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Electrostatic suppression allows tyrosine site-specific recombination in the absence of a conserved catalytic arginine.

ABSTRACT: The active site of the tyrosine family site-specific recombinase Flp contains a conserved catalytic pentad that includes two arginine residues, Arg-191 and Arg-308. Both arginines are essential for the transesterification steps of strand cleavage and strand joining in DNA substrates containing a phosphate group at the scissile position. During strand cleavage, the active site tyrosine supplies the nucleophile to form a covalent 3'-phosphotyrosyl intermediate. The 5'-hydroxyl group produced by cleavage provides the nucleophile to re-form a 3'-5' phosphodiester bond in a recombinant DNA strand. In previous work we showed that substitution of the scissile phosphate (P) by the charge neutral methylphosphonate (MeP) makes Arg-308 dispensable during the catalytic activation of the MeP diester bond. However, in the Flp(R308A) reaction, water out-competes the tyrosine nucleophile (Tyr-343) to cause direct hydrolysis of the MeP diester bond. We now report that for MeP activation Arg-191 is also not required. In contrast to Flp(R308A), Flp(R191A) primarily mediates normal cleavage by Tyr-343 but also exhibits a weaker direct hydrolytic activity. The cleaved MeP-tyrosyl intermediate formed by Flp(R191A) can be targeted for nucleophilic attack by a 5'-hydroxyl or water and channeled toward strand joining or hydrolysis, respectively. In collaboration with wild type Flp, Flp(R191A) promotes strand exchange between MeP- and P-DNA partners. Loss of a catalytically crucial positively charged side chain can thus be suppressed by a compensatory modification in the DNA substrate that neutralizes the negative charge on the scissile phosphate.

SUBMITTER: Rowley PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2906291 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Electrostatic suppression allows tyrosine site-specific recombination in the absence of a conserved catalytic arginine.

Rowley Paul A PA Kachroo Aashiq H AH Ma Chien-Hui CH Maciaszek Anna D AD Guga Piotr P Jayaram Makkuni M

The Journal of biological chemistry 20100506 30

The active site of the tyrosine family site-specific recombinase Flp contains a conserved catalytic pentad that includes two arginine residues, Arg-191 and Arg-308. Both arginines are essential for the transesterification steps of strand cleavage and strand joining in DNA substrates containing a phosphate group at the scissile position. During strand cleavage, the active site tyrosine supplies the nucleophile to form a covalent 3'-phosphotyrosyl intermediate. The 5'-hydroxyl group produced by cl ...[more]

PMID: 20448041

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Project description:We report the results of an investigation into the catalytic role of highly conserved amide (asparagine, glutamine) and OH-containing (serine, tyrosine) residues in several prenyltransferases. We first obtained the X-ray structure of cyclolavandulyl diphosphate synthase containing two molecules of the substrate analog dimethylallyl (S)-thiolodiphosphate (DMASPP). The two molecules have similar diphosphate group orientations to those seen in other ζ-fold (cis- head-to-tail and head-to-middle) prenyltransferases with one diphosphate moiety forming a bidentate chelate with Mg2+ in the so-called S1 site (which is typically the allylic binding site in ζ-fold proteins) while the second diphosphate binds to Mg2+ in the so-called S2 site (which is typically the homoallylic binding site in ζ-fold proteins) via a single P1O1 oxygen. The latter interaction can facilitate direct phosphate-mediated proton abstraction via P1O2, or more likely by an indirect mechanism in which P1O2 stabilizes a basic asparagine species that removes H+, which is then eliminated via an Asn-Ser shuttle. The universal occurrence of Asn-Ser pairs in ζ-fold proteins leads to the idea that the highly conserved amide (Asn, Gln) and OH-containing (Tyr) residues seen in many "head-to-head" prenyltransferases such as squalene and dehydrosqualene synthase might play similar roles, in H+ elimination. Structural, bioinformatics and mutagenesis investigations indeed indicate an important role of these residues in catalysis, with the results of density functional theory calculations showing that Asn bound to Mg2+ can act as a general (imine-like) base, while Gln, Tyr and H2O form a proton channel that is adjacent to the conventional (Asp-rich) "active site". Taken together, our results lead to mechanisms of proton-elimination from carbocations in numerous prenyltransferases in which neutral species (Asn, Gln, Ser, Tyr, H2O) act as proton shuttles, complementing the more familiar roles of acidic groups (in Asp and Glu) that bind to Mg2+, and basic groups (primarily Arg) that bind to diphosphates, in isoprenoid biosynthesis.

Dataset Information

Electrostatic suppression allows tyrosine site-specific recombination in the absence of a conserved catalytic arginine.

Publications

Electrostatic suppression allows tyrosine site-specific recombination in the absence of a conserved catalytic arginine.

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