Co-type Nitrile Hydratase Research Articles

Examination of the Catalytic Role of the Axial Cystine Ligand in the Co-Type Nitrile Hydratase from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM 3095

The strictly conserved αSer162 residue in the Co-type nitrile hydratase from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM 3095 (PtNHase), which forms a hydrogen bond to the axial αCys108-S atom, was mutated into an Ala residue. The αSer162Ala yielded two different protein species: one was the apoform (αSerA) that exhibited no observable activity, and the second (αSerB) contained its full complement of cobalt ions and was active with a kcat value of 63 ± 3 s−1 towards acrylonitrile at pH 7.5. The X-ray crystal structure of αSerA was determined at 1.85 Å resolution and contained no detectable cobalt per α2β2 heterotetramer. The axial αCys108 ligand itself was also mutated into Ser, Met, and His ligands. All three of these αCys108 mutant enzymes contained only half of the cobalt complement of wild-type PtNHase, but were able to hydrate acrylonitrile with kcat values of 120 ± 6, 29 ± 3, and 14 ± 1 s−1 for the αCys108His, Ser, and Met mutant enzymes, respectively. As all three of these mutant enzymes are catalytically competent, these data provide the first experimental evidence that transient disulfide bond formation is not catalytically essential for NHases.

Evidence for the participation of an extra α-helix at β-subunit surface in the thermal stability of Co-type nitrile hydratase.

Nitrile hydratase (NHase) has attracted considerable attention since it can efficiently catalyze the hydration of nitriles to valuable amides. However, the poor stability of NHase is one of the main drawbacks in the industrial application. In this study, we compared the structural difference between Fe-type and Co-type NHase and found that an extra α helix existed at the β-subunit surface of Co-type NHase (defined as the β-6th helix). Then, the effects of the β-6th helix were investigated on the thermal stability and the catalytic kinetics of a Co-type NHase from Aurantimonas manganoxydans ATCC BAA-1229 (NHase1229). When the β-6th helix was deleted or disrupted, the thermal stability of NHase1229 was reduced to 17.6 and 12.9% of that of wild NHase1229, respectively. Thus, the β-6th helix is important for the thermal stability of Co-type NHase. Based on the structural characteristics of Co-type NHase, the β-6th helix may be interacted with another helix at the α-subunit (defined as the α-2nd helix) by hydrophobic network just as a "magnetic suction buckle" on the enzyme surface to stabilize the binding of α- and β-subunits. The β-6th helix is located at the mouth of the substrate and product tunnel, so it plays crucial roles in catalytic process. Furthermore, the β-6th helix in NHase1229 was swapped with a thermophilic NHase fragment from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095 (NHase1229-Swap). The thermal stability of NHase1229-Swap was significantly improved, and the half-life was approximately 2.4-fold at 40°C than that of the wild NHase1229. The knowledge is useful for improving the stability of NHases by restriction fragment swapping.

Preparation of a Flowerlike Nanobiocatalyst System via Biomimetic Mineralization of Cobalt Phosphate with Enzyme

This study reported a novel and facile method for the spontaneous synthesis of flowerlike cobalt phosphate nanocrystals (Co3(PO4)2 nanoflowers) without adding any templates, and the growth mechanism was further studied. Subsequently, an excellent nanobiocatalyst system was established via the biomimetic mineralization of cobalt phosphate with Co-type nitrile hydratase (NHase). Because of the interactions between Co ions in the microenvironment of cobalt phosphate and enzyme active site, the encapsulated NHase (NHase@Co3(PO4)2) exhibited high catalytic efficiencies and desirable stabilities. The enzymatic activity of encapsulated NHase was 238.4 U/g and the protein loading amount was 210.73 mg/g. Compared with free NHase, the optimum temperature of NHase@Co3(PO4)2 was 40 °C, which was higher than that of the free NHase (30 °C). The thermal, pH, antiproteolytic, and storage stability of NHase@Co3(PO4)2 were all improved. Furthermore, NHase@Co3(PO4)2 could be applied in the production of nicotinamide (NAM) w...

Identification and functional analysis of the activator gene involved in the biosynthesis of Co-type nitrile hydratase from Aurantimonas manganoxydans

Nitrile hydratase (NHase) has attracted considerable attention to synthesize valuable amides. Here, the gene cluster of Co-type NHase from Aurantimonas manganoxydans ATCC BAA-1229 (NHase1229) was identified through Edman degradation and recombinant expression, including α-subunit, β-subunit, and activator. The activator gene contained 408 bases, which was essential for the biosynthesis of NHase1229 in Escherichia coli. The activator gene can be substituted by Co-type activator from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095 and Pseudomonas putida 5B to assist in the functional expression of NHase1229, not by that of Fe-type NHase from Pseudomonas putida F1. Multi-sequence alignment showed that the activator contained conserved amino acid residues (Trp34, Trp53, Phe 85, Gln35, Glu39, and Glu90), but these residues had no significant effect on activator function. Histidine residues (His112, His120, and His134) at the C-terminus only partially participated in the activator function. Furthermore, the successive α-helices in domain TIGR03889 were identified to be critical for the activator function. The integration efficiency of cobalt into the active site was decreased with the interruption of α-helices. Therefore, Co-type and Fe-type activators have specific functions for the integration of different metal ions, and four conserved α-helices in Co-type activator affect the integration of cobalt. These knowledge is useful for understanding the biosynthesis of Co-type NHase.

