Investigation of conserved acidic residues in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase: implications for human disease and for functional roles in a family of related proteins.

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Tuinstra RL, Miziorko HM

Investigation of conserved acidic residues in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase: implications for human disease and for functional roles in a family of related proteins.

J Biol Chem. 2003 Sep 26;278(39):37092-8. Epub 2003 Jul 21.

PubMed ID
12874287 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) lyase catalyzes the divalent cation-dependent cleavage of HMG-CoA to form acetyl-CoA and acetoacetate. In metal-dependent aldol and Claisen reactions, acidic residues often function either as cation ligands or as participants in general acid/base catalysis. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to produce conservative substitutions for the conserved acidic residues Glu-37, Asp-42, Glu-72, Asp-204, Glu-279, and Asp-280. HMG-CoA lyase deficiency results from a human mutation that substitutes lysine for glutamate 279. The E279K mutation has also been engineered; expression in Escherichia coli produces an unstable protein. Substitution of alanine for glutamate 279 produces a protein that is sufficiently stable for isolation and retains substantial catalytic activity. However, thermal inactivation experiments demonstrate that E279A is much less stable than wild-type enzyme. HMG-CoA lyase deficiency also results from mutations at aspartate 42. Substitutions that eliminate a carboxyl group at residue 42 perturb cation binding and substantially lower catalytic efficiency (104-105-fold decreases in specific activity for D42A, D42G, or D42H versus wild-type). Substitutions of alanine for the other conserved acidic residues indicate the importance of glutamate 72. E72A exhibits a 200-fold decrease in kcat and >103-fold decrease in kcat/Km. E72A is also characterized by inflation in the Km for activator cation (26-fold for Mg2+; >200-fold for Mn2+). Similar, but less pronounced, effects are measured for the D204A mutant. E72A and D204A mutant proteins both bind stoichiometric amounts of Mn2+, but D204A exhibits only a 2-fold inflation in KD for Mn2+, whereas E72A exhibits a 12-fold inflation in KD (23 microm) in comparison with wild-type enzyme (KD = 1.9 microm). Acidic residues corresponding to HMG-CoA lyase Asp-42 and Glu-72 are conserved in the HMG-CoA lyase protein family, which includes proteins that utilize acetyl-CoA in aldol condensations. These related reactions may require an activator cation that binds to the corresponding acidic residues in this protein family.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Polypeptides
NameUniProt ID
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA lyase, mitochondrialP35914Details