N-acetylglucosamine 2-Epimerase from Pedobacter heparinus: First Experimental Evidence of a Deprotonation/Reprotonation Mechanism

Autor: Su-Yan Wang, Pedro Laborda, Ai-Min Lu, Xu-Chu Duan, Hong-Yu Ma, Li Liu, Josef Voglmeir
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Catalysts, Vol 6, Iss 12, p 212 (2016)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2073-4344
DOI: 10.3390/catal6120212
Popis: The control of cellular N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) levels has been postulated to be an effective way to modulate the decoration of cell surfaces with sialic acid. N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase catalyzes the interconversion of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and ManNAc. Herein, we describe the cloning, expression, purification and biochemical characterization of an unstudied N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase from Pedobacter heparinus (PhGn2E). To further characterize the enzyme, several N-acylated glucosamine derivatives were chemically synthesized, and subsequently used to test the substrate specificity of PhGn2E. Furthermore, NMR studies of deuterium/hydrogen exchange at the anomeric hydroxy group and C-2 positions of the substrate in the reaction mixture confirmed for the first time the postulated epimerization reaction via ring-opening/enolate formation. Site-directed mutagenesis of key residues in the active site showed that Arg63 and Glu314 are directly involved in proton abstraction and re-incorporation onto the substrate. As all mechanistically relevant active site residues also occur in all mammalian isoforms, PhGn2E can serve as a model N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase for further elucidation of the active site mechanism in these enzymes.
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