Overexpression of a nitrile hydratase from Klebsiella oxytoca KCTC 1686 in Escherichia coli and its biochemical characterization

The putative Co-type nitrile hydratase (NHaseK, consisting of α- and β-subunits) genes and the putative activator (17K) gene adjacent to the β subunit region were cloned from Klebsiella oxytoca KCTC 1686. 17K is essential for the functional expression of recombinant NHaseK in Escherichia coli; however, the expression level of 17K was very low when the 17K gene and NHaseK structural genes were expressed as a gene cluster in E. coli BL21(DE3). To improve the 17K expression level and NHaseK activity, the expression cassette was redesigned by placing the 17K gene and NHaseK structural genes under the control of different promoters in the pETDuet-1 expression vector, co-expressing the 17K gene with the gene cluster in a double plasmid or a single plasmid with a double promoter, and introducing an efficient Shine- Dalgarno sequence 5' to the17K gene. The specific activity of NHaseK was improved when 17K was co-expressed with the gene cluster, whereas the production of NHaseK protein decreased. The maximum activity was achieved when an efficient Shine-Dalgarno sequence was introduced 5' to the 17K gene: the expression level of 17K was significantly improved and the expression level of NHaseK did not decrease significantly. The maximum activity was about 63,480 ± 1915.6 U/L broth towards 3-Cyanopyridine. Recombinant NHaseK could hydrolyze a wide range of aliphatic, aromatic, and heterocyclic nitriles, and convert racemic nitriles to the corresponding S-amides, with E values ranging from 9 to 17. The enzyme had a temperature optimum of 35°C and exhibited remarkably stability below 35°C.

Chaperones-assisted soluble expression and maturation of recombinant Co-type nitrile hydratase in Escherichia coli to avoid the need for a low induction temperature.

Nitrile hydratase (NHase) is an important industrial enzyme that biosynthesizes high-value amides. However, most of NHases expressed in Escherichia coli easily aggregate to inactive inclusion bodies unless the induction temperature is reduced to approximately 20°C. The NHase from Aurantimonas manganoxydans has been functionally expressed in E. coli, and exhibits considerable potential for the production of nicotinamide in industrial application. In this study, the effects of chaperones including GroEL/ES, Dnak/J-GrpE and trigger factor on the expression of the recombinant Co-type NHase were investigated. The results indicate that three chaperones can significantly promote the active expression of the recombinant NHase at 30°C. The total NHase activities reached to 263 and 155U/ml in shake flasks when the NHase was co-expressed with GroEL/ES and DnaK/J-GrpE, which were 52- and 31-fold higher than the observed activities without chaperones, respectively. This increase is possibly due to the soluble expression of the recombinant NHase assisted by molecular chaperones. Furthermore, GroEL/ES and DnaK/J-GrpE were determined to promote the maturation of the Co-type NHase in E. coli under the absence of the parental activator gene. These knowledge regarding the chaperones effect on the NHase expression are useful for understanding the biosynthesis of Co-type NHase.

Two arginine residues in the substrate pocket predominantly control the substrate selectivity of thiocyanate hydrolase

Thiocyanate hydrolase (SCNase) of Thiobacillus thioparus THI115 is a cobalt (Co)-containing enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of thiocyanate (SCN⁻), a major component of wastewater from coke oven factories, to carbonyl sulfide and ammonia. Although SCNase exhibits high structural similarities to Co-type nitrile hydratase (NHase), including a unique Co³⁺ catalytic center with two oxidized Cys ligands, both SCNase and NHase exclusively catalyze only their own substrates. Based on the differences in the substrate-binding pockets of these enzymes, βArg90 and γArg136 of SCNase, with side chains extending toward the pocket, were separately substituted with Phe and Trp, the corresponding residues, respectively, in Co-type NHase. Both SCNase βArg90 and SCNase γArg136 mutants showed no SCN⁻ hydrolysis activity but did catalyze the hydration of nitriles. The estimated kcat values (∼2 s⁻¹) corresponded to approximately 0.2% of that of Co-type NHase for nitrile hydration and approximately 3% of that of wild-type SCNase for SCN⁻ hydrolysis. The crystal structure of SCNase γR136W is essentially identical to that of the wild-type, including the Co³⁺ center having Cys oxidations; the size of the substrate pocket was enlarged because of conformational changes on the side chains of the mutated residue. Discussion of the difference in the environments around the substrate-binding pockets among the wild-type and mutant SCNases and Co-type NHase strongly suggests that βArg90 and γArg136, positioned at the top of the Co³⁺ center, predominantly control the substrate selectivity of SCNase.

Evidence of the Participation of Remote Residues in the Catalytic Activity of Co-Type Nitrile Hydratase from Pseudomonas putida

Active sites may be regarded as layers of residues, whereby the residues that interact directly with substrate also interact with residues in a second shell and these in turn interact with residues in a third shell. These residues in the second and third layers may have distinct roles in maintaining the essential chemical properties of the first-shell catalytic residues, particularly their spatial arrangement relative to the substrate binding pocket, and their electrostatic and dynamic properties. The extent to which these remote residues participate in catalysis and precisely how they affect first-shell residues remains unexplored. To improve our understanding of the roles of second- and third-shell residues in catalysis, we used THEMATICS to identify residues in the second and third shells of the Co-type nitrile hydratase from Pseudomonas putida (ppNHase) that may be important for catalysis. Five of these predicted residues, and three additional, conserved residues that were not predicted, have been conservatively mutated, and their effects have been studied both kinetically and structurally. The eight residues have no direct contact with the active site metal ion or bound substrate. These results demonstrate that three of the predicted second-shell residues (α-Asp164, β-Glu56, and β-His147) and one predicted third-shell residue (β-His71) have significant effects on the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. One of the predicted residues (α-Glu168) and the three residues not predicted (α-Arg170, α-Tyr171, and β-Tyr215) do not have any significant effects on the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme.