Structural analysis of the zinc hydroxide-Thr-199-Glu-106 hydrogen-bond network in human carbonic anhydrase II.
Xue, Y., Liljas, A., Jonsson, B.H., Lindskog, S.(1993) Proteins 17: 93-106
- PubMed: 7901850 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/prot.340170112
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1CAI, 1CAJ, 1CAK, 1CAL, 1CAM - PubMed Abstract: 
The significance of the zinc hydroxide-Thr-199-Glu-106 hydrogen-bond network in the active site of human carbonic anhydrase II has been examined by X-ray crystallographic analyses of site-specific mutants. Mutants with Ala-199 and Ala-106 or Gln-106 have low catalytic activities, while a mutant with Asp-106 has almost full CO2 hydration activity. The structures of these four mutants, as well as that of the bicarbonate complex of the mutant with Ala-199, have been determined at 1.7 to 2.2 A resolution. Removal of the gamma atoms of residue 199 leads to a distorted tetrahedral geometry at the zinc ion, and a catalytically important zinc-bound water molecule has moved towards Glu-106. In the bicarbonate complex of the mutant with Ala-199 one oxygen atom from bicarbonate binds to zinc without displacing this water molecule. Tetrahedral coordination geometries are retained in the mutants at position 106. The mutants with Ala-106 and Gln-106 have a zinc-bound sulfate ion, whereas this sulfate site is only partially occupied in the mutant with Asp-106. The hydrogen-bond network seems to be "reversed" in the mutants with Ala-106 and Gln-106. The network is preserved as in native enzyme in the mutant with Asp-106 but the side chain of Asp-106 is more extended than that of Glu-106 in the native enzyme. These results illustrate the importance of Glu-106 and Thr-199 for controlling the precise coordination geometry of the zinc ion and its ligand preferences which results in an optimal orientation of a zinc-bound hydroxide ion for an attack on the CO2 substrate.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biochemistry, University of Umeå, Sweden.