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The active site sulfenic acid ligand in nitrile hydratases can function as a nucleophile.

ABSTRACT: Nitrile hydratase (NHase) catalyzes the hydration of nitriles to their corresponding commercially valuable amides at ambient temperatures and physiological pH. Several reaction mechanisms have been proposed for NHase enzymes; however, the source of the nucleophile remains a mystery. Boronic acids have been shown to be potent inhibitors of numerous hydrolytic enzymes due to the open shell of boron, which allows it to expand from a trigonal planar (sp(2)) form to a tetrahedral form (sp(3)). Therefore, we examined the inhibition of the Co-type NHase from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM 3095 (PtNHase) by boronic acids via kinetics and X-ray crystallography. Both 1-butaneboronic acid (BuBA) and phenylboronic acid (PBA) function as potent competitive inhibitors of PtNHase. X-ray crystal structures for BuBA and PBA complexed to PtNHase were solved and refined at 1.5, 1.6, and 1.2 Å resolution. The resulting PtNHase-boronic acid complexes represent a "snapshot" of reaction intermediates and implicate the cysteine-sulfenic acid ligand as the catalytic nucleophile, a heretofore unknown role for the αCys(113)-OH sulfenic acid ligand. Based on these data, a new mechanism of action for the hydration of nitriles by NHase is presented.

SUBMITTER: Martinez S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3968781 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:To determine how a substitutionally inert metal can play a catalytic role in the metalloenzyme nitrile hydratase (NHase), a reactive five-coordinate Co(III) thiolate complex ([Co(III)(S(2)(Me2)N(3)(Pr,Pr))](PF(6)) (1)) that resembles the active site of cobalt containing nitrile hydratase (Co NHase) was prepared. This was screened for reactivity, by using low-temperature electronic absorption spectroscopy, toward a number of biologically relevant "substrates". It was determined 1 will react with azide, thiocyanate, and ammonia, but is unreactive toward nitriles, NO, and butyrate. Substrate-bound 1 has similar spectroscopic and structural properties as [Co(III)(ADIT(2))](PF(6)) (2). Complex 2 is a six-coordinate Co(III) complex containing cis-thiolates and imine nitrogens, and has properties similar to the cobalt center of Co NHase. Substrate binding to 1 is reversible and temperature-dependent, allowing for the determination of the thermodynamic parameters of azide and thiocyanate binding and the rates of ligand dissociation. Azide and thiocyanate bind trans to a thiolate, and with similar entropies and enthalpies (thiocyanate: DeltaH = -7.5 +/- 1.1 kcal/mol, DeltaS = -17.2 +/- 3.2 eu; azide: DeltaH = -6.5 +/- 1.0 kcal/mol, DeltaS = -12.6 +/- 2.4 eu). The rates of azide and thiocyanate displacement from the metal center are also comparable to one another (k(d) = (7.22 +/- 0.04) x 10(-)(1) s(-)(1) for thiocyanate and k(d) = (2.14 +/- 0.50) x 10(-)(2) s(-)(1) for azide), and are considerably faster than one would expect for a low-spin d(6) six-coordinate Co(III) complex. These rates are comparable to those of an analogous Fe(III) complex, demonstrating that Co(III) and Fe(III) react at comparable rates when in this ligand environment. This study therefore indicates that ligand displacement from a low-spin Co(III) center in a ligand environment that resembles NHase is not prohibitively slow so as to disallow catalytic action in nonredox active cobalt metalloenzymes.

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The active site sulfenic acid ligand in nitrile hydratases can function as a nucleophile.

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