydrouracil and dihydrothymine to N-carbamoyl-β-alanine and N-carbamyl-β-aminoisobutyrate, respectively. Dihydropyrimidinase from microorganisms is normally known as hydantoinase because of its role as a biocatalyst in the synthesis of d- and l-amino acids for the industrial production of antibiotic precursors and its broad substrate specificity. Dihydropyrimidinase belongs to the cyclic amidohydrolase family, which also includes imidase, allantoinase, and dihydroorotase. Although these metal-dependent enzymes share low levels of amino acid sequence homology, they possess similar active site architectures and may use a similar mechanism for catalysis. By contrast, the five human dihydropyrimidinase-related proteins possess high amino acid sequence identity and are structurally homologous to dihydropyrimidinase, but they are neuronal proteins with no dihydropyrimidinase activity. In this chapter, we summarize and discuss current knowledge and the recent advances on the structure, catalytic mechanism, and inhibition of dihydropyrimidinase.

Crystal structure of dihydropyrimidinase in complex with anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil

Dihydropyrimidinase (DHPase) catalyzes the reversible cyclization of dihydrouracil to N-carbamoyl-β-alanine in the second step of the pyrimidine degradation pathway. Whether 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), the best-known fluoropyrimidine that is used to target the enzyme thymidylate synthase for anticancer therapy, can bind to DHPase remains unknown. In this study, we found that 5-FU can form a stable complex with Pseudomonas aeruginosa DHPase (PaDHPase). The crystal structure of PaDHPase complexed with 5-FU was determined at 1.76 Å resolution (PDB entry 6KLK). Various interactions between 5-FU and PaDHPase were examined. Six residues, namely, His61, Tyr155, Asp316, Cys318, Ser289 and Asn337, of PaDHPase were involved in 5-FU binding. Except for Cys318, these residues are also known as the substrate-binding sites of DHPase. 5-FU interacts with the main chains of residues Ser289 (3.0 Å) and Asn337 (3.2 Å) and the side chains of residues Tyr155 (2.8 Å) and Cys318 (2.9 Å). Mutation at either Tyr155 or Cys318 of PaDHPase caused a low 5-FU binding activity of PaDHPase. This structure and the binding mode provided molecular insights into how the dimetal center in DHPase undergoes a conformational change during 5-FU binding. Further research can directly focus on revisiting the role of DHPase in anticancer therapy.

Crystal structures of monometallic dihydropyrimidinase and the human dihydroorotase domain K1556A mutant reveal no lysine carbamylation within the active site

Dihydropyrimidinase (DHPase) is a member of the cyclic amidohydrolase family, which also includes allantoinase, dihydroorotase (DHOase), hydantoinase, and imidase. Almost all of these zinc metalloenzymes possess a binuclear metal center in which two metal ions are bridged by a post-translational carbamylated Lys. Crystal structure of Tetraodon nigroviridis DHPase reveals that one zinc ion is sufficient to stabilize Lys carbamylation. In this study, we found that one metal coordination was not sufficient to fix CO₂ to the Lys in bacterial DHPase. We prepared and characterized mono-Zn DHPase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaDHPase), and the catalytic activity of mono-Zn PaDHPase was not detected. The crystal structure of mono-Zn PaDHPase determined at 2.23 Å resolution (PDB entry 6AJD) revealed that Lys150 was no longer carbamylated. This finding indicated the decarbamylation of the Lys during the metal chelating process. To confirm the state of Lys carbamylation in mono-Zn PaDHPase in solution, mass spectrometric (MS) analysis was carried out. The MS result was in agreement with the theoretical value for uncarbamylated PaDHPase. Crystal structure of the human DHOase domain (huDHOase) K1556A mutant was also determined (PDB entry 5YNZ), and the structure revealed that the active site of huDHOase K1556A mutant contained one metal ion. Like mono-Zn PaDHPase, oxygen ligands of the carbamylated Lys were not required for Znα binding. Considering the collective data from X-ray crystal structure and MS analysis, mono-Zn PaDHPase in both crystalline state and solution was not carbamylated. In addition, structural evidences indicated that post-translational carbamylated Lys was not required for Znα binding in PaDHPase and in huDHOase.

