| 1. |
- Currie, M. J., et al.
(författare)
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N-acetylmannosamine-6-phosphate 2-epimerase uses a novel substrate-assisted mechanism to catalyze amino sugar epimerization
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 297:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are five known general catalytic mechanisms used by enzymes to catalyze carbohydrate epimerization. The amino sugar epimerase N-acetylmannosamine-6-phosphate 2-epimerase (NanE) has been proposed to use a deprotonation-reprotonation mechanism, with an essential catalytic lysine required for both steps. However, the structural determinants of this mechanism are not clearly established. We characterized NanE from Staphylo-coccus aureus using a new coupled assay to monitor NanE catalysis in real time and found that it has kinetic constants comparable with other species. The crystal structure of NanE from Staphylo-coccus aureus, which comprises a triosephosphate isomerase barrel fold with an unusual dimeric architecture, was solved with both natural and modified substrates. Using these substrate-bound structures, we identified the following active-site residues lining the cleft at the C-terminal end of the beta-strands: Gln11, Arg40, Lys63, Asp124, Glu180, and Arg208, which were individually substituted and assessed in relation to the mechanism. From this, we re-evaluated the central role of Glu180 in this mechanism alongside the catalytic lysine. We observed that the substrate is bound in a conformation that ideally positions the C5 hydroxyl group to be activated by Glu180 and donate a proton to the C2 carbon. Taken together, we propose that NanE uses a novel substrate-assisted proton displacement mechanism to invert the C2 stereocenter of N-acetylmannosamine-6-phosphate. Our data and mechanistic interpretation may be useful in the development of inhibitors of this enzyme or in enzyme engineering to produce biocatalysts capable of changing the stereochemistry of molecules that are not amenable to synthetic methods.
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| 2. |
- North, Rachel A, et al.
(författare)
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Structure and inhibition of N-acetylneuraminate lyase from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- 2016
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Ingår i: FEBS Letters. - : Wiley. - 0014-5793 .- 1873-3468. ; 590:23, s. 4414-4428
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- N-Acetylneuraminate lyase is the first committed enzyme in the degradation of sialic acid by bacterial pathogens. In this study, we analyzed the kinetic parameters of N-acetylneuraminate lyase from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We determined that the enzyme has a relatively high KM of 3.2 mm, suggesting that flux through the catabolic pathway is likely to be controlled by this enzyme. Our data indicate that sialic acid alditol, a known inhibitor of N-acetylneuraminate lyase enzymes, is a stronger inhibitor of MRSA N-acetylneuraminate lyase than of Clostridium perfringens N-acetylneuraminate lyase. Our analysis of the crystal structure of ligand-free and 2R-sialic acid alditol-bound MRSA N-acetylneuraminate lyase suggests that subtle dynamic differences in solution and/or altered binding interactions within the active site may account for species-specific inhibition.
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| 3. |
- North, Rachel A, et al.
(författare)
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"Just a spoonful of sugar...": import of sialic acid across bacterial cell membranes
- 2018
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Ingår i: Biophysical reviews. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1867-2450 .- 1867-2469. ; 10:2, s. 219-227
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Eukaryotic cell surfaces are decorated with a complex array of glycoconjugates that are usually capped with sialic acids, a large family of over 50 structurally distinct nine-carbon amino sugars, the most common member of which is N-acetylneuraminic acid. Once made available through the action of neuraminidases, bacterial pathogens and commensals utilise host-derived sialic acid by degrading it for energy or repurposing the sialic acid onto their own cell surface to camouflage the bacterium from the immune system. A functional sialic acid transporter has been shown to be essential for the uptake of sialic acid in a range of human bacterial pathogens and important for host colonisation and persistence. Here, we review the state-of-play in the field with respect to the molecular mechanisms by which these bio-nanomachines transport sialic acids across bacterial cell membranes.
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