Structural Basis for pH-Dependent Oligomerization of Dihydropyrimidinase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Dihydropyrimidinase, a dimetalloenzyme containing a carboxylated lysine within the active site, is a member of the cyclic amidohydrolase family, which also includes allantoinase, dihydroorotase, hydantoinase, and imidase. Unlike all known dihydropyrimidinases, which are tetrameric, pseudomonal dihydropyrimidinase forms a dimer at neutral pH. In this paper, we report the crystal structure of P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase at pH 5.9 (PDB entry 5YKD). The crystals of P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase belonged to space group C222₁ with cell dimensions of a = 108.9, b = 155.7, and c = 235.6 Å. The structure of P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase was solved at 2.17 Å resolution. An asymmetric unit of the crystal contained four crystallographically independent P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase monomers. Gel filtration chromatographic analysis of purified P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase revealed a mixture of dimers and tetramers at pH 5.9. Thus, P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase can form a stable tetramer both in the crystalline state and in the solution. Based on sequence analysis and structural comparison of the dimer-dimer interface between P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase and Thermus sp. dihydropyrimidinase, different oligomerization mechanisms are proposed.

Crystal structure of dihydropyrimidinase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1: Insights into the molecular basis of formation of a dimer

Dihydropyrimidinase, a tetrameric metalloenzyme, is a member of the cyclic amidohydrolase family, which also includes allantoinase, dihydroorotase, hydantoinase, and imidase. In this paper, we report the crystal structure of dihydropyrimidinase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 at 2.1 Å resolution. The structure of P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase reveals a classic (β/α)8-barrel structure core embedding the catalytic dimetal center and a β-sandwich domain, which is commonly found in the architecture of dihydropyrimidinases. In contrast to all dihydropyrimidinases, P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase forms a dimer, rather than a tetramer, both in the crystalline state and in the solution. Basing on sequence analysis and structural comparison of the C-terminal region and the dimer-dimer interface between P. aeruginosa dihydropyrimidinase and Thermus sp. dihydropyrimidinase, we propose a working model to explain why this enzyme cannot be a tetramer.

Inhibition of a Putative Dihydropyrimidinase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 by Flavonoids and Substrates of Cyclic Amidohydrolases

Dihydropyrimidinase is a member of the cyclic amidohydrolase family, which also includes allantoinase, dihydroorotase, hydantoinase, and imidase. These metalloenzymes possess very similar active sites and may use a similar mechanism for catalysis. However, whether the substrates and inhibitors of other cyclic amidohydrolases can inhibit dihydropyrimidinase remains unclear. This study investigated the inhibition of dihydropyrimidinase by flavonoids and substrates of other cyclic amidohydrolases. Allantoin, dihydroorotate, 5-hydantoin acetic acid, acetohydroxamate, orotic acid, and 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole could slightly inhibit dihydropyrimidinase, and the IC₅₀ values of these compounds were within the millimolar range. The inhibition of dihydropyrimidinase by flavonoids, such as myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, galangin, dihydromyricetin, and myricitrin, was also investigated. Some of these compounds are known as inhibitors of allantoinase and dihydroorotase. Although the inhibitory effects of these flavonoids on dihydropyrimidinase were substrate-dependent, dihydromyricetin significantly inhibited dihydropyrimidinase with IC₅₀ values of 48 and 40 μM for the substrates dihydrouracil and 5-propyl-hydantoin, respectively. The results from the Lineweaver−Burk plot indicated that dihydromyricetin was a competitive inhibitor. Results from fluorescence quenching analysis indicated that dihydromyricetin could form a stable complex with dihydropyrimidinase with the K_d value of 22.6 μM. A structural study using PatchDock showed that dihydromyricetin was docked in the active site pocket of dihydropyrimidinase, which was consistent with the findings from kinetic and fluorescence studies. This study was the first to demonstrate that naturally occurring product dihydromyricetin inhibited dihydropyrimidinase, even more than the substrate analogs (>3 orders of magnitude). These flavonols, particularly myricetin, may serve as drug leads and dirty drugs (for multiple targets) for designing compounds that target several cyclic amidohydrolases.